Looking at why and how VW committed the fraud is also an opportunity to examine practices related to environmental monitoring in the automotive industry and whether the reaction to the scandal is really likely to prevent another one from occurring.
Sechs Monate lang beschäftigte sich Student Reporter mit der Zukunft urbaner Mobilität in der Schweiz. Dabei entstanden Texte und Radiobeiträge, ein Film und eine Kunstintervention. Ein Rückblick – und Gedanken zum Thema Selbstbeschränkung.
While established companies don’t want to miss the next big thing, startups are looking for promising collaborations.
Studierende gehören zu den fleissigeren Benutzern öffentlicher Busse und Bahnen und sind gerne bereit, neue Mobilitätsangebote auszuprobieren. Aber sie scheinen relativ wenig Einfluss auf die Gestaltung dieser Angebote zu haben. Möglichkeiten, sich in die Diskussionen zur Zukunft der Mobilität einzubringen, bestehen jedoch durchaus. Wie kaum eine Generation zuvor geniessen heutige Studierende die Vorzüge von Mobilität, was ihnen bereits das Label „Generation Easyjet“ eingebracht hat. Doch nicht nur in den Ferien, auch im Alltag sind Studierende mit Fragen der Mobilität konfrontiert: Gehe ich mit dem Bus oder Tram zur Universität oder doch lieber mit dem Velo?
In the city of Cotonou, most drivers of the numerous motorbike taxis known as “Zémidjans” in the local language phon have a strange accessory to their uniforms: they wear sleeping masques (the kind one gets in planes) over their mouths.
It’s a regular Sunday afternoon in Monterrey. While most people are home with their families or enjoying the last days of summer inside their ranch houses–due to the nearly 40 degree heat–a handful have decided to do something “crazy”. At six in the afternoon, people start gathering at the local plaza, bringing along their bicycles, helmets, fluorescent clothes, and most importantly, their thirst for change. Despite the overwhelming heat, which makes it hard to breath, cyclists assemble, and thirty minutes later, they start their ride.
In Lithuania, entire lanes are reserved for electric cars, according to law. These are nearly always free: At the moment, according to the data published, out of Lithuania’s just over 2 million vehicles, a grand total of 12 are electric, and the lanes are occupied by public transport.
DETROIT, US – How does a bankrupt city with a declining population and dwindling public finances provide transportation for its residents? Detroit’s answer to that question has increasingly been to leverage private investments and entrepreneurial ideas. A few of these entrepreneurial ideas are homegrown. Nearly six years ago local investors developed the M1 Rail concept, the city’s first-ever light rail. The $140 million project, funded almost entirely by private investment, breaks ground later this month and will start operations in the late 2015.
Flashy ultra-modern generators of large-scale employment and big government contracts, urban rail projects have long been the darlings of ribbon-cutting, crony-friendly politicians. However, as the Brazilian city of Curitiba and the visionary planning of architect-turned-politician Jamie Lerner demonstrate, sound planning combined with creative deployment of public transport’s humble workhorse—the bus—can have tremendous impact. Leadership in a particular industry or sector does not depend on superior access to resources or greater depth of experience. “The two things you really need are a breakthrough idea and persistence”, says an emphatic Leny Toniolo, advisor at Curitiba’s Environmental Secretary, who met with me at Athletes’ Park during the Rio+20 summit in June. Athlete’s Park Curitiba exhibition booth, Riocentro; Source: Student Reporter. The populations of major urban centers in the developing world have been increasing at an accelerating rate. Brazil is no exception. As populations grow, so does the need to move people into and out of cities.
I have been sitting on an air conditioned bus over an hour, enjoying ocean vistas on my left and thickly forested mountain jungles on my right. Huge black rock cliffs soar out of thick green vegetation into low-roaming misty clouds. Bikini-clad, Brazilian-waxed Brazilians sun or jog along the beach. It’s the most beautiful traffic jam ever. I barely notice that I am going nowhere.