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Paris launches electric car rental scheme

14 Oct 2011

Building upon the success of Paris's popular Velib bike rental scheme, and by extension our Boris Bikes scheme, the City of Lights could soon become the City of Electric Cars.

An innovative new electric car rental scheme has recently launched in France's capital. Known as Autolib (short for 'automobile' and 'liberte'), a fleet of electric bubble-shaped 'Bluecars' have been deployed in Paris's streets.

Parisian Mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, came up with the idea, and it now represents the world's first operational public electric vehicle hire initiative. He believes it to be a solution to urban mobility whilst tackling the issue of localised air pollutants in the urban environment.

The scheme is currently in its two month testing phase, and involves 66 vehicles across 10 locations. Plans are in place to provide an additional 250 electric vehicles by December this year, and to introduce a ... More »

New Boeing 787 Dreamliner reduces fuel use by 20%

28 Sep 2011

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has finally become reality as the first delivery is made to Japanese company All Nippon Airways (ANA), although 3 years behind schedule.

The Boeing 787 is a medium-sized commercial transport aeroplane – the first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction, resulting in significant weight reduction and improvements to efficiency.

These are certainly a new generation of planes for Boeing, proving to be a considerable breakthrough in design due to the extent of light-weighting created through more than 50% of the entire aircraft's weight being made from carbon fibre.

Boeing says that the carbon fibre design is responsible for cutting fuel consumption by 20%, a significant amount when considering a typical flight's usage. ANA predict that the Dreamliner will be able to travel 52% further than a metal-framed Boeing 767, whilst using far less fuel. ... More »

Traffic fumes can trigger heart attacks

21 Sep 2011

A new report published in the British Medical Journal concludes that some traffic emissions can significantly increase the risk of a heart attack for up to six hours.

The report identifies particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NOx) as being the most harmful pollutants, both which are expelled by vehicles and contribute significantly to urban air pollution.

The study does say that the risk of exposure to these pollutants actually triggering a heart attack is small – a 1.3% risk increase up to 6 hours after exposure. The author's predict that breathing in enough of these substances can bring forward a heart attack by several hours, if it was destined to happen anyway. Scientists call this the 'harvesting' effect of pollution.

However, the number of heart attacks was seen to fall to an average or lower level after the 6 hour period.

... More »

Rail fares to rise by 8% in January

16 Sep 2011

Passengers travelling on trains in England will face an average rise in rail fares of 8% from January 2012, following inflation figures released in August.

The Government argues that the above inflation figures are necessary to help fund extensive rail improvements that are planned for the coming few years.

The Office for National Statistics announced in July that the present Retail Price Index (RPI) remained at 5%, but the Government announced that rail prices will rise by the RPI plus 3% until 2014, meaning a steep price increase for passengers. It has been suggested that some season tickets could be raised by a further 5%.

The Labour party said that the announcement would be a huge additional burden to families, in an already difficult financial climate; they called for a re-think. However, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said that the increase was essential if ... More »

More city mayors to control transport policy

29 Aug 2011

Under new plans to spark economic growth, UK cities are to be given more control over decisions such as transport investment and policy – according to a new joint report from the Institute for Government and Centre for Cities.

The report outlines how mayors have the potential to make a positive impact on managing the way in which our cities grow. It suggests that mayoral input needs to be stronger and more powerful, with particular regard to planning and transport.

The minister for cities, Greg Clark, wishes to change the law in order to allow a pioneering group of eight core cities to be able to set their own policies without consent from central government. The idea is to extend London's current set up to eight other cities, allowing their mayors to have similar power to Boris Johnson's position in the capital. The eight cities ... More »

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