Posted on Wednesday August 19th by Jebediah Reed | 817
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- “Ever since the U.S. began to shift commercial shipping from rail to truck (in the 1920s) we’ve faced gridlock and pollution.” But, wait, an electric delivery truck is now available. It can carry 16,000 lbs with a range of 100 miles. (BNET)
- Yonah Freemark has created an index ranking individual Senators on how well they’ve supported progressive transportation spending. The rankings break along party lines, with most Dems scoring high. John McCain, by contrast, rated a “0 out of 10.” (Transport Politic)
- Greater Greater Washington deals with the canard that advocates for walkable, transit-oriented communities “hate cars” or want to ban them entirely. No, the point is to allow for regional growth without increasing the total number of cars on the road. (GGW)
- The question of bicycle infrastructure is starting to get some serious attention in the US — not only in DC, NYC and Portland, but even in places like Orange County. But will the US ever suffer Copenhagen-style “bicycle pollution”? At very least, not for a while. (Slate)
- The NY Times offers a quirky survey of US drinking fountains, including drawings from local artists. In Westwood Park in LA, for instance, there is a fountain where the water is “lukewarm with a sour mineral taste.” Even on a summer afternoon, no one drinks from it. (NYT)
- The developer of a fancy new 19-story residential building in Manhattan is trying something wildly and inventively luxurious for those folks who don’t get enough of that stuff. Parking your car inside your high-rise apartment. No, really. Two more pics after the jump. (Arch Record)
200 Eleventh Ave in Manhattan — “residents will drive through a gate and into a lift, which will take them to the private garage attached to their apartments.” It is designed by Selldorf (images via):
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August 19th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I bet the gimmick will get old fast when the residents realize how long they have to wait for the car lift.
August 19th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Sky garages aside, Anabelle Selldorf rocks.
August 19th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I think the idea behind the sky garage is that some people have collectible vehicles they wish to show off. Not that they would use them as everyday transit. If it makes people move downtown who wouldn’t typically do it, then I don’t think it’s a bad idea.
August 19th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I think that garage thing is cool, but it seems like a waste of an outside wall.
August 19th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
this is for people who cant be further than 15 feet from their car at all time. problem is these people avoid manhattan altogether.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Re: the electric delivery truck. There were actually quite a few electric delivery trucks around before World War I. There was some hope among the electric vehicle advocates of the time that “separate spheres” for internal combustion and electric vehicles would emerge. Between cities, cars would replace the railroads, primarily, but inside cities, electric trucks could replace the horse-carts that did most of the moving around of goods.
For more on that, check out the work of David Kirsch and Gijs Mom for more. I posted the doc to Scribd with a little analysis on my site: http://www.greentechhistory.com/2009/08/the-electric-trucks-first-heyday-%e2%80%94-1900-1925/
August 20th, 2009 at 10:40 am
In Vienna, the trolleys carry freight after hours. Electric delivery has a lot of potential if done right.
August 24th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
“…commercial shipping from rail to truck…” That statement prefacing one about electric delivery vehicles begs the question, “Did a train really deliver packages to my ancestors’ doorstep?”