Last week, a bloomberg article elaborated on the talks between Siemens and Bombardier Transportation for a merger, or as it turns out, a joint venture. Allegedly, the two companies want to form two joint ventures: a) Combining the rolling stock business under the leadership of Bombardier; b) Combining the signaling business under Siemens. What it … Continue reading Consolidation goes in in Railway Rolling Stock Manufacturers
Challenges of City Logistics
When talking about traffic flows, congestion, transport planning, public transport and its respective optimization, we too often tend to focus on the aspect of the transport of people. As we know, space for transport axis may need to be shared with more and more transport demand in sprawling cities and sub-urban areas. A significant part … Continue reading Challenges of City Logistics
Impact of driverless cars on traffic
I just watched this TED talk again and had to reconsider what possible impacts of driverless cars are on the city of the future. Hope it also encourages you to think beyond the next 5 years, from the perspective of the city as a living organism. https://embed.ted.com/talks/wanis_kabbaj_what_a_driverless_world_could_look_like
The effect on overusage of glass on cities
Over the weekend I saw a fascinating TED talk about the usage of glass in modern cities. Justing Davidson elaborates what he thinks is the effect of glass as a main fassade building material used in urban areas nowadays. He points out that other materials, from stone, brick walls, up to copper have strong advantages … Continue reading The effect on overusage of glass on cities
A homage to the micro scooter
With the summer at our door step, long weekends and even longer days, I want to pay homage to a travel companion I have enjoyed now for quite some time: The micro scooter. I probably got my first micro scooter, or kick-scooter around 2002 when it first became very popular in Switzerland. Ever since, it … Continue reading A homage to the micro scooter
Why the US is overpaying for Rolling Stock
As a child, I instantly recognized the difference between trains in the US and Europe. The rolling stock in the USA stood out due to their bad condition, their perceived age and their perceived inconvenience for passengers. It seemed to me, that the trains there are at least 15-20 years older then comparable counterparts in … Continue reading Why the US is overpaying for Rolling Stock
Envisioning the shanty town of the future
I just red this interesting article about marginalized communities in the mega cities of the futures. While the article shows stunning visualizations prepared by Olalekan Jeyifous, he also points towards an issue that is often overlooked: In urban planning, the focus usually is on industry and high quality/high wealth residential areas - other aspects of … Continue reading Envisioning the shanty town of the future
Mapping out the future of Railways in Africa
When reading (and also ordering) the map on the future of railways in SEA (see also Mapping out the future of railways in Southeast Asia ) made by James Clark, I was keen to do something similar for Africa. With the rise of Chinese Investments in Africa, more projects which seemed to be once very visionary have … Continue reading Mapping out the future of Railways in Africa
The Fernbus is not a competition for the train, it is enriching the market
Recently, I took my first long haul bus connection in Western Europe and was positively surprised. As I am sitting now in a ÖBB Railjet, heading from Austria towards Switzerland, I am reflecting on that experience, the pros and cons and what it could mean for the rail bound mass transportation. Due to timing and, … Continue reading The Fernbus is not a competition for the train, it is enriching the market
Abolish minimum parking space requirements to create walkable cities
In a recent article by the Economist , the authors put a focus on what is potentially a major design and policy flaw in current cities in the western hemisphere, and at some point also at other places. As a kid, visiting various US cities, I was always surprised to not experience what I know … Continue reading Abolish minimum parking space requirements to create walkable cities
mobilistics 