Archive for March, 2009

Paris Announces Ambitious New $25 Billion Rail System (“Greater Paris” Initiative)

March 20, 2009 at 1:21 pm

(Source: The Transport Politic); Photo Courtesy: The Infrastructurist)

New circular route around city core would improve suburb-to-suburb commuting


On March 17, Christian Blanc, France’s minister of Development in the Capital Regionannounced that the state would invest 15-20 billion Euros over the next 10 years for the construction of the world’s longest automated rapid transit line, at 130 km and with 60 stations. The minister made the announcement of the state’s commitment at a day-long presentation of proposals by architects for “Le Grand Paris,” an attempt to unite the city and the surrounding suburbs through governmental reforms and infrastructure improvements. The Paris’ city core is currently cut off from its suburbs by a ring road.

There’s been a lot of talk in recent months about the potential for a new transit line that would circle the city without entering it because of the growing number of suburb-to-suburb commutes, the continued development of the dynamic business center at La Défense on the west side of the city, the creation of science and technology cores in the south at Saclay and in the north at Le Bourget, and the continued need for improving the social equity between the poor northeastern sections of the suburbs and the wealthy western areas. RATP, the city’s mass transit authority, has proposed a project called Métrophérique, and the region of Ile-de-France has proposed the Arc Express; both projects would ring relatively closely to the city’s outer limits and hit the densest areas of the suburbs.

Click here to read the entire article and to check out the proposed route maps.

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Survival instinct: UAW backs Chrysler-Fiat partnership

March 20, 2009 at 1:05 pm

(Source: Autoblog)

 

According to The Detroit News, the United Auto Workers is giving its blessings to a potential Chrysler-Fiat tie-up. Chrysler honcho Bob Nardelli earlier pegged the possible union as a $10 billion bonanza for Chrysler, since the Pentastar would save money on developing a range of platforms, engines, and cars. The UAW’s interest is, of course, the job savings: the partnership has been said to be worth 5,000 jobs that might otherwise be lost.

Click here to read the entire article.  On a related note, here is a video of the Chrysler CEO, Bob Nardelli, making a case for this tie-up (video courtesy – You Tube):

 

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HUD and USDOT Announce Joint Sustainable Communities Initiative

March 20, 2009 at 12:18 pm

 (Source: The Transport Politic)

HUD and DOT will encourage communities to combine federally-mandated metropolitan area housing and transportation plans 

During the campaign, now-President Barack Obama argued that the federal government could contribute to the planning and development of neighborhoods around the country through a livable communities initiative, arguing that “Our communities will better serve all of their residents if we are able to leave our cars to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives.” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan testified today on the issue in front of the House Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing (part of the Appropriations Committee).

Both Secretaries argued that transportation and housing had to be planned together in order to handle the rising costs of both for most American households. Each pointed out that providing housing near public transportation allows for lower transportation costs and argued that transportation and housing in the United States should be organized in order to address climate change concerns.

HUD and DOT will establish a Sustainable Communities Initiative, which will encourage transit-oriented development. The initiative will encouraged integrated planning with HUD and DOT working together on neighborhood projects by encouraging metropolitan areas to consolidate their current government-mandated five-year housing plans and four-year transportation plans, both of which are used to determine federal formula appropriations to communities. The program will also consider transportation costs when determining the level of affordability in communities and develop “livability measures” to benchmark improvements that can be made to communities through federal funding. Finally, HUD and DOT programs and research will be “harmonized.”

Click here to read the entire article.  Click here to read a related article on tihs subject from the TransportGooru archives.

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Brookings scholar articulates the connections between housing and transportation and the need for integrated planning

March 20, 2009 at 10:12 am

(Source: Brookings Institute)

Brookings Senior Fellow Robert Puentes tells a House Appropriations panel this week that “how and where we build in the future carries far-reaching implications for the health of our environment, our energy security, and our economic recovery and will continue to impact our metropolitan areas’ success and our ability to compete globally.”

Unfortunately, the U.S. track record here is not good.  Puentes’ research shows that between 1980 and 2000, the growth of the largest 99 metro areas in the continental U.S. consumed 16 million acres of rural land, or about one acre for every new household.5Indicative of this outward sprawl is the fact that more than 70 percent of the 100 largest metros’ recent population growth over the same period of time occurred outside of principal cities—the largest and most established cities within each metro in terms of population and employment.

Click here to read or download Mr. Puentes’ testimony to the House Appropriations panel.  Shown below is the read-only version of the PDF document.

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Bernie’s Transportation Communications Newsletter – March 19, 2009

March 19, 2009 at 10:26 pm

Thursday, March 19, 2009 — ISSN 1529-1057

 

Registration is now open for IBTTA’s Upcoming Summit – The Future of Tolling:  ORT and the Path to Interoperability, June 14-16, 2009 in Tampa, FL 

Join IBTTA in Tampa, FL and receive cutting-edge information from agencies and toll service providers around the globe on the latest in all-electronic tolling, toll traffic management, and achieving full interoperability. This is the only Summit in the world in 2009 focused on the critical topics of Open Road Tolling, All-Electronic Tolling and Interoperability and will feature more than 100 of our industry’s most experienced and knowledgeable speakers, panelists and exhibitors. What matters most is your customer’s experience driving your roads, the quality of service they receive during the payment process and your success in collecting those payments. Are your customers satisfied? Visit IBTTA’s website to view the preliminary agenda and register today! 

AVIATION

1) FAA to Block Public Access to Raw Bird Strike Data

Link to story in Air Transport Intelligence:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/03/18/324033/faa-to-block-public-access-to-raw-bird-strike-data.html

2) ‘High Risk’ NextGen’s Planning, Leadership Questioned

Link to story on ATW Daily News:

http://atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=15972

OTHER

3) Mystery Solved: Arizona DOT Returns Lost Slides to California Family

Link to story in The Daily Courier:

http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=65759

RAILROADS

4) New Australian Rail Tunnel Shows Cracks – Electronic Monitoring Being Conducted

Link to story in The Sydney Morning Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/new-23b-rail-line-shows-a-few-cracks-20090318-925t.html  

ROADWAYS

5) Seattle DOT Botched Snow Response

Link to story in The Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008885019_sdot19m.html

6) Governor Wants Minnesota to Test Mileage Tax

Link to story on Minnesota Public Radio:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/18/mileage_tax/

SAFETY / SECURITY

7) US Transportation Security Administration Lacks Technology to Meet Air Cargo Screening Goal

Link to story in Government Executive:

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42298

TRANSIT

8) Hong Kong Underground Railway Gets Mobile Phone Coverage

Link to story on cellular-news:

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/36571.php

9) Leaked Web Test Leaves Toronto Transit Riders Mis-Tweeted

Link to story in the Toronto Star:

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/604008

10) Twitter on Transit: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Link to story on TransitTalent:

http://www.transittalent.com/articles/index.cfm?story=Twitter

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

11) Tennessee DOT Smart Way System: Phase Two

Link to story on WTVC-TV:

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/project_976653___article.html/tdot_says.html

VEHICLES

12) Cadillac Finds Its Hot Spot

Link to story in The New York Times:

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/cadillac-finds-its-hot-spot/

13) Can Your Car Know Too Much About You?

Link to story in the San Bernardino County Sun:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_11948467

News Releases

1) Trip Calculator Helps Broward County, Florida Motorists Find Best Time to Travel

2) Cubic to Expand Bank Card Acceptance in Public Transit Through Exclusive Licensing Agreement with ViVOtech

3) ARTBA Foundation Announces 2009 “Work Zone Safety Awareness Award” Winners

4) Upgrade for Australia’s National Air Traffic Control Towers

Upcoming Events

Webinar: A New Approach to Traffic Signal Timing Education and Training: Mobile Signal Timing Training (MOST) – April 15

http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/t3/s090415_most.asp

Today in Transportation History

2004 **5th anniversary** – Twenty-three people, most of them youths, died when a bus and truck collided near Äänekoski, Finland. 

http://www.onnettomuustutkinta.fi/uploads/2u600ppcm9j9l0.pdf

=============================================================================================

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday. 

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TCN archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications

Questions, comments about the TCN?  Please write the editor, Bernie Wagenblast ati95berniew@aol.com.   

© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast

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Londoners receive new marching orders — pedestrians will have to walk faster under Mayor Boris Johnson plan

March 19, 2009 at 4:42 pm

(Source: Times Online, UK; Photo via Mail online, UK)

Pedestrians will be made to walk faster on crossings under a plan favouring motorists that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has proposed.

Digital signs that count down the seconds until cars get a green light would be introduced at 6,000 sets of lights. Those on foot will lose up to six seconds of crossing time during each phase.

The signs are part of the mayor’s plan to give more green time to traffic at the expense of pedestrians. He hopes that pedestrians will either speed up as they see the countdown approaching zero or, if they are slow walkers, wait at the kerb for the next green man phase.

Mr Johnson hopes that the extra green time will smooth the flow of traffic and help to cope with the increase in cars expected next year when he halves the size of the congestion charge zone.

People used to having a certain time to cross at their local lights may suddenly find themselves halfway across the road as the traffic starts to move. The number of green man phases each hour will also fall. Road safety groups fear this will lead to more jaywalking and more collisions.

Mr Johnson has asked the Department for Transport for permission to install the country’s first pedestrian countdown signs. Other authorities are interested in the technology, used in many cities abroad, including Copenhagen, Los Angeles and Singapore. In Taipei and Istanbul, the green man walks faster shortly before the lights change, encouraging pedestrians to mimic him and increase their pace.

Click here to read the rest of this interestesting article.
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Evoasis to give former gas stations in London an UpStart fast-charge makeovers

March 19, 2009 at 3:16 pm

(Source: Autobloggreen)

Station design by Richard Barret of EPR Architects
Abandoned gas stations in London may be getting new, greener leases on life later this year. Evoasis has announced plans to begin converting the former fuel depots into Upstart-branded fast charge stations for electric-powered vehicles. This first one will be located onGrosvenor Road and will offer 12 charging points, each equipped with enough electron juice to allow for a 20-minute charge, depending on the size and chemistry of your battery. The stations will having lounge areas to hang out in and enjoy purchased food and coffee. We hope to God imagine they will also supply Wi-Fi as well. 
Click here to read the entire article. 
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Planning to visit Chicago? Better check your car insurance! Chicago’s Traffic Lights May Scan for Car Insurance

March 19, 2009 at 12:57 pm

 (Source: Gizmodo)

Ticketing red light runners is standard practice in many big cities, but Chicago is considering doing one better and scanningevery car going by for up to date insurance.

It wouldn’t matter if you ran the light or were driving conscientiously. The proposed system would exploit both existing stoplight cameras and general security cameras to scan your plate and hand it over to the InsureNet database. If InsureNet discovered that you were lacking insurance, you’d receive a $300-$500 ticket in the mail.

Click here to read the entire article.

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To buy American or Foreign? The Argument for Buying Domestic Over Foreign

March 19, 2009 at 12:39 pm

(Source: TreeHugger; Photo via: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com)

The American auto industry has gotten a bad wrap over the years, and justly so in many ways. While a lot of negative responses continue to circulate around the Big Three, their Bailout, and their past inferior vehicles, they have actually risen above this ridicule and at the very least deserve a second look.

Bankruptcy
While a lot of consumers may be hesitant to purchase a vehicle from any manufacturer who is talking the possibility of bankruptcy, you should know that they are obligated to their warranty coverage no matter what happens to them. It is a binding contract from both sides of the pen. And while a lot of consumers are under the dilution that the foreign manufacturers are doing that much better than the American manufacturers, in truth they are also beginning to feel the pinch of the recession and have been asking for their own brand of bailout from their government.

Quality Rivals Japan
The Japan manufacturer has enjoyed being the top dogs for many years among the consumer ratings and ranking. However a very unsuspecting competitor has risen from the depths of gas guzzling SUVs and has begun to rival Japan’s quality, reliability, safety, and environmental friendliness… the domestics. In fact, both the ChevroletScryve Corporate Social Responsibility RatingMalibu and Ford Fusion are ranked right along with the Honda Accord and ToyotaScryve Corporate Social Responsibility RatingCamry according to U.S.News. Aside from these, J.D. Power and Associates second this praise, rating American brands as equivalent to such heavy hitters as Audi, Acura, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz in overall quality.

Click here to read the entire article.

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US Treasury offers $5 billion financing plan to aid struggling auto suppliers

March 19, 2009 at 11:58 am

 (Source:  Detroit Free Press)

The Obama administration announced today a $5 billion financing plan to aid struggling auto suppliers, the first move by the president toward a broader rescue of the U.S. auto industry.

The Supplier Support Program will use a trickle-down method of funneling the money through Detroit automakers to their direct suppliers. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC will take part, but Ford Motor Co. has yet to decide whether to participate.

The Treasury Department said the program was not meant to save every firm, saying that “the failure of certain suppliers is a natural, albeit painful, part of the business cycle.”

“But as the restructuring process moves forward, the Administration is committed to helping stabilize the industry, protect American jobs, and give consumers the confidence and the means to purchase cars,” the Treasury said in a statement.

Michigan lawmakers hailed the plan. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, said the program was a “valuable first step.” Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the plan was “a very significant sign that they understand the importance of suppliers, and they want to help.”

With industry analyst firm Grant Thornton predicting last week that up to 500 U.S. auto suppliers are on the brink of failure, rescuing the auto supply chain had risen to the top priority for the Obama administration’s auto task force. The weakest U.S. sales in four decades triggered massive cuts in production over the past few months, leaving suppliers struggling for cash.

Click here to read the entire article.
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