Bicycles and trains, what coud be a better combination? A new European program is launching to promote that partnership, with a goal of making sure that cities across Europe are healthier, more livable and less congested.
When it comes to alternative transportation, as cities we have to ensure that residents can easily use those modes of transportation, and that means ensuring that they work together. That’s where BiTiBi (which stands for Bike-Train-Bike) comes in.
A three-year program funded by the European Union, the idea is to promote the use of bicycles and public transit to boost urban commuting. In fact, the project goal is to decrease car use by several million km per year and CO2 emissions by several 100 tons per year in the four pilot projects.
As the BiTiBi website states, “Combining the bicycle with railways for first and last mile transport is nothing new. It’s as old as the bicycle itself.”
In terms of getting more people to use alternative transportation, the connection between bikes and public transportation is essential. Someone may not be willing to bike 20 miles to work, but they’re probably willing to bike a couple of miles on the front and back end of the trip if they can take a train for the majority of the distance.
The project is basing its pilot projects on the Dutch model, working to solve the typical issues that come up when you’re trying to combine a bike and train ride: lack of bike parking, no bike-friendly access to train stations and ineffective fare integration. This is all about constructing a seamless door-to-door transportation option that doesn’t involve a car.
With the help of ten partners, the pilot projects will be implemented in the regions of Barcelona, Milan, Liverpool and Belgium.
Will such a program help other countries learn lessons about urban commuting as well? While Europe is known for it extensive system of trains and public transportation, it’s not perfect, but it’s important to invest money into pilot programs that will help to inspire cities to consider modern approaches to transportation, and get more and more people thinking about how we need to restructure cities for maximized livability.
Think about it: wouldn’t you rather have a one-mile ride in a bike lane to get to a train station, and then a relaxing train ride to work where you can drink your coffee, read the newspaper or stare out the window as opposed to a stressful car commute, stuck in traffic?
As Europe learns a little more about how bikes and trains can work together, let’s hope that we take a few of those lessons and put them to use as well.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy