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Can rationing carbon help fight climate change?

Frank Swain

February 17, 2020 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Australia, Norfolk Island

As countries wrestle with how to reduce their carbon emissions, grassroots carbon rationing experiments are taking shape around the word. On an Australian Island of 800 people, a quarter of them participated in a test that calculated their carbon footprints with a goal of reducing their fossil fuel use by 10 percent. The average household reduced their usage by 18 percent and almost two-thirds of participants wanted to continue. Other experiments in Finland and the United Kingdom have taken place, yet some question if carbon rationing is equitable.

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Mountain Towns Face Big-City Traffic. Maybe It's Time for Big-City Transit.

Jake Bullinger

January 31, 2020 |

Bitterroot |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Park City, Utah

With rural areas and mountain towns increasingly facing traffic issues during peak outdoor season or other temporary population growth periods, some have modeled responses after urban transit plans. Park City, the host of the Sundance Film Festival offers free buses throughout the weekend to cut back on commuter traffic; other towns have planned shuttle services between towns and dedicated e-bike routes to reduce car usage in their communities.

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Making Yellow School Buses a Little More Green

Ellen Rosen

January 22, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Public school districts are gradually transitioning to electric buses. Electric utilities, concerned about environmental impacts and overloading the grid, are helping to cover the high price tag.

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Can new bus lines chart a course to better travel options in the West?

Carl Segerstrom

January 09, 2020 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Spokane, Washington

Private bus companies are beginning to offer an alternative method of transportation in the American West. As younger travelers seek to reduce their carbon footprint, companies like Flixbus are stepping in where rail connections are still lacking. Especially when compared to flying or owning a car, buses offer a carbon-efficient form of travel over long distances. Companies like Flixbus also offer convenience, meeting travelers on university campuses.

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To safeguard their future, Pacific Islanders look to the past

Maria Gallucci

January 07, 2020 |

Grist |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Micronesia, Yap

Canoes have long been used to navigate the seas, but navigators in the state of Yap in Micronesia are making modifications to the practice to make it more efficient and climate-thinking forward. The canoes, which run on biodiesel produced from coconuts and come equipped with solar panels, are helping to fill a gap for providing resources to isolated communites and also help decrease the complete reliance on trans-ocean freighters.

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Cities Struggle to Boost Ridership With ‘Uber for Transit' Schemes

Flavie Halais

January 02, 2020 |

Wired |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: China, Shanghai

Data-driven transport can improve access and efficiency if properly implemented. In Shanghai, China, users benefit from customized bus routes designed by artificial intelligence software. Other countries, however, have discontinued pilots of programs similar to the one implemented in China. Elsewhere, in Innisfil, Ontario, a different kind of program helps to fill the gap in public transport--namely, subsidized Uber rides.

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Papua New Guinea's Meri Seif Bus Program Provides Safe Transport to Women and Girls

Alexandra Christy

January 01, 2020 |

Stanford Social Innovation Review |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby

A public transportation system just for women has been developed in New Guinea in response to the extreme harassment that women face. Launched in 2014, the program called "Meri Seif (“Woman Safe”) now serves 170,000 female riders annually and has more than 10 buses. The program is still growing, as more buses get donated, but women already praise the program for increasing their sense of safety.

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A tale of two metros: how the London tube beat the New York subway

John Surico

December 16, 2019 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Though they started at similar points, the London Underground has become one of the most successful models of public transportation, while the New York Metro has declared a state of crisis. The reason? The London Underground learned from early financial and marketing failures and took advantage of financial incentives in expanding business into the transportation industry by renewing old infrastructure.

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Why Kansas City's Free Transit Experiment Matters

Laura Bliss

December 13, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the first major U.S. city to offer free bus rides city-wide, hoping to expand access and boost the local economy. The city emulates free public transportation plans around the world, which have seen success - and struggles - with increasing equity and economic stimulation through no-cost transportation plans.

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The Case for Portland-to-Vancouver High-Speed Rail

Gregory Scruggs

December 04, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

In an age of congestion and bumper-to-bumper traffic along the Pacific Northwest I-5 corridor, Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, BC look to the success of high-speed trains in Europe for inspiration. The international phenomenon of cross-country bullet trains - some reaching up to 250mph - has reduced transport time and competes with short-term flights that expend massive amounts of fuel. Now, the Pacific Northwest cities discuss plans to overhaul their current lagging transportation in exchange for a new high-speed railway.

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