The Towards Carfree Cities conference series brings together people from around the world who work to promote practical alternatives to car dependence. The conference attracts professionals, advocates, and community leaders who focus on the creation of sustainable transportation systems and on the transformation of cities, towns, and villages into human-scaled environments rich in public space and community life.

Hear about the success of the most robust new streetcar systems at the last of four national workshops, hosted by the national nonprofit Reconnecting America and the Seaside Institute. Speakers from around the country will talk about the political and funding strategies that are getting new streetcar systems built, and all the benefits of these public-private partnerships.

Here's a simple test you can apply to every new public works project, building plan or government land purchase: Will it increase the region's total greenhouse-gas emissions, or reduce them? That test is courtesy of King County, Washington's Executive Ron Sims, but state, regional, and city governments across the country are taking action to make sure development doesn't undermine their energy and emissions goals.

Bike-sharing is hardly new, but this initiative in Washington, D.C., modeled on Paris's Vélib, will be a test case for the more high-tech version in this country. Tracking technology on the bikes can address some of the historical weaknesses that have doomed similar programs in the past, and arrangements with advertisers can defray costs to the city and the customer.

Portland's a "Platinum" bike-friendly city -- the second in the United States, and the only major urban area in the U.S. thus designated. And Laurel's still not satisfied.

The mayor of a global metropolis, elected to his first term in 2001, set out to reduce driving and promote greener modes of transportation in his city. Congestion pricing turned out to be unfeasible, because influential political forces in the suburbs believed, rightly or wrongly, that charging people to drive into the urban core was regressive. Undaunted, the mayor found other means to achieve his transportation agenda.

The world is starting to be affected by the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil, but many involved in transportation planning are looking the other way. Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl say that planning around airport development is folly for cities.

Los Angeles County, California is considering imposing a fee on drivers in the county in order to generate funds for public transit and congestion-reduction programs, with the ultimate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The bill, which is currently in the state legislature, has been endorsed by the County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Laurel shares two videos: In one, Santa Barbara's City Council member Das Williams talks about that city's efforts to address energy and climate uncertainty. The other is from the city of Portland's education campaign about bike boxes. Plus, seven other cities using bike boxes to protect cyclists.

The New York City Council has approved congestion charging, a plan to charge most drivers $8 to enter a zone below 60th Street by a vote of 30 to 20. The plan now must pass by the state senate in Albany and could mark a major step forward in improving the city's traffic problems and public transportation.