(Source: BBC)

Somali pirates are reported to have received a total of $12.3m (£7.6m) in ransom money to release two ships. They are believed to have been paid a record $9.5m (£5.8m) for Samho Dream, a South Korean oil tanker, and nearly $2.8m (£1.7m) for the Golden Blessing, a Singaporean flagged ship.

“We are now counting our cash,” a pirate who gave his name as Hussein told Reuters news agency. “Soon we shall get down from the ship.”

News reports indicate the drop was made by a Helicopter. All crew members of the two vessels (five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos in the Korean vessel and 24 Chinese nationals in Singaporean vessel) were reportedly unharmed and sailing out of the area.

Click here to read the entire story.

Note: I have a serious question – Now that Security agencies know the location of the pirates, can they be intercepted enroute to the shore?  That would be somewhat cruel but a priceless ordeal to watch. After all, the Wall Street folks get taken to task when their bad work comes to light and it makes for great TV.

Related articles

• Report: Somali pirates releases SKorean ship (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Report: Somali Pirates Release South Korean Ship (foxnews.com)
• Pirates accept ransom, release supertanker with $160M cargo: report (thestar.com)
• Kenyan court frees 17 suspected Somali pirates (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Somali pirates hijack ship with 20 passengers (sfgate.com)
• Somali pirates hijack ship with 20 passengers (ctv.ca)
• Somali Pirates Seize Cargo Ship With 24 Aboard (foxnews.com)
• “Somali pirates get record ransom” and related posts (rocketnews.com)
• German ship freed by Somali pirates (reuters.com)
• Kenya Frees 17 Pirates Caught by U.S. Navy (abcnews.go.com)

Job Title: Internal Tolling Auditor

Opening Date/Time: Thu. 10/14/10 12:00 AM Pacific Time

Closing Date/Time: Fri. 11/19/10 11:59 PM Pacific Time

Salary: $57,384.00 – $73,596.00 Annually

Job Type: Full Time – Permanent

Location: Thurston County – Lacey, Washington

Department: Washington State Dept. of Transportation

In many jobs to be successful means following an already existing system. To be successful in this job, you will have to innovate and lead. Within the Agency, the Internal Audit Office works to help management evaluate and improve internal controls, risk management, and the internal governance processes. While tolling is a prominent part of transportation funding on the East Coast and in Europe, it is relatively new on the West Coast, especially in Washington State. WSDOT currently tolls the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the SR 167 HOT lanes. However, as the demand for increased traffic efficiency grows, WSDOT is significantly expanding its Tolling Program with preparations underway to toll SR 520, and develop a statewide Customer Service Center for all toll facilities. As tolling expands in Washington State, so too will the need for experienced audit professionals to advise management by independently planning, conducting, and managing accountability , financial and compliance audit engagements.

This position plays an important role in conducting or overseeing the risk-based internal audits of the Tolling Program and advises management of the impacts of internal control weaknesses and noncompliance and recommends alternative actions. Not just anyone can do this job. In the spirit of full disclosure, WSDOT auditors are tasked with helping to build and maintain an internal control system that demonstrates accountability to a somewhat skeptical public. This requires hard work, travel, acute attention to detail, innovation, and tenacity. However, the rewards of knowing that your work is helping to build successful and accountable tolling in Washington State and furthering the mission of WSDOT, is priceless. So ask yourself, are you ready to take on this role?

The successful candidate will perform the following tasks:

• Manage the Internal Audit Office’s Tolling Audit Program and serve as the primary auditor. This position works independently, reporting to the Assistant Director of Internal Audit.
• Plan and conduct individual audit and consulting engagements and prepare reports.
• Participate in preparing the annual work plan for the Internal Audit Office.
• Provide recommendations that will improve accountability or which will bring an organization into legal compliance.
• Evaluate actions determined by management to correct deficiencies identified in prior audit reports and management reviews.
• May direct the audit work of external audit firms. May act as the liaison from the Department to external audit groups.
• May oversee the work of subordinate audit specialists.
• Advise on Business Rules and Standard Operating Procedures, as necessary, for the Statewide Customer Service Center and Tolling Facilities.

At WSDOT, our top-performing employees come in many different forms; however an ideal candidate will look something like this:

• A bachelor’s degree in Finance, Audit, Business Administration or a closely related field.
• Information technology (IT) audit experience to include reviewing controls of IT processes, applications, networks, or platforms.
• Experience evaluating and communicating best practices in IT controls in environments similar to tolling.
• Certification in one or more of the following: Certified Public Accountant (CPA); Certified Internal Auditor (CIA); Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA); and by having a minimum of four years professional auditing experience demonstrating progressive development of skills and responsibilities.
• A master’s degree in a related field will also be given consideration.
• Experience with auditing practices and procedures, including principles and methods of effective internal controls .
• Knowledge of accounting theory and practice for governments and commercial enterprises.
• Fully understand the Institute of Internal Auditor Standards and Government Auditing Standards.
• Knowledge of techniques in management and supervision.
• Effective communication both orally and in writing.
• Ability to lead discussions and support audit staff presenting results of internal audit engagements to agency management or private firms.
• Acute attention to detail.
• Ability to travel to all areas in Washington State, and at times, outside of the state, remaining overnight for up to five consecutive days or longer. Arrange for transporting equipment and other items for work.
• A valid Washington State Driver’s License (or the ability to get one) and the ability to drive a state vehicle to meetings and events.
• Ability to work varied schedules.

Application assessment will be ongoing and the hiring authority reserves the right to offer the position at any time during the recruitment process. It is to the applicant’s advantage to apply as early as possible.

Be prepared to provide references at the time of interview.

Click here to learn more and apply.

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(Source: The London Evening Standard)

Image Courtesy:Alex Lentati via The London Evening Standard

These figures from the London Ambulance Service about the special cycle crews, set up to respond to 999 calls in heavy traffic, are quite impressive:

(1) The average response time is now five minutes but can be as short as just 60 seconds

(2) Created savings including £300,000 in fuel – the equivalent of 20,000 ambulance journeys.
(3) Treated 50,000 patients since they were first piloted 10 years ago and freed up an estimated 5,000 ambulance hours a year, the equivalent of having an extra two vehicles staffed with two paramedics.

Click here to read the entire article.

Source: The Economist

Car-sharing programs have been gaining a lot of popularity and building up momentum over the years, especially in urban environments such as Washington, DC, NYC, etc.  The Economist has done a good coverage of the growing trend and here are some of the interesting nuggets that caught my attention:

• One rental car can take the place of 15 owned vehicles
• By 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users
• Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market.
• A car owner doing 12,000 miles (19,000km) a year can save $1,834 by shifting to a car-sharing service

Car-sharing started in Europe and spread to America in the late 1990s, when the first venture opened in Portland, Oregon, a traditional hangout of tree-huggers. For years it was organised by small co-operatives, often supported by local government. It still has a green tinge. One in five new cars added to club fleets is electric; such cars are good for short-range, urban use. But sharing is no longer small.

Frost & Sullivan, a market-research firm, estimates that by 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users. Outside America, most of the growth is in Britain and other north European countries such as Germany. The market leader is a company called Zipcar, founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is now headed for a public listing. Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market. It recently bought Streetcar, the market leader in London, though competition authorities are still scrutinising that deal.

The sharing trend is now seeping into another prominent area of transportation – the bicycles.  Many cities around the world, including London and Washington, DC,  are beginning to install innovative bike-sharing programs that offer a great advantage for those who prefer to check the city by biking than by driving.   Looks like the “sharing” trend is only going to intensity in the years ahead given the state of our poor economies and shrinking wallets! the societal, ecological and environmental benefits resulting from such sharing schemes are definitely a big plus for many more cities to consider implementing such schemes for car as well as bikes.   After all didn’t we  already know the saying  “Sharing is Caring”.

Click here to read the entire article.

[polldaddy poll=3731727]

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• Streetcar Acquisition Referred to Competition Commission (prnewswire.com)
• Zipcar Expands Harvard Cars Sharing Program (abcnews.go.com)
• Car-sharing becomes big business (theglobeandmail.com)
• City working to make car-sharing more popular (sfgate.com)

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

It Can Cost More to Fly to Hartford Than Barcelona. What Airlines Consider in Setting Prices.  I have always wondered about this issue.  And am glad that someone is trying to answer this.

Image Courtesy: WSJ.com

Airline ticket prices often seem like a brain-teaser with little logic. From Chicago, a flight to Miami is more than twice as far as a flight to Memphis, but the shorter Memphis flight costs 25% more on average. Fly to Washington, D.C., from Hartford, Conn., and the average fare is nearly three times as high as if you flew to nearby Baltimore from Hartford, according to government data for the first quarter of this year.

The fares travelers pay typically have little relation to how far you fly, even though airline costs are largely dependent on the length of a flight. Long trips often cost less than short trips. Flights of the same time and distance can have radically different prices.

The price you pay for a ticket is driven by a number of variables: competition, types of passengers, the route and operating costs. But the biggest factor, by far, is whether discount airlines fly in a market. Low-cost carriers often set the price in markets because competitors feel compelled to match that price or risk losing customers and flying empty seats. And when they aren’t there, big airlines behave radically differently when setting prices.

Click here to read the entire article.

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• Why Do Airlines Charge For Standby? (theatlantic.com)
• If you’re bumped from a flight, you may be stuck (usatoday.com)
• Airlines cash in with peak-day surcharges (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• American Airlines, GE to Debut First U.S. Commercial Instrument Flight Path (environmentalleader.com)
• Do Cheap Airfare Specials Hurt the Environment – or Help It? (motherjones.com)
• Mexican airline industry’s troubles hit Texas (chron.com)

(Source: Edmunds.com,  Green Car Congress & Federal Times)

Image Courtesy: via Apture

The US government’s General Services Administration (GSA) this summer took delivery of the first of more than 5,600 hybrid vehicles ordered earlier this year, and will make the vehicles—almost all of which are Ford Fusion hybrids—available to various federal agencies under GSA lease agreements as they are delivered.

GSA previously purchased 1,600 hybrid vehicles using revenue from the sale of older vehicles that agencies exchanged last year when they received funds for new vehicles through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009.

GSA director of Motor Vehicle Management Bill Toth noted, however, that each Fusion hybrid costs $11,214 more than the fleet’s “non-hybrid alternative” sedan, a 2010 Chrysler Avenger.

But due to the $11,214 hybrid premium of the fuel-efficient Fusion, Toth said, he doesn’t “know that we’ll see the numbers we’ve seen in the last two years continue at that pace without some sort of infusion of capital.

“They’re very expensive vehicles and when you look at meeting your mission … and one [vehicle] is $10,000 cheaper than the other, capital’s limited. It’s tough to make that jump,” he said.

Almost all of the hybrids the GSA purchased are 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrids , a mid-sized sedan that’s second in class in fuel efficiency only to the Toyota Prius. The Fusion get 39 mpg in combined city and highway driving and emits 4.8 tons of carbon dioxide annually, or 2.7 tons less than the nonhybrid version.

The vehicles will be placed in clusters near where manufacturers are delivering them to ensure that the vehicles can be serviced by mechanics trained in the new technology, Toth said.

Charging stations will be installed where the vehicles will be housed, and GSA is exploring the potential to partner with industry or other users to share the expense of installing the stations. GSA also hopes to pilot different energy sources for the stations, including solar and wind power in addition to standard electric power, he said.

Click here to read more.

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Remember those crazy storms that dumped loads of snow on the cities and towns along the Eastern seaboard and many mid-Western states across the US during February 2010?  Apart from the impact on the surface transportation modes, these storms wreaked havoc on the aviation sector, terribly disrupting the  performance of the whole sector.

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has released a special report that explores how several February 2010 snowstorms in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast disrupted air travel at airports across the United States.  Quite an interesting read and for your reading pleasure it is provided below.

For those interested, you can click here to download the report.

(Source: Reuters & The Transport Politic)

China and Argentina have agreed to invest about $10 billion over several years to renovate the Latin American country’s dilapidated railway system and build a subway for its second-largest city. Funds come from the China Development Bank and will require a 15% match from the Argentinian government.

The $10B breaks down as follows:

Argentina will receive $4.35 billion to renovate three freight railroad lines, including $1.85 billion to improve conditions on the Belgrano Line, which links the country to Bolivia and is an important link for the nation’s agricultural producers.  Argentina’s once-extensive rail network was largely dismantled during the privatisations of the 1990s. But as agricultural output soars, farmers and grain elevators — who send more than 80 percent of grains by costly road transport — have been calling for investment to revive the railways.

Road transport costs about 7 U.S. cents per tonne per kilometre in South America’s No. 3 economy — about twice the cost of rail cargo and four times what it costs to transport grains by boat, according to the grains exchange in the country’s biggest agricultural port, Rosario.

More than four billion dollars for the improvement of the Buenos Aires Subway and the creation of a four-corridor Metro in Cordoba — projects.

China in recent years has been dipping into its deep pockets to fund infrastructure projects in poor and emerging economies that bolster relations and often further Beijing’s own economic goals by helping bring goods and raw materials to market faster.  I’d not be surprised if the Chinese are looking to export their rail technology to not just the developing parts of the world but also to advanced economies such as the USA.  The world better learn fast how to say Ni Hao!

Click here to read more.

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(Cross posted on The Young Professionals in Transportation Blog)

Click the image to access the report

AASHTO released its latest report, Unlocking Freight, at a national news conference in Des Moines, Iowa, and at two regional news conferences in Tennessee and Pennsylvania on July 8th. The report includes new data, state examples of urgent capacity needs, and solutions to solve the pending transportation crisis in America’s freight system.  The reports shows that investments are well below what are needed to maintain – much less improve – the movement of freight in this country.  As a result, according to this report released, the transportation system that supports the movement of freight across America is facing a crisis.

The transportation system that supports the movement of freight across America is facing a crisis. Our highways, railroads, ports, and waterways require investment well beyond current levels to maintain – much less improve – their performance. Millions of jobs and our nation’s long-term economic health are at risk.

• Significantly more freight will be moved across the country and around the world in the 21st century.
• The current capacity of our nation’s roads, rails and seaports is not keeping pace with demand.
• The nation’s freight transportation system directly affects economic development, current and future jobs, and the quality of life in our communities.
• Greater investment, better planning and more highway and rail capacity are needed to address these problems.
  – Expand the capacity of the Interstate Highway System.
  – Create and fund a national freight program that could include multi-state freight corridor organizations at the state, regional, and multi-state level.
  – Invest in Intermodal Connector Improvements.

In 10 years, an additional 1.8 million trucks will be on the road; in 20 years, for every two trucks today, another one will be added. Already bottlenecks on major highways used by truckers every day are adding millions of dollars to the cost of food, goods, and manufacturing equipment for American consumers.

Unlocking Freight finds our highways, railroads, ports, waterways, and airports require investments well beyond current levels to maintain – much less improve – their performance. The report identifies key projects in 30 states that would improve freight delivery and dependability, and offers a three-point plan to address what is needed to relieve freight congestion, generate jobs and improve productivity.

Despite more long-distance freight being moved by intermodal rail, the report finds that trucks will still carry 74 percent of the load. On average, 10,500 trucks a day travel some segments of the Interstate Highway System today. By 2035, this will increase to 22,700 commercial trucks for these portions of the Interstate, with the most heavily used segments seeing upwards of 50,000 trucks a day. Yet between 1980 and 2006, traffic on the Interstate Highway System increased by 150 percent while Interstate capacity increased by only 15 percent. The report identifies the 1,000 miles of most heavily traveled highways used by trucks.

Each year, 147 million tons of freight pass through Tennessee by way of trucks, rail cars and barges. Nearly half of Tennessee’s Gross Domestic Product comes from the movement of goods and more than half of the statewide employment is in goods-dependent industries. The segment of I-40 through Tennessee and Arkansas alone accounts for nearly one-third of the nation’s busiest truck miles.

A current strain on the movement of freight in the Tri-State region is the lack of vehicular and rail crossings along the Mississippi River, according to Nicely. Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas are currently working to develop a third Mississippi River bridge crossing – dubbed the Southern Gateway Project. Environmental studies on the project are now underway and include consideration of a multi-use bridge that would include both vehicle and rail access.

Unlocking Freight is the second in a series of reports generated by AASHTO to identify the need to increase capacity in our transportation system. For more information and to see state examples of freight capacity needs, go tohttp://expandingcapacity.transportation.org.

To view the first report in the series, Unlocking Gridlock, go to http://expandingcapacity.transportation.org.

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