Car Sharing

While having a mooch in Sheffield yesterday, I saw this car. It was parked near the University, and the old Jessop's hospital (and the Henderson's Relish place).

It was in a bay marked CAR CLUB.

There was a website address called WHIZZGO on the side of the car.

If you follow the website link you will find lots of information about this particular online car club, and see that Sheffield is one of several cities where they have cars which can be borrowed by the hour (or for longer periods)

This is a nice idea for those people who don't want the running costs of owning a car.

GeoSquishing

Keep an eye out for the summer competition that we are running at KES this summer.

It's called GEOSQUISHING.

Take a picture which looks as if you're squishing a landmark, building, landscape feature or geographical feature between either your fingers or two hands.

There is an e-mail address to send your digital images to.

The winner will have their image made into a mug or mouse mat.

Thanks to Emma J for the prize idea.

We look forward to your entries !

Bus Design Competition: A New Bus for London

Image from HERE.

London was famous for the Routemaster Bus.
It's the classic bus with the platform at the back with a spiral staircase to the upper deck, and the pole to hang onto as you jumped on and off, patrolled by a conductor who would spiral out a ticket with his (or her) machine. I remember on many occasions getting the night bus from Trafalgar Square back to Brixton and other boroughs...

Image by Flickr user metropilot, and made available under Creative Commons License

And then the Routemaster was removed from the routes - why ??
Apparently there were some issues with the design of the old bus... Do some RESEARCH on this.


Image by Flickr user Annie Mole, and made available under Creative Commons License

Now Boris Johnson, the new Mayor of London is keen to bring back the bus. He wants to phase out the 'bendy bus', and is keen to

This GUARDIAN article outlines the details.

The mayor said the Routemaster had been "fabulous" and its successor should seat at least 72 people and be "green" in terms of carbon dioxide emissions and red in colour.
More details in this BBC item too.

So head over to the COMPETITION WEBSITE, which is nicely designed: A NEW BUS FOR LONDON.
All the details and entry forms are available...

2 lessons to go...

OK. There are 2 lessons before the end of the year.
They are both in the computer room. You need to do the research for the first part of the magazine...

Next Friday you have an Army day...
Here's a movie on rising bollards...

Car Parking in London

Car Parking charges.

Hourly rate of parking:

Manchester £4.50
Liverpool £2.00
Central London: 20p an hour...

Why is parking in London so cheap, and how does this relate to the Congestion charge ?

Cycling Proficiency....

An excellent "Big Question" feature in 'The Independent', which looks at whether we are turning into a nation of cyclists.
There is a very useful graphic which shows the growth of cycling in London, but also points out the considerable gap that still exists between the average distance travelled by car compared to the bicycle.

Introduces an interesting idea of "liveability".

Also, starting this weekend is the world's greatest sporting event.

Sustainable Transport: the start of the next stage of the course...

Transport is defined as:
The MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE AND GOODS from one place to another.

Sustainability: What is the definition of this term ?

Put them together, and you get Sustainable Transport

So how would you define it ?

Is the car a sustainable form of transport ?

If not, why not ?

1. Research the following methods of transport:

a) Rickshaw - where have they been used, and which cities have they

b) Light Rail

c) Guided bus - this has been planned for North of Cambridge

d) Maglev - a short section of track has been laid in Shanghai between the airport and the city - how fast can it travel ?

e) Tram - the example of Sheffield and its SUPERTRAM network should be looked at - what other cities in the UK also have tram networks ? - produce a map to show those towns and cities which have introduced a tram network

f) Community bus - is there a local community bus scheme ? what is it called ? how does it work ?

g) Car pooling

h) Velib - bicycle hire scheme in Paris

Provide an example of an actual place where each of these have been used, and how successful the project has been (also try to identify any costs, and other issues involved in setting up the scheme)

The BUS is a more SUSTAINABLE form of transport. Why ?

2. Think through the various stages involved in taking a bus journey – try to account for every stage in the journey. Produce this in the form of a flow chart. I will get you started on this...

3. Now try to think of the different problems that could occur at each of the stages, which might put people off using the bus as a form of transport. Remember that not everyone is able bodied and has all their senses working 100%

4. Now try to come up with a solution to the problem that would encourage people to keep using the bus

Where do the following fit into this ?

· Heavy rainfall

· Bus full by the time it gets to your stop

· Electronic information boards

· Kneeling bus

· Bus shelters

· Oyster cards

· Pre-payment tickets