Ride subway, exit in "Asia"

The Washington Post reports on the New York City subway ride that will let you out in "Asia."

Brain Yarvin takes you on the plane-less journey to Flushing, Queens, only $2.25 and about a 45 minute subway ride from Midtown Manhattan.

Most out-of-towners will head toward Flushing for Citi Field or its neighbor, Arthur Ashe Stadium, and if they're not in the loop, they'll take in a baseball game or a tennis match and leave. The rest of us know better. Here's a neighborhood that really seems to be part of China, only with New York City street signs. When I step off the train at Main Street, get my first whiff of scallion pancakes, make my first sighting of a new menu or find some ingredient that exists nowhere else in the Eastern United States, I know that I've come to the right place.

Read the full story: Flushing, Queens: Taking the 7 train from Times Square to Asia

High-speed rail "coming to America"

The Wall Street Journal's Middle Seat blog reports on reactions to $8 billion of federal stimulus money going to high-speed rail development.

Airlines were upset because high-speed rail could signal competition and "further erode their customer bases."

In two or three decades, Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood said at the FAA annual forecasting conference, U.S. cities will be connected by high-speed rail – whether airlines like it or not.

"Let me give you a little bit of political advice: Don’t be against high-speed rail," Sec. LaHood said. "It’s coming to America. This is the president’s vision, this is the vice president’s vision, this is America’s vision…. We’re going to get into the high-speed rail business."

European and Asian countries such as Taiwan (picture right) already have high-speed rail lines.

Read the full story: LaHood to airlines: get onboard the high-speed train

Photo from Stephen Fung.net

Pedal the New Zealand monorail

Reuters video (that does not allow embedding anymore by the way) reports on a new bicycling monorail in New Zealand.

The Schweeb utilizes a special clear pod that users pedal to get around on the set monorail track in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Right now it's in development but the creators hope to incorporate their technology in cities as a clean transport system.

Watch the video: A monorail that gets you pedaling

Rate transit and walking options

Ecolocalizer reports on the web site that let's you rate the "walkability" of places in your neighborhood.

Walkscore rates a neighborhood’s walkability on a 1 to 100 scale based on a number of criteria such as proximity to restaurants and grocery stores. Now, they’ve added a transit rating which takes into account a neighborhood’s public transportation options!

Read the full story: Walk Score's new transit rating

Photo from Ecolocalizer

Cabs taking backseat to mass transit

The New York Times reports that more travelers are foregoing expensive (and CO2 emitting) taxis for shared or public transportation options to and from airports.

Although the premise of the article is for budget reasons; positive environmental effects also occur by taking mass transit.

Another positive is that many travelers found that taking the train to/from the airport was much more reliable and sometimes even faster than a cab, especially during rush hour.

Read the full story: More fliers skipping the cab

Ride a bike, power a bus, get paid

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the new conception bike-sharing program that the designer hopes will create energy to power a hybrid-bus system.

Chiyu Chen, a design student at the Royal College of Art, has conceived of an urban bike sharing program that not only provides riders utility, but also powers the local bus system – and pays them to do so.

Users check out specially designed bikes from a locking station using an ID card. Inside the bikes is a system that stores kinetic energy generated from braking. Riders go where they need to, and when they’re finished, bring the bike back to the locking station. Locking up the bike transfers the energy generated by the trip into the city grid – or, as Chen envisions, into a hybrid bus system.

Ride enough – and generate enough energy – and bike sharers can earn a bus pass. Completing the trifecta: the locking stations would be placed near bus stations, both to make renting a bike convenient and to facilitate easy bike-to-bus recharging.

Read the full story: Bike sharing that creates energy - and pays you to ride?

Grab a pedal-powered ride in Pensacola

The Ecolocalizer blog reports on the new pedicabs in Pensacola, Florida.

Foot Taxi will offer tourists rides on eight pedicabs around the old downtown area.

"'It’s a completely ‘green’ way to get around,” [said co-founder Joe Abston]. 'The last thing we wanted our business to do was add to a global environmental problem.'"

The rides are free, but riders encouraged to give the peddlers tips.

Read the full story: Pensacola goes pedicabbing

Pedal around Oahu on shared bikes

USA Today reports on the new bike-sharing program on Hawaii's Oahu island.

The program, set to launch this June, will have an initial 100 bikes at 10 different locations. Adding to the green-ness of the program, the bike racks will be powered with solar panels.

"The first half-hour of ride time will be free. The next half-hour [will] cost riders $2, and the next 30 minutes is $5. Billing would stop at $100, but if a bike isn't returned within 48 hours, the user's credit card will be billed the cost of the bike — currently $900. Passes good for a day or week would also be available."

Read the full story: Oahu to launch bike sharing program

77-year-old D.C.-er bikes Manhattan tip-to-tip

Maryland resident Albert Diaz, pictured above, thought what better way to celebrate his impending 78th birthday but to bike Manhattan from bottom to top.

Diaz wrote about his biking trip in The Washington Post.

He easily took the Vamoose bus line from Bethesda, Maryland (it takes bikes at no extra cost) and after being dropped off in Midtown Manhattan, headed down to his starting point at Battery Park.

His bike path of choice was the Greenway that stretches all the way up to the George Washington Bridge 11 miles north.

Read the full story: Manhattan on wheels

Solar powered rickshaws in New Delhi

AFP reports on the new solar powered rickshaws in New Delhi.

The "soleckshaw" runs on either a motor powered by a solar battery or pedalled as usual using only foot power

India has an estimated eight million rickshaw drivers.

"'The most important achievement will be improving the lot of rickshaw drivers,' said Pradip Kumar Sarmah, head of the non-profit Centre for Rural Development."

Read the full story: India's humble rickshaw goes solar

Bus deals D.C. to NYC

Now that gas is so expensive, more and more people are using public buses to get around.

There's always been Greyhound, but now between the busy Northeast corridor, the demand for cheaper and better rides give travelers more options to choose from.

The Washington Post has a review of six bus lines going to and from Washington D.C. to New York City.

Ecotravel News can vouch for the environmental-friendliness, cheapness, and convenience of the Chinatown buses as written in this previous post; as for safety, that's another issue.

Read the full story: D.C. to New York: The deals on the bus go round and round

Photo from Picassa website, click here to read the photographer's review of the Bolt Bus from D.C. to NYC.

Labor Day holiday vacationers taking public transport

USA Today reports that travelers will be riding more trains and buses this Labor Day holiday to avoid high gas prices.

"'We're anticipating holiday ridership to be about 10% higher this year' than last, says Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero.

The United Motorcoach Association, which represents 900 charter and tour bus operators, also expects more passengers this weekend. 'We have seen a pickup since fuel prices went up,' President Victor Parra says."

Read the full story: More holiday travelers will bypass gas pump

Sydney reporters test commuting options

Australia's Sydney Morning Herald had an apt commuting race between some of their reporters using different methods of transportation to get to work.

But to make it an even better race, they all started from the neighborhood of Ryde - where New South Wales state transport minister John Watkins lives - to his office at Parliament House. The total distance is 15.5 kilometers, about 9.6 miles.

The commuting methods the six reporters used were bus, train, running, biking, driving a car or a motor scooter.

The scooter commuter came in first with a time of 25 minutes. The biker came in second, clocking in at 32 minutes. Then the car commuter arrived in 37 minutes. It took the train and bus commuters over an hour and a quarter. The runner arrived last, but only six minutes later than the bus rider.

This test shows why more people choose to drive their own vehicles rather than taking more environmental but slower public transportation.

Read the full story: Public transport? You're better off on your bike.

Amtrak ridership up dramatically, thanks to high gas prices

The Sacramento Bee reports on the significantly higher levels of people traveling by train between California cities this year.

Amtrak says their nationwide ridership is up 11 percent since last year as more people are traveling by their service now that gas prices have gone up.

"'It's been quite surreal in some cases,' said Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham, citing instances of as many as 200 standees on Pacific Surfliner trains traveling between San Diego and Los Angeles. "

Graham also says that the largest increases in ridership are for distances under 500 miles.

Popular routes in California between the Bay Area and Sacramento have seen a 19 percent increase.

Article author Janet Fullwood writes that her Bakersfield to Stockton train was completely full to Fresno.

Read the full story: Train travel hopping with new riders

California sans car

The San Jose Mercury News reports on a few vacation spots that are easy to get to by public transportation. And once at the place visitors can get around by foot, horse or even Segway.

The three popular spots highlighted are Angel Island, Old Sacramento and San Luis Obispo - all are easily accessible by train from San Jose.

Read the full story: Gas-free getaways

Used oil = carbon-neutral Scottish bus

A Scottish bus company encouraged enough riders to donate their used cooking oil for biofuel production, that they can now go carbon-neutral, reports Environmental News Network:

"For the past six months, Stagecoach has been running eight buses on biofuels made from used cooking oil. That project has the makings of a true bartering scheme; in exchange for used cooking oil, passengers get a reduction on travel fares. The scheme is organized at Ayrshire Council recycling plant and has been met with tremendous enthusiasm of the population. Over 21 tonnes of used cooking oil was handed, marking an 100 percent increase over a period of six months."

Read the full story: Hand over your cooking oils

W Hotels to offer free bikes on Earth Day

The New York Times reports that the luxury W hotel chain will begin offering green transportation alternatives starting this Earth Day.

Guests will be provided with free bikes and helmets. There is a "Spring Fling" package that will donate 100 trees to a charity org. And W will offer a green limo service using hybrids or alternative-fuel vehicles.

Because it's a luxury chain, the green limo service will probably be the greenest thing the guests will be able to sacrifice their lifestyles for. Somehow I don't see these guests using bikes to get to and fro. And who knows how long these so-called green services will last...

Read the full story: W celebrates Earth Day

Kansas reporter's Southwest Chief train ride

Kansas newspaper, The Wichita Eagle, posted a great travelogue by reporter Mike Hutmacher about his 24-hour train journey from Newton to San Bernadino, California.

Eschewing a harried plane trip, Hutmacher took Amtrak's Southwest Chief train that travels back and forth between L.A. and Chicago.

Hutmacher was prepared to be bored during the day-long journey but he found interesting people to talk with and even enjoyed the dining car experience:

"It was refreshing that I could choose when, what or if I wanted to eat, as opposed to being offered a tray with a stale ham sandwich, a cup of fruit, a bag o' nuts and can of soda."

He also notes that traveling by the rails should become more popular since gas prices continue to go up and more people are looking into alternative forms of travel.

Read the full story: Patience makes Amtrak trip from Newton a rewarding train journey

Slow travel for our 100th post

Ecotravel News is celebrating our 100th post with a story about "slow travel," the ultimate in eco-travel.

Slow travel is essentially traveling without the airplanes that everyone knows are bad for the environment and slowing down and enjoying the journey to the new country.

One man that slow traveled around the world is Ed Gillespie who spoke to NPR recently about his journey:

"'What is the purpose of travel?' [Gillespie] asks. 'Is it about a checklist of sights that we want to go and see? ... Or is it actually about the notion of just getting away? And can we experience that notion of getting away with methods that don't have the same kind of environmental impact that unfortunately flying does?'"

Listen to his interview: First slow food, now a movement for slow travel

Sharing bicycles in Paris

The Washington Post has published an article about the French capital's new shared public transportation bicycles. The Velibs, which is a clever combination of the French name for bicycle, velo and freedom, liberte, can be cheaply rented around the city by just using your credit card:

"Here's how it works: Velibs can be picked up and dropped off at any of a thousand stations around the capital, where users insert credit cards into a machine to sign up for a day (one euro, or about $1.40), a week (five euros) or a year (29 euros). A fee of $205 is taken from your account if the bike is not returned. Caveat: At this point, only smart-chip Visa cards and America Express cards are accepted.

The system is designed to encourage short journeys: After paying your subscription fee and picking up a bike, the first half-hour is free. The second half-hour costs one euro, the third costs two euros and a fourth would cost an added four euros, to encourage people to stick to the half-hour system."

So using a bike to get around is a green way to see Paris.

Read the full story: Free wheeling: Paris's new bike system