(Source: USA TODAY)

The number of people riding buses and trains hit a 52-year high in 2008 as skyrocketing gas prices and a faltering economy pushed riders toward less expensive travel. 

 Public transit ridership last year increased 4% to 10.7 billion rides, according to a report released Monday by the American Public Transportation Association.

PUBLIC TRANSIT: Usage rises from 2007

The outlook is gloomy, though. Ridership growth in the fourth quarter slowed as more commuters lost their jobs and budget shortfalls pushed transit systems to reduce service or raise fares.

The number of rides from October through December increased 2% to 2.7 billion compared with the same period a year earlier.

Unemployment reached a 25-year high of 8% in February, the government reported Friday.

The more it rises, the more ridership will shrink, says William Millar, the association’s president.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Transportation for America)

Do you know how transportation policy affects housing? Oil? Climate? Economic opportunity?

Here is your chance to find out.

Transportation is the second biggest federal discretionary spending category — second only to defense spending. Where and how we choose to invest in transportation will have deep impacts on our housing and job markets, public health, energy needs, climate, economic competitiveness, and nearly every other pressing issue facing our country today.

The first four sessions are open now, so visit the webinars page to see the list of sessions and sign up for one today. Open sessions include:

Transportation and Economic Opportunity

Speakers will explore how the transportation sector drives the economy and creates opportunities for American workers. Topics will include the transportation sector’s ability to create jobs and sustain global growth, and the use of transportation as a driver of neighborhood revitalization.

March 19th at 1 PM EST / REGISTER NOW

Transportation and Social Equity

Social equity activists, labor groups, and community development professionals will examine how transportation access and mobility affects basic needs such as healthcare, education, and economic opportunity for millions of Americans.

March 24th at 4 PM EST/ REGISTER NOW

Transportation, Climate Change, and Energy Security

Within the United States, transportation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Webinar attendees can learn how various modes of transportation impact the environment and energy security, and how our land-use patterns affect vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and air quality.

April 2 at 2 PM / REGISTER NOW

Transportation, Housing, and Development

Real estate development professionals and affordable housing advocates will explore the linkages between transportation and housing development, the shift in housing and real estate preferences and value, and the creation of affordable mixed-use development near jobs and transit.

April 16 at 4 PM EST / REGISTER NOW

Transportation and Public Health and Safety

Transportation influences the health and safety of communities by affecting physical activity levels, traffic speeds, and air pollution. This session will investigate the needs of paratransit and transit-dependent populations, the success of Complete Streets and non-motorized transportation programs, and the connections between transportation and active living.

Transportation in Rural Areas and Small Towns

Click here to read more

(Source: In Transition via Planetizen)

By some estimates, the only thing Ferraris, Hummers and Priuses have in common is that 95 percent of the time they’re all going nowhere. Though idleness would seem to be the most benign aspect of America’s automotive fleet, UCLA Planning Professor Donald Shoup has written 733 pages that say otherwise. Because when cars aren’t going, they are parked somewhere, and when they are parked in one place, an average of six spaces per car nationwide stand vacant. Shoup considers the proliferation of parking spaces to be a plague on American cities, and because the vast majority lie open for the taking, they represent the largest devaluation of real estate short of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Published in 2005, The High Cost of Free Parking has begun to influence planners and policymakers in cities across the country.

Published in 2005, Shoup’s The High Cost of Free Parking amounts to an unwieldy volume full of data, regressions, and intricate analysis of these most overlooked squares on the grid of American cities. If America’s streets were a Monopoly board, it would be a dull contest indeed, with almost every space “Free Parking.” Each of the country’s roughly 200 million vehicles typically demands spaces at home and work, with shares of countless spaces at the market, restaurant, post office, mall and every other imaginable destination. Eighty-seven percent of all trips are made by personal vehicle and 99 percent of those trips arrive at a free parking space.

[ipaper id=13117453]

 (Source; Philstar via ITDP)

NEW DELHI (Xinhua) — Promoting bicycle as a green and healthy mode of transport, leaving their cars behind, New Delhi residents will for the fourth consecutive year, be all set on a Heritage Cycling Ride Sunday morning.

The event, sponsored by Delhi Cycling Club, was started in October 2006 by Institution for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), a non-government organization, engaged in research and advocacy for green, sustainable, and equitable traffic and transportation policies and programs.

According to ITDP website, membership of the club is free and open to all the cycling enthusiasts concerned about road safety, environment, climate change, and health and fitness.

To spread the message, the Delhi Cycling Club has formed a google group, says Rajendra, event coordinator for Delhi Cycling Club.

During the 10-kilometer ride, cyclists will stop at several historic monuments. This will help people learn about the heritage and historical monuments of Delhi in an interesting, educative and enjoyable way, the google group information about the club says.

Click here to read the entire article. 

 (Source:  Autobloggreen)

Last month, Germany reported a shocking 21 percent improvement in auto sales, and the greatest driver in the uptick was a used vehicle scrapping plan that pays drivers 2,500 euros ($3,150) to remove their old car from the road. With new car sales in most other countries down by at least that much, it was widely speculated that other governments would look closely at Germany’s new system to see if it would be worth adopting in their areas.

An opinion piece at Automotive News (sub. req’d) suggests that it’s time for the United States to implement its own vehicle scrapping program. President Obama’s recently-passed economic stimulus plan does contain provisions that are intended to help spur new vehicle sales, but has nothing as dramatic as what’s been enacted in Germany. 

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Autobloggreen)

California Air Resource Board chairwoman Mary Nichols told an EPA hearing last week that the state would consider withdrawing its request for a waiver allowing it to regulate carbon dioxide. Before that happens though a national standard needs to be put in place. If such a standard were established it would make automakers much happier. Currently, 13 other states have adopted the proposed California mandate. The problem is that the California rule establishes average CO₂ emissions requirements for an automaker’s entire fleet, much like CAFE does for fuel economy. 
With CAFE, the entire sales volume for an automaker is averaged across the country. If CO₂ is regulated at the state level, even though each state has the same standard, automakers have different sales mixes in different states. An average would have to be calculated for the sales in each state. In states more where a greater number of larger, heavier emitting vehicles are sold, automakers may have difficulty meeting the averages while sales in other states where more smaller cars are sold could not be used to offset those. 

Click here to read the entire article.  (Video: Mary Nichols, talking about fuuture of climate regulation)

(Source: Autobloggreen)

Changing the road tax legislation in Germany wasn’t an easy thing to do. Here’s how the new tax works, starting July 1st:  

First, there’s a base tax based on displacement: €2 per each 100 cubic centimeters if it’s a gasoline car or €9.5 if it’s a diesel car. Additional taxes are based on CO₂: for each gram over 120 that your car emits per kilometer, your tax will be increased by €2. That CO₂ limit will drop to 110 grams in 2012 and, from 2014 onwards, it will be 95 grams. So, for example, the new Toyota IQ 1.33, which emits 113 gm/km. The 1.3-liter gas engine will be taxed at 13 * 2 = €26 and the number will stay the same until 2012. At that time, its owner will be charged an extra €6 additional (€32 in total) because 113-110 = 3 grams at €2 each. Then, in 2014, the tax will be even higher: 113-95 = 18 grams, at €2 each, €36 additional (€62 total). I’ll let you do the math with a Porsche Cayenne S.

(Source: Autobloggreen)

Should a tax on foreign-made pickup trucks that was first instituted way back in 1963 as a retaliation for a European tax on U.S.-bred chickens affect sales of modern and fuel efficient pickups from India in the United States? That’s the question that Global Vehicles, hopeful U.S. importers of India’s Mahindrapickups, is currently asking policymakers in Washington. The answer they are hoping for would rid the United States of the so-called chicken tax and would allow the importation of Mahindra’s latest trucks, featuring clean diesel engines and around 30 miles per gallon, without the 25 percent tariff.

Click here to read the entire article.