(Source:  India Times)

CHENNAI, India:  Chennai metro railway, within a month of obtaining cabinet clearance and awarding contracts for the first phase of construction, touched yet another milestone this week, by employing a European technical consultant for design and supervision of the project. 

Chennai metro rail corporation (CMRL) has awarded the USD 30 million technical consultancy contract to a consortium of five companies named Egis Rail India, led by French transport infrastructure projects company Egis Projects. US-based NYSE listed engineering and architectural design giant Aecom Technology Corporation is part of the consortium. 
While the names of other firms involved in the consortium are not known, an official source confirmed the awarding of the contract to Egis. “The technical consultant will conduct engineering feasibility studies, prepare designs and oversee their execution,” the source said. CMRL, the management consultant, will continue to be the entity tendering construction contracts.

Egis projects, which has been involved in a number of road and rail based projects in Europe, including high speed, light and underground rail lines in France, earns 9% of its revenues from Asia. Its Indian subsidiary Egis India has floated the consortium Egis Rail India, which was one of the two entities, short-listed from six, for the final race to the Chennai metro rail consultancy contract. 

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: NHTSA)

The website states ” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has provided the information in this booklet in compliance with Federal law as an aid to consumers considering the purchase of new vehicles. The booklet compares differences in insurance costs for different makes and models of passenger cars, utility vehicles, light trucks, and vans on the basis of damage susceptibility for the vehicle. However, it does not indicate a vehicle’s relative safety for occupants. ”

Click here to print or download a PDF.    Shown below is the PDF version for viewing:

(Source: Freakonomics,New York Times via Planetizen; Photo Courtesy: respres@Flickr)

• Los Angeles Transportation Facts and Fiction: Transit
• Los Angeles Transportation Facts and Fiction: Freeways
• Los Angeles Transportation Facts and Fiction: Smog
• Los Angeles Transportation Facts and Fiction: Sprawl
• Los Angeles Transportation: Facts and Fiction, Introduction

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Here is the article on Driving and Delay:

Time to bring the quiz to a close. We’ve seen in past posts that, by the standards of U.S. cities, Los Angeles is not sprawling, has a fairly extensive transit system, and is decidedly light on freeways. The smog situation has vastly improved. The final two stereotypes await.

Thanks to the great distances between far-flung destinations, and perhaps Angelenos’ famed “love affair” with the car, Angelenos drive considerably more miles than most Americans. 

Answer: False.

 According to the Federal Highway Administration, Angelenos drive 23 miles per resident per day. This ranks the Los Angeles metro area 21st highest among the largest 37 cities. The champions (or losers) are probably Houston, followed by Jacksonville and Orlando, all of which are over 30 miles per day. New Yorkers drive the fewest miles (17 VMT per resident per day), thanks in large part to relatively high transit ridership and lots of walking trips.

Despite our reputation, we Angelenos don’t exhibit any particularly great predilection for freeway travel either. Los Angeles ranks 14th out of the 37 largest metro areas in terms of highway miles driven per resident per day. To be sure, this is above the median, but it hardly points to the sort of unique freeway fetish Angelenos are accused of harboring.

(Source: Treehugger)

Is this the “Holy Grail” Battery We’ve Been Waiting For?

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  Transportation for America)

Before and after of a completed street. Tell Congress to support complete streets.

Did you know that almost half of all the trips we take each day are under three miles? So why aren’t more of us walking or biking for some of these shorter trips each day? Frankly, most of our streets just aren’t designed for safe and comfortable use by everyone — and almost all of us are pedestrians at some point during each day.

Complete streets are safe and accessible for everyone that needs to use them — cars, transit users, bicyclists, pedestrians, young, old, disabled, and everyone else.

Over the last two days, Complete Streets bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate.

Introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin in the Senate, and Rep. Doris Matsui in the House, these bills need our support — and more congressional sponsors. (Sen. Tom Carper and Rep. Ellen Tauscher, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, and Rep. David Wu are the current co-sponsors.)

Complete streets make it possible for children to walk and bike to school safely, give seniors more security traveling to appointments, and provide everyone with safer, greener and more convenient ways of getting around without their cars.

Click here to read the entire article. 

(Source: AASHTO)

Thursday, March 12, 2009 — ISSN 1529-1057

On Facebook?  Become a fan of the Transportation Communications Newsletter! 

Sign-up at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Transportation-Communications-Newsletter/25187272828

AVIATION

1) Pilot Training Program Uses Specially Equipped Jets to Simulate Unexpected Hazards

Link to story in The Buffalo News:

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/603882.html

Link to additional information from Calspan Flight Research Group:

http://www.calspan.com/upset.htm

CAMERAS

2) New Anchorage Tunnel’s Security Cameras Not Available Online

Link to story and video report on KTUU-TV:

http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=9991631&nav=menu510_2

3) Mesa, Arizona Loses $ on Traffic Cameras, Says Worth It for Safety

Link to story and video report on KNXV-TV:

http://www.abc15.com/content/traffic/story/Mesa-loses-on-traffic-cameras-says-worth-it-for/EOMv44sCrUOqz3_8M6rrZQ.cspx

CARTOGRAPHY

4) Filipinos Making Their Mark on Google Maps

Link to story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20090312-193791/Filipinos-make-their-mark-on-Google-Maps

GPS / NAVIGATION

5) Caution: GPS Devices Aren’t Always Right

Link to story in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-03-11-gps_N.htm

6) Blazing a Trail with a Smartphone, Visual Signposts Included

GPS-enabled phones can be used for navigation and journaling while hiking.

Link to story in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/technology/personaltech/12smart.html

7) TomTom is Your New Facebook Friend

Link to story on Absolute Gadget:

http://www.absolutegadget.com/200903122269/news/automotive/tomtom-hd-traffic-widget-facebook-bebo-igoogle-real-time-traffic-information.html

RAILROADS

8) Amtrak Unveils Spot TV Campaign

Link to story in Mediaweek:

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3i6ae4453d630258551eafe430d6b2022a

ROADWAYS

9) March Issue of Florida DOT’s SMART Moves Online

Link to newsletter:

http://www.smartsunguide.com/pdf/SMART%20Moves_MARCH%20FINAL%20Issue.pdf

TRANSIT

10) NJ Transit Cuts Costs as Ridership Dips

Agency eliminating toll-free information number and reducing number of printed timetables.

Link to story in the Asbury Park Press:

http://www.app.com/article/20090311/NEWS/90311110/1001/rss

11) DC Metro ‘Punts’: Will Release Schedule Date for Google and Others

Link to story on Greater Greater Washington:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=1786

12) Wisconsin Bus System Benefits from Christian-Atheist Battle

Link to story in the Wisconsin State Journal:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/442593

13) Stadium is Citi Field, but the Subway Stop has Other Ideas

Mets decline buying naming rights for subway and Long Island Rail Road stations.

Link to story in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/nyregion/12shea.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

14) Contactless Payment Cards Next Step for Transit Agencies

Link to story in ContactlessNews:

http://www.contactlessnews.com/2009/03/11/contactless-payment-cards-next-step-for-transit-agencies

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

15) Be a Clever Commuter

Service allows transit users to share information about service disruptions.

Link to video report on WNBC-TV:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Be_a_Clever_Commuter_New_York.html

16) Imagine a 311 Application for the iPhone

New York City Council members suggest a mobile application with information such as real-time traffic feeds.

Link to blog in The New York Times:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/imagine-a-311-application-for-the-iphone/

News Releases

1) NJ Transit Approves Customer Upgrades at Port Authority Bus Terminal – Project will enhance communications and improve efficiency

2) AUTO21: Strengthening Canada’s Auto Industry Through Advanced Research & Innovation

Upcoming Events

Talking Operations Web Conference – I-95 Express Lanes in Florida: Project Update – April 1

https://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/webconference/web_conf_learner_reg.aspx?webConfID=16466

Today in Transportation History

1974 **35^th anniversary** – George D. Sax, credited with creating the first drive-in bank, died.

http://www.horatioalger.com/member_info.cfm?memberid=sax65  

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday. 

To subscribe send an e-mail to:  TCNL-subscribe@googlegroups.com

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to:  TCNL-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

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

Questions, comments about the TCN?  Please write the editor, Bernie Wagenblast at i95berniew@aol.com.   

© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast

This image below has been going around the internet for quite a while and is quite popular in teh urban planning circles.  Treehugger had a post today and I captured it for you all.  Here is that striking picture from Muenster, Germany.   I am sure you will think twice before you start the car tomorrow..

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(Source: TreeHugger)

Image: Press-Office City of Müenster, Germany

And That’s Just Space…
They say an image is worth a thousand words. In this case, it really is. You can write about urban planning and air pollution and traffic congestion, but the three photos above show you at a glance the difference between these three means of transportation. And space isn’t everything: Cars also cost more money, pollute more, increase risks of obesity and all kinds of diseases, etc.

Click here to read more.

(Source: Autobloggreen)

Autobloggreen article says ” One of the problems for some of the smaller teams that want to win part of the $10 million Automotive X Prize is that they might not have enough funds to get their cars into the streets for the competition. The X Prize team is looking out for them, though, and recently posted a notice about Startup Nation’s 2009 Elevator Pitch Contest that is offering cash to the best ideas to come across the Intertubes. Even if you’re not participating in the AXP, you can still submit a two-minute audio or video file here and tell them why you need X million dollars for your idea. The deadline is March 20. ”     Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Autbloggreen) 

The Autoblogger says “2008 saw the biggest drop ever in CO₂ emissions from new vehicles sold in the UK, with a year over year reduction of 4.2 percent. Wtih a fleetwide average of just 158 g/km, cars amount to just 11.5 percent of total UK carbon dioxide emissions. The combination of rapid escalation in fuel prices in 2008 and congestion charges in cities like London undoubtedly pushed many car buyers to some of the low emissions specials like the VW Polo BlueMotion, Smart ForTwo CDi and Ford Fiesta ecoNetic.”