The Stuttgart to Degerloch Zahnradbahn (cog railroad) calls this on train bike storage Vorstellwagen.

German commuter trains have rush hour restrictions for bikes on board that many Americans who travel by train and bike are familiar with. “Die Zacke” cog railroad between Marienplatz in South Stuttgart to Degerloch, however, features this fantastic platform just for bikes.

This “Vorstellwagen” was first available in 1983 to ferry biking commuters between Stuttgart and the mountain town. It travels just 2 kilometers, but with over 200 meters of elevation change between the two stations and a maximum 20% slope.

More –> City of Stuttgard Fahrrad und Bahn (“Bikes and Train”) info page.

Another view here, and many views here. Props to Steve Vance and other helpful voices on The Streetsblog Network.

Here’s your next assignment: We’d like pictures of bikes at work. Cargo bikes, delivery bikes, bikes that get the job done — whatever the job may be. International submissions are welcome.

Deets at Streetsblog.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake that destroyed downtown Santa Cruz, wiped out Los Gatos, collapsed the Oakland Bay Bridge, and famously delayed the 1989 World Series.

The ’89 quake changed Bay Area transportation in significant ways. Most importantly, the natural disaster highlighted the vulnerability of so much public investment in a single form of transportation (namely roads and highways).

Earthquake retrospectives have dominated the news in the Bay Area over this past week. One story that stuck out for me was that of a Los Gatos family who took over half an hour to drive three miles on wrecked roads. I fully expect even bicycling to be disrupted, but it’s possible to carry a bike over obstacles — something I cannot do with a car.

My dad was an executive for Motorola in Japan when the 1995 Kobe earthquake hit. He led one of the very first rescue teams to arrive in the devastated zone because he and his team used bicycles to haul relief supplies and portable ceullular base stations into Kobe. I reported previously that many emergency response plans call for the use of bicycle messengers if electronic communication is not available.

If you’re inside a bike shop when a quake hits, however, it might be a good idea to run away if this security video inside InCycle bike shop in Chino, California is any indication. This occurred during the 5.4 quake in July 2008.

The Google Maps team has a Google Trike Special Collections Poll and they want your ideas on where to send the Google Trike. The Google Trike is a three wheeler with the Google Maps Streetview Camera so they can collect images of pedestrian malls and trails that are not accessible by car. Google mechanical engineer Dan Ratner is a mountain biker. Like many good ideas, the idea of a Google Streetview trike came while Dan was mountain biking.

I’ve never seen the Google Trike but some people I know have seen it in action in the South Bay collecting local bike path info for inclusion in Google Maps. Interestingly, the Bay Trail in Shoreline Park immediately adjacent to the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA doesn’t have Streetview available (yet).

Via Mashable.