Cities and Countries

On Sunday, June 27, Downtown Oakland opened two miles of its streets for traffic-free fun and activities -- zumba dancing, circus arts, BMX bike competitions and performances from local musicians. Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) partnered with the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Oaklandish, Oakland YMCA, Cycles of Change, and other civic organizations to create the East Bay's first car-free event in the Ciclovía mold. Preparations are in the works for another Oaklavia in the coming months.

Now for some positive cycling news. Vancouver, British Columbia, in response to an infrastructure-driven jump in ridership, is installing a new separated two-way bike corridor on downtown's Dunsmuir Street. The project itself, part of an eventual network of protected lanes, seems impressive enough. But as this video shows, the would-be "greenest city in the world" absolutely nails the presentation.

Today marks the launch of what Hoboken officials are calling the first citywide car-sharing initiative in the country, with 42 shared cars parked on the streets of the mile-square city. The "Corner Cars" program, which is intended to reduce car-ownership rates, could provide a model for expanding car-sharing across the Hudson. What happens in Hoboken will demonstrate how much car-sharing can reduce traffic in areas where people already don't drive very much.

The Boston metro area has always had plenty of cyclists. But other than a few fantastic greenways like the Minuteman Trail and some forward-thinking bike lanes in Cambridge, they haven't had many good places to ride. In fact, until recently it wasn't uncommon to hear murmurs that Boston was the worst biking city in the country.

Starting June 27, 570 bus stops across New York City could disappear. Unless Congress delivers an 11th hour reprieve -- still a distinct possibility -- service cuts will axe or reroute dozens of bus lines, raising the question of what to do with all the curbside real estate at these potentially defunct stops.

Gresham, Oregon used to look like your typical suburb. Lots of lawns and lots of parking. When Portland's MAX light-rail line expanded to Gresham, developers saw an opportunity to bring something different: walkable development. But a downturn in the local real estate market interceded. One developer trying to build a four-story condo project decided that he'd be better off with a video store surrounded by surface parking.

Washington D.C. is making the biggest splash (policy-wise) on Bike to Work Day this year, with officials announcing a major expansion of the city's bike-sharing system. According to Greater Greater Washington, the new system will have around 1,100 bikes at 114 stations across the entire District and in neighboring Arlington County. If the expansion goes into effect, bike-sharing in the capital could be transformed from a niche service into an essential piece of the transportation system.

In San Francisco, the Pavement to Parks program has launched an initiative that may someday alter the way U.S. cities treat their commercial strips.

From Infrastructurist by way of Buzzfeed comes this video of bike commuters in Utrecht. With a population of around 300,000, Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands, and has a 33 percent bike mode share. According to the write-up accompanying the YouTube post, this intersection handles "no less than" 18,000 bicycles and 2,500 buses per day.