Tag: transport

Dodge Ram – A Review

what a car

The specs for the Dodge Ram 2500 speak for themselves: it has a 5.7 litre V8 engine, weighs almost 2.5 tonnes, the length is almost eight meters, it’s red. Driving a car like this is a quintessential American experience and one that has been the subject of a great deal of my rhetoric since arriving in the USA.

Luckily a recent trip to Lake Tahoe necessitated a car with enough space for five passengers and a few pairs of skis. When the local rental car agent offered a Dodge Ram, I jumped at the opportunity. Continue reading Dodge Ram – A Review

Campaign: Ride like you walk!

I ride a lot.  When I ride for fun,  I wear sports clothes, avoid the city, and go fast.

I also ride to get to places, and when I do, I wear the clothes I want to wear at my destination.  Sometimes this means I’m riding in jeans, sometimes I’m wearing a suit, sometimes boardshorts and thongs (i.e. flip-flops).

And when I’m riding in my suit, people go past me.   I want to tell them it’s not a race, I’m not playing your game, I’m not even trying.  But they looks so smug.

Continue reading Campaign: Ride like you walk!

Flaky Myki

Even though the Metcard is probably the last functional vestige of the public transport system, it is to be severed. Its replacement is a malformed, grossly over-priced, hideous new appendage.

Maybe I’m being a bit unfair. I don’t know if the new system will work or not. But I have my doubts… Continue reading Flaky Myki

The price of anarchy / The magic of roundabouts

Anarchy comes with a price.  Lawyers, economists and political scientists believe this.  This is what drives the congresses and senates and cabinets and presidents to make laws.

Continue reading The price of anarchy / The magic of roundabouts

A long, green Big Apple

I was not browsing the Christian Science Monitor the other day.  I did not find the following article on it:

http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2009/09/16/green-metropolis/

(Ok, ok.  I was, I did, and then I lied about it. I’m sorry.  Hush now.)

It’s an article about how New York City is environmentally friendly. Continue reading A long, green Big Apple

Unsafe is Safe?

On a public thoroughfare in Ossterwolde, Northern Holland, Hans Monderman “tucks his hands behind his back and begins to walk into the square – backward – straight into traffic, without being able to see oncoming vehicles”.  

Who is this crazed man?  What happens next?   Continue reading Unsafe is Safe?

With great power comes great responsibility

Riding a bike in the city is like being a superhero. Faster than a speeding bullet, the cyclist runs red lights, pops up on the pavement, goes on the wrong side of the road, rides between the tram tracks and scoots past cars in the gutter. We have total freedom and maximum convenience. With our moral righteousness, high speeds and vigilante contempt for the strictures of society, our 21-speeds feel like the batmobile. Continue reading With great power comes great responsibility