USDOT Gets Serious About Distracted Driving; Plans afoot for a summit in September 2009

August 4, 2009 at 12:13 pm

(Source: NY Times)

The Department of Transportation plans to hold a summit meeting on distracted driving in September, according to a safety advocate who was invited to participate reported NY Times on Monday.

David Teater, a spokesman for the National Safety Council, a nonprofit advocacy group, said the Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, plans to hold a press conference Tuesday to announce plans for the summit meeting.

The agency confirmed that Secretary LaHood is making an announcement Tuesday “about combating distracted driving,” including practices like texting behind the wheel.  As indicated the Secretary went public, outlining his plans for a summit this morning.  In late September, senior transportation officials, elected officials, safety advocates, law enforcement representatives and academics will convene in Washington, DC to discuss ideas about how to combat distracted driving.

“If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting, but unfortunately, laws aren’t always enough,” said Sec. LaHood. “We’ve learned from past safety awareness campaigns that it takes a coordinated strategy combining education and enforcement to get results. That’s why this meeting with experienced officials, experts and law enforcement will be such a crucial first step in our efforts to put an end to distracted driving.”

Secretary LaHood noted today on his Fast Lane Blog:

When I was home in Peoria a few weeks ago, Alyssa Burns, a 17-year-old high school student was killed when she drove off the road.

It turns out she was texting while driving.

We’ve all seen the footage of the bus driver who was talking and texting on two cell phones while driving.

He smashed into the back of a car, injured the driver, and ended up driving into a swimming pool.

The horrific commuter train crash last year in California involved an operator who was too busy texting to pay attention to what he should have been doing. As a result, 25 people were killed and 135 were injured.

If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting.

But we’ve learned from our efforts to get people to wear seat belts and to persuade them not to drive drunk that laws aren’t always enough. Often, you need to combine education with enforcement to get results.

That’s why I announced this morning that I have decided to convene a summit of senior transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforcement representatives, members of Congress and academics who study these matters.

We will meet next month to discuss how to put an end to the rash of accidents and fatalities that have cropped up because of distracted driving.

When we are done, I expect to have a list of concrete steps to announce.

The bottom line is, we need to put an end to unsafe cell phone use, typing on blackberries and other activities that require drivers to take their eyes off the road and their focus away from driving.

The USDOT press release provides  further information on the summit and also directs readers to a website created for this summit.   For information and updates on next month’s summit on distracted driving, visit:http://www.rita.dot.gov/distracted_driving_summit/. Taking it one step further, the website offers to provide updates on the Distracted Driving Summit via Twitter at http://twitter.com/distractdriving.

Image Courtesy: Apture

Click here to read the entire article.

FAA Toughens Icing Protection Standards; Mandates Timely Activation of Ice Protection Systems for New Designs

August 3, 2009 at 6:10 pm

(Source: Flight Global & FAA Press  Release)

The FAA today finalised amended certification standards that will require makers of transport category aircraft to either have icing protection systems that automatically activate or provide a method to alert pilots that the system should be turned on.

The final rule follows more than a decade of research by the FAA, NASA and others initiated by the fatal crash of an American Eagle ATR 72 near Roselawn, Indiana, in 1994 due to ice build-up on the wings.

Under the new rule new aircraft and those undergoing “significant changes” that impact icing safety must either have an ice detection system that automatically activates or alerts pilots to turn on the system; a definition of visual signs that indicate ice build-up along with an advisory system; or a method of identifying temperature and moisture conditions conducive to airframe icing, alerting pilots of the need to turn on the protection system.

Regardless of the activation method, ice protection systems must then operate continuously, automatically turn on or turn off, or alert the pilots that the system must be cycled again after the initial activation.

“We’re adding another level of safety to prevent situations where pilots are either completely unaware of ice accumulation or don’t think it’s significant enough to warrant turning on their ice protection equipment,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt.

The FAA has previously addressed activation of pneumatic deicing boots on many aircraft models by requiring activation of boots at the first sign of ice accumulation. This new certification standard further increases safety by not relying on the pilot alone to observe whether the airplane is accumulating ice. Also this certification standard applies to all types of ice protection systems, not just pneumatic deicing boots.

The full text of the final rule is available at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-18483.htm

Click here to read the entire article.

Nissan unveils zero-emission hatchback “Leaf” & Autoblog offers an in-depth look

August 2, 2009 at 7:03 am

(Source: Reuters via Yahoo & Autoblog Green)

YOKOHAMA, Japan  – Nissan Motor Co took the wraps off its much-awaited electric car on Sunday, naming the hatchback “Leaf” and taking a step toward its goal of leading the industry in the zero-emissions field.

Japan’s No.3 automaker and its French partner, Renault SA, have been the most aggressive proponents of pure electric vehicles in the auto industry, announcing plans to mass-market the clean but expensive cars globally in 2012.

Nissan will begin selling the first Leaf cars in the United States, Japan and Europe toward the end of 2010, adding two more models soon after. It expects production to start with around 200,000 units a year at the global roll-out in 2012.


Twinning the car’s unveiling with the inauguration of Nissan’s new global headquarters in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn drove up to a stage in a sky-blue Leaf prototype, carrying former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and two other guests to greet a throng of journalists who made the trip from all over the world.

“We celebrate today the start of a new chapter of our company’s life,” Ghosn said.

Nissan is returning to the port city of Yokohama, where it was founded in 1933, after being based in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district for the last 41 years.

Designed as a four-to-five seat, front-drive C-segment hatchback, Nissan says the Leaf is not just for use as a specialty urban runabout, but rather, it was designed as an everyday vehicle – a “real car” whose 160-kilometer+ (100 mile) range meets the needs of 70% of the world’s motorists. In the case of U.S. consumers, Nissan says that fully 80% of drivers travel less than 100km per day (62 miles), making the Leaf a solid fit for America’s motoring majority, even taking into account power-sapping external factors like hilly terrain, accessory draw, and extreme temperatures.

More impressive is the battery pack’s 50 kW DC fast-charge capability, which is capable of accepting an 80% charge in less than 30 minutes, or an extra 50 km (31 miles) worth of range in about 10 minutes. For that, though, you’ll need access to a special dedicated (and at around $45,000 – expensive) three-phase charger, which various cities around the globe have begun installing as part of their own greening strategies. The executives we spoke with says they are working with local governments in the States and around the world to help build supporting infrastructure, but they admit the automaker has no plans to financially support the networks themselves, and fast chargers like the one we experienced in Yokohama are clearly cost-prohibitive for private ownership. 

Make no mistake, though, as despite clever construction methods, the Leaf’s batteries remain heavy, at around 200 kg per car (over 440 pounds). Despite this, Nissan projects that the car’s total weight will be similar to that of a comparable gas car because the electric motor is lighter than a traditional internal-combustion engine and because there is no need for a conventional transmission. Of course, there is the added bulk of a power inverter, but on the whole, Nissan believes the car’s center-of-gravity will be lower than an I.C. car, so handling might actually be better than the aforementioned Versa.

Nissan sees the capability for dramatic user cost-savings versus a traditional internal-combustion equivalent. Using typical Japanese market figures as a starting point, the automaker says an equivalent internal-combustion vehicle’s fuel consumption figure of 20 km/liter (47.5 mpg U.S.) over 1,000 km/month (620 miles) costs about 6,000 yen per month – about $63 U.S. dollars. Conversely, assuming the same operating parameters for the Leaf (using a charge cycle using cheaper nighttime energy rates), Nissan sees an operating cost for its ZEV of just 1,200 yen per month ¬– less than $13. Of course, American drivers will likely pile on far more miles per month on average, and our energy costs differ, but the point is clear – the automaker sees the Leaf as having real money-saving potential.

Click here to read the entire article.


ULI Study Says U.S. Can Cut Vehicle Carbon Emissions in Half by 2050; Raising Price of Driving Is Key To Reducing GHG Emissions

July 30, 2009 at 7:04 pm
(Source: Environmental Leader, Hybrid Cars, CitiesGoGreen)
The importance of sustainable land development in mitigating climate change is highlighted in a comprehensive new research report, Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions published by the Urban Land Institute.

The report evaluates incremental reductions in U.S. carbon emissions that could occur within the transportation sector as a result of a variety of transportation- and land use-related actions and strategies to minimize auto use. The report finds that land use strategies will produce the most emission reductions of all 50 strategies analyzed by the report.

Focusing solely on energy-efficient vehicles and cleaner fuels will not address the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to this recent report. A key finding indicates that the U.S. could cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 24 percent by 2050, without road pricing strategies, through changes to current transportation systems and operations, travel behavior, land use patterns and regulatory strategies.

With pricing measures such as pay-as-you-go drive insurance, direct fees for vehicle miles traveled, carbon pricing or increased gasoline tax, GHG emissions reductions could be as high as 41 to 52 percent.

The research, prepared by Cambridge Systematics, Inc., focuses on strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled and improve the efficiency of the transportation network. Land use is one of nine categories of strategies considered by Moving Cooler, along with transportation pricing and taxes, public transportation improvements, non-motorized transport such as walking and biking, regulations to moderate vehicle use and speed, intelligent systems, expanded highway capacity and more efficient freight movement. The effectiveness of each strategy in cutting greenhouse gas emissions is measured against a baseline that represents current trends.

Moving Cooler outlines a number of bundled strategies for discouraging travel in personal vehicles:

  • create more transportation -efficient land use patterns
  • encourage greater levels of walking and bicycling as alternatives to driving
  • support ride-sharing, car-sharing, and other efficient commuting strategies
  • subsidize public transportation fares, expanded routes and new infrastructure
  • improve intelligent transportation systems to make better use of the existing capacity and encourage more efficient driving
  • expand capacity and relieve bottlenecks to reduce congestion

But none of these steps will be as effective as establishing “strong economy-wide pricing measures.” For example, adding $0.60 to the price of a gallon of gasoline, starting in 2015 and increasing to $1.25 per gallon in 2050 could result in a 17 percent reduction of GHG in 2050, according to the study. If we introduced a fee similar to current European fuel taxes, starting at $2.40 a gallon in 2015 and jumping to $5.00 a gallon in 2050, we could see a 28 percent reduction in 2050. (These fees presumably would be added to the market price for gasoline.)

Moving Cooler points out that economy-wide pricing measures — such as an increase in the gasoline tax, carbon pricing, and pay-as-you-drive insurance – would produce the most significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, due to the likelihood of substantial shifts in driving behavior mandated by the high costs. However, outside of these pricing measures, the land use strategies produce the most emission reductions of any of the other strategies analyzed. Moreover, the costs of implementing such changes in development patterns are offset by the substantial savings in the cost of vehicle ownership and maintenance, the report adds.

The study’s authors say these pricing measures would have two effects: to cut back on vehicle miles traveled and to accelerate implementation and purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles—like hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric cars.

Moving Cooler cites multiple benefits derived from combining concentrated, mixed-use land development strategies and non-motorized transportation strategies to reduce auto dependency: “The combined effect of more compact land use, improved transit service and improved bicycle and pedestrian conditions would be to improve mobility by non-automobile modes…Increased opportunities for walking and biking will lead to improvements in public health, and exercise and activity levels increase. Finally, denser development can lead to energy and greenhouse gas savings through decreased building use, in addition to transportation efficiencies.”

Click here to read the Executive Summary or here to download the the entire report in PDF.

First IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference 2009 (IEEE VNC 2009) – October 28-30 @ Tokyo, Japan

July 30, 2009 at 5:35 pm

IEEE VNC 2009 is a new conference established with the merger of IEEE V2VCOM and IEEE AutoNet Workshops under IEEE ITS Society and IEEE ComSoc.

  • 2009.07.27
    Submissions deadline extended to August 10. This is a final extension.
  • 2009.07.06
    Submissions are now being accepted on the PaperCept site.

(Source: Bernie Wagenblast’s Transportation Communications Newsletter)

Biofuel research should focus on planes and not cars, says British think tank Policy Exchange.

July 22, 2009 at 1:07 am

(Source: BBC)

A crop area the size of the USA would be needed to biofuel all the world’s cars and alternatives, such as electricity, exist for them, it added.

Instead, it said the EU should fund research into using plant-based fuel for aviation to help cut emissions.

Sceptics say some biofuels create more carbon than they save and push up the price of food for the poor.

Most biofuels are derived from crops such as corn, sugarcane and rapeseed.

The UK government, which is funding a £27m research centre to find economically viable alternatives to fossil fuels, says 25% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transport.

The EU also changed its stipulation that 10% of transport fuel had to be from crop-based fuel, instead saying the targets could be met by any renewable source, including fuel cells, hydrogen or solar power.

Policy Exchange has previously said the government should spend its £550m annual biofuel subsidies on halting the destruction of rainforests and peatland, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Now the centre-right think tank says the EU should switch policy to subsidising development of biofuels for aviation because planes cannot run on other sources of energy.

Airlines including Virgin Atlantic have trialled flights using up to 20% biofuel to power the engines, although climate change campaigners say use of the fuel is not sustainable.

Policy Exchange claims using biofuels is the only way in the foreseeable future to meet people’s desire to travel without escalating emissions of greenhouse gases.

Airlines should be mandated to blend biofuel with kerosene in increasing quantities from 2020, it believes.

Click here to read the entire article.

Commuters Go Head to Head in Battle of the Bikes – Cycling commuters naturally fall into bike ‘tribes’. But in a door-to-desk race, who takes the gong?

July 20, 2009 at 1:54 pm

Commuters Go Head to Head in Battle of the Bikes

I’m beginning to love The Guardian’s bike related blog posts. Only yesterday they got me musing over the rights and wrongs of cycling drunk, and they’ve also explored work-appropriate bike clothing. It’s just nice to see bike articles that aren’t all about the Tour de France or the latest developments in lycra, but rather issues that the rest of us cyclists have to face daily. Their latest contribution to the debate is an exploration of riding styles for commuting – do fixed gear riders really get to work faster than mountain bikers or those of us on granny bikes? Read on for a (pseudo) scientific experiment…

OK, so Matt Sparkes’ experiment of which ‘bike tribe’ is fastest is hardly the stuff of scientific break throughs – after all, setting up a race between one rider on a racer, one on a fixed gear bike, one on a mountain bike, and one on a ‘granny bike dawdler’ is, as he himself admits, “as scientific as a climate change sceptic”, but it does raise an interesting debate.

Glance around during rush hour and you’ll spot all manner of bike riders: dawdlers in suits and dresses, racers in revealing Lycra and simplicity-craving single speeders. These are just some of the cycling “tribes” that can be identified by simple clues such as their choice of bike, wardrobe and riding style.  Just like Galápagos finches, they have evolved to fill different niches based on their needs. How far is the commute, what needs to be carried and are there showers at work? And of course, fashion plays a large part, too.

Unlike natural selection, though, we have a choice over which species to become. But have I made the best choice, or are my wheels just stuck in a rut? I decided to find out by mocking up an average commute and holding a “tribal commuter race”, to see who could get from door to desk quickest.

The contestants: road-bike racer; fixed-gear rider, mountain biker, hybrid commuter and granny-bike dawdler.

As soon as they set off it was clear who was going to arrive first. Fixed-gear rider sprinted away at the head of a fast pack, with road-bike racer in close and streamlined pursuit. Not far behind was hybrid commuter – slowed slightly by his panniers and upright seating position, but keen to compete.

Separated by a widening gap was mountain biker, whose bouncy suspension and wide, knobbly tires were a significant disadvantage. Granny-bike dawdler, equipped with baguette-carrying wicker basket, brought up the rear – but didn’t seem to mind one bit.

The slower tribes made up some time when road-bike racer’s skinny, slick tyres succumbed to some gravel in a shortcut through a park. Palms bloodied and confidence shaken, he failed to recover his initial advantage. Fixed-gear rider seized this opportunity to extend the lead, hopping red lights as he went.

A few miles later and everyone crossed the finish line in varying states of disarray. Fixed-gear rider was first, but sweaty enough to star in a Lynx commercial; hybrid commuter next and only slightly less moist. Last place on the podium went to road-bike racer, who was in need of a shower and a trip to the office first aid box before starting his working day.

Just a handful of minutes behind came mountain biker, who may have won had the course involved any sudden descents through woodland, but on the day arrived late and panting. Mere moments later came a grinning granny-bike dawdler, pulling up at the finish line slowly, but as fresh as a daisy.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: TreeHuggerGuardian, UK; Image Courtesy: Guardian –  Cyclists wearing different outfits in London Photograph: Graham Turner/ Antonio Olmos/Guardian/ Observer)

GAO Report Offers Preliminary Observations on the Links between Water and Biofuels and Electricity Production

July 13, 2009 at 1:16 am

(Source: GAO)

Water and energy are inexorably linked—energy is needed to pump, treat, and transport water and large quantities of water are needed to support the development of energy. However, both water and energy may face serious constraints as demand for these vital resources continues to rise. Two examples that demonstrate the link between water and energy are the cultivation and conversion of feedstocks, such as corn, switchgrass, and algae, into biofuels; and the production of electricity by thermoelectric power plants, which rely on large quantities of water for cooling during electricity generation.
At the request of this committee, GAO has undertaken three ongoing studies focusing on the water-energy nexus related to (1) biofuels and water, (2) thermoelectric power plants and water, and (3) oil shale and water. For this testimony, GAO is providing key themes that have emerged from its work to date on the research and development and data needs with regard to the production of biofuels and electricity and their linkage with water. GAO’s work on oil shale is in its preliminary stages and further information will be available on this aspect of the energy-water nexus later this year.
To conduct this work, GAO is reviewing laws, agency documents, and data and is interviewing federal, state, and industry experts. GAO is not making any recommendations at this time.
Why GAO did this study:
Water and energy are inexorably linked—energy is needed to pump, treat, and transport water and large quantities of water are needed to support the development of energy. However, both water and energy may face serious constraints as demand for these vital resources continues to rise. Two examples that demonstrate the link between water and energy are the cultivation and conversion of feedstocks, such as corn, switchgrass, and algae, into biofuels; and the production of electricity by thermoelectric power plants, which rely on large quantities of water for cooling during electricity generation.
At the request of this committee, GAO has undertaken three ongoing studies focusing on the water-energy nexus related to (1) biofuels and water, (2) thermoelectric power plants and water, and (3) oil shale and water. For this testimony, GAO is providing key themes that have emerged from its work to date on the research and development and data needs with regard to the production of biofuels and electricity and their linkage with water. GAO’s work on oil shale is in its preliminary stages and further information will be available on this aspect of the energy-water nexus later this year.
To conduct this work, GAO is reviewing laws, agency documents, and data and is interviewing federal, state, and industry experts. GAO is not making any recommendations at this time.

What GAO found:

While the effects of producing corn-based ethanol on water supply and water quality are fairly well understood, less is known about the effects of the next generation of biofuel feedstocks. Corn cultivation for ethanol production can require from 7 to 321 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol produced, depending on where it is grown and how much irrigation is needed. Corn is also a relatively resource-intensive crop, requiring higher rates of fertilizer and pesticides than many other crops. In contrast, little is known about the effects of large-scale cultivation of next generation feedstocks, such as cellulosic crops. Since these feedstocks have not been grown commercially to date, there are little data on the cumulative water, nutrient, and pesticide needs of these crops and on the amount of these crops that could be harvested as a biofuel feedstock without compromising soil and water quality.
Uncertainty also exists regarding the water supply impacts of converting cellulosic feedstocks into biofuels. While water usage in the corn-based ethanol conversion process has been declining and is currently estimated at 3 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol, the amount of water consumed in the conversion of cellulosic feedstocks is less defined and will depend on the process and on technological advancements that improve the efficiency with which water is used. Finally, additional research is needed on the storage and distribution of biofuels. For example, to overcome incompatibility issues between the ethanol and the current fueling and distribution infrastructure, research is needed on conversion technologies that can be used to produce renewable fuels capable of being used in the existing infrastructure.
With regard to power plants, GAO has found that key efforts to reduce use of freshwater at power plants are under way but may not be fully captured in existing federal data. In particular, advanced cooling technologies that use air, not water, for cooling the plant, can sharply reduce or even eliminate the use of freshwater, thereby reducing the costs associated with procuring water. However, plants using these technologies may cost more to build and witness lower net electricity output—especially in hot, dry conditions. Nevertheless, a number of power plant developers in the United States have adopted advanced cooling technologies, but current federal data collection efforts may not fully document this emerging trend.
Similarly, plants can use alternative water supplies such as treated waste water from municipal sewage plants to sharply reduce their use of freshwater. Use of these alternative water sources can also lower the costs associated with obtaining and using freshwater when freshwater is expensive, but pose other challenges, including requiring special treatment to avoid adverse effects on cooling equipment. Alternative water sources play an increasingly important role in reducing power plant reliance on freshwater, but federal data collection efforts do not systematically collect data on the use of these water sources by power plants.
To help improve the use of alternatives to freshwater, in 2008, the Department of Energy awarded about $9 million to examine among other things, improving the performance of advanced cooling technologies. Such research is needed to help identify cost effective alternatives to traditional cooling technologies.

Click here to download the entire PDF report.

‘Elephant in the Room’ – Electric Vehicle Program is Auto Industry’s Moonshot; Comes With A Huge Price Tag & No Promises

July 6, 2009 at 7:53 pm

(Source: Wired)

Image via Apture

The electrification of the automobile has been called the auto industry’s “moon shot,” an analogy that works because of both the technology involved and the cost to develop it. Automakers are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the effort with no promise that it will lead to affordable battery-powered vehicles anytime soon — or any guarantee people will buy them once they’re available.

All of the major automakers are racing to put EVs in showrooms as early as next year, and they’re spending money like sailors on shore leave to do it. General Motors has spent about $1 billion developing the Chevrolet Volt. Chrysler wants to invest $448 million in its electric vehicle program to build cars like the Circuit, pictured above at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Elon Musk’s personal investment in Tesla Motors tops $75 million.

The Apollo program cost more than $100 billion in today’s dollars, and as Ron Cogan, founder and editor of Green Car Journal and greencar.com notes, there was no imperative to produce a reasonably priced consumer product. Not so with electric vehicles – the whole point is to sell cars. The Obama Administration is betting heavily on the technology, having recently approved almost $8 billion to help automakers retoolfactories to produce EVs and other fuel-efficient vehicles. Another $16 billion will be doled out next year.

“What people overlook is that accomplishing ‘big picture’ programs like Apollo require accepting the concept of unlimited spending to achieve the mission,” Cogan says. “Current levels of unprecedented federal spending notwithstanding, electric cars are not an exclusive answer to future transportation challenges and consumers will not be willing to buy them at all costs.”

Early adopters and hardcore EV advocates will gladly pay that much, but will the rest of us pay $15,000 to $25,000 more for a car that runs on electricity? Cogan doesn’t think so and says EVs should be considered mid- to long-term solutions until automakers — and the battery makers they rely upon — can bring costs down to a level competitive with vehicles propelled by internal combustion.

Until then, he says, more efficient gasoline cars, clean diesel vehicles and hybrids will comprise the majority of cars sold even as EVs become an increasingly common sight in showrooms.

Click here to read the entire article.

One for the transit nuts – TreeHugger Compares Subway Fares Around The World

July 3, 2009 at 11:05 am

(Source: Tree Hugger)

Trivia: New York’s is also the only subway in the world to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Image courtesy: TreeHugger

Our friends at Treehugger have put together a great, easy to understand compilation of subway/metro train fares for a handful of major cities around the world, with a promise to update the list in the near future.  The article takes a stab at comparing the New York Subway system fares against the rest and goes on to analyze What Makes a Subway Fare Fair? and Why is New York City Raising the Subway Fare? Makes for quite an interesting read.

Click here to read the entire article.