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Network Rail to recycle rubbish into sleepers
David Adam, Guardian
Britain’s railways are turning to recycled plastic in a trial of environmentally friendly sleepers. Network Rail is to fit up to 250 of the green sleepers, made from old car bumpers and plastic bottles, on the network this summer. The material will replace traditional timber sleepers, which are still common on slower lines.
Jerry England, director of engineering at Network Rail said: “This is an important scheme for Network Rail, helping recycling while putting waste to good use. Rail has the enviable position of being the most environmentally friendly and sustainable form of transport, and it is new thinking like this that will help us to improve our record further.”
(16 February 2009)
Reports of Vélib’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated
Ben Fried, WorldChanging
If you’ve read this BBC story currently making the rounds, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Vélib, Paris’s wildly popular bike-share system, has suddenly been afflicted by an epidemic of theft and vandalism that threatens its very existence. Vélib bikes have been “torched,” strung up from lamp-posts, and smuggled across borders, the Beeb reports in alarmist tones. A spokesman for JCDecaux, the outdoor advertising firm that operates Vélib, calls its contract with the city of Paris “unsustainable,” and the whole system is referred to in the past tense.
So is Vélib destined to burn brightly only to flare out after a short time? Hardly. Vélib is here to stay, according to officials and transportation experts familiar with the details of its operations. The BBC’s portrayal of a mortal threat, they say, is best understood as a negotiating ploy on the part of JCDecaux. (Note that the JCDecaux representative is the only source quoted in that story.)
“Decaux is using media sensationalism in order to obtain more money from the city of Paris,” said Denis Baupin, who as Deputy Mayor for Transportation oversaw the Vélib launch in the summer of 2007.
The basic structure of the Vélib contract works like this. JCDecaux runs the whole system in exchange for the rights to 1,600 outdoor displays, turning its profit from selling that ad space. The city of Paris keeps the revenue from Vélib user fees, so it can claim to provide the service at no taxpayer expense. Now, with the full Paris network of 20,600 bicycles and 1,451 stations completed, penalties for inadequate maintenance are in the process of taking effect. Hence the hue and cry from JCDecaux.
“It’s in large part a PR issue,” says Luc Nadal of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.
(12 February 2009)
Dear BBC, You can do better than this! -BA
China becomes biggest auto market
BBC
China has leapfrogged the US to become the world’s largest auto market, according to monthly figures from the Chinese state media.
In January 735,000 cars were sold in China said state TV, quoting the deputy director of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Dong Yong.
Last week, preliminary estimates from US market research firm Autodata said 656,976 cars were sold in the US.
Analysts say this is an anomaly as the new lunar year boosts sales in China.
Meanwhile, the US traditionally sees a post-Christmas decline in sales.
Analysts predict that the US will remain the world’s biggest market for the full year.
Several also point out that the figures indicate the deterioration of the auto market in the US, rather than any particular increase in Chinese demand.
(10 February 2009)
