A friend went to Japan last year and came back with tales of rough treatment on the public transport. ‘Yeah, well you try the London Underground’, was my reply. And I continued to think I was right, until I saw this video. With 80 per cent of the country uninhabited, its 130 million-odd residents are crammed into a handful of major urban centres, making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. So the lack of tact when encouraging people to fill all empty spaces is hardly surprising.

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Swiss manufacturer Peraves has recently introduced the Monotracer, a two-wheeled vehicle that’s remarkably similar to the lightcycles in Tron. Buckminster Fuller would be proud.

Skateboarding has always been a group activity, friends coming together to skate, hang out and show off tricks. Tomorrow at the worldwide Wild in the Streets event, skaters come out from the woodwork to skate with friends and take back the streets.

With rising fuel prices dominating the news and affecting every level of the global economy, some solutions to fuel-efficient transport aren’t necessarily hi-tech ones. Many draw on older technology that until now was nearly obsolete. Germany has recently been producing airships again, which could soon be ferrying people around Europe and even to farther-off destinations. The slow-moving zeppelins are still as fast as high-speed trains, and in addition to low fuel consumption and low flight altitudes, very little new infrastructure has to be built to accommodate them. Let’s just hope they don’t still fill them with hydrogen.

Strida’s Mini Folding Bicycle is the first completely new bicycle geometry in 95 years. Inside a triangular frame of lightweight aluminum, power is transferred to the rear wheels via a silent clean Kevlar belt. Handlebars are mounted horizontally, so the rider can sit comfortably upright with an excellent view of the road. The genius of the triangular frame is that it can fold. In five seconds, you have a light, compact form that you can easily wheel before you, stow in a closet, load in your car or take on the train. With no external grease or oil to soil your clothes, Strida makes daily commuting fun and practical. Now, instead of being snarled up in traffic, you can ride wherever you want, then fold up your transport and take it with you.

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