I spied this drool-worthy scooter and sidecar combo on Scooter Sidecars.

You might not have cared to know the recommended trucking practices for pigs or other livestock, but Colorado State University professor Temple Grandin is happy to explain all of that and more. She’s got videos too.

Perhaps you know somebody who made a new year’s resolution to improve the way they truck their livestock?

The Usability Professionals’ Association says “a cell phone should be as easy to access as a doorknob.” And since 2005 they’ve been organizing World Usability Day to help make that happen. Locally the UPA Boston chapter is holding events at the Boston Museum of Science (in Cambridge, actually) that explore the clues we use to understand how to operate doors and the frustrations of setting an alarm clock.

This year’s theme is transportation, and they have an online transportation survey that helps us see our “transportation footprint and learn how small travel changes can make a big impact on all our lives.”

About 597,000 vehicular bridges nationwide, and 73,764 are “structurally deficient.”

Sources: 2006 National Bridge Inventory compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation, American Society of Civil Engineers‘ Infrastructure Report Card, and Gannett.

transportation, infrastructure, bridges, structurally deficient, engineers

My new scooter. It’s not much of a picture, but we’ve had two weeks of rain and this is what I could get.

fuel economy, moped, scooter, silver, transportation, yamaha

It’s nearing the end of 2005 and we still don’t have any flying cars like we were promised, but the GEN H-4 personal helicopter looks promising (and dangerous). Here it is in the air, and I might be crazy, but it looks to be controlled by weight-shift (even more photos).

OhGizmo says it sells for about $31,000. Gizmodo claims it drives its counter-rotating rotors with an eight-horsepower, 125cc engine. And Odd things from Japan wonders if “this is the nearest thing on Earth to ‘Takekoputa.’”

tags: air, aircraft, aviation, flying car, flying cars, gen h-4, helicopter, horsepower, japan, odd, personal aircraft, personal helicopter, rotors, transportation, ultralight, weight shift

I’m a fan of the Smart, the fuel efficient European roadster that’s smaller than a Mini (see above). It’s coming to America, but indirectly and not without some complexity. Oddly, considering the current energy crisis and that buyers appear to be looking for more efficient vehicles now, there’s a lot of red tape involved with bringing efficient vehicles new or old to the US.

Take these Japanese K-Cars that get around 50 miles per gallon and can be imported and bought used for under $5000, but only in Canada. There’s a company importing small, efficient trucks, but only for farm-use in the US. In short, other than big trucks and expensive hybrids, all we have are pogo-sticks and mono-wheelers.

tags: coming to america, complexity, efficient, energy, energy crisis, fuel, fuel crisis, fuel efficient, fuel efficient car, fuel efficient cars, hybrid, miles per gallon, mini, mpg, prius, roadster, smart, transportation

We’ve come to expect certain things. Cars have four wheels, for instance. And we expect two-wheeled vehicles look like bikes or motorcycles or scooters. Then came the Segway a few years ago and shifted the two-wheeled concept around. Now, a number of stories regarding vehicles of one, two, and three wheels have come out. They’re all interesting, some are awkward, some are to die for.

One Wheel:

People have been experimenting with one-wheeled bikes for a while. The clown’s unicycle has been around a while and seems to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity (see mountain unicycling and stupid unicycle tricks). Which supports Gizmag’s point: “mono-wheelers are traditionally associated with stunts and clowns and circuses — not practical transport.” But that hasn’t stopped people from trying to make useful mono-wheelers.

Common sense, some might say, dictates the a useful vehicle requires two or more wheels, but either those nay sayers are wrong, or the dozen or so mono-wheelers listed here suggests there’s a lot of people with no common sense. Sure, none of them have become commercial successes, but that, too, hasn’t stopped Tito Ott from offering his Wheelsurf for sale worldwide. Prices are a little steep for a novelty, but this is a ground floor opportunity (and the value of the US Dollar is ridiculously low).

Not for sale, however are two other mono-wheelers. Back in late 2003, Bombardier showed off its mono-wheeler concept, but little has been heard about it since. Then there’s the RiotWheel, which looks completely unridable, despite the videos showing how it’s done. Developer Jake Lyall is trying for the single-wheel land speed record, but says: “don’t get us wrong — we don’t think it’s a smart thing to do either. But it’s what we’re doing anyway.”

Two Wheels:

There are somewhat fewer two-wheeled vehicles that break the mold (if you exclude recumbent bicycles). First is Simon Sollberger’s “The Scabber,” which Engadget says must be so named “because of all the scrapes and scabs you’re gonna get from falling off of it.” They’re just concerned because you have to ride it with your feet inside the wheels, where it looks like they’d get stuck.

An Australian company is hoping for more commercial success with its Bush Pig. Using a similar design, but powered at speeds up to 20 miles an hour, it looks somewhat more deadly.

Three Wheels:

I saw my first three-wheeler in Britain. Its two wheels up front and one behind the driver where the shape and size of motorcycle tires (they’d have spelled it “tyres”), and the rig was slung low to the ground like a racer. I immediately wanted one, but I want a lot of things I never get. And that’s what concerns me about the new Aprilla three-wheel concept speedster. Once again, I want it, but will I ever get the chance?

The Brits are sort of gaga about three-wheelers (an affliction that seems also to affect the Aussies). And, though it doesn’t look like there are any current commercial trikes there, they’ve had lots of ‘em. 3Wheelers.com and Jim’s Three-Wheeler Page list a bunch of restored production models and keep the flame burning for new ones. The argument rages, however, whether a three-wheeler should look like a car missing a wheel, or a motorcycle that grew an extra wheel.