(Sources contributing to this hybrid report: Boston.com, ULTraPRT.com & ABC7)

The city of San Jose is planning to build a PRT system that will run between the airport and a Bay Area Rapid Transit station as well as a nearby light rail station. They say it will include up to five stations, but this and other details are still being worked out.

Back in 2008, the city has issued a request for proposals and allotted $4 million to conduct an economic and technical evaluation, and then to work with a vendor. When San Jose compared PRT with an automated people mover, the kind of large, driverless shuttle that is common at airports, officials decided that PRT would be cheaper and more convenient for passengers. The government has not sworn off other options during this exploratory phase, but officials say they will most likely proceed with a PRT system.

Image Courtesy: ULTra PRT - Click the image for more details

One of the vendors, ULTra PRT whose first deployment is scheduled for London Heathrow Airport in Spring 2010, expected to serve Heathrow’s new Terminal 5, has published more details on this project.  The website notes ULTra PRT is an electric, 200-mpg-equivalent, elevated transit system with many 5-person vehicles.  Working as circulator transit for office parks, airports, universities, and other major activity centers, PRT is faster than a car. In these applications, PRT makes carpooling and transit more effective, by solving the “last mile problem.”

Laura Stuchinksy is a sustainability officer for San Jose’s Department of Transportation. She and other city officials are considering the idea of having such a public pod system link the Mineta San Jose International Airport with area businesses, hotels and other nearby transit options, like Caltrain, BART and the VTA Light Rail.

PRT also enables longer bike commutes and shopping trips.  The only existing, functioning example in the world is an eight-mile network built in the 1970s to move people around the West Virginia University campuses (which also happens to be TransportGooru’s Alma Mater; enjoyed riding this system while studying there back in the 90s).

San Jose is anticipating population growth of a half million people over the next 30 years, so an automated pod transit system could certainly improve quality of life in the city – plus generate thousands more clean-tech jobs. Here is a video  coverage of this story (courtesy of ABC 7).

(Source: Times of India; XinhuaNet)

Even as Chinese president Hu Jintao was telling an audience in Beijing that the government will stick to the path of socialism on October 1, a quite capitalistic revolution was taking place in distant Sanxi province in north China.

The first-ever private railway project began construction on the 60th anniversary of the Communist revolution. It may seem like a modest beginning for the project’s private owners but the business focus is clear as the project will link coal mines of Sanxi.

Another project that will bring China’s rail network very close to the border of Myanmar went in into operation late September. This project connecting two towns in Yunnan province is now being extended to connect Ruili, the Chinese outpost on the Myanmar border.

It is expected to cost 2.3 billion yuan (about 0.34 billion U.S. dollars), and will be finished in three years.  The railway was co-funded by the Broad Union Investment Management Group Co., Ltd, the Yufeng Railway Construction Investment Co., Ltd and the Railway Bureau of Zhengzhou.

Song Xiude, chief of Kunming Railway Bureau, recently told reporters in Yunnan that the line will be linked to the South East Asian rail network via a 350-km-long railway being constructed between Dali and Ruili, a city on the Sino-Myanmar border. Construction of the Dali-Ruili railway began last year and is slated for completion in 2014, the official media said.

China’s first privately funded rail project will link the towns of Jiafeng and Nanchenpu over a stretch of 64.29 kilometers. The $340 million rail line will have six stops and pass through six counties in Sanxi province. It has been funded by two private companies-the Broad Union Investment Management Group Co., Ltd. And ufeng Railway Construction Investment Co., Ltd. –besides the local state run Railway Bureau of Zhengzhou.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Tree Hugger)

Image Courtesy: Bombardier

Image Courtesy: Bombardier

Tree Hugger reports that the estimated $4 billion US (or 2.7 billion euros) is only part of China’s grand $300B dream. Another recent article on  TreeHugger outlined the grand plan to invest over $300 billion in high-speed rail through 2020, in a bid to speed ahead of the rest of the world’s train systems. Here are some excerpts from today’s interesting TreeHugger article.

The Chinese Ministry of Railways has announced that it will buy 80 “very high speed trains” from Bombardier’s Chinese joint ventre Bombardier Sifang to add to China’s fast-growing network of high-speed rail. The ZEFIRO 380 trains are both very efficient (more on that below) and very fast, and should help make transportation in China greener, especially if train trips displace plane trips.

The order is for 20 eight-car trainsets and 60 sixteen-car trainsets, for a total of 1,120 cars.

The ZEFIRO 380 has a maximum operating speed of 380 kilometers per hour (236 miles per hour) and is designed for efficiency:

The Bombardier press release notes ” The new trainsets will be an integral part of an evolving high speed rail capability in China, which is developing more than 6,000 km of new high speed lines to create one of the most advanced high speed rail networks in the world. The trains, with maximum operating speeds of 380 kph, are based on Bombardier’s next-generation ZEFIRO high speed rail technology, and powered by a highly energy efficientBOMBARDIER MITRAC propulsion and control system.

Image Courtesy: Bombardier

The ZEFIRO 380 trainsets will also incorporate Bombardier’s advanced ECO4 energy saving technologies to create best-in-class energy and operating efficiencies. Bombardier launched its ECO4 technology package in 2008 as part of an ongoing focus to extend rail’s position as the most sustainable form of transportation in the world. Bombardier is first in the industry to create a new formula for total train performance with a portfolio that can create substantial overall energy savings of up to 50%.”

The ZEFIRO 380 trains will be manufactured at Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation production facilities in Qingdao, China. Engineering will take place in Qingdao and at Bombardier centers in Europe with project management and components provided from sites in Europe and China.

What the heck is USA doing?

If you are wondering what is the status of the US high-speed rail development program, here is your answer.  We are waaaaaaaay behind many of our counterparts that are already engaged in the HSR programs .  The Europeans (French with their TGVs  & Germans with their ICE trains) and the Japanese have been at the forefront of HSR for decades and have built excellent systems that are capable of traveling at ~250MPH speeds.  New comers such as Spain and China have blazed new paths and surged ahead of the US and have embarked on ambitious plans, backed by huge  government funding commitments.  Heck, even the oil-rich Saudi Arabia is forging ahead with its development of brand new HSR lines cutting across the sandy deserts connecting major cities.  Recently, the Russians also got on this track and have quickly sought Spain’s help in building their HSR lines.  While the rest of the world is surging ahead, the US Government is still wrangling over its plans of where to invest the $8Billion funding. The US HSR Association states “Our vision is for a 21^st century, 17,000 mile national high speed rail system built in 4 phases, for completion by 2030″.  Realistically speaking, this goal seems far fetched at this point, especially with the glacial pace of activity at the Federal level.

Click here to read the entire article. Also, click here to see more pictures of these new toys China is buying from Bombardier.

(Source: Washington Post)

Forget about getting more money for Metro or whether to fire the general manager. The real issue is poor customer service: mysterious train halts, boarded-up escalators, rude station attendants.

That, at least, is the view of a bearded, 41-year-old former news reporter who writes the successful gadfly blog with the off-color title Unsuck DC Metro. He doesn’t want his name published, saying he’s received several threats over blog posts that embarrassed Metro employees. On that condition, however, he agreed to meet for lunch for his first full interview and discuss what he thinks ails Metro following the toughest three months in the transit system’s 33-year history.

The blogger, whose site is http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com, bases his judgment partly on personal experience but mostly on the thousands of e-mails, comments, photographs and Twitter messages he’s received since he started in January. He gets more than 1,000 hits a day and has nearly 1,400 followers on Twitter — very near the approximately 1,650 following Metro’s own Twitter site.

General Manager John B. Catoe Jr., whose contract was just extended for three years, should pay attention. The bloggers have come to speak for Metro’s core customers and serve as a kind of collective conscience for the system.

To its credit, Metro responds to bloggers’ queries and, despite some understandable tensions, deals with them professionally. Other bloggers following Metro include Greater Greater Washington, Moving Momentarily, Why I Hate DC, Infosnack and DCist (along with such mainstream media blogs as The Post’s Get There, which features Dr. Gridlock).

Mr. Unsuck decided to blog after he changed jobs in November and began commuting regularly on the Orange Line. He was surprised when trains stopped regularly mid-trip and when, in his first week, he had to get off and wait three or four times when a train was suddenly taken out of service. Compared with foreign systems he knew, “I just felt there was something wrong with this one,” he said.

His blogging is part-time and unpaid. On slow days, he works on the blog for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes after work. A lengthy posting might take several hours. The lunch I bought him (his share was $27.50) was the first material benefit he’d received.

Click here to read the entire article.

Note: Transportgooru congratulates fellow bloggers Greater Greater Washington, Moving Momentarily, Why I Hate DC, Infosnack and DCist for the great job they have done in getting the Metro to pay attention to the Metro riders’ issues.   If anything, the community is glad to have these platforms to share their agonizing commuter tales & Metro’s woeful performance/behavior.   Hat tip to all these bloggers for their community service!

(Source: CarFreeMetroDC)

Car Free Day is an international event celebrated every September 22nd in which people are encouraged to get around without their car – highlighting transit, bicycling, walking and all alternative modes of transportation. By taking a fair number of cars off the roads people who live and work there are given a chance to consider how their neighborhood might look and work with a lot fewer cars. Click here for more information about World Car Free Day.

Washington celebrated Car Free Day for the first time in 2007 with about 1,000 District residents committing to be car free for the day. Last year, Car Free Day expanded to the entire Washington Metropolitan Area, and 5,445 residents throughout the region pledged to be car free. This year we hope even more drivers throughout the region will leave their cars at home or go “car lite” by sharing a ride to work. By taking the Car Free Challenge, participants not only help to improve air quality, save money, and reduce their carbon footprint, but also get a chance to win great prizes at the event.

There are a number of regional resources that can help you be Car Free or Car Lite.

• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for bus and rail information.
• Washington Area Bicyclist Association for bike routes and safe cycling information.
• Commuter Connections for information on carpooling, vanpooling, telework, guaranteed ride home and more.
• General Services Administration for Telework Center information.
• Telework Exchange information for the Federal telework community
• If you live, work or visit Arlington visit our World Car-Free Day page.
• Commuter Trains, VRE for Virginia or MARC for Maryland.

(Source: New York Times)

The Senate voted on Wednesday to allow Amtrak passengers to carry unloaded and locked handguns in checked baggage, even though Amtrak officials had raised concerns that the proposal could present “numerous challenges.”

Amtrak used to allow passengers to check licensed guns, but ended the practice after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

The provision, which was introduced by Senator Roger Wicker, Republican, as an amendment to a housing and transportation spending bill, is the latest in a string of Senate votes aimed at expanding gun rights. It passed 68-30, with a group of 27 Democrats and one independent, mostly from states where gun rights are widely supported, joining all 40 Republicans in voting for the measure.

The Senate has already approved separate provisions this year that would allow properly permitted gun owners to carry in national parks and would loosen gun laws in Washington. Additionally, a July proposal that would have allowed permitted gun owners in one state to carry concealed weapons in another fell just two votes short in the Senate.

Under the Wicker amendment, Amtrak would lose the funds earmarked for it in the must-pass spending bill if it did not comply with the new regulations. In a statement released after the amendment passed, Mr. Wicker stressed that the guidelines laid out in the provision — which would also insist that a passenger notify Amtrak that he or she is transporting a handgun and that only that passenger could unlock the secure container holding the gun — are roughly the same ones used by airline passengers.

“Americans should not have their Second Amendment rights restricted for any reason, particularly if they choose to travel on America’s federally subsidized rail line,” Mr. Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, said in the statement.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Yonah Freemark @ The Transport Politic)

Projects in Georgia, Pennsylvania get millions; Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Baltimore still waiting to hear.

Image Courtesy: Yonah Freemark @ The Transport Politic

One clear demonstration of the United States’ lack of coherent national transportation policy objectives is its approach to funding magnetic levitation train projects. Rather than making a decision about what to fund, the Congress occasionally appropriates a relatively small pot of money, then the DOT distributes cash for planning studies. Nothing ever gets off the ground.  That, at least, is how it has worked since 1999, when the DOT first awarded $12 million in planning funds to seven proposed projects in California, Nevada, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. By 2001, the agency announced it would pick either a line between Baltimore and Washington or one connecting Pittsburgh and its suburbs for almost $1 billion in construction dollars, eventually deciding on the latter. By 2005, however, all funds had been cut off by an uncommitted congress, despite the fact that $62 million had already been distributed; meanwhile, states and municipalities had contributed virtually nothing to the projects. Maglev seemed dead.

The news this month that Atlanta and Pittsburgh have received more planning funds — $14 million for the former and $28 million for the latter — and that other projects funded back in 1999 may once again get appropriations in the coming days seems like a continuation of this destructive cycle. If so, these dollars are nothing more than a waste of money, because there is little chance that funds for actual construction will ever appear. Yet the Congress devoted $90 million maglev two years ago, knowing that actually getting big-budget funds for the projects’ completion from Washington would be almost impossible. Nor has there ever been a concerted effort by either Congress or the Department of Transportation to show why maglev projects should be funded at all.

Click here to read the entire article.

Transit Oriented Development Panel

Hosted by Womens Transportation Seminar (WTS), Washington DC Chpater

September 15, 2009

This panel will focus on recent and anticipated changes in national and state-level legislation and policies that facilitate stronger transportation-land use coordination in the planning process, with a focus on encouraging transit oriented development.

Featured Speakers:

Amy Inman,  Senior Planner, Department of Rail and Public Transportation

Christopher Patusky, Director, Office of Real Estate, Maryland Department of Transportation

Mariia Zimmerman, Vice President for Policy, Reconnecting America

Serving as Moderator for the Panel:

Susan Borinsky, FTA Associate Administrator for Planning and the Environment

WHEN:

WHERE:

METRO:

PROGRAM FEES:

$30 WTS Members ; $60 Non-Members; $15 Students

RSVP:

We urge you to RSVP now and reserve your seat.* Seating is limited, and priority will be given to WTS members.

The Saudi government is building a $1.8 billion monorail to ferry pilgrims among the holy sites of Mecca, Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah. Once complete, the Saudis estimate 53,000 buses will disappear from the city’s crowded roads, promising a safer, more comfortable pilgrimage. (FYI – For those not in the know, Monorail is a single rail serving as the track for a wheeled or (magnetically) levitating vehicle, has been rapidly paving its way as a modern urban transit system, providing the most-sought-after transportation solutions for a built-up congested city.)

The monorail will be built over the next four years, with the first segment — roughly 35 percent of the project, by one estimate — opening in time for this year’s Hajj between November 25 and 29. Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims must complete if they have the means and ability to do so, is the fifth Pillar of Islam and as such attracts a staggering number of pilgrims.

Arab News quotes Dr. Habeeb Zain Al-Abidine, the Deputy Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Secretary-General of the Commission for Development of Makkah, Madinah and the Holy Sites , saying that a feasibility study conducted by an international company had proposed five monorails linking the holy sites.  The project is expected to facilitate the transportation of more than three million pilgrims between the holy sites.  “The feasibility study suggested the second monorail be built two to three years after the construction of the first one,” he said, adding that a single monorail would cost SR4 billion. The first monorail beginning from Mina will transport nearly one million pilgrims including 360,000 Arab pilgrims. The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the Ministry of Transport and the Higher Commission for the Development of Makkah and Madinah have all reviewed a study of the project and welcome it. The study was prepared by the International Transport Projects Company, which is now contacting Saudi authorities to obtain the appropriate license to implement the project.

The Arab News also says that Makkah monorails will be 8 to 10 meters above the ground to ensure smooth flow of pedestrians and vehicles.  “The monorail project will help withdraw about 53,000 buses and other vehicles being used by pilgrims coming by land from within the Kingdom and neighboring GCC countries,” the report said.

The committee said the monorail would pass by three stations in Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina. The last station in Mina will be on the fourth flour of the Jamarat Bridge.   Controlled access to the monorail is intended to avoid accidents such as the tragedy at Mina in 2006, when more than 350 people died in a stampede after two busloads of pilgrims disembarked at the entrance to the Jamarat Bridge holy site. Trains on four elevated tracks will carry as many as 20,000 pilgrims an hour in an orderly fashion.   The project also includes parking facilities so that pilgrims can park their cars at the entrance of Makkah and then board the monorail.

Wait!  This is not the only rail activity happening in Saudi Arabia.  It is interesting to note how the Saudi Government is making strategic investments in rail projects arond the country.  Back in April, Arab News published an article about the Saudi Government’s plan for expanding the railway network across the country and beyond.  The Kingdom’s railway expansion envisages 3,900 km of new track. In addition to the Landbridge Project linking the Kingdom’s east with its west, two other major new rail projects are moving closer. These include a 450-km high-speed Haramain railway to link Jeddah with Makkah and Madinah.  

Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf announced plans to establish a new railway system linking the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emriates.   “GCC leaders have given preliminary approval for the project. The final decision will depend on its feasibility,” Al-Assaf said.

Talking about Chinese role in building railway infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the other rail project is 275-mile high-speed rail system linking Mecca and Medina through Jeddah to be built by China Railway Engineering.  China’s involvement in both projects  (HSR and Monrail) reportedly was clinched during Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jintao’s visit to Saudi Arabia in February, during which representatives of Chinese Railway Corp. met with Saudi Prince Miteb bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the commission for developing the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.  (FYI – The Mecca deal highlighted the growing role of China in Saudi Arabia’s plan to commit 450 billion riyals (S$180 billion) to major infrastructure, education and new cities projects over the next five years.  China is already one of the top buyers of oil from Saudi Arabia, importing 36 million tonnes of Saudi crude last year, according to Chinese figures.)

Mansour Al-Maiman, secretary-general of PIF and chairman of Saudi Railway Company, said the North-South Railway would be ready next year for the transportation of minerals. He said the passenger railway linking Riyadh, Sudair, Qassim and Hail would be floated for tenders within a few days, adding that the work on the project would be completed by 2012.  Once complete, the North-South rail link woulc connect mineral-rich Jalamid belt with smelters in Ras Al-Zour near the eastern industrial city of Jubail.

The North-South Railway is given priority due to its importance to industrial development. It is integral to planned phosphate and bauxite mining projects in the north of the country that will link up with processing and smelters on the Gulf coast.  French defense group Thales and construction giant Saudi Binladin Group were awarded an SR1.7 billion ($453 million) contract to build signaling, ticketing, communications and security systems for the 2,400-km long North-South Railway.

The Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark

1 South Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102

IBTTA and ITS America Join Forces on Sustainable Transportation and Facility Maintenance

Register today for this groundbreaking joint conference, Sustainability, Social Responsibility, Energy Conservation and Fall Maintenance, October 4-6, 2009 at the Hilton Hotel in St. Louis.

Agenda highlights include:

• Congressman (MO-3rd) Russ Carnahan;
• “Four Legs” of Sustainable Transportation presented by John Charles, President & CEO, Cascade Policy Institute and his expert panel, including Allen Biehler, President of AASHTO and Michael Replogle, Global Policy Director of ITDP;
• Dennis Archer, Chairman, Dickinson Wright, PLLC, and Former Mayor of Detroit will discuss the role of the federal government in promoting sustainable transportation policies for metropolitan areas;
• Views of the FHWA and the US DOT ITS Joint Program Office on operational strategies, policies and supporting ITS Technologies and their impacts on climate change;
• 21st Century Roadway Maintenance and more.

Meeting Host: The Missouri Department of Transportation; Organization Sponsors: AASHTO, The Bipartisan Policy Center and the Missouri Valley Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

Supporting Organizations

Visit IBTTA’s website for information on registration, hotel reservations, exhibiting or sponsorship.  Show below is the conference agenda.