UTA Flight 772 Memorial is the Most Beautiful and Least Accessible on this Planet

May 17, 2013 at 12:39 am

(Source: Imgur via Reddit)

A photo series that walks you through the story of a memorial built in a  remote corner of the globe.  It is beautiful and moving tribute to the victims of UTA Flight 772, a scheduled flight operating from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo to Paris CDG airport in France. On Tuesday, September 19th, 1989 the aircraft exploded over Niger in the Tenere region of the Sahara Desert. French investigators determined a suitcase bomb planted by Libyan terrorists to be the cause. All 170 people on board died. You will appreciate the efforts that went into building this memorial for the perished..

Need Help With Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Survey – Use of Web-based Tools in Transit Agencies For Feedback

May 11, 2013 at 9:55 pm

A new study from the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) led by Georgia Institute of Technology is looking at how transit agencies can use web-based tools including online polls and surveys, social media, mobile applications, and crowdsourcing to gather feedback from customers and other stakeholders. The project team is inviting transit operators to participate in a survey about their current and future uses of web-based feedback.

The survey is open to all transit agencies regardless of size or transportation modes offered. Even if the agency does not have a web-based presence, agencies insights will be valuable to the research effort. The final survey results will be incorporated into a report that will be published by the Transportation Research Board. This is a web-based survey that should take 10-15 minutes to complete and the survey deadline is May 31, 2013.

For queries please contact

Kari Watkins, the PI, by phone at (404) 385-4213 or email at kari.watkins@ce.gatech.edu.

Human subjects inquired can be directed Melanie Clark, Georgia Institute of Technology, at (404) 894-6942.

Here is the link for the survey http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1190592/5ac76b6bebb0

Infograph: U.S. Headlight Regulations – Requirements by State

April 24, 2013 at 8:09 pm

Image courtesy: CarScoops.com

This neat infograph landed in my inbox today.. It offers an interesting roundup of headlight regulations/requirements for states across the U.S.  If you are planning a road trip across the country at some point in time, you might as well add this to your list of driving tools.

Image Courtesy: Nissan via CarScoops

 

Infograph: What if we burned all the fossil fuels we have?

March 18, 2013 at 6:13 pm

via Visual.ly

Here is a nice infographic that tries to answer one simple question reg. fossil fuels and their emissions..

What if we burned all the fossil fuels we have? infographic by OpenCanada.

 

Job Alert: Sustainability Analyst – WMATA @Washington, DC

March 18, 2013 at 4:44 pm

Reference 130316 or search for ‘Sustainability’ on WMATA’s career site

Note the 3/21/13 closing date.

Responsibilities:

This is a high level professional and technical position involving the development and analysis in support of Authority-wide sustainability planning, initiative development, and performance measurement. Incumbent uses innovative analysis, corporate/transit best practices, and in-depth evaluation. The incumbent analyzes current performance, identifies new business models and markets, develops implementation strategies and plans, and provides project management support.

Results provide refined critical information to enable effective organizational decision making, performance management, and leadership. Incumbent communicates regularly with executive staff and other Authority personnel. Incumbent conducts special studies to ensure efficient management of resources. Incumbent produces presentations that communicate Authority¿s stance and leadership in sustainability practice.

English: Washington, DC Metro logo

English: Washington, DC Metro logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MAJOR DUTIES:

  • Develops, evaluates, and supports sustainability initiatives, programs, policies, and procedures for the Authority.
  •  Independently conducts analytical studies.
  • Serves as a project analyst and provides project management support to resolve problems and to meet PLAN objectives and Authority strategic goals.
  • Conducts special studies focusing on life-cycle costing, cost benefit analysis, and return on investment calculations for potential investments.
  • Researches and summarizes selected policy areas related to sustainability.
  • Prepares reports on transit issues such as sustainability best practices, impacts of transit on regional sustainability, and summarizes selected policy and technical areas related to sustainability innovations in the transit industry.
  • Researches and drafts responses to inquiries from members of Congress; federal, state, regional, and local officials; the Board of Directors; and the public.
  • Prepares and presents reports and recommendations for a variety of internal and external customers.
  • Attends meetings, hearings, high-level planning sessions, and other activities essential to the execution of the functional responsibilities of PLAN.
  •  Maintains effective working relationships with individuals and organizations with whom interface and cooperation are required.

The above duties and responsibilities are not intended to limit specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. It is not intended to limit in any way the right of supervisors to assign, direct and control the work of employees under their supervision.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

  • Knowledge of sustainable business practice and sustainable development.
  • Knowledge of and experience in leading interdisciplinary teams to facilitate effective policy and initiative planning, development, implementation, and support.
  • Knowledge of the principles and practices of strategic business planning, performance metrics, and innovation management.
  • Knowledge of financial analysis including: life-cycle costing, cost benefit analysis, return on investment calculation.
  • Knowledge of the sustainability and environmental policy context in which transit systems operate. Familiarity with sustainable design, green building, and energy planning in a transit context.
  • Knowledge of public transit principles and practices and the application of new technology and other innovations to transit agencies.
  • Demonstrated success in completing difficult assignments, displaying innovative solutions to complex problems.
  • Ability to acquire and maintain current knowledge of major transit systems and changes in the public transportation field that may be of benefit to the attainment of the Authority’s goals and objectives.
  • Ability to effectively analyze and present findings on various assigned studies.
  • Ability to prepare concise technical reports and engaging presentations for a variety of internal and external customers.
  • Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of management and organizations with who interface and cooperation are required.
  • Ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.

The employee performs moderately difficult administrative and office management work assignments for the head of an entity whose staff consists of one or more subordinate branch management level persons who are responsible for key functions and/or programs. Incumbents in this class perform a full range of administrative support duties which affects the efficacy of work processes performed by others. Contacts are maintained with members of other departments with whom the Director level maintains working relationships. Some situations require the use of persuasion and tact to maintain the Director¿s viewpoint. Written guidelines are generally available, but require interpretation.

 

English: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit ...

To be considered for the position, you must meet minimum qualifications. It is, therefore, very important for you to include on your application any education/experience you have had that is described in the minimum qualifications. Incomplete information may delay the assessment process.

Qualifications

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree in planning, public policy, business administration, or related field. A Master¿s degree preferred. A minimum of five (5) years progressively responsible experience in sustainable business practices, sustainable development, or related field.

MEDICAL GROUP:

Ability to satisfactorily complete the medical examination for this position. The incumbent must be able to perform the essential functions of this position either with or without reasonable accommodations.

High School Diploma or GED and a minimum of 5 years experience in office management activities that involved providing administrative/secretarial services within a diverse organizational entity. Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in word processing on the standard software currently in use by the Authority based on a computerized word processing skills evaluation which measures efficiency at various levels; demonstrate proficiency in communication and clerical skills based on a computerized skills evaluation which measures proficiency in spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation criteria may include one or more of the following:

  1. Education, training and experience
  2. Personal Interview
  3. Medical examination which may include alcohol and drug testing
  4. Performance attendance record
  5. Background check to include criminal, education, work and driver’s record

Closing Statement

Posted salary ranges and offers are subject to Union contract agreements and Metro salary administration guidelines. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is an equal opportunity employer, and encourages applications from minorities, females and persons with disabilities.

Please apply before: 03/21/2013

Reference 130316 or search for ‘Sustainability’ on WMATA’s career site

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Shot in the Arm! White House Proposes Creation of Energy Security Trust to Fund Clean Energy Research

March 16, 2013 at 12:18 pm

America’s energy security gets a boost from the White House. President Obama proposed the creation of Energy Security Trust during his visit to the Argonne National Research Lab to talk about American energy security. The Energy Security Trust, a$2 Billion investment over 10 years, uses revenue generated by oil and gas development on federal lands to support new research and technology that will shift our cars and trucks off of oil for good.  Below is an infographic that outlines how this works:

Energy Security Trust via Whitehouse.gov

Energy Security Trust Infographic via Whitehouse.gov

Here is an excerpt from the White House Blog:

So how does it work? The Energy Security Trust will invest in research that will make future technologies cheaper and better – it will fund the advances that will allow us to run cars and trucks on electricity or homegrown fuels, and on the technology that will enable us to drive from coast-to-coast without a drop of oil.

Over 10 years, the Energy Security Trust will provide $2 billion for critical, cutting-edge research focused on developing cost-effective transportation alternatives.The funding will be provided by revenues from federal oil and gas development, and will not add any additional costs to the federal budget. The investments will support research into a range of technologies – things like advanced vehicles that run on electricity, homegrown biofuels, and domestically produced natural gas. It will also help fund a small number of real-world experiments that try different transportation techniques in cities and towns around the country using advanced vehicles at scale.

If it is worth something, President Obama has indicated his desire to use the executive powers to curb climate change impacts should Congress fail to act.  According to Bloomberg, the president is also thinking of using a Nixon-era law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970, to instruct all federal agencies to consider the impact of climate change when approving “major projects, from pipelines to highways.”  Of course, this can have some serious implications for large scale projects and some constituencies in the business sector are already freaking out over this mandate.

While we are busy discussing this issue, I’d like to share with you an address by President Obama from March 2011 in which he outlined his goals for reducing American energy dependence, heavily emphasizing new technology and alternative sources in addition to “safe and responsible” offshore drilling. A lot of what he outline in his blue print for change is already starting to take effect and I can only say that we are poised for a big change in the way we power our vehicles and industries.  Fossil fuels are definitely beginning to see a slow demise (but it will be decades before they are completely phased out in the transportation sector).

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International Women’s Day Special – Parking The Pony Express: A vintage photo from El Paso, Texas shows parking in ~1939

March 8, 2013 at 5:37 pm

This vintage photo dates back to 1939 and was posted on the new Tumblr blog, FOUND, created by National Geographic in honor of its 125th anniversary.

A cowgirl puts a nickel in an El Paso parking meter to hitch her pony, October 1939. PHOTOGRAPH BY LUIS MARDEN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

As Mashable.com reports, the non-profit has joined Tumblr to showcase “FOUND,” a collection of rare photos from the National Geographic archives. According to the site, most of the photos have never been published, and were rarely seen by the public until now. National Geographic hopes digitizing the archive will also help identify the original date or location of the photos, since many are missing that information.

(Source: Natgeofound.tumblr.com)

Do you have any vintage Transportation pictures that you would like to share? Drop me a note in the “Comments” section below and I’ll reach out to you.

War on (Hybrid) Car! Virginia Drivers Start An Online Petition Urging Governor Bob McDonnell To Stop Hybrid Tax

March 1, 2013 at 7:29 pm

via WUSA9

The latest transportation bill from Virginia legislature (HB2313), signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell has got a lot of Hybrid vehicle owners miffed. Under the new regulations, drivers of hybrid vehicles would have to pay a $100 annual fee.  So, the irate hybrid owners and other opponents of this measure have have started an online petition urging the governor to veto the fee now has more than 4,000 signatures (hoping to get to 10,000 by end of March) .  WUSA9’s Monika Samtani has done a nice report covering this issue. Check it out.

Critics are pointing out that :

The Hybrid Tax is unfair.  There are many non-hybrid vehicles that get better MPG than hybrids.  They don’t pay the tax.  This indiscriminately picks on one technology.

Hybrid owners already pay their fair share.  Hybrids already cost 10% more than other cars and there is no personal property tax phaseout for vehicles worth more than $20,000.

The Hybrid Tax will barely generate revenue.  There are only 92,000 hybrids in Virginia – 1.3% of the entire vehicle fleet.

The Hybrid Tax picks on Northern Virginia.  83% of Virginia clean fuel plates are registered in Northern Virginia.  This is one more example of Northern Virginia being used as a statewide piggy bank.

Hope this will prompt Gov. Bob McDonnell to reconsider penalizing the hybrid vehicle owners.

 

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

February 27, 2013 at 3:21 pm

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

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

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Hammered – Washington Post Documents Wasteful Spending on Small Airports Across the Country

February 26, 2013 at 7:10 pm

It should be maddening for any tax payer in the country to see how the public dollars are spent wastefully on projects that are not really benefiting the community. Today’s Washington Post story on one such wasteful spending measure shows how badly the lawmakers manage the money, despite the pressure to not do so from the administrations (incl. current and the previous administration ). It explores an obscure federal program established by Congress in 2000 allows tiny airports to draw $150,000 in federal funds every year.  The article uses Oklahoma’s Lake Murray State Park Airport as a case study. This issue of wasteful spending takes added importance as the public are nervously watching what’s going to happen with the looming sequestration (scheduled to kick in on March 1) as the country is embroiled in a tough political battle to avoid further slide. Brilliant reporting.

And a few interesting nuggets from this Washington Post story:

  • 88 shown airports, as reported, have no paying customers and no planes are based there. (check the interactive map that shows the airports and the number of flights each one received)
  • The airports receive $150,000/year, as the result of a grant program established 13 years ago ~2000, which the post appropriately calls Congress’s golden age of pork)
  • The looming sequester crisis would not touch the airport program. FAA allotted Lake Murray about $1,500 for each of its takeoffs and landings.
  • In this particular case Lake Murray State Park Airport there is no control tower, no runway lights and also staff to monitor it. So what makes people visit?  Mostly for using the rest room facilities and occasionally for golf.
  • According to local TV affiliate KOKH Fox 25, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism has tried to shut down Lake Murray State Park Airport for years, but Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission (OAC) officials say closing the airport would cost Oklahoma taxpayers $184,000.  Under FAA guidelines, the airport must stay open for 20 years after the OAC spends money on an improvement project.
  • Despite pressures from all corners, the program has remained strikingly difficult for anyone.  If it is any surprise, even

    Pres. Bush opposed continuing the program but the Tea Party dominated congress decided to continue with it.

Click here to read more.

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