Though most of us in Northeast Ohio enjoy a short average commute time (just 26 minutes), not all communities have that luxury.  To cope, regions with high populations and high outward migration have adopted the use of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes, otherwise known as the Carpool Lane.  These forms of traffic infrastructure keep more vehicles off the road, but is it really doing much for smart growth and regional development?  This author wants to weigh out the options.
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Shopping for a new car is no easy task.  Most people have a laundry list of requirements, but without the budget to back it up.  Champagne taste on a beer budget?  This author is in the same boat.  Sometimes, however, there is a car that checks all the boxes on that laundry list and better yet, it's affordable; however, you cannot purchase the car.  That seems to be the problem in the case of these four French vehicles that are practical, affordable, fun, and eco-friendly. 
 
Renault Twingo
 
Base Cost:  $12,138 USD
Base Powertrain:  1.2L Petrol - 5-Speed Manual
Vehicle Class:  B
Seats:  4 Read more »

The much anticipated launch of Nissan's Leaf Electric Vehicle (EV) will be this summer as a 2011 model.  The vehicle promises to shake up the market with its devotion to emissions-free motoring for mass production.  However, is the Leaf a vehicle that the public should get excited about?  This author is a bit apprehensive on the vision of the Leaf and EV motoring.

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Subaru.  A car company highly under-valued relative to its competition could be your best bet for affordable, safe, efficient motoring while working for a sustainable environment.  Technological strides in production and vehicle development coupled with corporate stewardship of community involvement foster the double-digit market share gains to industry titans like Honda and Toyota.
 
THE VEHICLES
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The long standing success stories of the small car market, the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla, might be up for a rude awakening in the North American marketplace.  The threat of fuel shortages, shrink in market share, and bad automotive press have lit a fire under the engineers at General Motors and Ford.  Can Detroit build a better vehicle than Tokyo?  On paper, it seems so.
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Saturday morning kicked off the 2010 Cleveland Internation Auto Show at the I-X Center.  Vehicle manufacturers from all over filled the I-X Center with new models and concept vehicles to show off what they've been working on.  Of course there were flashy convertibles, trucks, and massive SUVs, but how many vehicles were shown for the environmentally conscious motorist?
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    Compressed Natral Gas (CNG) is a newly discovered way for mainstream American to fuel their vehicles.  However, government fleets have been fueling their vehicles with CNG for years.  Currently, the U.S. has roughly 1,100 CNG filling stations across the country compared to the approximately 12,000 filling stations worldwide.  CNG may be an answer to America's need for cleaner, efficient, domestically produced abundant fuel.
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    During the "Cash for Clunkers" program of the Obama Administration in 2009, car dealerships were swamped with people getting rid of their old Explorers, Windstars, and Tahoes for more fuel efficient vehicles like the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Camry.  Many of these customers simply did not believe that the American auto manufacturers had any worth-while products for sale at that point in time.  And this author believes that they were right, but not for much longer.  With market share from GM, Ford, and Chrysler being increasingly diminished over the past 15 years by Toyota, Honda, and other auto makers because of their fuel efficient vehicles, the Big Three in Detroit have been knocked on their ear.  So in true American fashion, they got up, b Read more »

          People say that trading in your old SUV for a Prius is the right move, but what if you just don't have the money to buy another vehicle?  In this tough economy, consumers need to learn ways to extend the life of their vehicle, while making them more efficient in the process.  Here are seven ways vehicle maintenance can save you green, while helping you go green.
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Everyone knows that the greenest vehicle  you can buy is a bicycle, but two pronounced issues with transportation bicycling in Northeast Ohio are (1) a lack of a unified network of bicycle paths and lanes to faciliate bicycle commuting and (2) a lack of secure facilities to park and lock your bicycle.  Read more »