Secretary. Ray LaHood takes exception to AP report on road stimulus job locations

May 12, 2009 at 6:16 pm

(Source: TheTrucker.com & AP)

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood took exception to an Associated Press articlethat reported that counties suffering the most from job losses stand to receive the least help from President Barack Obama’s plan to spend billions of stimulus dollars on roads and bridges, an Associated Press analysis has found.  Although the intent of the money is to put people back to work, AP’s review of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects nationwide reveals that states are planning to spend the stimulus in communities where jobless rates are already lower.

Image Courtesy: AP - U.S. map shows amount of stimulus funds announced for transportation, by county

Altogether, the government is set to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than it will in communities with the highest.

The AP reviewed $18.9 billion in projects, the most complete picture available of where states plan to spend the first wave of highway money. The projects account for about half of the $38 billion set aside for states and local governments to spend on roads, bridges and infrastructure in the stimulus plan.

The very promise that Obama made, to spend money quickly and create jobs, is locking out many struggling communities needing those jobs.

The money goes to projects ready to start. But many struggling communities don’t have projects waiting on a shelf. They couldn’t afford the millions of dollars for preparation and plans that often is required.

Yesterday, the Secretary registered his disagreement with AP’s reporting via his blog. “I was disappointed to read today that the Associated Press does not believe that the Recovery Act is doing a good job creating work for Americans who are unemployed. Nothing could be further from the truth,” LaHood wrote in his blog on the DOT’s Web site.

“At the DOT, we have $48 billion to rebuild roads, bridges, highways, airport runways, ports and transit projects,” LaHood wrote. “And we have already signed off on transportation projects in all 50 states. Just 12 weeks after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, we have approved 2,800 road projects and another 300 airport projects.”

LaHood said that amounted to over $10 billion “out the door and countless Americans going back to work.”

By this summer, LaHood wrote, Americans won’t be able to drive down the street without seeing people working at good-paying jobs.

He attributed those jobs to the Recovery Act money.

“Unfortunately, the AP’s analysis is misguided,” LaHood said. “Its reporters looked at 5,500 transportation projects from state lists and concluded that the transportation money is going to counties with low unemployment. But until the states make a request and the experts at the DOT certify that a project meets the criteria for Recovery dollars, those lists are not the final word.

 “Basically, their (the Associated Press’) work amounts to nothing more than an academic exercise.”

For people who are out of work and at risk of losing their jobs, this construction work is a godsend, LaHood said he believed.

“Sadly, unemployed workers can be found all over our nation in these difficult economic times — even in counties that don’t have the highest unemployment rates,” the secretary wrote

“Governmental boundaries are often arbitrary, and workers know that,” LaHood noted. “People who work construction jobs often drive to wherever they can find work in a metropolitan area or region. Our idea is to drive down unemployment, period.”

LaHood said he told Brett Blackledge, the Associated Press writer who authored the story, about a recent trip he took to New Hampshire for a groundbreaking on highway 101.

“I shook hands with men and women who are going back to work thanks to the Recovery Act,” LaHood said. ”One man told me that he drives all over New England for construction jobs. Another said he is the father of four children and was unemployed until this project began. Now that he has this job, he will be commuting from Wolfeboro.

“Unfortunately, Brett didn’t think it was worth quoting me when I told him that the point of the program is to put people to work. And that’s something I’m proud of.”

Transportation for America unveils its Blueprint for Reform on Capitol Hill

May 12, 2009 at 4:40 pm

(Source: Transportation for America)

With Congress preparing to write the bill that will determine the next six years of transportation spending, Transportation for America yesterday released a detailed plan to restructure the nation’s transportation program in order to build a smart, safe and clean transportation system that provides real choices to all Americans.

Image Courtesy: Transportation for America @Flickr

If our platform, released in February, lays out the vision and goals for America’s transportation system, then the Transportation for AmericaBlueprint contains the detailed directions for getting there.

The Route to Reform: Blueprint for a 21st Century Federal Transportation Program will serve as T4 America’s proposal for the policies and financing structures necessary to achieve real transformational change in America’s transportation system. (We’ll be highlighting and explaining pieces of the Blueprint here over the coming weeks — it’s a lot to digest at once.)

In the blueprint, Transportation for America recommends Congress include four critical reforms in the upcoming transportation authorization bill:

  1. Articulate a National Vision, Objectives, and Performance Targets for the national transportation program and hold state and local transportation agencies accountable for demonstrable progress toward goals including safety, efficiency, environment, health and equity.
  2. Restructure and consolidate federal programs for greater modal integration, with a focus on completing the second half of the national transportation system, providing more transportation options for all Americans and creating seamless transportation systems that meet the unique needs and connect metropolitan regions, small towns, and rural areas.
  3. Empower states, regions, and cities with direct transportation funding and greater flexibility to select projects, using carrots and sticks to incentivize wise transportation investments and in return require demonstrated performance on meeting national objectives.
  4. Reform how we pay for the transportation system and create a Unified Transportation Trust Fund that would achieve balanced allocations of federal funds in a portfolio of rail, freight, highway, public transportation, and non-motorized transportation investment

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell — a co-chair of the Build America’s Future campaign and one of the leading voices calling for a renewed transportation system – gave the event’s keynote speech in the same committee where the transportation bill will be written and considered first by Chairman Oberstar’s House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Gov. Rendell was followed by a panel that included James Corless, director of the Transportation for America Campaign; Elaine Clegg, Co-Executive Director of Idaho Smart Growth and and city council member in Boise; Astrid Glynn, former Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation; Andrew Cotugno, the director of planning for Metro in Portland, Oregon; andRonald Kilcoyne, the General Manager/CEO of Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority.

“This report couldn’t be more correct when it says this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Gov. Rendell said.

“If we don’t take advantage of this opportunity…nothing will change, and we’ll just bump along, funding some good projects almost by accident, some mediocre projects and some terrible projects. We won’t have national policy, we won’t move the ball forward, and we won’t do something that will improve our economic competitiveness – we’ll just keep moving along the way we’ve been moving along, and not solving any problems.”

Will The Transportation Bill Be Pushed Back To 2010? At Least One Senator Thinks So

May 12, 2009 at 1:15 pm

(Source: The Infrastructurist)

Many of you heard through the grapevine (from Congress), particularly, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar — that the new transportation bill would be passed this year. Oberstar even offered September 30 as a target date. Sen Mark Warner (D, Va.) is now saying he’s “not sure” that the estimated $500 billion authorization will happen until next year. According to a story by Terry Kivlan in CongressDaily, Warner thinks that “Congress might have too many big-ticket items on its agenda this year to take on a transportation package.” Speaking at an infrastructure-focused conference hosted by the Departments of Transportation and the Department of Commerce, the senator remarked: “I’m not sure you are going to see a full transportation bill put out this year.”

He’s specifically worried about funding availability in light the fact that revenue from the gas tax, which pays for highway and transit programs, is no longer sufficient to cover outlays.  He called this the “elephant in the room” with respect to infrastructure funding.

War on cul-de-sacs – Now, it is the world’s greatest threat

May 10, 2009 at 11:36 pm

A clever new polemic submitted to the Congress for the New Urbanism has earned first place in that organization’s 2009 video contest.  Written and produced by the team of First + Main Media and Paget Films, Built to Last posits that the world’s greatest threat is not war, global pestilence, or even the swine flu. No, it is the cul-de-sac. 

Okay, so it may not be the cul-de-sac per se, but the filmakers rightfully make use of the ubiquitous 20th century artifact as a primary symbol for what could indeed be the world’s greatest threat: the organization of America’s middle class lifestyle.  And while many Americans may continue to have difficulty even with that idea (isn’t America’s lifestyle non-negotiable?), I hope that more of our country’s citizens are tiring of the ongoing media blitz surrounding the seemingly trivial issues of how one can shop ‘green’ to save the planet.

Thus, whether you live on a cul-de-sac or not, please take that message with you. The more educated we become, the more likely we are to participate in the debates that will slowly shift our culture to a more sustainable lifestyle. And as the videographers suggest, we can start by building things that last. 

Oberstar’s Handwritten Outline Of New Transportation Bill Leaks; Points to transformation of USDOT management structure “from prescriptive to performance”

May 8, 2009 at 4:45 pm

(Source: The Infrastructurist BNA)

A few days ago, Jim Oberstar, head of the House transportation committee, tipped his hand that he has big changes in mind for transportation policy in this country.

Now his outline for the new transportation bill has leaked. Oberstar has recently been circulating a “two-page handwritten outline” around the Hill, according to the BNA’s Daily Report for Executives, which obtained a copy of the document . They report the following tidbits:

Under the heading “the future of transportation,” the framework seeks to create a new undersecretary or assistant secretary for intermodalism that would meet monthly with all modal administrators. The outline includes the phrases “national strategic plan” and “mega-projects” in the list of agencies that would take part in the monthly meetings.  

It also includes a consolidation of DOT’s 108 programs into four “major formula programs”: critical asset preservation, highway safety improvement, surface transportation program, and congestion mitigation and air quality improvement. The “surface transportation program” section suggests that metropolitan planning organizations receive suballocations based on population.

According to the document, Oberstar would like the DOT’s management structure to shift “from prescriptive to performance.” He would call for DOT and states to design six-year targets for each of four performance categories and the framework would ask for annual reports to DOT and Congress as well as posting data online.   

Oberstar’s outline also addresses transit equity, including a hope to “level decision-making factors between highway and transit choices/projects.” The federal government pays for half of transit projects while it funds 80 percent of highway and bridge work, and transit advocates have been rallying for equal federal treatment.

SEE ALSO:

Scoopful of GM and Chrysler News – May 7, 2009

May 7, 2009 at 5:55 pm

Booo! GM also canceling Cobalt SS Sedan for 2010GM also canceling Cobalt SS Sedan for 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Save the Cheerleader? GM creates Hero Edition Corvette ZR1 to benefit Kids Wish NetworkGM‘s team of Corvette designers and engineers equipped this particular ‘Vette with a bespoke graphics package with red accents in lieu of the normal blue. Other special bits include “additional carbon fiber components,” though we’re left wondering what those composite pieces may be.You can’t actually go to your nearest Chevy dealership and order…

Image: ToolPool.com

Special “Hero Edition” Corvette ZR1 [Corvette Zr1]“Hero Edition” Corvette ZR1: Finally, a special edition we can get behind. [CorvetteBlogger]

GM Kills Chevy Impala SS… Again [Carpocalypse]…analysis of GM ordering guides by forum fan-boys at GMInsideNews, GM‘s killed both the Chevy Impala SS and Chevy Cobalt SS sedan for 2010. You’ll still be able to get a Cobalt SS as a coupe, but the Impala SS is dead… for the second time. When GM said they were putting their performance divisions on indefinite hold we knew to expect no new per…

GM, University of Michigan announce new Automotive Research Institute…Michigan and GM are already partners in the Advanced Battery Coalition for Drivetrains (ABCD) and in helping to teach students to become alternative powertrain engineers. Today, GM and the school announced a new institute called the GM/U-M Institute of Automotive Research and Education that will focus on “reinventing the automobile and developin…

GM posts $6B loss in Q1, burns through $10BGM, Earnings/FinancialsGeneral Motors reported its first quarter earnings today, and the beleaguered U.S. automaker posted a $6 billion net loss compared to a net loss of $3.3 billion one year ago. At the same time, GM burned through $10.2 billion in cash during Q1, though still has $11.6 billion in cash reserves on hand thanks in large part to …

Royal College of Art students imagine mobility in 2050, see vehicles powered by waterfalls…months with GM Europe to “gain valuable work experience and insight through hands-on experience with future technologies such as electric vehicles.” One of the more dreamy ideas from an RCA student was for “eco-touring machines powered by waterfalls.” It’s a safe bet this means hydropower, but I can’t shake the feeling that unicorns should be in…

RIP: Chevy Impala SS, again…line for GM‘s 5.3L V8 engine in the midsize front-wheel drive Chevy sedan. That means the biggest available engine will be the 3.9L LGD pushrod 60-degree V6.We’ve long questioned whether the current W-body Impala does justice to the memory of Super Sports of yore, despite the presence of the V8 engine. Regardless, we’d prefer to keep the 303-hor…

GM Hosting Fleet Buyers At Pricey Spa, USA Today Waves Populist Banner [Carpocalypse]…outrage over GM hosting 500 fleet buyers at a luxury-spa-resort. The difference between banks-funded-by-the-government and automakers-funded-by-the-goverment? Automakers invite potential car buyers to resorts. Banks send themselves to resorts. [USAToday]

Fesler-Moss Builds A Corvette ZR1-Powered Camaro SS [Tuner Cars]…of GM Performance fame) teamed up to create this custom limited edition 2010 Camaro SS for the mesh-wife-beater-wearing, previously-Monte-Carlo-Dale-Earnhardt-Intimidator-Edition-driving, family-franchise-starting crowd. They’ll build your Camaro with a custom body kit with molded rear lip spoiler (how they do that is anybody’s guess) and any LS…

GM’s Renaissance Center HQ: View From The Top [Carpocalypse]…these days GM‘s Detroit Renaissance Center HQ’s a tough place to work. But the view sure is killer. Let’s take a look. This city-within-a-city was actually commissioned by Henry Ford II as the world’s largest private development at the time. As you can see from the promotional video to the left, the John Portman-designed complex began construc…

Vauxhall going after city car market with Trixx EV?GM, Opel, VauxhallWay back in 2004, GM‘s European arm put a toe in the water of the rapidly expanding city-car market with its Opel Trixx concept. A few years later, GM‘s Carl-Peter Forster indicated that the automaker would not be entering that microcar market after all. Fast forward another couple of years and (surprise!) it looks as if GM may…

GM And University of Michigan Form GM/U-M Institute Of Automotive Research And Education; Focus On Fuel-Efficiency And Reinvention Of The Automobile…formed the GM/U-M Institute of Automotive Research and Education, with a strategic focus on reinventing the automobile and developing the next generation of high-efficiency vehicles powered by diverse energy sources. The Institute, which builds on more than 50 years of collaboration between the organizations, supplements GM’s ongoing research a…

GM Posts First-Quarter Net Loss Of $5.9 Billion [Carpocalypse]GM posts first-quarter net loss of $5.9 billion, revenue drops 47% to $22.4 billion. [Freep]

The 2011 Jeep Phoenix… why not?…gallery With Chrysler‘s proposed alliance with Fiat all but a done deal, people have begun turning their attention towards the Italian automaker’s vehicle line up and creating a wish list of which ones they’d like to see for sale over here in the U.S. Thing is, those people should keep in mind that any Fiat making the long trek overseas may not …

Look Who’s Talking: Automakers rated based on web conversation volumeChrysler, LLC., Ford Justin Graves, the CEO of Infegy, which developed and offers a powerful research application for tracking online buzz, is a big Autoblog fan, particularly of our By the Numbers posts that detail sales figures for the entire U.S. auto industry. Graves makes his own monthly list of the Top 50 Social Brands, which ranks them ac…

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne To Take Over As CEO Of Chrysler [Carpocalypse]…will assume Chrysler‘s CEO title upon exit from bankruptcy. [Detroit News]

BREAKING: Marchionne confirmed as post-bankruptcy Chrysler CEOChrysler, LLC., FIATAfter weeks of speculation, Fiat confirmed today that its CEO, Sergio Marchionne, will assume the same role with Chrysler once it exits bankruptcy. According to statements from the Obama administration, Chrysler could emerge from “surgical bankruptcy” in as little as 30 to 60 days, after which Chrysler‘s current chief executi…

The Chrysler-Kia alliance that never wasChrysler, LLC., GM, Hyundai, Kia, FIAT, RumormillChrysler has been trying to shack up with another automaker for quite a while now, and the trail of relationships that never got off the ground reads like a middle school diary. While Chrysler‘s deal with Fiat has all but gotten 500s rolling out of plants on this continent, a deal with Kia had bee…

Chrysler bankruptcy: what happens with the electric car plans? to A123 Systems?…about what Chrysler‘s bankruptcy and partnership with Fiat might mean for cars like the Circuit EV and companies like A123 Systems, which is slated to supply batteries for Chrysler‘s electric vehicle lineup.Reuters says that “the sum of Fiat and Chrysler‘s parts does not amount to the kind of electric vehicle powerhouse that Renault and Nissan a…

Webinar Alert: NEXT GENERATION 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) SUMMIT FOR LARGE CITIES

May 7, 2009 at 4:43 pm

Please join us for the upcoming Talking Technology and Transportation (T3) Webinar:  

Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) Summit for Large Cities

Date:   May 21, 2009
Time:  10:30–11:30 A.M. ET
Cost:  All T3s are free of charge
Register On-line
Contact the T3 Administrator

Description

Advances in telecommunications mobility and convergence have put the nation’s 9-1-1 emergency call system at a crossroads. The growing market penetration of both cellular and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) telephony, and the increasingly mobile world they reflect, has underscored the limitations of the current 9-1-1 infrastructure. Today’s 9-1-1 system, based on decades-old technology, cannot handle the text, data, images, and video that are increasingly common in personal communications and critical to future transportation safety and mobility advances.

There is consensus within the 9-1-1 community on the need for a new, more capable system surrounding emergency call delivery and response (ultimately a system of systems). There is general agreement on the need to capitalize on advances in information and communications technologies, and develop systems that will enable:

  • Quicker and more accurate information delivery to responders;
  • Better and more useful forms of information (real-time text, images, video, and other data);
  • More flexible, secure and robust Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) operations; and
  • Lower public capital and operating costs for emergency communication services.

The US DOT’s Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) Initiative has helped define and document a vision for the future of 9-1-1. The NG 9-1-1 Initiative is a research and development project to define the system architecture and develop a transition plan that considers responsibilities, costs, schedule and benefits for deploying IP-based emergency services across the nation.

USDOT views the NG 9-1-1 project as a transition enabler, to assist the public in making a 9-1-1 call from any wired, wireless, or IP-based device, and allow the emergency responders to take advantage of enhanced call delivery, multimedia data and advanced call transfer capabilities. To accomplish these goals, the ideas and needs of both public and private 9-1-1 stakeholders have been incorporated.

This webinar will provide a briefing on the status of the NG 9-1-1 Initiative and other development efforts and describe the transition to the National E-911 Implementation Coordination Office that is currently underway.

Audience

This summit targets 9-1-1 stakeholders, public safety communications professionals and other interested parties in the future planning of the nation’s emergency call centers.

Learning Outcomes

  • What is NG 9-1-1?
  • What is the current status of NG 9-1-1 implementation?
  • What steps is USDOT taking toward developing the future of 9-1-1?
  • What information about NG 9-1-1 is available?

Federal Hosts:

Linda Dodge and Laurie Flaherty, NG 9-1-1 Co-Program Managers, US DOT

Linda Dodge

Linda Dodge has overall 30 years in public safety (firefighter, paramedic, heavy rescue) in the field and administration. Linda’s experience includes instructing at the Maryland Fire Rescue Institute (MFRI), University of MD; a director of a police and correctional officer academy, for the Maryland Dept. of Public Safety – Police and Corrections; 12 years as executive director Colorado Trauma Institute, Denver, CO and the last 10 years at the DOT ~6 of the10 years as regional program manager NHTSA Region 8, in Lakewood and 4 years ITS JPO, FHWA, in DC public safety program manager (NG 9-1-1, WE 9-1-1, Emergency Transportation Operations, etc.)

Laurie Flaherty

Laurie Flaherty is an emergency nurse, who has more than 20 years of clinical experience. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Marquette University, and has a master’s degree in emergency and trauma nursing from the University of California, San Francisco.

Laurie is a Program Analyst in the Office of EMS at NHTSA and focuses on issues related to the application of technology in Emergency Medical Services and 9-1-1 services. She currently co-manages the Next Generation 9-1-1 Initiative for the Office of EMS, and is also directly involved in establishing and staffing the National 9-1-1 Office.

Presenters:

John Chiaramonte, Booz Allen Hamilton

John Chiaramonte, an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, is the deputy program manager leading the NG 9-1-1 Initiative for the US DOT. In 2008, he successfully managed a team of software developers and technical and functional experts that implemented a proof of concept demonstration.

Prior to joining Booz Allen, John was a Senior Project Manager delivering public safety applications to 9-1-1 centers. He has been involved with public safety IT projects both as the end-user and a vendor and throughout the entire implementation process. He is a subject matter expert on Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and 9-1-1 systems and operations and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).


Reference in this webinar to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by U.S. Department of Transportation.Please forward this announcement to colleagues who may be interested in attending this webinar.

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Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) requirements are currently being implemented in federal agencies.  Please contact your IT staff to determine if these requirements affect your ability to connect to T3 webinars via Microsoft Live Meeting from your federal PC or laptop.  This link contains information about Live Meeting and can be provided to your IT staff for further reference:  http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/t3/info_requirements.asp

Fear Growing Senator Boxer Won’t Deliver Progressive Transportation Act

May 7, 2009 at 2:48 pm

(Source: Streetsblog)

California Senator Barbara Boxer will be at the center of a battle over whether or not the reauthorization of the transportation bill will address the global warming impacts of transportation, given her Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee is responsible for writing much of the bill’s language. Any chance of reforming the transportation bill, which advocates are clamoring for, will require deft political maneuvering to mollify ranking committee member Senator James Inhofe. 

Several sources said that Boxer’s cooperation with Inhofe is simple math. The $312 billion baseline for transportation over six years is insufficient to meet state of good repair needs and set the country on a course for innovation. Minnesota Representative James Oberstar, chair of the House Transportation Committee, has suggested $400-500 billion would be needed, while the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Organizations (AASHTO) and the American Public Transit Association (APTA) argue in their Bottom Line Report that at least $160 billion will be needed annually. In order get from $312 billion to $500 billion or better, Boxer will need to get approval for new revenue streams, which would require a filibuster-proof majority, something she might not get without Inhofe and other reluctant members on the committee. 

Several interviewees also pointed to Senator Boxer’s alliance with Inhofe on an amendment in the federal stimulus bill for an additional $50 billion in highway money as a bad sign.

“You have polar bears and glaciers on your website… then throw people back in their cars?” said one official who insisted on anonymity.

Because Boxer has traditionally been a champion for environmental causes, several advocates said that monitoring her on this issue would be new and potentially uncomfortable. TransForm Executive Director Stuart Cohen said he first saw a red flag late in 2008 when Senator Boxer spoke in San Francisco about highway and road infrastructure needs in the stimulus bill while failing to mention transit.  But, Cohen added, “we would have to adjust to the idea of watchdogging Senator Boxer; she has been such a reliable ally.”

Transportation for America (T4A) Communications Director David Goldberg said an appropriately large sum of money is needed in any discussion of the transportation bill, but he was more concerned about how legislators would spend that money. “We think there is a need of at least $500 billion, but support is contingent on reforms that would make it a wise investment.”

Colin Peppard, Climate and Infrastructure Campaign Director for the Environmental Defense Fund echoed the T4A sentiment. “What we’ve gotten for our money so far is not a good deal,” he said. “The public wants a better product. Hopefully the authorization lays out priorities that enhance safety and focuses on investment in new capacity that increases energy independence and reduces greenhouse gases.”  

Getting Inhofe, one of the premier global warming deniers, to support a bill that calls for reducing greenhouse gas impacts from driving would be a political coup. He has said that environmental review is an onerous burden for infrastructure investment and that the inclusion of global warming rhetoric in a transportation act is unacceptable.

Click here to continue reading.

Chief executive of speed camera firm banned from driving for speeding at 100mph

May 6, 2009 at 12:16 pm

(Source: Guardian & Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA)

‘Embarrassed’ Tom Riall caught by police flouting 70mph limit

Tom Riall, speed camera boss admits speeding

The chief executive of the company that installs the majority of speed cameras on Britain’s roads was banned from driving for six months today after admitting driving at more than 100mph.

Tom Riall, the boss of Serco‘s civil government division, which supplies and installs the Gatso fixed radar cameras to police forces, was travelling at 102.9mph on the A14 in Newmarket, Suffolk, just before 1pm on 4 January, magistrates in Sudbury heard. The speed limit on the dual carriageway is 70mph.

Riall, 49, had two other driving convictions from the last three years, including another speeding offence, the court heard, meaning the six-point penalty imposed by magistrates took him past the 12-point mark, incurring the ban. He was also fined £300.

Riall, who took part last year in a road safety campaign called Safe Drive Stay Alive, told the court he would like formally to apologise, saying: “In my role I am all too aware of the consequences of speeding.” Riall said he was driving to visit friends in Newmarket before a business meeting in Norwich and the road was clear.

He asked magistrates not to impose a ban, saying it would cost about £30,000 to employ drivers to take him on business trips during the six months, and that the speeding offence had already caused “some considerable personal embarrassment”.

He said: “Of course, while I have had a number of fixed penalty notices in the past, this is the first time I have exceeded the speed limit to this degree.” The magistrates rejected this, saying a six-point penalty was fair.

President Obama & U.S. House members reach compromise on “cash for clunkers” deal

May 5, 2009 at 3:52 pm

(Source: Detroit Free Press & Image: Jalopnik)

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration and U.S. House members have reached a compromise over a “cash for clunkers” bill that would offer as many as one million vehicle buyers a voucher for up to $4,500 each to spur car and truck sales.

The bill still must pass Congress and its price tag was not immediately available. But the compromise gives the bill backing from Michigan representatives, several automakers and other groups who might have had enough opposition to block it.

The vouchers would apply to passenger cars, trucks and work vehicles. The old passenger cars and trucks being traded in under the plan would have to get less than 18 miles per gallon in combined driving. 

New cars would have to get at least 22 m.p.g. to qualify for a $3,500 voucher; if the new model gets 10 m.p.g. more than the old one, the voucher would increase to $4,500.

New trucks would have to get at least 18 m.p.g., and get at least 2 m.p.g. better than the old model to get the $3,500 voucher and 5 m.p.g. better for the $4,500 voucher.

The vouchers would be available for one year and up to one million customers.

Click here to read the entire article.

 FYI,  NY times has made available the following documents that can help you understand what vehicles are eligible in the competing version of the Cash of Clunkers legislation

List of Eligible Vehicles Under the Rep. Steve Israel Plan (from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy)

List of Eligible Vehicles Under the Rep. Betty Sutton Plan (from Representative Sutton’s office)