Major US City chooses free public transportation

Lawmakers in Kansas City, Missouri took a "visionary step" on Thursday by unanimously voting to make public transportation in the city free of charge, setting the stage for it to be the first major U.S. city to have free public transit.

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/07/kansas-city-missouri-approves-free-public-transit-for-all_partner/ 

UK Green Party wants to scrap plans for new roads, use cash for free bus travel for all

The [UK] Green party wants to scrap the Conservatives’ £6.5bn plans for new roads and will instead use the cash to fund free bus travel for all.

https://farefreenz.blogspot.com/2019/10/uk-green-party-wants-to-scrap-plans-for.html

如果日本無法獲得燃料，台灣可以嗎？

Saudi #Aramco has notified #Japan's top oil distributor about a potential change in shipments, stoking concerns about the kingdom's ability to supply crude following attacks on its major refineries a week ago, Nikkei learned Saturday #OOTT https://t.co/2RgRdr09Mz

— Alexandra Allio De Corato (@Allio_De_Corato) September 21, 2019

減少花在汽油上的錢

台灣應該擔心能源供應，而不是向美國提供更多的軍事武器。
城市公交車應該是免費的。 台灣應停止出口汽油。

浪費錢

美国国防部星期一说，美国国务院已批准可能向台湾出售M1A2T艾布拉姆斯主战坦克、毒刺式导弹及相关设备的方案。这笔军售案估计价值为22亿美元。

https://www.voachinese.com/a/us-taiwan-arms-tanks-20190709/4992231.html

22億美元可以為台灣做些什麼？
比挑起戰爭更好的事情要做.

日本的大雨

由於日本的洪水，有100萬人不得不離開家園。

A list of advantages of making urban buses fare-free

列舉免費公車的優點

Proposal for fare-free public transport in Auckland NZ

A list of advantages:

•   Dramatic reduction, or end, of traffic congestion.

•   Substantial reduction in traffic related pollution levels and greenhouse gas emissions.

•   Substantial reduction in road accidents, deaths and injuries.

•   Huge reduction in health costs related to traffic congestion and pollution: respiratory conditions, hospital admissions due to road accidents, stress related illnesses etc

•   Cut noise pollution

·      Reduction in polluted run-off water from roads into waterways & harbours

•   Reduction in ‘road rage’ incidents

•   Big reduction in fuel usage, waste and costs

•   Reduction in insurance claims and costs.

•   The finances and mobility of low-income people will be greatly improved, giving greater access to jobs, health facilities etc by removing cost constraints and coupled with better services.

·      Enhanced accessibility and increased frequency of services will benefit disabled citizens.

•   Reduce the number of school children currently being dropped off and picked up at school gates by car.

•   Greatly reduced costs in road maintenance due to less wear and tear.

•   Businesses able to cut their fleets of cars and thereby substantially reduce costs.

•   Inner city building owners & developers will not need to assign so much valuable space to car parking

•   Taxi services may be required less - surplus taxi drivers can be offered jobs as bus and tram operators or rail or ferry staff.

•   A big reduction in the massive amount of time and productivity potential lost stuck in traffic each day. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/gridlocked-aucklanders-spend-20-extra-working-days-year-stuck-in-traffic-study

•   Increased health and fitness with encouragement and confidence due to safer walking & cycling opportunities.

•   End assaults on bus drivers who will no longer carry cash boxes.

•   Faster boarding times and an end to constant delays as passengers one-by-one fumble for change or cards or ID, ask directions and receive tickets etc.

·      End the constant diversion and stress for drivers over ticket sales and monitoring ‘fare dodging’.

•   Emergency vehicles will be able to get through without traffic congestion problems.

•   The increased number of buses & trains will be available to be quickly seconded to rapidly evacuate large numbers of the population in event of an major earthquake or other civil emergency and reduce the likelihood of impassable chaos experienced in New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina and Rita floods, where all interstate highways were clogged in total gridlock for 24 hours, resulting in almost as many deaths as the hurricanes inflicted.

•   Abolish expensive ticketing and fare handling systems – fares only comprise a modest percentage of current income for public transport but impose an enormous (unnecessary) cost.

•   End all problems of ‘fare dodging’ and ‘over-riding’ and disputes over fares. No need for teams of ticket inspectors & punitive measures.

·      Bus & tram operators can focus on safe driving without being concerned with fare collecting and protecting a cash box.

•   Public ownership & control will reinforce PT as a vital civic service focused solely on the mobility needs of the public.

•   As the city becomes far more user-friendly, socially interactive, mobile and genuinely ‘liveable’ – rates are likely to fall.

•   The new innovative free transit system is likely to become a major tourist draw-card – think of Melbourne and its popular trams. Tallinn promotes it’s green ‘fare-free capital of Europe’ as a unique and successful tourist attraction.

•   Auckland could become a world-leading ‘clean-green liveable city’ renowned for transforming chronic traffic chaos into sensible urban mobility.

https://farefreenz.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-big-idea-thats-too-big-forauckland.html

守護台灣最後500隻石虎的棲地

因裕隆公司提出申請，三義二廠開發案的環評程序目前暫緩中；但裕隆尚未放棄開發這片森林。希望各位朋友能持續關心，同時幫忙分享給親朋好友，讓更多人一起關注石虎保育。當本案或石虎保育有其他重要發展時，我們會透過email向各位報告，屆時也請大家繼續為石虎挺身而出喔！

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/ct/tw_leopardcat_yulon/?

Increasing efficiency makes things worse, not better, for #climate

...Taking this global perspective with respect to the economy, efficiency gains will do the exact opposite of what efficiency policy advocates claim it will do. If technological changes allow global energy productivity or energy efficiency to increase, then civilization will grow faster into the resources that sustain it. This grows the economy, but it also means that energy consumption and CO2 emissions accelerate.

CO2 emissions can be stabilized despite efficiency gains. But this is possible only if decarbonization occurs as quickly as energy consumption grows. At today’s consumption growth rates, this would require roughly one new nuclear power plant, or equivalent in renewables, to be deployed each day.

http://nephologue.blogspot.com/2018/09/is-increasing-energy-efficiency-driving.html

10,000 in Okinawa rally to oppose US military base

米軍普天間飛行場（沖縄県宜野湾市）の名護市辺野古への県内移設断念を求める沖縄県民大会が16日、那覇市の新都心公園であり、主催者発表で約１万人が参加しました。オリジナル版は→https://t.co/P4PSOj6KFH pic.twitter.com/qfyEaTcP6w

— 毎日新聞映像グループ (@eizo_desk) March 16, 2019

Racist sex tourist gets a beating

Tourist gropes Thia Women in Public and this is what happens...

Think twice before you "Grab em by the p*ssy" pic.twitter.com/tkjG8pgYoK

— StanceGrounded (@_SJPeace_) June 7, 2018

On Feb 28, 1947, the US-backed ROC massacred 20 or 30 thousand Taiwan people

The 228 Incident/Massacre, (二二八事件), is an event in Taiwan’s history that is not commonly known; the exact number of victims remain a mystery other than that tens of thousands suffered. What is known is that it was a conflict between the incoming ROC government and the inhabitants of Taiwan. Although many have heard of the bloody incident in recent years, it remains controversial. Click here for a basic overview of the entire incident. Here are 10 facts that you should know about 228:

https://oftaiwan.org/2015/02/27/walking-through-228-10-facts-about-228/

Rice crop already affected by #climatechange

Rice presently is the source of 25% of the all global calories. However, the impact of climate change on rice crops is already being felt.
Increasing temperatures and torrential monsoons are transforming India, which is the largest rice exporter in the world.
Meanwhile Thailand, the second largest rice exporter of the world, is facing rising sea levels, and so is Vietnam. In these countries, almost half of all rice crops are produced in low-lying conditions.
The Philippines is suffering from rising average temperatures and frequent droughts, and 89% of the people here rely on rice as their main food source.
Almost 40% of the world’s population has no alternative to rice, but if the climate change is not tackled soon, they will little to no option for survival.

https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2019/02/24/climate-change-rice-crops-heading-towards-collapse

氣候變化

So far this summer Japan 🇯🇵 has suffered from an record flooding and a record heat. Now a record cyclone!

Frightening footage as Cyclone Jebi hits Japan... this is how #climatechange looks, feels and kills! #PrayForJapan #WeDontHaveTime

Credit: https://t.co/zb1JpWSjG6 pic.twitter.com/OB7zaNhf3H

— We Don't Have Time (@WeDontHaveTime0) September 4, 2018

Every week there are 6 scooter related deaths of people between the ages of 15 to 24

In the past 10 years, 35,000 people in Taiwan have died in traffic accidents, over 3 million have received injuries, 400,000 of which were severe. It is estimated that the total cost of these accidents including medical expenses is around 15 billion USD, equivalent to 3.17 percent of annual GDP. This is also the same cost for the construction of an entire high speed rail line.
....Although scooter riders enjoy low costs, that is only because the costs of externalities such as causing pollution, endangering safety, emitting noise, and health related expenses have not been internalized. Scooter riders are currently only paying 1/3 of the price they should be paying.

https://e-info.org.tw/node/215638

Bike Share in Taipei

https://taipei.youbike.com.tw/home