The Sundance Channel's Big Ideas For A Small Planet is back. The eco-solutions show tidily takes on an issue - like, say Fuel or Drive in episodes from last year's season - and finds three "Big Ideas" to discuss in a half-hour. Sometimes, the episodes are paired with a longer documentary, such as with the series opening Crude Awakening.

For season two, the format of the show remains the same. The next episode, Transport, covers topics we're all in love with here on AutoblogGreen: how to get around in a more sustainable fashion. The breezy mood of Big Ideas makes the problems seem so darn solvable, which I think is a good thing. We all know congestion, global warming, dirty emissions and high fuel prices are a pain in the rear - is it that bad to take ten minutes to imaging how great it would be to live in a bike-friendly city?

This brings us to Transport. The show's idea number one is greener public transportation, which focuses on the efforts of New York City. City planners are working on making better bus lanes (with lights that can hold off a red light to allow an approaching bus through), installing more bike lanes with better bike parking at subway stations, and implementing congestion pricing for cars. The NYC plan to charge $8 per car is still in the works, having received City Council approval in April. One of NYC's greening efforts that not many people know about is how sustainable the garage where New York's subway cars are repaired and cleaned is - rain water is collected to be used to wash the cars, much work is done using natural lighting and there is, for a reason not explained in the show, a fuel cell. Segment one also tells us that there are 500 miles of bike lanes in NYC, and another 100 are on deck for the near future. But the real Bike City USA is Portland, Oregon. Read on after the break.

I've been a biker ever since my college days. I've used a bike to commute through Michigan (and northern Japanese) winters, hot times in Georgia and up steep residential streets in Hawai'i. But I've never biked in a place as bike-friendly as Portland, Oregon. I've only spent a few days there, but damn if that city doesn't put a premium on encouraging two-wheeled, human-powered transportation.

Still, whenever bikes and cars share the road, accidents are likely - and bikers almost always suffer for it. Following six bicycle deaths on city roads last year, new "bike boxes" will be added to 14 busy Portland intersections, according to The Oregonian. These boxes are common in Europe, but Portland is likely to be the first place in the U.S. to use them. The blue-painted areas are intended to give bikers a place to rest in front of automobiles at traffic lights and prevent accidents due to "right hooks" (where cars turning right hit a biker using the right side of the road). Cars will also be prevented from making right turns on red. The boxes make a lot of sense when bike are able to get to the bike box when the light is red, but they'll still need to be extra careful once traffic is moving.

[Source: Andy Dworkin / The Oregonian via Worldchanging]

I've been having fun experimenting with a variety of transportation alternatives in the month since I began my low car diet. I've bussed a lot, taken the light rail known locally as the "Max," even riding transport for free in "Fareless Square." My husband had made plentiful use of the bike and ride option (he sticks his bike on the front rack on the bus before work, then rides home late at night when the schedules are inconvenient or nonexistent). We've done the Flexcar thing, and I've biked a ton.

But the easiest option, by far, is simply to walk. I walk to the grocery store with the boys and fill the bottom of my sturdy jogging stroller with canned goods, milk, wine, veggies, bread, juice, and goodies of all kinds. I walk to the neighborhood coffee shop when I need to get away from the house and jump on their free WiFi. I walk to the high school track in our neighborhood to do intervals and let my four-year-old play in the sand. I walk to the knitting cafe for companionship and a yarn fix.

Biking and bussing may be faster, and the Flexcar? It's super cool. But walking is its own reward and it's just so much easier! No helmets, no car seats, no locks or reservations. Just throw the little one in the stroller (he can even climb in himself!), throw my gear in the cargo hold and away we go. Best of all: it's utterly, completely, in every way, free.

When you leave home for vacation, it’s getting easier bring your green car ethics with you. Once focused more on southwestern states, the green car rental concept has moved a bit north. The (Oregon) Albany Democrat-Herald reports that Enterprise Rent-A-Car now has five biodiesel vehicles in its Portland fleet. The cars are five Jeep Liberties that will run on B20. The Liberties still use 80-percent standard diesel, so they’re not as impressive as the fleet of Bio-Beetle New Beetles (and other car models) available in Los Angeles and on Maui. Bio-Beetles’ New Beetles run on B100 and are part of Bio-Beetles’ eco-conscious business practices. Other eco-rental agencies include Fox Rent-a-Car, which offers hybrids at some airports in California, Nevada and Arizona and EV Rental, also located in those three states. If you don’t have a green car at home, rentals might be the perfect way to test out whether a biodiesel or hybrid car is right for you.

 [Source: Albany Democrat-Herald]