What’s that little shelter by the front gate of VSU? It’s the last physical remnant of the Valdosta Street Railway, an early 20th century streetcar system, when Valdosta was the smallest city in the country to have one. Valdosta had 5,613 people in 1900, about twice as many as present-day Hahira.
Dean Poling described the origins of Valdosta’s streetcars in Valdosta Scene 26 February 2010:
Continue readingYou do know that Valdosta was the smallest city in the U.S. that had a streetcar system, right? Here’s a movie about what probably happened to it, like all the others, followed by a movie about another mode of transportation: bicycles.
“Taken for a Ride” and “Pedal Power!” screening
Public Event · By Valdosta State University Social Issues in Film Series
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
7:00pm
VSU University Center room 1171
DOUBLE-HEADER!“Taken for a Ride” focuses on the Great American Streetcar Scandal (or Conspiracy), in which major US companies deliberately bought-up and dismantled the public light-rail streetcar lines in dozens of American cities. The guilty companies? General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil, Phillips Petroleum, and Mack Trucks—all companies that wanted to replace the public streetcars with buses and then private cars.
“Pedal Power!” is an inside look at the world’s growing cycling movement and how bikes are pushing-up against a dominant car culture in North America. From Critical Mass bike rides and “bike-to-work” programs, to increasingly popular “public bike” programs, bicycles are becoming an ever-important component of cities.
Co-sponsored with the Valdosta Community Cycling Center.
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What’s got sixty wheels and rides in a pack?
Critical Mass,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 September 2010:
Critical Mass is a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists’ legal right to the roads in Valdosta.
Natasha Fast explains it: Continue reading
Paris, Montreal, and DC do it.
London does it.
How they do it
can be applied stateside.
Georgia Tech is spinning off a startup to make it even easier to implement bike-on-demand networks.
Here’s the mayor of London on a bike-share bicycle:
Let’s see a video of the mayor of Valdosta on a bike-share bicycle. Riding with the president of VSU.
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I keep hearing VSU students say “I don’t have a bike here”.
There’s a solution for that, as Didi Tang writes in USA Today,
Bike-sharing programs spin across U.S. campuses:
Shelenhamer, 20, is one of a number of students across the USA taking advantage of free or low-cost bike sharing programs, which have become increasingly popular. Drury students agreed to pay a $20-a-year sustainability fee, which funds the bike program. The Springfield, Mo., school purchased 40 new bikes for use by students in time for the fall semester.That was at Drury University. Similar programs are available elsewhere. Continue reading“It’s helped me so much,” Shelenhamer said. “It’s been fun.”
Critical Mass is riding again this Friday, September 24,
starting from the Bleu Pub downtown.
The gathering starts at 6pm, followed by a 30 minute ride at 6:30pm.It has been happening in Valdosta since July 2009:Help raise awareness for the need of bike lanes and improved bicycler safety in Valdosta. Come and experience Valdosta in a new way- on a bike ride through the city with a few dozen friends!
All level-riders welcome and encouraged to participate.
Coming from VSU? Meet us at the Student Union at 5:50pm, a group will leave from the Student Union at 6pm and head to the Bleu Pub starting point downtown.
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