Mega Commutes ~ US Regional Movements...

Data from 130 million commuters reveal US ‘megaregions’...

"Previously megaregions have been typically identified by an interpretative method that links large metropolitan regions through similar environmental and infrastructure systems, economic links and cultural similarities. These approaches are often based on a ‘best guess’ kind of approach, and do not rely on the analysis of large datasets. Now Dr Alasdair Rae and his co-author Dr Garrett Nelson have developed an empirical approach to identify megaregions using a dataset of more than 4 million ‘commuter flows’ involving the travel to work patterns of 130 million Americans."

Hoverboard ~ Mini Self-Balancing Scooter!

Misleadingly-named self-balancing scooter is booming sales!

Hybrid Airships ~ Lockheed's Latest Lift Vehicle...

The Telegraph's Alan Tovey writes of renewed interest old idea...

"US defence group Lockheed Martin has developed a “hybrid” airship which does not need mooring towers or runways, enabling companies to operate more easily in remote areas. [...] The hybrids are “heavier than air” machines, meaning the helium they carry is not enough to lift the craft’s entire weight when loaded. The gas provides 80pc of the lift required, with the remainder being generated as the airship -- which is shaped like an aerofoil -- is driven forward by its propellers. The engines rotate so their thrust can be directed to give extra lift, meaning the hybrid airship can also take off vertically when not fully loaded."

This is fantastic for both the reasons Lockheed spells out in their video -- i.e. military, mining, construction, etc -- but also as an alternative form of ferry for crossing rivers, bays, and lakes, plus can provide new ways of moving people in cities! Here's how "hybrid" fits in...

Ninebot ~ Nextgen Personal Transport Vehicles...

NextBigFuture reports that startup Ninebot with smartphone giant Xiaomi backing buys Segway for alternative transportation unification. They're already shipping the One... (Of course, anyone paying attention would have seen this coming for the last six years or more)

Detroit People Mover ~ Downtown Light Railway...

Business Insider spots the -- alas empty -- Detroit People Mover...

Bullet Train @ 50 ~ Japan's Stunning Speed Lead

Joanna Symons from the Telegraph spotlights 50 Years of the Bullet Train in Japan!

"Fifty years ago this October [...] Japan’s first Shinkansen, or bullet train, slid out of Tokyo station and gathered speeds of up to 130mph en route for Osaka, heralding a new age of high-speed rail. The Japanese were well ahead of the game. It was 13 years before Italy followed suit, then France with the TGV. But although high-speed trains now glide across hills and plains from Spain to China, Japan’s futuristic-looking bullet train retains an aura that our grime-caked intercity expresses can never capture. [...] Unlike Concorde, the trains have an almost unblemished safety record. Despite Japan’s vulnerability to typhoons and earthquakes, not one of the 10 billion passengers who have used the service since its launch has died as a result of a derailment or collision. [...] Thank you to the bullet train pioneers. They may have been motivated by a need to link Japan’s cities, just as the champions of HS2 are now. But they should be given an award for tourism: these great train routes provide the best possible way to explore this extraordinary country."

Expanding MBTA ~ Boston's Metro System Anime

MapPorn spots Vanshnookenraggen's lovely timelapse anime of Boston's MBTA's expansion rendered in modern map format!

Roll-Up Scooter ~ George Mabey's A4 Design!

The DM's Sarah Griffiths spots George Mabey's roll-up scooter!

"Fold-up scooters are a popular way to get around town quickly, but they're often bulky and awkward to carry. Now there’s a new design of scooter that's so tiny, it folds up to the size of an A4 piece of paper. A university student created the award-winning scooter by linking pieces of aluminium with a cable, which when tightened, pull them together to support an adult’s weight."

Rush Hour Tips ~ Dutch Train Platform Display!

Dutch trainco's demonstrate cool Rush Hour Tips display...

"Where will the train stop? Where can I find an empty seat? Where can I board with my bike? NS and ProRail wanted to improve the transfer process at station platforms: more comfortable, faster and safer. The result of an extensive research and ideation process was a 180 meter long LED strip suspended above the platform showing travellers everything they need to prepare for the next incoming train. Most importantly: using red, orange and green color bands it indicates the occupancy of the different parts of the train. A 3 month pilot at Den Bosch train station proved to be very successful: customers gave NS a significantly higher valuation at the end of the trial period than before. Plans for a nation-wide rollout of the system are at an advanced stage."

Cycling Groningen ~ Hembrow Spots Streetfilm!

David Hembrow shares his latest View From The Cycle Path by spotting (and being featured in) the new Streetfilm on Groningen: The World's Cycling City. Hembrow notes especially that...

"Groningen was a leader in redesigning itself as a "cycling city" but all other Dutch cities followed similar policies. To achieve the same success as the Dutch have it is necessary to copy from the best examples and don't do anything just because it's "Dutch". It won't work to just try to pick one aspect of what makes cycling work in the Netherlands. The comprehensive network of routes which allow cycling journeys to be direct and subjectively safe requires everything that has been done here."

P.S. As a bonus, David Hembrow just shared another Streetfilm from the Cycling Groningen creator Clarence Eckerson Jr, this time showing elements of Hembrow's cycling study tour and nice details about new real estate developments in Assen, Netherlands...

Country of Cities ~ Chakrabarti's Urban Manifesto

Thanks to UrbanCincy's Randy Simes for spotting Vishaan Chakrabarti's A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America!

“The suburbs are largely a creation of “big government,” an explicitly, policy-driven, subsidized scheme that has guided how we live, work, and play,” Chakrabarti explains. “One of the fundamental premises of the book is not whether people should live in the suburbs or not; I believe in free choice. The question is whether they should be paid to do it.”

Sesame Ring ~ "One Ring To (Ride) Them All"

Nice design by Singapore-MIT team for Sesame Ring, an RFID replacement for the Charlie Card to access public transit (and in principle, much more!) This "One Ring To (Ride) Them All" is now Kickstarting! (See also Jenny Xie's nice writeup in Atlantic Cities)

Hong Kong Tramrides ~ Flow in the Intense City!

More recent Hong Kong tramrides, first westbound by day... And then eastbound by night...

Wireless Tramways ~ Alstom's APS Power...

Alstom's APS in-ground power enables wireless tramways... Here operating in beautiful Bordeaux... And the plan for Dubai...

Honda U3-X ~ Amazing Proto Robochairs...

I'm still wondering when Honda will ship their amazing robochair, the U3-X first unveiled in 2009...

Trains in NL ~ KoploperMau's Giga-Compilation!

I can't watch enough Dutch trains! Check out KoploperMau's vid's!

Plotting History ~ Longterm Human Trendlines...

Lisa Wade spotlights a History of American Energy Use... Arnulf Grüblera, Nebojša Nakićenovića, and David Victor plot the Dynamics of energy technologies and global change...

Transportation Trustbuster ~ WSJ on Uber Leader

WSJournal's Andy Kessler interviews Travis Kalanick, the Transportation Trustbuster and co-founder of Uber, the disruptive limo service that's sticking it to the taxi cartels by providing quality private driver transit experiences...

"Uber launched as an iPhone app in June 2010. The cars that iPhone users summon are typically town cars owned by a limousine company but not on a call. Instead of idly waiting for work, the nearest available driver answers the app call. Other cars are simply privately owned vehicles whose drivers have been vetted by Uber. The idea worked. How could Mr. Kalanick tell? Four months after the launch in San Francisco, Uber was served with a "cease and desist" order from the California Public Utility Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. "Given my background," Mr. Kalanick says, alluding to being sued at Scour.com, "this was like homecoming." He verified with his lawyers that what Uber was doing was indeed legal, then the company took its case to the public through Twitter and email. [...] there's been so much corruption and so much cronyism in the taxi industry and so much regulatory capture that if you ask for permission upfront for something that's already legal, you'll never get it."

Read the rest. Fantastic!

FastJet ~ Low-Cost African Air Carrier Delivers...

Fascinating to read Jaco Maritz's piece in How We Made It In Africa on $20 for an air ticket? How African low-cost carrier fastjet does it...

"Africa’s new low-cost airline fastjet, backed by easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, officially started operations in Tanzania in November last year. The airline is owned by London-listed fastjet Plc, which was born when UK-based pan-African investment group Lonrho spun off its aviation business. [...] Fastjet’s aim is to bring true low-cost air travel to the African continent. According to the company, its rates start at as low as 20 US dollars plus taxes for those who book far enough in advance. [...] The airline currently only operates flights in Tanzania, although new routes to Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar have been announced on the company’s website. Fastjet could soon also enter the South African market."

Also, last year, Femi Adewunmi wrote Africa the last frontier for aviation industry, says easyJet founder...

"This is another small but significant step in bringing the dream of low-cost air travel to millions of people in Africa -- the aviation industry’s last frontier,” commented the easyJet founder. “Past experience shows by halving fares, a successful low-cost carrier can encourage those people, who have never previously travelled by air, to fly. For Africa, with its densely populated cities separated by great distances -- this means a potential new market of millions.”

Yes, indeed! Plus, see FastJet's new African Grey branding.

Chicago Forward ~ Gabe Klein on Friendly Cities

I'm now sitting at Media Lab listening to DUSP guest speaker Gabe Klein, the Chicago DOT Commissioner speak on Chicago Forward: Building a User-Friendly City. The soft-start to the talk is this lovely Cities for Cycling Streetfilm... Chicago's an amazing transit hub with four Class One railroads, a dual-hub airport, bike net -- but it's also "bottleneck city" with congestion, safety issues, and lots of fat people and kids. Klein was previously a bike business manager, then with Zipcar, then food truck business, and then DC's transport guy (including helping roll out Capital Bikeshare). Very interesting transitions!  In DC, he helped steer bikelanes down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue!

Among the compelling trends he spotlights are the share economy, digital public ways, robust multimodal hubs, far more public/private combinations, and more. Chicago Forward is his city's action agenda embracing Safe Transit (including the issue of automatic traffic enforcement, safety zones, and the unbelievable "freedom-to-kill" drivers currently have today over pedestrians and bicyclists), Rebuilding & Renewing, Layers of Options, Complete Streets, and more.