Northeast Greenland Begins Ominous Collapse — Giant Zachariae Isstrom Most Recent to Destabilize

robertscribbler : "In total, more than 4.5 billion tons of ice is now estimated to be flooding out from this glacier and into the ocean each year. That’s a mountain of ice about 4.5 cubic kilometers in size hitting the world’s waters from just this single glacier every time the Earth completes one circuit around the sun. In other words, Greenland just opened a new floodgate to the North Atlantic. Researchers publishing the study estimate that it will take between 20 and 30 years for the glacier to melt back to an underwater ridge line that should somewhat slow its melt. But the real news here is that a human-forced warming of the globe has set a monstrous pile of ice, once thought stable, into a motion that will result in yet more global sea level rise."

Transporte público gratuito acaba com isolamento de residentes

Visão: "O Azulinho serve as povoações de Alcântara, em Lisboa, que não tinham acesso a transportes públicos. Os idosos da freguesia são os principais beneficiados"

Ban Private Cars in London | Reclaim the streets for people who cycle and walk

link : "Private cars are not only unsustainable in terms of space , congestion and pollution but restrict the free movement of those wanting to use cleaner, healthier and kinder means of transport. Pollution is killing 9,400 per year, inactivity kills 1 in 6 and 1 in 20 has diabetes. It is vital that we re-allocate road space to active travel to address these public health crises."

#Autosprawl eating up 73 hectares a day in Germany

Resilience: "In Germany alone urban sprawl gobbles up 73 hectares every day, much of it due to traffic. In 2013, the total area consumed for traffic had already reached 224 m2 per person which, compared to the 46 m2 for housing, is quite a lot. Globally there is an increasing competition on land and soil between industrial infrastructure sprawl including traffic, food production, climate-relevant forests, energy plants and natural habitats. The projected growth of car production and usage would take this competition to an unprecedented level with severe consequences e.g. for food production. Not to mention the gigantic new infrastructures and masses of natural resources and land that would be required to produce, place and host the renewable energy facilities for powering such global electric car-fleets. Finally, renewable energies are end-products of highly industrialized and CO2-intensive processes and far from being unlimited. This prospect is already frightening enough; what if a large percentage of this car-invasion were still powered by petrol or, just as bad, biofuels?"

Portugal moves to halt privatisation of public transport

The Economic Times: "LISBON: Portugal's new left-wing, anti-austerity government announced late Friday it was moving to halt the privatisation of transport systems in Lisbon and Porto, a measure introduced by its right-wing predecessor. "

Scam for #COP21: carbon trading with forest sequestration. Already proven not to work. But can be profitable.

REDD-Monitor : "The word “oil” does not appear in the draft text. Nor does “coal”. Fossil fuels don’t get a mention. Meanwhile “forest” appears 25 times, and “deforestation” 3 times. REDD gets 19 mentions."

So-called "sustainable development" is export of pollution covered by an accounting trick

George Monbiot Guardian: "Here’s how the false accounting works. It takes the raw materials we extract in our own countries, adds them to our imports of stuff from other countries, then subtracts our exports, to end up with something called “domestic material consumption”. But by measuring only the products shifted from one nation to another, rather than the raw materials needed to create those products, it greatly underestimates the total use of resources by the rich nations."

Madrid waits for emergency to make buses free

Guardian: "Madrid’s emergency plans also include increased (and free) public transport. "



'via Blog this'

Les transports publics bientôt gratuits à Niort

Connexion Transport Territoires: "La Communauté d’agglomération du niortais (CAN) a voté fin octobre la mise en place de la gratuité totale de son réseau de transport urbain en 2017. Cette phase d’expérimentation durera un an. "

Exemplul Tallin: Cum transportul public gratuit a devenit un succes de invidiat

Independent: "Transportul public în comun necesită de la an la an tot mai multe investiții din bugetul municipal. Astfel de afirmaţii le putem auzi de la oficiali municipali, în ajunul fiecărei noi scumpiri de bilete în toata Europa, inclusiv la noi.

Dar, în lume există şi altfel de exemple. În ultimii ani, în Europa devine din ce în ce mai popular sistemul de transport public gratuit. Peste o sută de oraşe din UE au renunţat la plata pentru transportul public – parțial sau total, scrie eurointegration.com. Majoritatea acestora sunt orășele mici, dar există şi o excepție – capitala Estoniei – Tallin.

De trei ani locuitorii Tallinului beneficiază de transportul public în comun gratuit."

COP21 good place to sell cars

caradisiac : "L'alliance Renault Nissan, très portée sur l'électrique depuis 2009, profite de cette grande vitrine médiatique mondiale pour fournir 200 voitures 100 % électriques (Renault Zoé, Nissan Leaf et Nissan e-NV200), lesquelles devraient parcourir 400 000 km pendant la manifestation. Ces véhicules seront disponibles 24h/24 et serviront à acheminer les officiels entre le site du Bourget, où se tiendra la manifestation, et la capitale."

Austria among the crowd of nations ready to slaughter people for oil and gas

gov.krd : "The Austrian Parliamentary Delegation expressed their hope that the international community would provide additional assistance in order to ease the burden on the Kurdistan Regional Government."

#COP21 in France will be more false promises, but we are not helpless

Leaders of world capitalism have been promising big things to address climate change for over 20 years. There has been no progress at all. There will be more big promises coming soon. The problem is, they want to fix capitalism with more capitalism. Do you really think a carbon tax will work? They will never agree on the terms, and there will be a massive bureaucracy of loopholes. And, don't forget, a carbon tax must be global to work.

The human race needs rapid de-growth now. Right now. There are some hopeful signs. Birth rates are dropping in many places. We need to speed that up.

If we make buses free and make cars unnecessary in towns and cities, people will urbanize. When people do that, they learn that having more children does not bring in more food. They will put more effort into education. Education means even faster drop of birth rate.

Free public transport will also reduce the demand for oil, which will reduce its political power, a power currently being used to defame and massacre Muslims.

Madrid's Bold New Pollution Plan Would Ban Cars and Make Transit Free

CityLab: "The city of Madrid is poised to enact some of the toughest anti-pollution laws in the world. When air quality drops beneath a new threshold, Spain’s capital will banish half the city’s cars from inner Madrid and introduce strict speed limits on the beltway. In an unusual spirit of municipal largesse, it will also make public transit entirely free to use for the day. Laboring under a reputation as one of Europe’s most congested, polluted capitals, Madrid could finally be about to clean up its act."

Cars choking medical care

Debate over hospital parking charges for carers - BBC News: "The level of charges varies between hospital NHS trusts, but the average cost in England is £39 per week and in London it can be about £130 per week.
Labour MP Julie Cooper, who introduced the bill, says the charges are an "unfair burden" on carers.
She says she has cross-party support, but the government has not yet said whether it will back it.
The exemption would apply to NHS hospitals, walk-in centres, GP practices and private hospitals."

Resistanz ek Alternativ Advocates For Free Public Transport For All

islandcrisis : "The group explains that public transport is already free to 75 % of those who have resort to it. The employers could have a fund for the money they give to the employees in terms of the transport allocations. The State would then finance the rest via the surplus obtained by the Central Electricity Board, or via taxes paid for fuel. Such suggests Resistanz ek Alternativ; they believe that free public transport for all would reduce traffic jam as more people would be encouraged to take to buses, and at the same time, pollution would also be curbed."

TRANSPORTS PUBLICS URBAINS: Textes sur la gratuité

carfree.fr: "Comme le disait Albert Jacquard, en fait les automobilistes devraient remercier chaque jour les usagers des transports en commun pour toute la place qu’ils libèrent dans les rues et qui leur permet de ne pas être bloqués en permanence dans les embouteillages. En l’occurrence, ce remerciement des automobilistes devrait passer en toute logique par le financement des transports en commun par ces mêmes automobilistes."

Godfrey Farrugia says road toll, free public transport would ease traffic congestion

The Malta Independent: "The culture of 1 car per person, problems with infrastructure and poor planning are all contributing towards heavy traffic flow, Dr Farrugia said.

He said that expecting the comforts of having one's car right outside the front door is no longer tenable.

Logistics is something the ministry for transport is without a doubt focusing on, said Dr Farrugia. The institute of climate change and of Malta said that in order to avoid traffic the first thing we must address is the issue of reliability of public transport. "

Oslo aims to make city center car-free within four years

Yahoo News: "OSLO (Reuters) - Cars will be banned from central Oslo by 2019 to help reduce pollution, local politicians said on Monday, in what they said would be the first comprehensive and permanent ban for a European capital."

Free public transport proposal garners support

MaltaToday : "A proposal for the provision of free public transport services during peak hours has garnered more support. The Malta Developers Association are amongst those who voiced their agreement with providing free public transport during 6am and 9am and between 3.30am and 6pm."

Time to study option of free public transport during peak hours

MaltaToday : "As the country continues to face increasingly high congestion costs, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said it was time to study the option of providing free public transport services during peak hours."

The case for free public transport (German)

DIE LINKE : "PLAN B konkret: Nulltarif im öffentlichen Nahverkehr
Unter dem Begriff Nulltarif verstehen wir ein Konzept, bei dem alle Menschen, ob Einwohner der Kommune oder Gäste, den öffentlichen Personennahverkehr (ÖPNV) voraussetzungslos nutzen können – ohne Fahrschein oder andere Formen der zu erwerbenden oder zu beantragenden Zugangsberechtigung. Auch wenn der Begriff oft anders verstanden wird: Wir verbinden damit ausdrücklich keine bestimmte Finanzierungsform, ob rein über Steuern oder auch mit Beiträgen. »Nulltarif« bringt vor allem zum Ausdruck, dass zur Nutzung des ÖPNV keine Tariftabellen mehr zu beachten sind. Es gilt einfach nur »Bitte "

Dublin City Council plans car-free zone in city centre

BBC News: "Dublin City Council has proposed that cars be banned from key streets in a radical transport plan to make the city more cycle and pedestrian friendly."

Trasporto pubblico gratuito

Will urban garden in Colombes, France be replaced by a parking lot?

carfree.fr: La vie sans voiture(s): "A Colombes, dans les Hauts de Seine, le béton remplacera-t-il un projet d’agriculture urbaine modèle ? C’est ce que craint un collectif d’habitants engagés dans ce projet où se mêle recyclage, maraichage, jardins partagés, toilettes sèches. Cet espace au pied des tours propose une autre perspective de la ville, plus démocratique et écologique, et suscité l’intérêt de municipalités comme Séoul ou Montréal. Qu’importe, la mairie lui préfère la construction d’un parking temporaire. Visite guidée par Patrick Laroche, citoyen indigné.

Would free bus transport for kids solve our traffic woes?

MaltaToday : "In 2013 the city of Tallinn in Estonia became the first capital to introduce free public transport for all residents. The reasons were several, including guaranteeing mobility for unemployed and low-income residents, stimulating economic activity, and decreasing the modal share of private motorised transport.
Sustainablecities.eu claims that car traffic in Tallinn decreased by about 15% while the city expects increased tax income of €1 million per 1,000 newly registered inhabitants – an income that will almost compensate for the loss of income from tickets."

Dubrovnik to Start Charging Cars for Entering the City Centre

Total Croatia News: "Starting from the beginning of the next tourist season, Dubrovnik will introduce a stricter regime of traffic control around the city centre, which includes charging for stays over one hour, confirmed the Dubrovnik mayor Andro Vlahušić, reports Tportal on September 28, 2015."

Réponses aux sceptiques de la gratuité des transports publics urbains

carfree.fr : "Quand on parle de gratuité des transports publics urbains, très souvent les mêmes questions ou critiques reviennent de la part des sceptiques ou des opposants. Le Collectif pour la gratuité des transports publics dans l’agglomération grenobloise a eu la bonne idée de regrouper les principales questions que l’on entend habituellement."

Avesta, Sweden saving 40 tonnes per year of CO2 with #freetransit

We tested the"Fare free public buses in AvestaIn 2012 Avesta introduced fare free public transport (buses) within the...

Posted by Free Public Transport on Friday, September 18, 2015

Free public transport on Tuesday

Cyprus Mail: "PUBLIC transport will be free for all on Tuesday, September 22, the ministry of transport announced on Friday. The ministry’s intention is to promote the use of buses within the framework of the European mobility week which lasts from September 16-23."

Labour MP calls for free public transport

MaltaToday : "Labour MP Marlene Farrugia called for free public transport which she said is “a disaster and getting worse.”
Reacting to MaltaToday’s survey which showed that traffic is the top concern of the Maltese, Farrugia said “public transport in Malta should be punctual, efficient, adequately routed and FREE.”"

Slovakia debates #freetransit

Interesting: the debate on free trains in Slovakia!

Posted by Free Public Transport on Friday, September 11, 2015

Cars, free parking, choking Cambridge

Cambridge News: "Free parking for Cambridge commuters should be phased out – and new transport hubs linked by express buses should be introduced to solve Cambridge's congestion chaos, says a major new campaign group.

The campaign spearheaded by Edward Leigh along with the Cambridge Cycling Campaign launched their overarching vision for solving the city's transport problems with a packed public meeting this week."

Paris to Ban Cars for a Day

Truthdig: "In an attempt to encourage more sustainable transport and raise awareness of high levels of pollution that the city suffers from, Paris will go car-free for one day next month. On Sept. 27, a Sunday, the Journée Sans Voiture, or Day Without Cars, will turn the French capital into “a pedestrian and bicycle paradise” free from traffic congestion, automotive noise pollution and vehicle emissions."

Dublin did well without cars in the past

thejournal : "Up until the 1920s the main mode of public transportation around the city was its tramways.
Ther service came into existence in 1865 and, according to Moving Through Modernity: Space and Geography in Modernism, was considered “one of the most impressive in the world” by 1904.
On the old system, Dublin had pretty comprehensive coverage."

UK cuts buses, because destroying the biosphere brings more profits, and poor people don't matter

The Guardian: "Last week the IPPR thinktank published a report focused on bus travel that was full of sobering findings. In 2013-14, there were more bus passenger journeys in London than in the rest of England combined. Between 2009 and 2014 councils’ spending on local-transport services fell by 19.7%. In the past year Cumbria has cut its bus subsidies by 44%; in Herefordshire they have been reduced by 39%; and in Dorset by 24%. As the cuts bite a story of disappearing services is blurring out of rural areas into the suburbs, as evidenced by growing controversy in built-up areas of Hampshire and Surrey."

Scotland selling car-free tourism

MNN: "A new guide, part of the Transform Scotland initiative, gives tourists all the information that they need to see the most popular attractions without having to drive at all. Dubbed “Car-Free Tourism,” the site focuses on 24 attractions and activities. Each has its own profile page with all the information needed to get there and back without a car."

Privatization not serving the public well in Scotland #publictransit

Daily Record: "The latest figures show that there are 425 million bus journeys and 86 million rail journeys each year in Scotland, demonstrating why public transport is such an important issue to people.

...Public services cannot be dictated by the amount of dividend that goes into the bank account of the company shareholders.

Margaret Thatcher sold off our bus services to be run by private companies in the 1980s. Thirty years later it’s time for Scotland’s politicians to re-regulate our bus services and hand them over to local control."

Second week of #freetransit in Athens means less money exported for petrol.

ekathimerini.com: "Alternate Minister for Transport Christos Spritzis on Monday extended for another week free public transportation in the Attica region, his ministry announced.

Buses, trolley buses, the Athens metro, tram and ISAP electric railway will be free through July 10, Spritzis said, extending a measure introduced last week to help commuters feeling the squeeze from capital controls."

Swiss cut public transport prices amid ozone spike

focus-fen.net: "Geneva. Regional authorities in Switzerland temporarily cut bus and train fares Saturday to encourage people to leave their cars at home, as a scorching heatwave sent ozone pollution levels soaring, AFP reported.
In Geneva, all public transportation was available at reduced rates, the regional environment department said, adding that the lower prices would continue until the ozone levels were back to normal."

Fortnight of free public transport for children -- Ireland

independent : "Holders of child Leap cards will be entitled to free travel on Dublin Bus, Luas, DART, short-hop commuter rail in Dublin and Bus Eireann city services in Dublin and surrounding counties, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.
A number of private operators will also provide free travel in Wexford and Ashbourne, among other areas."

Dublin to make city centre car free, aims for 15 per cent cycling share

road.cc: "Dublin City Council is aiming to ban cars from much of the centre of the Irish capital and is also aiming for cycling to account for 15 per cent of journeys there by 2017."

Capitalists panicked over falling birth rate in Germany -- #degrowth

Catholic Online: "LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The average number of births per 1,000 populations dropped to 8.2 over the five years from 2008 to 2013, a study by the World Economy Institute in Hamburg (HWWI) found. Even Japan did slightly better birthrate at 8.4.

"No other industrial country is deteriorating at this speed despite the strong influx of young migrant workers. Germany cannot continue to be a dynamic business hub in the long-run without a strong jobs market," the institute warns.
"

Save on health costs, give up cars

Switching to public transport or cycling/walking to get to work might help shed the pounds: "Switching from a car to walking, cycling, or public transport was associated with a statistically significant average reduction in BMI of 0.32 kg/m2 after taking account of other influential factors—equivalent to a difference of around 1 kg a person, on average.
The longer the commute, the stronger was the association, with a reduction in BMI of 0.75 kg/m2 (equivalent to a weight loss of around 2 kg) associated with journeys of more than 10 minutes, and 2.25 kg/m2 associated with journeys of more than 30 minutes—equivalent to weight loss of around 7 kg, on average."

POLLUTION: Calls for free public transport after today's warnings

Ashford Herald: "With levels of pollution in the South East set to be dangerously high today, a politician has called for public transport across the area to be made free for the day.

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England, is calling for the move in cities and towns today to combat the very extreme levels of air pollution being caused by the warm weather, traffic fumes, pollution from the continent and dust from the Sahara."

7 Cities That Are Starting To Go Car-Free

Co.Exist: "After over a hundred years of living with cars, some cities are slowly starting to realize that the automobile doesn't make a lot of sense in the urban context. It isn't just the smog or the traffic deaths; in a city, cars aren't even a convenient way to get around."

​Green MEP calls for day of ‘free public transport’ to combat air pollution

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Isle of Wight News: "Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England, is calling for public transport across South East England to be made free within cities and towns today (Friday) to combat the very extreme levels of air pollution that is expected across the region."

Germans want fewer cars in built-up areas, more public transport

DW.DE | 30.03.2015: "The results of Germany's biennial environment survey have been released. It found that the vast majority of Germans want town planners to shift their focus from private car transport to more eco-friendly options."

Free public transport discussion resumes in Berlin. #freetransit #peakoil #climate

Post by Free Public Transport.

Paris pollution brings traffic curb, free public transport, 22 March 2015

turkishweekly : "The municipality also said that public transportation would be free on Sunday and Monday."

Prague to reduce transportation costs

The Voice of Prague: "Prague, Feb. 17 (ČTK) — Prague will lower the price of the annual public transport pass from 4,750 Kč to 3,650 Kč as from July, while parents with children under three years and dogs will travel free of charge, the Prague councilors decided today, and a well-informed source confirmed to the Czech News Agency.

Other types of fares will not change."

7 Cities That Are Starting To Go Car-Free

Co.Exist : "After over a hundred years of living with cars, some cities are slowly starting to realize that the automobile doesn't make a lot of sense in the urban context. It isn't just the smog or the traffic deaths; in a city, cars aren't even a convenient way to get around."

Two-day protest campaign begins against increase in public transportation fares in Riga, Latvia

Baltic-course.com : "A two-day protest campaign against the increase in public transportation fares in Riga takes place on February 1 and 2, according to the ''Facebook'' page of the group ''Pret Rigas domes cenu paaugstinasanu Rigas sabiedriskaja transporta" (Against Riga City Council's fare increase for Riga public transportation), cites LETA."

When it comes to cars, the sprawl trolls "care" about poor people

post-automobile-world : "Yet even as the proposals were praised by public health officials, they raised questions about whether the Socialist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is catering to the interests of elite city dwellers who dislike traffic over the needs of lower-income Parisians — people who live on the edges of the city and whose cars probably would not pass stricter environmental controls.

“The language chosen by the mayor of Paris to talk about her antipollution plans has the air of being more of a war against automobile owners rather than an ecological battle for the capital,”wrote Le Figaro, a right-leaning newspaper."

Grenoble bans street ads, to replace billboards with trees

A post-automobile world?: "The French city of Grenoble will become the first in Europe to remove all commercial advertising from its streets, with the city’s Green mayor promising to replace the signs and billboards with trees and community noticeboards.

“The municipality is taking the choice of freeing public space in Grenoble from advertising to develop areas for public expression,” the office of Grenoble mayor, Eric Piolle, is cited by The Local news website."

#CharlieHebdo "attack" was a #falseflag to split Muslims. More info coming out every day.

Turkish MP says #charliehebdo #ParisShooting was staged http://t.co/g784qQgCqW pic.twitter.com/QNBtwGqKxj

— David Shayler (@Gods_Spy) January 10, 2015

Romanians use public transport and walk rather than drive

Romania-Insider : "A recent Eurobarometer survey reveals that only 40% of Romanians use cars most often as a means of transportation on a typical day, below the EU28 average of 54%. Romanians are among the top three in the EU for using public transport and walking as means of daily transport."

Passengers angered by further cuts to region’s public transport

Yorkshire Post: "PASSENGERS HAVE reacted with anger to cuts to South Yorkshire’s transport budget which include scrapping paper timetables and the closure of travel information centres as dozens of jobs are set to be axed.

The latest round of savings measures imposed by the transport executive which oversees services in Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster has put 50 jobs under threat – sending staffing levels plummeting to almost half of what they were four years ago."