The Journey Begins: World’s Largest Tunnel Boring Machine – Bertha – Boards A Ship in Japan Heading to Seattle

March 8, 2013 at 11:56 am

Via King5 News

Just spotted this nice report/update on the world’s tallest (5-story-tall) tunnel boring machine (TBM), Bertha, which will begin work in Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project (SR 99 Tunnel Project). Bertha’s deep-bore tunnel will replace the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct, which will eventually be torn down. She should begin digging next summer.  As reported below, Bertha’s 41 pieces – the largest weighing up to 900 tons – are being loaded on a single ship in Japan, leaving around mid-March and arrive in Seattle later this month, if all goes well in the choppy seas.

For those curious about the name Bertha, it was chosen as part of a contest for school-aged kids across Washington state. While we are at it, don’t forget to follow the live tweets from Bertha @BerthaDigsSR99, the only TBM in the world with it’s own twitter account (at least until the project finishes).  Pretty cool stuff, right? Also, you can follow the WSDOT blog to stay updated on the project’s progress.

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What sequestration? Transportation Secretary LaHood is ready to tackle it with traffic cones and stop signs (says The Onion)

March 1, 2013 at 6:06 pm

Just as the nation watches nervously about the impacts of sequestration (while the political blame game rages unabated), the satirists at The Onion have profiled one of the biggest critics of this manufactured crisis – U.S. Department of Transportation’s Secretary Ray LaHood – and how he is dealing with the sequestration. Quite a funny one.

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Best Transit Ride Ever! Improv Toronto Brings Aviation Style Hospitality To The Toronto Subway

February 27, 2013 at 3:21 pm

Here is something new.. Attendants on a subway train serving snacks and beverages? Yeah.. That’s what happened in Toronto’s subway.. This past Sunday, Improv Toronto decided to put a fun twist in an otherwise mundane ride on the city’s subway ride to make it memorable for the riders.  As they said on the website, “Our mission was simple, transform the old every day nature of riding the subway into a luxury flight experience, making it more a comfortable, enjoyable, and eventful ride.” So, off they went, equipped with snacks, drinks and blankets, our sharp looking flight subway attendants and captain tended to the riders on a Eastbound train on the Bloor Line.

Looking at the warm welcoming smiles on the riders’ faces, I wouldn’t be surprised if this stunt gets emulated globally much like the No Pants Subway Ride , another popular Improv stunt.  BTW, worn out Washington, DC Metro riders like me can sure get used to some TLC like this..

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Flippin’ Mad: Irate Chinese Official Loses His Cool Over Missed Flights; Airline Equipment Bear The Brunt

February 26, 2013 at 12:51 pm

Oh man..  Angry customers reacting to terrible service from a transportation provider is nothing new, esp. with airline companies, but what you are  going to see below takes it to a new level.  Interestingly, this customer who lost his cool is reported as a Chinese government official, which only means the airlines staff have no way of handling this as usual.. His poor spouse (lady standing adjacent to him) seems clueless about how to bring this raging bull of a man under control..

 

The Paperman: Celebrating the Oscars..With a Story of Love and Trains!

February 25, 2013 at 12:08 am

As many of us predicted and wanted, Disney’s animation “The Paperman” won the Oscars tonight in the animated shortfilm category…

 

Honk your parking woes away – App Saves You From Tickets, Remembers Parking Spots

February 21, 2013 at 6:25 pm

Say hello to Honk, a neat little app (now available on iOS platform for $0.99) that solves two of the biggest headaches (especially in urban environments that you are unfamiliar) – remembering where you parked and also remembering if your meter time is up.  Here are some  of the features as mentioned in the app store:

  • Simplest interface to set the parking meter alarm. A single swipe for most situations!
  • Updates your remaining time on its App Icon. A quick glance at your home screen, your mind at peace.
  • Smooth handwritten memo/photo/voice memo to mark the parking spot.
  • Honk uses the highest level accuracy available for the phone and marks your location when you set the meter alarm automatically. Manually move the parking pin on the map when the GPS accuracy falls short. Shows how far the car is from your current location.
  • Innovative bread-crumb trails to help quick orienting yourself as well as built-in compass.
  • Different types of meter with long (up to 24 hours) and short time limits.
  •  Soft, regular as well as the Library- and the Shopping Mall- alarm level options.
  • Uses the background processing and local notifications for reliable, accurate alarms. Supports Retina display.

Pretty cool, right? Check out the little video from Mashable that explains all this:

Born Mobile? Qualcomm’s innovative ad campaign brings a few surprises to an otherwise boring bus stop

February 21, 2013 at 9:44 am

Moral of the story, don’t hesitate to use your darn mobile phone when you are standing at that unassumingly boring plain vanilla bus stop.  In this campaign, mobile electronics firm Qualcomm put up a poster featuring a URL and waited for people to visit the mobile site. When the visitors got to the website, the fun began. Watch to see what happens at probably what I call the best bus stop ever. Sigh! I wish my bus stop would offer something like this to spice up my sleepy mornings.

 

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Infograph: The Evolution of Motorcycle Fashion (from 1860)

February 14, 2013 at 1:26 pm

This one is for the gearheads and motorcycle (apparel) historians..

The Evolution of Motorcycle Fashion

Infographic by Bennetts

Job Alert: 2013 East of the River Program Associate – Washington (DC) Area Bicyclist Association (WABA)

February 4, 2013 at 6:52 pm

 

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is looking for a dedicated, self-motivated lover of bicycling to assist in planning and executing major components of our East of the River 2013 Bicycle Outreach Initiative. This is an expansion of our successful 2012 program and includes distribution of community engagement and outreach materials and organization of educational offerings, bicycle repair clinics, bike rides, and community events. The project area is the District of Columbia east of the Anacostia River, with specific emphasis on the Congress Heights, Anacostia, and St. Elizabeths areas.

The East of the River Program Associate will have primary day-to-day responsibility for delivery of bicycling outreach through one-on-one, grassroots community engagement, and will be responsible for coordinating logistics of numerous outreach events to communicate to community members the value of bicycling as a viable form of affordable, healthy, sustainable transportation.

Image Courtesy: Anacostia Yogi – http://www.anacostiayoga.com

This position is grant-funded and is anticipated to run through mid-August 2013. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, committed to getting more people on bikes, a strong communicator, knowledgeable about the community to be served, and organized. Hours are flexible, but weekend work will be required. The majority of work will be outdoors likely involving bicycling, interacting with the public, or at outdoor community events, but the associate will also be responsible for planning and preparing reports for supervisors and funders.

The associate will report directly to the WABA outreach coordinator and will be directed by WABA program staff. This will afford the associate the opportunity to learn from professionals in the fields of event planning, community planning, grassroots organizing, online activism, and outreach.

The ideal candidate will have:

  • A strong commitment to WABA’s mission, growing bicycling as transportation
  • Excellent writing, presentation, and public-speaking skills
  • A flexible schedule and willingness to work evenings and weekends as needed
  • The ability to organize time wisely and multi-task in a relaxed and fun, but demanding, environment
  • Experience with Microsoft Office

Benefits include a flexible schedule, vacation, and sick and personal leave. Compensation is $15 an hour. This position is part-time, about 20 to 25 hours per week.

Apply

Send a cover letter describing why you are the best candidate for this job, along with a resume, to jobs@waba.org. No phone calls, please. The position is available immediately, and applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

WABA is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, sex, or age.

About the Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Making bicycling better through advocacy and education, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association promotes biking as a healthy, low-cost, and environmentally friendly form of transportation and recreation. With 4,000 members region-wide, WABA serves bicyclists throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and Virginia.

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Sustainable Mobility, Muted/Mutilated? – A Short History of Traffic Engineering

January 31, 2013 at 6:21 pm

An awesome visual, courtesy of Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize.com, that tells how our mobility models have changed over the years..  In a way it serves a testament to show how much the highway lobby has influenced our society’s transportation preferences, diminishing walking and bicycling over the generations.

A Short History of Traffic Engineering

A Short History of Traffic Engineering – Image Courtesy: Copenhagenize.com