Climate Transportation

The gas tax is actually super low, thanks to inflation

Eric Cantor thinks that bike sharing is siphoning off way too much of the country's gas tax revenue. And for a Republican like him, raising the tax is out of the question, never mind that, as Greater Greater Washington's Matt Johnson points out, in inflation-adjusted dollars, the gas tax has gone down by 34 percent since 1994, the last time it was raised. And, again in inflation-adjusted dollars, the gas tax was actually highest in 1960. 

Bikes find a way in San Jose

Rapid growth and a gaping class divide don't make biking easy in San Jose, Calif., but a few committed cyclists push back against the city's car-centric culture.

The case of the disappearing bike lane

Sacramento may not have the best built-in bike infrastructure, but some residents are taking matters into their own hands and using guerrilla tactics to make their own.

Perception vs. reality in 'bike-friendly' San Francisco

The city's four-year injunction on developing new bike infrastructure has finally been lifted, but will San Francisco be able to make up for lost time?

Introducing the self-inflating bicycle tire

PumpTire has developed the world's first self-inflating bike tire, which actually takes in air and inflates to ideal pressure as you ride. This won't keep you from ever getting a flat or anything, but it could spare you a lot of tedious adjusting and checking of tire pressure.

Corralling bike fever in Nevada City

Tiny, touristy Nevada City, Calif., is making big strides toward bike friendliness by planning to install bike corrals to replace parking spots -- which proves it can catch on anywhere.

Musical GPS lets you steer your bike without looking at a screen

It's hard enough to look at your GPS and at the road while you're driving, but on a bike that split second of inattention could easily lead to injury. So Dutch researchers, who know from biking, have developed a music-based navigation system called "Oh Music, Where Art Thou?" It's a smartphone app that lets you navigate by following a strain of music through the streets. If the sound seems to come from the right, you go right; if it comes from the left, you go left. (Hopefully there's a needle-scratch feature for missing your turn.)

Bikers, beware the door zone

Careless drivers swinging their doors open into the bike lane pose a common danger to cyclists. But some cities, like San Francisco, are looking for solutions.

Ice-cream-selling bike vendors run wild in Portland

Visit a park in Portland, and you could find a nice vendor biking around, hauling a cooler of ice cream. But this isn't any ice cream. It's illegal ice cream, and the people who are selling it are thumbing their nose at the law that is the Portland Parks Bureau. 

You’re supposed to pay $120 each month for a permit to sell ice cream in the parks, and these lawless vendors just aren't buying them. It annoys the people who sell legal ice cream, and the parks people. But are they going to crack down? 

Dinner (and bikes) are served: The tour begins

For the month of September, I'll be traveling around the western U.S. as part of the Dinner & Bikes Tour, talking and learning about the bike economy.