TravelFootprint

London Mayor's cycle scheme opens for business

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today heralded a "new dawn" in London's bid to become the greatest big cycling city in the world as he launched the jewel in the crown of his cycling revolution.

Docking one of thousands of new bicycles at a Barclays Cycle Hire station in the shadow of the London Eye, the Mayor was joined by Marcus Agius, the Chairman of the scheme's sponsor Barclays, and London,s Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy.

The creation of an easy to use cycle hire system was a key pledge of the Mayor’s manifesto. Just over two years since his election Barclays Cycle Hire is now set to transform the way that people make short trips around central London.

Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week the Capital's newest form of public transport stretches from Notting Hill Gate to Wapping, and ... More »

LowCVP Challenge winners share £20,000

Grassroots community projects for low carbon transport are celebrated at a national awards ceremony hosted by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP).

The LowCVP and the Energy Saving Trust have announced the winners of the Community Challenge, a competition offering prizes of up to £5,000 for community-based projects promoting low carbon vehicles and fuels or smarter, sustainable travel. Seven innovative solutions to greener transport at community level are to share £20,000 prize money to support their work.

Meeting the winners at the LowCVP Annual Conference, LowCVP Managing Director, Greg Archer, said: "The winners are engaged in projects that not only help reduce road transport emissions, but also provide wider community benefits, such as employment and training opportunities for young people."

"We are delighted to recognise and support the achievement of community organisations across the UK in helping to accelerate the shift to low ... More »

First night flight for Solar Impulse

The first ever night-time flight in a solar plane was completed in Switzerland today. The 26 hour continual flight was also the longest in a purely solar powered aircraft, the Solar Impulse, and bettered the last record breaking flight by the Impulse completed in April 2010.

"For 7 years now, the whole team has been passionately working to achieve this first decisive step of the project" said Andre Borchberg, CEO and co-founder of the project, a few minutes before easing himself into the cockpit for a flight expected to last until the next morning.

The Impulse took off from Payerne airbase with Andre Borchberg at the controls. It rose to its maximum height of 8,700 meters by around 16:00 using its 12,000 solar panels and enormous 63.4 meter wing span. The 400kg of onboard batteries were fully charged to allow the plane to be ... More »

RAC Foundation: road pricing inevitable

A report published today by the RAC Foundation concludes that some form of 'pay as you go' road charging is inevitable in England if the country is to avoid traffic gridlock in the coming decades.

In the report, RAC Foundation director Professor Glaister has identified several problems that are certain to face road users and the government in the near future, not least is the fact that we seem to have a lack of vision for the future of the road network.

Population growth and economic recovery are very likely to occur; Professor Glaister predicts this to cause a 33% increase in traffic by 2025. This will undoubtedly lead to increased congestion and unreliable journey times, both for private and public transport.

Alongside these likely issues, there will be an imperative to meet carbon reduction targets from road transport, as well as a ... More »