Envirofuel - Promoting sustainable mobility

The Victorian Minister for Transport, Lynne Kosky, has rescinded the ban on bikes travelling on trains during Melbourne’s peak hour. In addition to lifting the ban there will be improvements made to ease bicycle commuter’s use of trains.

Filed under: Human power, Public transport, Rants, Trains | Tagged: Bin the Bike Ban, MetLink | 1 Comment »

For those of you interested in electric motors for bicycles the BionX system is an option. The rear hub mounted system is controlled by the rider and uses a strain gauge to enable the motor to provide a number of preset levels of assistance on top of the effort being expended by the rider. Depending on which model you buy the assistance can be anywhere from 25 to 300 percent.

Filed under: Electricity, Human power | Tagged: BionX, Greenspeed, electric bicycle | No Comments »

Two separate articles today quoting VFACTS figures may be of interest. Bicycles outsold cars in Australia yet again and diesel and hybrid new car sales are on the rise.

Filed under: Cars, Human power | Tagged: bicycle, Hybrid, diesel | No Comments »

The New Zealand has published a discussion paper on sustainable transport. In the paper they outline a number of targets for improving the sustainability of New Zealand transport and are now seeking responses. Read the full article for a summary of the proposed targets.

Filed under: Alternative fuel, Biodiesel, Biofuel, Ethanol, Fuel economy, Greenhouse gas, Human power, Marine, Natural gas, Public transport, Trains, Trucks | Tagged: New Zealand, sustainable transport, targets | No Comments »

As a wonderful New Years gift for the Melbourne cycling commuter the Victorian Government has banned bicycles from trains traveling through Zone 1 that arrive in Melbourne between 7am and 9am and depart Melbourne between 4pm and 7pm!

Filed under: Human power, Public transport, Rants, Trains | Tagged: bicycle, commuting | 9 Comments »

French design company Matra MS have launched their MS1 human-electric hybrid bicycle at Paris Mondial 2007. The MS1 is the start of a line of high-performance electric bicycles and electric quadricyles will mark Matra MS’ entry into this new sector.

Filed under: Alternative fuel, Electricity, Human power, Hybrid, Motorcycles | 2 Comments »

Did you know that by walking to the corner store instead of driving, Australian and UK residents could save millions of metric tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) per year?

Filed under: Cars, Greenhouse gas, Human power | 2 Comments »

icycle Victoria and Melbourne City Council have been working together on a project to install bicycle parking pods in two Melbourne CBD office buildings. The first bike pod will be installed in underground car park of the NAB site at 500 Bourke Street in about mid February 2008.

Filed under: Human power, Projects | No Comments »

Schwinn have released three new electric assisted bicycles. The amount of electric assistance is controlled by a throttle on the handlebar and the motor alone can reportedly propel the bike at 28km/h. The range from the easily removable lithium-ion battery on the rear rack is stated to be approximately 100km per charge, depending on wind, terrain and load. The battery takes 4 hours to recharge.

Filed under: Electricity, Human power | 49 Comments »

The Official Google Australia blog says that Google Australia has an active self-powered commuting scheme. This scheme sees Google employees rewarded for traveling to work by public transport or self-powered means (such as bike, skateboard or walking) with a $100 donation to their chosen charity for every 20 days of participation.

Filed under: Human power, Public transport | No Comments »