Federal Transit Administration’s study indicates that the nation’s largest rail systems have a long way to go before they’re ready for prime time

(SOurce: FTA via The Transport Politic)

In December 2007, several senators asked the Federal Transit Administration to study the capital needs of the nation’s largest rail systems, and the government agency has released its report today. To put it bluntly, its conclusions are damning and indicate that the United States must invest far more in maintaining its existing transit infrastructure than it is currently, or suffer the consequences of rotting tracks, vehicles, and stations.

Notably, the report indicates that the seven systems studied (Chicago’s CTA, Boston’s MBTA, New York’s MTA, New Jersey Transit, San Francisco’s BART, Philadelphia’s SEPTA, and Washington’s WMATA) have a total $50 billion backlog of repairs necessary to upgrade equipment to a state of good repair. Based on current funding, that backlog will stretch on for decades if nothing is done. The existing fixed guideway modernization programprovides about $5.4 billion annually for capital upgrades on the nation’s older lines at an 80% federal share.

The report recommends that the federal government increase spending on funding repairs to existing fixed guideway systems, arguing that it remains necessary for these agencies to upgrade their vehicles, tracks, and stations to an adequate quality. Importantly, the study suggests that the current formula for distributing funds – based on an insane 7-tier process – is inappropriate, and that more money be distributed directly to those agencies most in need of improvements.

More importantly, though, the FTA suggests that the Congress authorize an average of $4.2 billion more annually over the next twelve years with a temporary state of good repair fund (alternatives also provided: $8.3 billion annually over six years or $2.5 billion annually over twenty). That would require the government to commit to a total average of $10.1 billion in funds annually for the program. Thereafter, once repairs are complete, the report suggests that the program should be designed to continue funding agencies at a level of $5.9 billion annually.

 

Thursday, April 30, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

Whether you are looking to provide Interoperability between legacy systems, launch or upgrade a 511 Service, generate Traffic Flows & Predictive models, Traffic Alerts, Traffic Plans & Simulations, report on Work Zones & Road Conditions, run an automated Radio Traffic Advisory system, or produce Navigation Quality Data, TIC3 from GEWI is the solution. All of these services, and more, can be achieved by simple configuration of this single commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software platform, already in use in over 100+ projects worldwide.  To discuss your requirements, contact jim.oneill@gewi.com and look for GEWI in booth #329 at ITS America.

AVIATION

1) Aviation Industry Presses for ‘NextGen’ at Annual Summit

Link to story on NextGov:

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090429_7144.php

2) Airports Seek Thermal-Scan Solution to Swine Flu Spread

Link to story in Wired:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/04/airports-seek-thermal-scan-solution-to-swine-flu-spread/

3) AAAE, FAA Host Airfield Safety and Signage Meeting

Link to story on AviationNews:

http://www.aviationnews.net/?do=headline&news_ID=166848

4) In-Flight Wireless Ban Needs More Study

Link to commentary in the San Jose Mercury News:

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_12257071

5) FAA’s Turn Toward Secrecy

Link to commentary on AVweb:

http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/AvWebInsider_PhotoOpTwo_200288-1.html

GPS / NAVIGATION

6) Norway Joins Galileo Project

Link to story in GPS World:

http://sidt.gpsworld.com/gpssidt/Latest+News/Norway-Joins-Galileo-Project/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/594438?contextCategoryId=33831

7) Communication on the Road

A low-cost GPS-based positioning architecture for V2V and V2I systems uses a scalable, flexible system that enables a range of in-vehicle safety features.

Link to story in GPS World:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/gps0409/#/24 

OTHER

8) Latest Issue of ERTICO-ITS Europe’s iMobility Newsletter

Link to newsletter:

http://tools.emailgarage.com/Pub/iaOjBgAAAAA~/ViewEmail.ashx

PARKING

9) Maryland Program Lets You Pay Parking Meters Using Your Cell Phone

Link to story on WTOP Radio:

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=30&sid=1662418

ROADWAYS

10) Report Finds More Flaws in Seattle DOT’s Snow Response

Link to story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/405702_Storm30.html

SAFETY / SECURITY

11) Adirondack Northway Cell Gap Closed

Coverage expanded over sections of previously dark I-87.

Link to story in the Press-Republican:

http://www.pressrepublican.com/homepage/local_story_119233554.html

12) Illinois Lawmakers Propose School Bus Tracking Devices

Link to story in the Quad-City Times:

http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_9355348e-3544-11de-8944-001cc4c03286.html

13) The Dangers of Texting While Driving

Video captures what happens when bus driver is texting.

Link to story on NBC’s Today:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30472366#30472366

TRANSIT

14) Oregon Lawmakers Want ‘Greeters’ in Place at MAX Stations

Link to story in The Oregonian:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/lawmakers_want_greeters_in_pla.html

 15) Mobile Transit Payment Project in the Works in France

Link to story in American Banker:

http://www.americanbanker.com/article.html?id=200904297V1PTSMA

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

16) Bringing Efficiency to the Infrastructure

A smart infrastructure wave may be coming.

Link to story in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/business/energy-environment/30smart.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

News Releases

1) Inrix Triples Real-Time Traffic Flow Coverage in North America to Over 160,000 Miles
2) More than a Gadget Every Mile Keeps the UK on the Move

3) Automotive DMB/DAB Will Feel Heat from Internet Radio

4) Sensys Networks Honored Among This Year’s Most Promising Private Technology Ventures in North America

Upcoming Events

International Congress on Sound and Vibration – July 5-9 – Kraków, Poland

http://www.icsv16.org/

Today in Transportation History

1939 **70^th anniversary** – The New York World’s Fair opened with several transportation exhibits, including GM’s Futurama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74cO9X4NMb4

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

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 at i95berniew@aol.com.   

© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast

Mileage-based tax expensive idea – HaroldNet ..I see that a congressional committee wants to put a mileage-based tax on cars and trucks. This would involve installation of expensive GPS devices in every …

Our view: Leave miles-traveled tax at the roadsideDuluth News Tribune – ‎Late last week in Washington, US Rep. Jim Oberstar touted spending half a trillion dollars to solve the nation’s transportation woes. …

Mileage Tax Discussion in Congress Helicopter Association International – ‎House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar said he will push for a mileage-based tax on cars and trucks to pay for highway programs. …

Mileage-Based Tax Not the Answer to Our Nation’s Infrastructure Needs Americans for Tax Reform – ‎By the Numbers: WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) issued the following response to Rep. James Oberstar’s (D-Minn) call for a …

More Congress Critters Want To Track And Tax Your Driving Habits Techdirt – ‎For years, various state politicians have pushed the idea of a “mileage tax” for driving, and it’s never made much sense at all. Yet, just a few months ago, …

(Source: Tree Hugger & NOLA)

It wasn’t so long ago that we wrote about the Power of One (Xof1) Solar Car breaking a world distance record, and that’s the kind of story we like to write about. But via our friends at Autobloggreen, we learn that someone broke into the solar car’s support vehicle and stole an estimated $10,000 of stuff (including passports). What’s even sadder is that in the video below, you can hear Marcelo da Luz explain how he gave up his job, mortgaged his house, maxed his credit card, etc, to get this project off the ground.

Marcelo da Luz gave up his job, girlfriend and nearly a half-million dollars to build a solar-powered car and drive it all over the Americas, a trek that brought him and several international volunteers, following in a van, to New Orleans early Sunday evening.

But an hour after he parked on a busy, well-lighted French Quarter street, someone broke into the van and stole passports, laptops, credit cards, cash, a digital camera and a portable hard drive.

Despite the estimated $10,000 loss, da Luz seemed in high spirits the next morning, describing the break-in as a “dent” in his ecological barnstorming tour. He insisted that he was still enjoying his first visit to the Crescent City. After discovering the theft, da Luz and an assistant from the Netherlands trotted to a nearby tavern to “drown their sorrows.”

Despite his setback in New Orleans, da Luz plans to continue east to the Atlantic coast of Florida.

“I don’t hope anything bad happens to whoever did this or anything, ” he said. “I just hope their lives turn out better so they don’t need to do this to anyone else.”  

Spoke like a true gentleman, Mr. da Luz!

(Source: Wired)

(Source: Washington Post)

Chrysler, one of the three pillars of the American auto industry, will file for bankruptcy today after last-minute negotiations between the government and the automaker’s creditors broke down last night, an Obama administration official said.

The federal government has already committed nearly $11 billion in stimulus money to help get road, bridge and environmental projects off the ground, administration officials told Congress on Wednesday.

“I believe we have already achieved enormous success,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the House Transportation Committee, giving a progress report on infrastructure money allotted under the $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed in February.

Lahood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, told the panel his department had made decisions on $9 billion dollars in projects around the country out of Transportation’s $48 billion share of the stimulus package.  However, he was less specific about the jobs directly resulting from stimulus spending.

It was originally estimated that the $64 billion in the stimulus for infrastructure — for transit, high speed rail, aviation, federal buildings and Army Corps of Engineers projects as well as roads and bridges — would create or sustain 1.8 million jobs.

But so far, reports on new jobs were mostly anecdotal. The Transportation Committee said its survey of state and local transportation officials revealed that work had begun on 263 highway and transit projects in 30 states, putting about 1,250 workers back on the job.

D.J. Stadtler, Jr., chief financial officer for Amtrak, said it expected to produce about 4,600 jobs in the first year of the stimulus with investment of $1.3 billion.

Unemployment in the construction industry soared to nearly 2 million in March, about 21.1 percent compared with 13 percent a year ago.

Rep. John Mica of Florida, top Republican on the committee, questioned the job-creation effectiveness of the program, saying some projects might take three to four years to get off the ground. But he said he would withhold judgment, saying, “We have to give folks a pass at this juncture.”

The Government Accountability Office, in a report prepared for the hearing, also raised questions about the ability of states and Washington to track how the money is being spent. But it gave some states high marks for moving the money quickly.

(Source:  Autoblog)

You read it right! It is one thousand four hundred and forty five miles from a single tank of gas!   Analyzed from any angle, these numbers are amazing, especially from a Ford vehicle, a brand that is not well associated with thrift fuel consumption in the past.   Though the goal was to clear 1000 miles, the hyper-milers knocked that number and added 445 miles more , beating their own estimates to set a new world record.

 For the high-mileage odyssey, the Fusion hybrid was pushed to an average of 81.5 mpg. Even considering that hypermiling techniques were employed to reach these numbers, we’re quite impressed, as the event took place on city streets and public freeways, not on a closed course. Better still, the entire 69-hour event raised $8,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. You can read the details of how the driving teams managed the 80 mpg in the official press release – and no, they didn’t find a thousand-mile downhill road.

PRESS RELEASE:

REPORT: Largest American Axle plant to idle as work shifts to Mexico…choking GM‘s demand for American Axle components (accounting for 74% of the floundering supplier’s sales). Founded in 1994, American Axle will start moving the facility’s production to Guanajuato, Mexico over the summer. More than 500 of the 700 workers at the Detroit complex will be laid off indefinitely, and only 232 of the company’s most seni…

DetNews columnist warns of the dangers of nationalizing GM…GM, UAW/UnionsDetroit News columnist Daniel Howes has penned a commentary on what he believes the “mind-numbing” future could be if the White House and the United Auto Workers end up with majority control of General Motors.Howes fears that a government-and-UAW-controlled boardroom would end up an echo chamber, with both parties worried mainly ab…

Michigan Screws Up Laid-Off GM Factory Worker Unemployment, Forces Payback [Carpocalypse]…Unemployed former GM factory worker Greg Eddy has his share of problems, but thanks to Michigan’s inability to calculate unemployment benefits, he’s now also getting less money and a whopping $2,400 bill. After Eddy lost his job with GM — twice — he decided to go on unemployment while heading back to school at ITT for a degree in communications….

REPORT: GM won’t pay dealers for franchises, will buy back parts, vehicles…GMIn a special broadcast to dealers yesterday, General Motors’ sales chief, Mark LaNeve, explained that the automaker would buy back unsold new vehicles and parts from dealerships slated to be phased out by the end of 2010, but GM wouldn’t pay off dealers for their franchises.As reported earlier this week, GM plans to cut it U.S. dealerships by …

GM makes the case for testing E15 ethanol blend…GM has long been a proponent of using high-level ethanol blend, E85, in motor vehicles. But, with all of the talk of putting E15 or E20 (gasoline with 15 or 20 percent ethanol blended in) into the national supply – see these earlier posts about the EPA, the Minnesota Ag Department, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Underwriters Laboratories…

First Camaro Crap-Out Comes 40 Miles From Dealership [Chevy Camaro]Maybe worse than the first Camaro wreck is the first Chevy Camaro breakdown. This “p**sy magnet” Bumblebee-yellow Camaro lost all electrical power and coasted to a stop with a scant 40 miles on the odometer. The ecstatic new owner, a forum fan-girl by the name of BUMLB, was crushed when the car conked-out cruising through a parking lot at a leisure…

AFS Trinity brings “150 mpg” plug-in hybrids to Capitol Hill for some sweet stimulus cash…an old GM plant and build “hundreds of thousands of plug-in hybrids” that could be sold for just $8,000 more than the non-hybrid versions. Gallery: AFS Trinity Cross Country Trip with XH-150[Source: NYT]Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Legislation and PolicyAFS Trinity brings “150 mpg” plug-in hybrids to Capitol Hill for s…

Chevy Volt: First Drive? [Vaporware]We’d love to drive the Chevy Volt test mule like Wired and others, but we’re pretty sure the Volt PR team is afraid of us. As well they should be. We actually have readers. [Wired]

Saturn’s death could hurt GM CAFE numbers…part of GM. One of the primary reasons that Saturn is being disposed of is poor sales. There is, however, one exception to that sales record: hybrids. So far, Saturn has accounted for about a quarter of GM‘s sales of hybrids. Saturn also had the best CAFE numbers of any GM division, thanks to the absence of any full-size body-on-frame vehicles o…

Killing Saturn Kills 25% Of GM Hybrids [Carpocalypse]…of GM hybrids. Damned if they do… [AutoNews via AutomobileMag]