Last year, the State University of New York at Buffalo announced that it had selected HOK Architects to design a new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences near downtown Buffalo. Now, almost a year later, more details about the design have been revealed. The new building will be one of the largest to be built in Buffalo in decades, and it will also be one of the city’s most energy-efficient new buildings. With a dramatic six-story glass atrium, it will take full advantage of natural lighting, and the development will include a new station for Buffalo’s subway line, encouraging workers to take public transit.

Read the rest of HOK Unveils Plans for New LEED Gold Medical Campus in Buffalo

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Post tags: "leed", bike sharing, biomedical research, buffalo, Daylighting, HOK, HOK architects, LEED gold, medical school, public transit, SUNY Buffalo, transit-oriented development

Bike commuting is a boon for urban environments – and soon, the bustling City of Pittsburgh, Penn., is about to have a lot more of it. The city’s Mayor Luke Ravenstahl recently announced plans to launch a 500-bike, 50-station bike sharing program in 2014. The initiative will build on the success of similar bike sharing programs in Washington, D.C., Boston, and Denver, and Mayor Ravenstahl hopes the new alternative transportation system will enhance mobility within the city, promote tourism, and provide a fun and healthy way to visit the city’s diverse and exciting neighborhoods.

Read the rest of Pittsburgh Announces 50-Station, Solar-Powered Bike Sharing Program

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Post tags: alternative transportation, bike commuting, bike sharing, pittsburgh, public transportation

Bikes are great for all sorts of situations, but sometimes when you’re maneuvering through heavy foot traffic, you’re better off taking your feet off the pedals and scooting along at a lower speed. For just those circumstances, designer Philippe Starck and Peugeot have teamed up to design a fashionable bike-scooter hybrid that will be used for a bike-sharing program in Bordeaux, France. The concept was actually proposed by the population of Bordeaux through a crowd-sourced design process, and it was later refined by Starck and Peugeot.

Read the rest of Philippe Starck and Peugeot Design “Pibal” Scooter-Cycle for Bike-Sharing Program in Bordeaux

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Post tags: bike, bike sharing, bike sharing program, bike-scooter, bordeaux, City PIBAL Streamer, france, green transportation, Peugeot, Peugeot bicycle, Peugeot scooter, Philippe Starck, Pibal bike, Pibal scooter, PIBAL Streamer, Scooter, scooter-cycle

Bike sharing programs are great, but pedaling up San Francisco‘s steep hills can be a pain. And car sharing is cool, but finding a parking space in the city can be tough. Enter Scoot Networks, an electric scooter-sharing service that will let you power up those hills and park virtually anywhere without using a drop of gas. The service, which is modeled after car-sharing businesses, launched today in San Francisco with a fleet of 60 vehicles. To use the scooters, users simply plug a smartphone into the dashboard, and a Scoot app on the phone activates the bike.

Read the rest of Scoot Launches Electric Scooter-Sharing Program in San Francisco!

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Post tags: bike sharing, Car Sharing, electric scooters, green transportation, Michael Keating, plug-in scooter, San Francisco, Scoot, Scoot Networks, scooter-sharing service, smartphones

Normally luxury and sharing aren’t words we mention in the same sentence. Those who can afford it pay millions to have their own cars, jets, and yachts – precisely so they don’t have to share with anyone. Yet, in Vilamoura, the largest luxury tourist complex in Europe, sharing has suddenly become fashionable to some of the world’s wealthiest tourists. This Portuguese resort town just launched a new public bike sharing program that will allow residents to see the coast without a car.

Read the rest of Vilamoura Launches Public Bike Sharing Program With Classic Cycles Designed by AND-RÉ

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Post tags: ANDRE, bicycles, bike sharing, Design, green transportation, portugal, urban planning, Vilamoura

While the vast majority of cyclists must adhere the same traffic laws as all other vehicles, and in some cases absurd bike-specific laws, bicycle activists in France have successfully campaigned for the right to run red lights. The new laws, presently in a trial phase at 15 intersections in Eastern Paris, will permit cyclists to continue straight through or turn right on red lights when the road is clear of pedestrians and oncoming traffic.

Read the rest of French Cyclists Win the Right to Run Red Traffic Lights

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Post tags: Bike Paths, bike sharing, cyclists, cyclists rights, france, french bike sharing, green planning, green transportation, Paris, running red lights, traffic laws, velib

San Francisco’s new electric bicycle sharing experiment will soon offer an affordable green transit alternative for those navigating the city’s inclines. The e-bike program will offer riders the option to rent bikes by the hour through the website City CarShare. And for those hauling heavier duty cargo such as groceries, e-bicycle trailers will also be available to rent.

Read the rest of San Francisco Set to Launch Electric Bike Sharing Program

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Post tags: alternative transportation, bike sharing, e-bike, electric bike, electric vehicle, green transportation, San Francisco, san francisco bike sharing, Transportation Sustainability Research Center, uc berkeley, UC Berkeley Research, urban bike sharing

Arlington County and MetroBike are currently in the process of scaling up the area’s bike share service by doubling the amount of stations, but instead of figuring it out themselves, they’re asking the public where the new racks should go. In an innovative and very participatory new program, the county is receiving public comments from residents and businesses on the new station locations. Rather than simply install the new racks and then advertise the service to prospective city cyclists, an interactive map has been released that locals can use to make suggestions.

Read the rest of MetroBike Uses Crowd-Sourced Bike Share Program to Figure Out Where Stations Should Go

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Post tags: alternative transportation, arlington, Arlington County, bicycle, bicycling, bike, Bike Rack, bike share, bike sharing, bike station, bikearlington, biking, crowd source, crowd sourcing, crowd-sourced, crowdsourced, crowdsourcing, green transportation, interactive bike share map, metro bike, metrobike, participatory

Bay Area bike-lovers, rejoice — a $7.9 million bike-sharing pilot project will roll out next year in San Francisco, San Jose, Palo Alto, Mountain View and Redwood City! If all goes well, one thousand bikes will be available for participants who pay a membership fee in the program.

Read the rest of San Francisco Announces Bike Sharing Program to Launch Next Year!

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Post tags: bicycle, bicycle sharing, bike sharing, San Francisco

Yesterday the city of Denver celebrated Earth Day by launching the first large-scale bike sharing network in the US! Dubbed B-Cycle, the program offers offers roughly 400 red Trek B-cycles at 40 B-stations throughout the City. A launch event at the City and County buildings kicked off the program and afterward the Mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper, led a bike parade around the Civic Center Park.

Read the rest of First Large-Scale Urban Bike Sharing Program Launches in Denver!

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Post tags: alternative transportation, B-Cycle, B-Station, bike sharing, bikes, Denver, eco design, first US bike share system, green design

Read the rest of Architects Envision Future of Bike Sharing in Copenhagen

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Post tags: bicycle, bike, bike sharing, bike sharing system, bikes, copenhagen, Denmark, eco desgin, gps, green transporation, RAFAA, real-time tracking, sustainable design, Urban design

Do you like the green / health benefits of cycling, but are concerned about the safety of biking in your city? Would you like to see your city made more safe and convenient for cycling? If you care about bicycles and the urban landscape (and we hope most of you do!), then be sure to JOIN US today at 3:30pm est to talk to Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman. We’ll be discussing Boston’s new bike initiatives, including the new bike sharing program - which will put 3000 rentable cycles on the streets of Boston to enhance public wellbeing.

Nicole is the driving force behind Boston’s new bike love, and what will be the biggest bike-sharing system in the United States, so she definitely knows a thing or two about the topic at hand. She’s also a former Olympic cyclist and has played a pivotal role in making Boston a more bike-friendly place as the director of the city’s bicycling programs. We are SUPER EXCITED about this can’t-miss webinar with Nicole today, so please JOIN US, and take part in the conversation!

SIGN UP HERE TO JOIN IN THE CONVERSATION >

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Post tags: bike, bike sharing, boston, green bike, Green Talks, nicole freedman, public bike sharing

Pedal power is clearly on the rise. Bike sharing programs are spreading throughout the world, David Byrne’s new book Bicycle Diaries is flying off the shelves, and brilliant new designs like this, this and this, are appearing all over the globe. A wonderfully quirky addition to the scene is the Hopworksfiets party bike, a brilliant mash-up of human-powered pizza delivery, brew pub, and portable entertainment system. Created by Portland, OR-based bike builders Metrofiets, the Hopworksfiets is designed to deliver everything you need to get your pedal-powered party rolling.

Read the rest of Hopworksfiets Bike Bar is a Pedal-Powered Party

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Post tags: bike sharing, green design, Green Transportation, Hopworksfiets, party bike, Portland, sustainable design

On the chic streets of Paris, a woman wearing a purple cardigan zooms by on a chunky, mocha-grey bicycle. The woman fades from mind, but the retro bike lingers on as a memory with its decidedly unique styling. Strangely, an older gentleman with a bouquet of flowers tucked into his bag now rides by on a bike that looks just like the last one. And now, yet another man is walking the exact same bike down the street too. Coincidence, or something more?

Read the rest of Public Bike Sharing: Progress and Challenges Ahead

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Post tags: bike rental, bike sharing, biki bike, boston bike, greener cities, paris bike share, public bike sharing, public bike systems, velib

We’ve already seen the massive success of urban bike sharing in Paris, but now the super-smart Velib Bike program is taking to the streets of London! 15,000 bikes, 1,000 stations and more than 7.5 million miles of combined biking later have already been implemented in London, and the new scheme will contribute £75 million and 6,000 shared bikes to the mass biking scheme. Spearheaded by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, the new ‘granny bike’ sharing scheme will reduce traffic congestion and help clear up the air of England’s sprawling capital city.

Read the rest of Urban Bike Sharing System Coming to London!

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Post tags: bike sharing, bike solutions, car-free travel, cycle share, eco transportation, granny bikes, green transit, green transportation, London bike share system, london transportation, paris bicycle sharing system, sustainable transit, velib, Velib bicycle sharing system

If you live in a large city, such as Sydney, New York, or Paris, odds are that you have faced the very serious problem of automotive congestion in the downtown areas. There are a few solutions that so far have been implemented to try and solve the problem, the most famous one is the one introduced in London, where one has to pay to bring in their vehicle to the downtown district. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried proposing a similar system for his city, only to find himself unable to bring it to fruition. Well, the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe , has decided that another way to solve this problem is to provide to people access to cheap alternative, mass transportation, the Velib Bike System.

Read the rest of BIKE SHARING TO SAVE CITIES

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Post tags: bike sharing, david haskell, grance, mass transit solutions, New York., Paris, sustainable transportation, velib