We're happy to announce a new version of the Ride the City iPhone app. And to make the news even better, we've reduced the price of the app to just $1.99!

So we actually started working on this update during the summer of 2011, and although it's taken some time, we think you'll be happy with the new features. Here they are:

The Alliance for Biking & Walking has released a 242-page document: Bicycling and Walking in the U.S.: 2012 Benchmarking Report. It looks to be packed with tons of great data and figures.

After having listened to Obama's State of the Union speech last night, the part of the report that jumps out to me is that bicycling and walking projects create more jobs than highway projects. In their words, "Bicycling and walking projects create 11-14 jobs per $1 million spent, compared to just 7 jobs created per $1 million spent on highway projects." I didn't have time to read through so let me just share a few of the many great visuals:

We launched Ride the City - Chicago about three years ago. A lot has happened since then and Ride the City has changed quite a bit, too. Well, we're coming back to Chicago now to focus on the map to make it better. We're looking for people to help.

If you live in Chicago or know it well, consider spending an hour to improve the map in any part of the city you know well. We're looking to add missing bike lanes, bike paths, bicycle/pedestrian bridges, and so forth.

Image from the Central Park Conservancy

Ready to take in the New Year on a bike? If you're not looking for a quiet evening, Time's Up! is hosting their 12th Annual New Year's Eve Ride and outdoor after party this Saturday. Their tips: dress festive, bring noise makers/party favors and food & drink to share. The main meeting place is Washington Square Park, under the arch, at 10PM.

Here is a link to help route you to Washington Square Park.

So there are only a couple weeks left before Christmas...agh! Here's a quick pitch to encourage you to consider shopping at Etsy this holiday season. Etsy is basically an online marketplace that brings together artisans to help them sell their crafts. Or in their own words:

Our mission is to empower people to change the way the global economy works. We see a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy, local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience. We are bringing heart to commerce and making the world more fair, more sustainable, and more fun.

Cities attract people with visual impairments for a variety of reasons, for one thing cities are often less auto-dependent than their suburban or rural counterparts. Because they tend to offer more mass transit options, more paratransit options, and friendlier pedestrian environments, cities allow the blind or visually impaired to function independently without having to be driven everywhere. Sadly though, many blind people are unable to partake in one of city life's great pleasures: bicycling. A young non-profit is looking to change that, however. 

Here comes REI. The large outdoor equipment and clothing coop with over 3.5 million members, listed as on of FORTUNE Magazine's "100 Best Companies To Work For", is moving into NYC, opening on December 2.

The store will be located inside the beautiful Puck Building on Lafayette St, just south of Houston St (and only two blocks from Bicycle Habitat, one of our favorite bike shops in the world).

Image from NYC Bike Share

In mid-20th century urban America, whites emigrated en masse from racially mixed inner-cities to racially homogenous suburbs. According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, this white flight from cities occurred abruptly once the African American share of the population in each city reached a critical level, perhaps 20%. Very little white emigration took place while African Americans made up less than 20% of a city's population. However, once the percentage of African Americans reached 20%, massive white emigration occurred suddenly. Gladwell calls situations like these -- where significant change occurs precipitously when a particular condition is met -- tipping points. 

Yesterday, NYC DOT launched a new program to install benches on sidewalks throughout the five boroughs. We applaud the City because we believe that improvements for pedestrians are also good for bicyclists--the new CityBench Program responds to the growing trend that recognizes that cities need to provide better support to the various modes of transport: walking, bicycling, bus, and train, as well as cars.

(Image from DOT via Gothamist)

ESPAÑOL

Image from La Vida Es Loca

In the United States, there’s an easy way to find out how cities rank on the scale of bicycle friendliness. The League of American Bicyclists ranks cities and publishes a bicycle friendly community list. As far as we can tell, there isn’t a similar community in Latin America, so we don’t really know how each city compares, which is something something that is really needed (anyone?). Nevertheless, we know that some cities in Latin America promote cycling and bicycle culture much better than others. One city that’s recognized by everyone is Bogotá, which has more than 180 miles of bike paths (ciclorutas) that connect most parts of the city and Ciclovía, Bogota’s car-free Sundays that celebrate bicycling, walking and streetlife that inspired NYC’s Summer Streets. (Although Bogotá has a great bicycle network, currently there’s a lack of the political will to support bicycle culture. With mayoral elections approaching at the end of October, we hope the new mayor gives bicycling more importance.)

For these reasons, it gives us great pleasure today to launch Ride the City – Bogotá. Ride the City is a bike routing service created to help bicyclists find an easy way to ride from one part of the city to another. With Ride the City – Bogotá, Colombians now have one more tool to help themselves travel around the city sustainably and healthfully.