Profile | Eran Segev

Hey Shaina - this could strengthen both of our projects :-) I'm looking into it as well, can't really tell how serious the obstacles are at this point. There will always be those who gain and those who lose from something like this, and I hope there are more of the former. But we have to keep in mind the non-personalized gains as well - the indirect benefits to the city, its image, its vibrancy, its air, and the overall environment. Those are very hard to quantify, but without them we are nothing. We need to fight for them.

Hehe, the audio blogs are supposed to be around 30 seconds or less... not nearly enogh to start talking about walking/biking in Paris, let alone compare to Boston :-) In short, there's much more walking and biking in the French capital than I see in Boston, although we have in my opinion an excellent walking culture. I do not bike regularly myself, but I think Boston is much more pedestrian- than bike-friendly. That may change if and when the bike rental station system is implemented and accomodated seriously by the city. In Paris, it seemed like you couldn't turn a corner without running into those rental bikes in action - almost any time of day. They say they want to learn from the experiences of Paris and other cities, and improve on those experiences in Boston. I hope they can do that.

Yeah, that's a bit part of it, but it's a two-pronged approach. One is the added attractiveness of walking when you see the streets filled with more people. The second is the 'incentive' offered here in the form the increased awareness of walking, the activity of carrying around and filling out the passport, the positive feedback mechanism that people get when they go out and walk/bike a bit more (i.e. endorphins!) and the rewards one can win. I think both of these can appeal to current as well as potential walkers. And all of these aspects are important. I mean, who wants to walk down deserted streets? Or down streets dominated by car traffic? I certianly do not.