(Source: New York Times)

Car-to-car communication is a dream of traffic researchers. Radar, video and other sensors in a car would understand the environment around it and communicate such information as sudden braking, rainfall and speed to the receptors in other cars, enabling other drivers to avoid accidents and congestion.

High-tech car-to-car communication is already here in France, but the object is avoiding fines of 90 euros ($140) or more for speeding. Several companies have introduced devices that will alert drivers to the presence of mobile radar units set up by the police. One such device is made by Coyote, a French company, which plans to bring its product to the United States early next year.

Coyote’s best-selling model is the Mini Coyote. It costs around $225, which includes three months of service. After that, there’s a monthly charge of $15.  Business Wire says Coyote has already expanded to Italy, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic and Belgium and will be available in the United States in January with its main service and an iCoyote application for iPhones.

The Mini Coyote is the size of a cellphone and fits on a car’s dashboard. When a subscriber to the system spots a mobile radar unit beside the road, the driver pushes a button on the device that sends a signal to a central computer giving the location and direction of travel being watched. Three seconds later, the computer sends a warning to all other subscribers within 12½ miles of the point.

Jean-Marc Van Laethem, chief executive for Coyote, started the company with a partner in 2006. Today, there are 250,000 subscribers in France.

Click here to read the entire article.

Transportgooru Musings: As rightly pointed out in the source article, I wonder how this product would compete against the ones that are already in the market place, especially those that are already doing what exactly the  Coyote is designed for.  One particularly popular application on the ever expanding iPhone market is the “Trapster“, also relies on the same principles (crowd sourcing) and has made serious inroads with roughly 50,000 downloads per day, ranking it the 2oth most popular application in the iPhone’s App store.  Even if Cayote starts todays, it still has a long way to go before catching up with Trapster and its ilk that have firmly established themselves.  Maybe it was a good sell in France and some European markets where there is little competition from SmartPhone market applications such as Trapster but in the US it will be a bloody battle before Cayote even makes a mark.  Me thinks, Cayote is a tad bit too late to enter the US market. Also, I think the days of walking into a store to buy a product that is exclusively designed to detect radar signals are fast coming to an end and the future of such “busting” applications are pointedly looking at mobile smartphone platforms such as the iPhone and Droid.  It would be interesting to see how the company takes that subscription-based business model from European markets and applies that to the US market.  That said, Cayote must have some compelling data that convinced them to make the product for sale at brick and motor stores. Let’s see how they do it in the days ahead…

(Source: Washington Post)

Two armored U.S. Secret Service vehicles, including a limousine sometimes used by Vice President Biden, struck and killed a man hours before dawn Wednesday as he was crossing rain-slicked Suitland Parkway near the D.C.-Maryland border, authorities said.

(Source: Gizmodo; Botjunkie)

Image Courtesy: Volkswagen Electronic Research Laboratory

Folks from the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab (VAIL) are at it again.  In the race to develop autonomous vehicles, VAIL-ers at Stanford Engineering flexed some serious technology muscle to notch impressive wins in the DARPA Grand Challenge and the Urban Challenge Race.  This time around they built the fastest & fully automated Audi TTS—equipped with GPS, sensors, and guidance systems—and the team is all set to race on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a crazy 19.99-kilometer rally race circuit with 156 turns. The team that created it wants to see if they can really push performance in such a challenging environment. The modded Audi TTS—which is already the fastest autonomous car in the world, running at 130mph—will have to face gravel and paved dirty roads, with 7% grades that will take it from 4,721 ft to 9,390 ft high.

Botjunkie reports that the car’s name is Shelley, after Michèle Mouton, the most successful female rally driver ever and the first woman to win the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. She did it in an Audi, of course. In an artfully done, eye candy type of video, the team demonstrates where it wants to be in the days ahead – in the clouds atop the Pike’s Peek. Looking around, I see no serious competition for Volkswagen in this arena..

You may recall that Volkswagen was the first team to complete the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 by having a fully autonomous Volkswagen Touareg SUV (his name was Stanley, btw) drive 132 miles through the Mojave Desert. Then for the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, a VW Passat Wagon took second place behind Tartan Racing team from Carnegie Mellon University in a 60 mile urban course. But those two challenges are nothing compared to what’s on tap for next year: Pikes Peak in an autonomous Audi TT-S.

Click here to read more.

(Source: Mashable)

This astonishing video of a Russian forklift driver who smashes until shelves of Cognac and Vodka, and subsequently destroys a huge portion of the Moscow warehouse.

The driver of the forklift lost control, slammed into stock shelves, and seconds later was covered in bottles of alcohol. The driver is said to be okay with a minor leg injury, but the warehouse is looking at over $100,000 in damages.

(Source: Mashable & Guardian, UK)

Could the satnav (Satellite Navigation, for those not in know) – the saviour of many a long car journey – about to be consigned to the dustbin of history, alongside Betamax tapes and HD-DVDs?

After enjoying years of seemingly unassailable popularity with gadget fans and travelling salesmen, those little gadgets hanging on your vehicle’s Dashboards could become redundant excesses because of the threat from a new breed of mobile phones that feature the sort of mapping technology that wouldn’t look out of place on the most expensive TomTom. Google just released a beta version of Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0. operating system, a new tool, based on Google’s existing road maps platform, that will provide turn-by-turn directions, automatic re-routing and 3D street-level views. In short, pretty much everything your satnav can do, but without the need to worry about an extra bit of kit when you load up the car.

The share prices of leading satnav manufacturers, such as TomTom and Garmin, nosedived on the news. Garmin’s share price dipped by 18 per cent, TomTom’s by 13 per cent – a huge hit, and a clear sign that the market is taking the threat posed by Google very seriously indeed.

Here’s a quick overview of the features:

• Search in plain English – quickly search and navigate to places, businesses, landmarks
• Search by voice
• View of live traffic data over the Internet.
• Search along route – find locations near your current path
• Satellite view – you can view the same satellite imagery you’ve seen Google Maps, on your phone
• Street View – check out what the exact surroundings of a location look like
• Car dock mode – when you place certain devices in a car dock, a special mode activates that enables easier operation

GPS turn-by-turn navigation has historically always been something you had to pay for. Creating and maintaining a map of the entire world, together with points of interests and traffic info, plus developing the algorithms that make sure you don’t take a wrong turn, costs millions of dollars. But Google is now offering it for free. The result was devastating for shares of GPS navigation companies: Garmin’s shares fell by 16.4%; TomTom’s by 20.8%. We’re talking billions of dollars of market capitalization, gone in one day, just because Google presented another free product (they release new products on a monthly, if not weekly basis).

(Source: Wired)

The senate, the Department of Transportation and the FCC want you to stop texting while driving, and on Wednesday, they all but declared a war on texting, promising education campaigns and laws to convince you to put your phone down — at least while you are piloting a two-ton SUV going 70 mph.

In a Senate hearing Wednesday, using a mobile phone while driving was said to be more dangerous than drunk driving, the cause of 16 percent of fatal accidents in the United States and a “perfect storm” of distraction.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood concluded his testimony by calling texting while driving a “menace to society,” saying the department’s research showed that 6,000 people a year died because it distracted drivers of all kinds. Here are some excerpts from the Secretary’s blog on this topic:

Here’s a start: Experts agree that there are three types of distraction–

Visual – taking your eyes off the road;

Manual – taking your hands off the wheel; and

Cognitive – taking your mind off the road.

While all distractions can adversely impact safety, texting is particularly troubling because it involves all three types of distraction. In the words of Dr. John Lee of the University of Wisconsin, this produces a “perfect storm.”

Not convinced? Our latest research shows that nearly 6,000 people died last year in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million people were injured.

At issue is the Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2009 (.pdf) that Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) and Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) introduced Wednesday that seeks to ban texting while driving, a category that includes using a PDA, checking e-mail on a BlackBerry or manipulating a GPS unit with your hand. The bill (S. 1938) also targets drivers who make calls without using a headset. Texting or calling while pulled over on the side of the road is fine, but not while at a red light.  

Rockefeller noted  “Nowadays, you have to text or you are not with it — you are not educated. But it’s lethal behavior when you get in a car.”   He wants some sort of phone-blocking device installed in cars, presumably one that knows the difference between a driver’s phone and passengers’ phones.

Rockefeller seemed to recognize that perhaps the only thing more dangerous than texting while driving is trying to take the media spotlight from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York), and so let him testify at the hearing on the Rockefeller-Lautenberg bill because Schumer had introduced the Alert Drivers Act earlier this year.

By contrast Schumer’s bill would withhold 25 percent of federal transportation funding from states that don’t implement strong anti-texting while driving rules, a tactic Congress has used in the past to force states to lower their speed limits and raise the drinking age to 21.

(Sources contributing to this hybrid report:  The Hill, Guardian, UK & NY Times)

Refiners Warn of ‘Staggering’ Costs, Job Losses From Senate Climate Bill

A Senate climate change proposal could add 77 cents a gallon to the price of gasoline, according to Domestic oil refiners.  A group of refiners used the possible price hike on Wednesday to launch the latest in a series of attacks against the proposal. The CEO of refining giant Valero Energy Corp. also warned today that the Senate climate legislation would give a competitive advantage to foreign refiners and cost U.S. jobs.

But Democrats on a key Senate panel shot back, saying the industry’s estimate is based on an inflated projection of the price of permits companies will have to hold to cover their carbon emissions. A cost containment mechanism will keep the price from approaching the industry’s estimate, supporters said.

The lawmakers said the bill will spur industry innovation and that will create millions of new “green” jobs. The chief complaint from refiners is that they wouldn’t get enough free pollution allowances to cover emissions they are on the hook for under the legislation. The Senate bill would give refiners 2.25 percent of the allowances available to cover emissions at their plants. But the industry is also responsible for the emissions from vehicle tailpipes.

To make up the difference, refiners would have to buy emission permits on the market created under the legislation.

Addressing the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Valero’s Bill Klesse alleged that the Senate bill and its House counterpart would create large new costs that would drive domestic gasoline and diesel production offshore, cause job loss, and reduce U.S. energy security. He spoke on behalf of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, the industry’s main trade group.

“You must remember we are a global business,” Klesse said. “You will simply be driving the carbon dioxide emissions overseas.”

Klesse said Texas-based Valero — a large independent refiner with 16 refineries in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean — would face “staggering” costs even at a carbon price of $20 per ton, he said.

For instance, he said the company’s Corpus Christi, Texas, plant would face costs of up to $92 million per year. The industry as a whole, if held responsible for its process emissions and consumer emissions of its products, would face more than $67 billion in annual costs, he said.

But EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a co-sponsor of the bill (S. 1733 (pdf)), attacked Klesse’s conclusion that the bill would harm U.S. security. “The opposite is true,” Boxer said. She cited multiple analyses that conclude global climate change creates national security risks.

The bill would set up a cap-and-trade system under which facilities that produce carbon dioxide emissions must obtain permits for their emissions. Boxer said the bill includes provisions to cushion the effects on refiners. The bill provides 2.25 percent of the free emissions allowances to the refining sector.

Overall, Reicher and other backers of the congressional energy and climate efforts say the effort will increase jobs. “The job creation potential in energy efficiency is extraordinary,” Reicher said.

A major provision is the authorization of so-called border adjustments, or carbon tariffs, on imports from countries that do not adhere to emissions-cutting measures.

The provisions, a priority for lawmakers from manufacturing states, are aimed at preventing “carbon leakage,” in which energy-intensive manufacturing and jobs migrate to countries that do not impose emissions-cutting mandates.

The Senate bill also joins the House bill in providing free allowances to these trade-exposed, energy-intensive industries, although the formulas differ slightly.

The Senate plan provides these sectors with 4 percent of the cap-and-trade program’s freely distributed allowances in 2012 and 2013, rising to 15 percent in 2014 and 2015 and then phasing down after that.

The epic confrontation about how America will power the economy of the future formally got underway on October 27 amid stark warnings from the Obama administration of the costs of inaction on energy reform.

The first of three blockbuster sessions in the Senate held on Oct 27th can be held as a last heave by administration officials and Democratic leaders to advance a bill to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions before an international climate change meeting at Copenhagen, now just six weeks away.

American legislation on climate change is seen as essential to reaching a meaningful deal at Copenhagen. But the White House held up action in the Senate on a climate change bill to focus on healthcare reform. The proposed law, which now stretches for more than 900 pages, would cut America’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20% over 2005 levels by 2020 and encourage the development of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. Democratic leaders in the Senate are now struggling to advance a bill – which does not have solid support even among their own party – before the meeting in Copenhagen.

Click here to read more on this topic.

(Source: PR News Wire)

Yesterday Southwest announced at its annual Media Day a “green plane,” an innovative idea that marries efficiency, environmentally responsible products, Customer comfort, and reduced waste and weight. This plane, a Boeing 737-700, will serve as a test environment for new environmentally responsible materials and Customer comfort products.  All of the initiatives being tested on this Green Plane, when combined, will equate to a weight savings of almost five pounds per seat, thus saving fuel and reducing emissions, along with adding recyclable elements to the cabin interior and reducing waste.

“Southwest is committed to continuing to lead the industry in emissions reductions through fuel efficiency. Efficiency in fuel consumption benefits our Company as well as the environment, and this has been part of our business model since the beginning,” said Gary Kelly, Southwest’s Chairman, President, and CEO. “As we look to the future, we know climate change remains of vital importance to our industry, our Company, and our Customers, so Southwest works hard every day in every area to be a responsible steward of the environment.”

Southwest has designated one aircraft to serve as a test for eco-friendly products, which include:

• InterfaceFlor Carpet – reduces labor and material costs because it is laid in carpet squares, thus eliminating the total replacement of areas such as aisles. The carpet is totally recyclable and the manufacturing process is dedicated to being completely carbon neutral.
• Seat covers – offers more than twice the durability than the current leather seats as well as a weight savings per seat of almost two pounds. They are recyclable and have an environmentally- friendly manufacturing process.
• Life Vest Pouch – more environmentally friendly because it offers a weight savings of one pound per passenger. The smaller pouch creates more room under the seat for carryon items.
• Foam Fill – A lighter weight fill from Garnier PURtec in the back of the seats that reduces weight while providing increased customer comfort.
• Wind Screen – bulkhead product that lasts longer than the current leather product, thus reducing labor costs and waste.
• Aisle Rub Strips – switching from plastic to aluminum will help with durability, which reduces waste, as well as being recyclable.

In addition to the green plane, Southwest also announced the Nov. 1 kickoff of its more robust onboard recycling program, which is a co-mingled system that will allow the airline to capture more recyclable material and divert it from the waste stream. This 18-month process involved team work from all areas of the Company to implement the program on the ground at its Provisioning Bases and re-working of waste collection procedures in the cabin. The following are what Southwest calls “Doing the Right Thing”, published on their website:

Recycling And Waste Recovery: Southwest is implementing a more robust, systemwide recycling program. This systemwide co-mingled recycling program will take our current recycling efforts to the next level. By identifying opportunities to reduce, eliminate, or recover energy from our waste streams, we improve our waste management efficiencies and divert a substantial amount of material from landfills.

Water Conservation: Water is one of our most valuable resources and reducing our consumption is important to Southwest Airlines. We implement water savings ideas, including low flow water saving plumbing, auto shutoff water faucets, meeting LEED™ standards for efficient water use at new facilities, landscaping with native and drought-tolerant plants, and recycling the water used in our engine wash program. Along with reducing our water use, it is important that we keep water sources pure and support pollution prevention by reducing the chance of contamination.

Energy Savings: We are committed to pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) standards in new construction. By taking steps to reduce the amount of energy we consume, and to purchase our energy from renewable resources. We are proud to be a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Leadership Club for our purchase of renewable energy credits.

Noise Reduction: Southwest strives to be a good neighbor in every community we serve. We have taken steps to mitigate noise by ensuring our entire fleet meets current aircraft noise standards. The addition of our winglets and engine modifications have yielded a quieter aircraft that creates less noise when taking off and landing, plus our Pilots typically use noise abatement procedures that enable us to minimize noise impact in communities near the airports we serve.

Click here to read more. Also, click here for an interesting Green Plane FAQ published on the airline’s website.

This webinar will explore the findings of Transportation Research Board Special Report 298: Driving and the Built Environment:  Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions.  This congressionally mandated study examines the relationship between land development patterns and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States to assess whether petroleum use, and by extension greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, could be reduced by changes in the design of development patterns.   The study estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make in reducing VMT by 2030 and 2050, and the impact this could have in meeting future transportation-related GHG reduction goals.

Commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop Special Report 298 are available online.  A four page summary of and a press release on the report is also available online.

Image Courtesy: TRB - Click the image to access the report

The committee chair, José A. Gómez-Ibáñez, Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy of Harvard University, will present the study findings.   The report estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make in reducing VMT by 2030 and 2050, and the impact this could have in meeting future transportation-related GHG reduction goals.

Questions from the audience will be addressed by Dr. Gómez-Ibáñez and two committee members who also contributed to the report:

• Dr. Marlon Boarnet, University of California, Irvine
• Mr. Andrew Cotugno, Portland METRO

Questions may be posed any time during the webinar, and will be answered at the end of the session.
Registration:  There is no fee to join this webinar. Space is limited, so we encourage participants to register 24 hours prior to the start of the webinar.

For questions about using this software, including webinar audio or visual complications, please contact Reggie Gillum at rgillum@nas.edu or 202-334-2382.

Prepared by the Office of Planning, Environment and Realty, Federal Highway Administration(FHWA)

Recent Events

DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Propose Landmark Joint Regulations to Establish Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE). The proposed regulations, published in the Federal Register on September 28, 2009, have two goals: reduce GHG emissions and improve fuel economy. The proposal follows from the National Fuel Efficiency Policy announced by President Obama on May 19, 2009, responding to the country’s critical need to address global climate change and to reduce oil consumption. EPA is proposing the first-ever GHG emissions standards under the Clean Air Act; NHTSA is proposing CAFE standards under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. These standards apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles, covering model years 2012 through 2016 and would result in an overall fleet fuel economy of 35.5 mpg. Comments must be received on or before November 27, 2009. To read the proposed rulemaking and find out how to submit comments, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-22516.htm. (See related article on trends in fuel economy from 1923-2006)

Climate Change Bill Introduced in the Senate. On September 30, Senators Kerry and Boxer introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act “to create clean energy jobs, promote energy independence, reduce global warming pollution, and transition to a clean energy economy.” The bill would add two new sections (Titles VII and VIII) to the Clean Air Act, which would set declining limits on GHG emissions and establish a Pollution Reduction Investment (PRI) program, also known as cap-and-trade. The Act would require EPA to establish 1) GHG emission standards for new heavy-duty vehicles and engines, and for nonroad vehicles and engines and 2) to standardized emission models and related methodologies for States and MPOs. It would create an emissions reduction program, allowing DOT to provide grants to States and MPOs to help them reduce GHG emissions from the transportation sector. It would establish goals to reduce GHG emissions from the nation’s largest stationary sources-initially around 7,500 facilities that account for nearly three-quarters of U.S. carbon pollution-to 97% of 2005 levels by 2012, 80% by 2020, 58% by 2030, and 17% by 2050 (versus a reduction to 20% of 2005 GHG emissions by 2050 called for in the House bill, the American Security and Clean Energy Act, introduced by Congressmen Waxman and Markey, which passed the House on June 26, 2009). The Boxer-Kerry bill also would establish a National Climate Change Adaptation Program and require EPA to distribute formula-based funding to States for projects and activities that address impacts on coastal watersheds.

EPA Finalizes Nation’s First GHG Emissions’ Reporting System/Monitoring to Begin in 2010. On January 1, 2010, EPA will, for the first time, require large, stationary-source emitters of GHGs to begin collecting data under a new reporting system, which will cover approximately 85 percent of the nation’s GHG emissions and apply to roughly 10,000 facilities. The reporting system will provide a better understanding of where GHGs are coming from and will guide development of policies and programs to reduce emissions. The data will also allow businesses to track their emissions, compare them with those of similar facilities, and provide assistance in identifying cost-effective ways to reduce emissions in the future. Fossil fuel and industrial GHG suppliers, motor vehicle and engine manufacturers, and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year will be required to report GHG emissions data to EPA annually. More information on the new reporting system and reporting requirements is available at:http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html. State and local officials interested in additional information about developing and implementing cost-effective climate and energy strategies that help further environmental goals and achieve public health and economic benefits may visit: http://epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-programs/state-and-local/index.html.

U.S. Climate Envoy Elaborates on President Obama’s Speech at United Nations Climate Summit Regarding Climate Change and December U.N. Conference of Parties (COP15). Speaking at a White House press briefing after the President’s climate change speech at the U.N., Todd Stern, the U.S. climate envoy, said that the U.S. would still have a solid bargaining position in Copenhagen even if the Administration fails to push its own GHG legislation through Congress before the intergovernmental conference. “We would like to see the maximum possible progress… on our domestic legislation,” Stern said. “In the event that there’s not domestic legislation done by the time of Copenhagen, we will negotiate with that in mind. But certainly the most progress we can get would be helpful.” At the U.N., the President said that the major developing countries, where virtually all of the growth in emissions over the next 30 years is going to occur, also have to take actions. Elaborating on that Stern said “[The major developing countries] have to stand behind those actions to the same degree that the US and other developed countries do. The President is making that very clear. And that has not traditionally been the way that the climate change negotiations and the whole climate change international debate have gone on.” (See related “FYI” article.)

Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions (TRB Special Report 298) Published. This recently-released report examines the relationship between land development patterns and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States to assess whether petroleum use, and by extension GHG emissions, could be reduced by changes in the design of development patterns. The report estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make in reducing VMT by 2030 and 2050, and the impact this could have in meeting future transportation-related GHG reduction goals. Increasing population and employment density in metropolitan areas could reduce vehicle travel, energy use, and CO2 emissions from less than 1 percent up to 11 percent by 2050 compared to a base case for household vehicle usage, depending on the assumptions used. Commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop Special Report 298 are available online. A four page summary of and a press release onthe report is also downloadable at http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12747&utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=National%20Academies%20Press&utm_campaign=NAP+mail+new+09.8.09&utm_content=Downloader&utm_term=. On Wednesday, October 21, TRB will be hosting a webinar to explore the findings of this congressionally-mandated study. Space is limited. To reserve a “seat,” go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/606169224.

NSF Awards NCSE $1.67M Climate Change Education Grant. The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) has been awarded a three-year grant of $1,666,820 by the National Science Foundation to create a nationwide cyber-enabled learning community for solutions to climate change to be known as CAMEL (Climate, Adaptation, and Mitigation e-Learning). CAMEL will engage experts in science, policy and decision-making, education, and assessment in the production of a virtual toolbox of curricular resources designed for teaching climate change causes, consequences, and solutions.The project was developed by theCouncil of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD), which is managed by NCSE. More information on CAMEL, including a PowerPoint presentation by principal investigator David Hassenzahl and a video thereof, can be found at the CEDD website (http://ncseonline.org/Updates/cms.cfm?id=3274).

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Releases Its Annual Energy Review (AER).The AER is EIA’s primary report of historical annual energy statistics. For many series, data begin with the year 1949. Included are data on total energy production, consumption, and trade; overviews of petroleum, natural gas, coal, electricity, nuclear energy, renewable energy, international energy, as well as financial and environmental indicators; and data unit conversion tables. Two especially interesting graphics are for Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2008 (the most recent year for which data is available) and the Petroleum Overview, 1949-2008, which shows how closely petroleum consumption in the U.S. tracks with petroleum imports (see below).

Publications released by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, Michigan:

Effect of “Cash for Clunkers” Program on Overall Fuel Economy of Purchased New Vehicles. September 2009. Conclusions: Based on data from October 2007 through June 2009 and using unemployment rate and price of gasoline as predictors of the fuel economy, the program improved the average fuel economy of all vehicles purchased by 0.6 mpg in July 2009 and 0.7 mpg in August 2009.
Economic Indicators as Predictors of Number and Fuel Economy of Purchased New Vehicles. July 2009. Conclusions: During October 2007 through June 2009, average fuel economy of purchased light-duty vehicles improved by a substantial amount-1.1 mpg-as a result of unemployment and price of gasoline; however, significantly fewer vehicles were purchased as a result of unemployment. The price of gasoline did not reduce the number of vehicles purchased.
Recent Reductions in Carbon Dioxide Emissions from New Vehicles. July 2009. Conclusions: Improved fuel economy of purchased new vehicles and decrease in distances driven, resulted in lower CO2 emissions per driver from purchased new vehicles were lower in November 2007 through April 2009, when compared to October 2007. The greatest reduction in emissions-12%-occurred in July 2008. The reduction in April 2009 (the latest month examined) was 8%.
Mechanisms involved in recent large reductions in U.S. road fatalities. Injury Prevention, June 2009. Conclusion: One factor in the large reductions in U.S. road fatalities was the decrease in leisure driving related to the price of gasoline.
Fuel efficiency of vehicles on U.S. roads: 1923-2006. Energy Policy, 2009. Conclusions: Overall fleet fuel efficiency decreased from 14 mpg in 1923 to 11.9 mpg in 1973. Starting in 1974, efficiency increased rapidly to 16.9 mpg in 1991. Thereafter, improvements have been small, with efficiency reaching 17.2 mpg in 2006.

State and Local News

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) Releases Regional GHG Emissions Inventory Available for Download at No Charge. This inventory will help regional policy makers and citizens understand the sources of GHG emissions so they can make well-informed decisions for regional and local policies to reduce them. In addition, the inventory has been allocated to the municipal level, supporting local action in cities, boroughs, and townships across the region. The U.S. EPA is actively engaged with this work as a pilot for developing a standard national protocol for carrying out GHG emissions inventories at the metropolitan level.

U.S. EPA Offers Free, Downloadable Webinars: Greenhouse Gas Inventory 101 for Local, Regional, and State Governments covering:
Creating an Inventory. Topics include understanding the purpose and scope of a GHG inventory, inventories vs. registries, setting a boundary, setting a baseline, quantification approaches, certification and reporting protocols, comparability, and level of effort.
Translating Inventory Results into Action. Topics include describing the various uses of GHG inventories, including benchmarking, tracking emissions and progress over time, setting emission reduction goals, policy options for meeting goals, evaluating policy options, and processes for setting goals and policies.
State Inventory Tool (SIT) Training. Topics include background information on the development of the SIT modules and a live demonstration of the CO2 from Fossil Fuel Combustion Module, Natural Gas and Oil Module, Synthesis Module, and Projection Tool.

Announcements

Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations’ 2009 Annual Conference to be held October 28-30, 2009 in Savannah, GA. There will be sessions on Critical Issues Related to Land Use Planning in Transportation and Livability, plus a pre-conference workshop on Practical Examples of Integrating Land Use Planning with Transportation Planning. Three sessions will be devoted to climate change:
Strategies to Reduce GHG Emissions with presentations on Moving Cooler by David Jackson from Cambridge Systematics; TRB Special Report on Land Use, VMT, and GHG by Professor Jose Gomez-Ibanez, Harvard Kennedy School; and Global Climate Change: A “Top 10” List for MPOs by Cindy Burbank, Parsons Brinckerhoff.
GHG Emissions and Air Quality Standards with presentations on Alternative Regulatory and Incentive-Based Approaches to Reducing GHG Emissions: Potential Implications for MPOs by Michael Grant and Janet D’Ignazio, ICF International, and Implementing AQ Standards in the Context of New Planning Changes by Tracy Clymer, Cambridge Systematics. The session will be moderated by Sarah Siwek, Sarah Siwek & Associates.
Climate Change: Adaptation with presentations on Adapting to Climate Change Impacts by Michael Culp and Rob Ritter, FHWA, and Adaptation in Response to Global Climate Change: International Best Practices in Long Range Planning by Michael Flood and Chris Dorney, Parsons Brinckerhoff.

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Holds National Rural Transportation Conference in coordination with the AMPO conference. A climate change session on October 29 will cover strategies for beginning to incorporate climate change into regional transportation planning in rural and small metro areas. FHWA will make a presentation and Stephen Lawe, RSG Inc., will talk about a new GHG emissions model that may be useful for RPOs and small MPOs that don’t have their own modeling capabilities.

FYI

What are the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark and COP15 that I’ve been hearing about? The 15th annual Conference of the Parties (COP 15), which will be held from December 7-18, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the culmination of a series of meetings among the 192 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The COP adopt decisions and resolutions related to reducing GHG emissions, which make up a detailed set of rules for implementation of the Convention. Concurrently with the COP, there is a Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997 and came into force in 2005 after a sufficient number of countries had ratified it. Together the Conferences are called the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Next month: What is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)?

Previous Newsletters

• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008

If you have any suggestions for inclusion in future issues of Transportation and Climate Change News, or if someone forwarded this newsletter to you and you would like to receive it directly in the future, please send your suggestions or request to Kathy Daniel at Kathy.Daniel@dot.gov.