(Source:  Mashable)

Image Courtesy: Position2.com

The women of Saudi Arabia, who are steadfastly fighting the monarchy for the right to drive, today received a shot in the arm for their ongoing campaign from their counterparts across the oceans.  Social media website Mashable.com report the on the development (excerpt):

Fourteen female United States senators have sent a letter to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, asking him to lift the ban that keeps women from driving within the kingdom.

The letter — dated July 26 — comes as a major boost for an ongoing social media campaign against the ban.

The bipartisan letter admits that the kingdom has recently taken some steps that advance women’s rights, including the appointment of its first woman deputy minister and the establishment of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, “the only university in Saudi Arabia that allows women to study alongside men and where women are allowed to drive motor vehicles on campus.”

The 14 senators  aren’t the only female politicians to throw their support behind the Women2Drive movement.  In the recent months, a number of House of Representatives members — including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.— also expressed their support for the campaign last month. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at a news conference, following a Change.org petition started by activist coalition Saudi Women for Driving, calling the women’s efforts brave.  On the other side of the Atlantic, the European Union’s Catherine Ashton, high representative and European Commission vice president, has also issued statements to show her support.

The question remains how much these external forces can sway the King and the his key decision-makers, who are fighting for their own battle against the hardcore religious zealots jockeying for control/power within the Kingdom.   Let’s hope the Women of Saudi Arabia win their freedom soon.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: YouTube via Reddit)

Police Officer Donnie Williams shows who is the boss on the saddles – Grand Prairie Police Motorcycle Rodeo – April 30, 2011

(Source: Reuters via Guardian)

You thought cycling in the city streets was brutal?  Wait till you see what these elite athletes on controlled racing environments like Tour de France face.  Here are a couple of pictures showing what the athletes face on the road. Apparently, the incident was triggered by an errant media vehicle covering, knocking one of the riders and leading to this massive crash (See video at the end of the article).  These images give you an idea of how dangerous a ride (apart from the energy sapping, grueling effort to finish each stage)  it is for these guys to win the crown of cycling world and what they endure on the course flying at 60kmph.  Despite the injuries, the brave biker shown here tangled in the fence, Johnny Hoogerland, managed to finish the stage before taken to hospital for further treatment. Click here to view the rest of the image gallery covering the horrific crashes from the race.

Driver of a French TV vehicle caused this incident during stage 9. Not only did his wild overtaking manoeuvre skittle rider Johnny Hoogerland, but it left Spain's Juan Antonio Flecha on the deck with his bike in pieces

Tour de France rider Johnny Hoogerland tries to free himself from a barb wire fence after he got thrown off his bicycle by a media vehicle during Stage 9

Click here to view the rest of the images.

(Source: Youtube Via Reddit)

The advent of dash cams in cops cars have brought to us many a horrible crimes as they happened on the roads. Here is one such occurrence where the police saw (and recorded) a woman hit a pedestrian. Then the chase starts and finishes with a nice & beautiful closing statement by the police officer!  It is amazing how the officers handled the situation (one gets off the chase to attend to the accident victim and the other gets off chasing the offending driver).  Just brilliant!  The best part of the video for me was this statement delivered by the cop: “Sod the Bloody Work”!  Well put, Officer! I couldn’t have said it any better.

Update Courtesy: ITS America

As the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee continues to work on finalizing its six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill in anticipation of an early July introduction, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has announced plans to introduce the Senate version of the bill during the week of July 11, hold hearings the week of July 18, and is expected to proceed with a Committee mark-up on July 27.  The Senate bill, which is rumored to be a two-year bill instead of six, is expected to face a $12 billion funding shortfall which would require the Senate Finance Committee to come up with additional revenues before the legislation could be passed.  Committee staff continues to craft the bill in a bipartisan fashion with their most recent work focusing on a freight section.  ITS America is working closely with Senate staff to include provisions that would promote greater deployment of ITS.

On the House side, T&I Committee majority staff continues to work on their bill but have provided limited details as to what specific policies and programs will be included.  Speculation continues about the time frame for moving a surface transportation bill through the House, with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA/7) taking heat for not including the reauthorization bill in a June 10 memo to House Republicans outlining key pieces of legislation that will be debated on the House floor this summer.  The American Road & Transportation Builders Association obtained the memo and has posted the document on its website here.

Meanwhile Congressman Richard Hanna (R-NY/24), Vice-Chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, joined ITS America’s Congressional Roundtable members for breakfast to discuss ITS and the transportation reauthorization bill.  As a businessman who spent nearly three decades in the construction industry before being elected to Congress, Rep. Hanna stressed the need for technology solutions that can help public agencies do ‘more with less’.  The Congressman made note of Portland, Oregon as an example of a city that is investing in ITS to help create a more efficient, user-friendly transportation network, while acknowledging the pressure many agencies face to roll out more visible ‘bricks and mortar’ projects.  He also said the “argument is building daily” for investing in transportation as a means to create jobs and bring down the nation’s high unemployment rate.  Read more about the Congressional Roundtable in the AASHTO Journal.

(Source: KHOU via Huston Chronicle )

(Source: Reddit)

After watching this, I shudder to think how an elderly driver would understand the flow of traffic and negotiate this intersection? Especially, if he she had lived in the area for a while and now had to face this new re-designed nightmare that will make for one heck of an interview.

All joking aside, I’m definitely interested in learning more about efficiency (volume, throughput, etc) and accident metrics (before vs. after) for this particular intersection.  If anyone can find interesting reads/studies/publications on this issue, please share it in the comments section below.

Though it may look efficient (saving an full signal cycle) and creative on the video, I sense there is something inherently wrong with this design.  Accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists seem very minimal.  And the most important question above all – how did they manage to get the community’s buy-in before going forward with spending $$ on this complex mess?  IF anything, I find it quite interesting to see how the average citizen react to this unique design by observing the comments posted on Reddit.

(Image Source: Reddit.com)

The only question I have – how many times did this driver get pulled over by police after erecting this monumental bill board? A before vs. after comparison would be priceless.

(Source: HoustonChronicle; Click2houston.com)

How should this be viewed – A population’s unwillingness to see the safety benefits of continuing with a safety measure?Or, is it simply a matter of the city administration, driven by the economic gains, unwilling to execute the citizens’ collective decision? The issues surrounding the City of Houston’s red-light camera enforcement now got a bit more chaotic by the latest court ruling. Read on.

Houston city leaders are assessing their options after a federal judge invalidated the November referendum that turned off a red-light surveillance system and halted a stream of millions of dollars into strapped city coffers.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes ruled Friday that the referendum was improperly placed on the ballot last year, and the city cannot be forced to turn off the cameras.U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes said that the issue as presented on the November ballot violated Houston’s city charter covering the repeal of an ordinance.Hughes said Houston’s city charter requires that efforts to overturn ordinances by referendum must occur within 30 days of an ordinance’s passage.

Video: Houston Red Light Camera Ruling

53%  percent voted against Proposition 3 in the Nov. 2 election. The measure forced the city to stop issuing tickets for those caught by the red-light cameras.

(Source: Times of India)

Image Courtesy: US Census Bureau via floridamortgageblogger.com

Apart from the well-documented ill-effects of long commutes on human life, now add this one – marriage. According to a new Swedish research study says those who spend a long time on trains or stuck in cars shuttling to the office are up to 40 per cent more likely to split from their spouse.

The research team, which looked at statistical data from two million Swedish households between 1995 and 2000, concluded that the risk is highest in the first few years of marriage when the dream of life together gives way to the daily grind.

The Researchers from Umea University said, “if one partner – most likely the husband – spends 45 minutes or more commuting they would come home too tired to help around the house.”

Click here to learn more.

Note:  Looking at the map above, I can’t help but wonder how are the divorce rates in these American states where people have significant commute times.  Scouring the web, I landed on this chart, which if laid out on a GIS map, would help us compare a bit more easily.. But it still helps to understand the dynamics between marital discord and heavy commutes.

Image Courtesy: Maritalmediation.com via Google Images

Of course, there are many other contributing factors that lead to a couple’s separation/divorce.  Nevertheless, it is interesting to see someone quantify the impact of long commutes on a relationship.