Oh man..  Angry customers reacting to terrible service from a transportation provider is nothing new, esp. with airline companies, but what you are  going to see below takes it to a new level.  Interestingly, this customer who lost his cool is reported as a Chinese government official, which only means the airlines staff have no way of handling this as usual.. His poor spouse (lady standing adjacent to him) seems clueless about how to bring this raging bull of a man under control..

As many of us predicted and wanted, Disney’s animation “The Paperman” won the Oscars tonight in the animated shortfilm category…

via InsuranceQuotes.org

Here is a neat infographic that shows the benefits of moving towards autonomous vehicles.. Though some of the statistics seen in the graphic are old and needs revision (esp. fatality numbers, which continues to see a steady decline every year), it still reminds you of the sheer size and scope of the problems we encounter in the current scenario of human-piloted vehicles.  Oh, Google Cars is not the only game in town when it comes to autonomous vehicles.  Not anymore.  Most auto OEMs are ramping up their research to make sure they remain relevant when Google’s project materializes. That said, the transportation systems that are currently developed for the coming decade looks quite promising!

Moral of the story, don’t hesitate to use your darn mobile phone when you are standing at that unassumingly boring plain vanilla bus stop.  In this campaign, mobile electronics firm Qualcomm put up a poster featuring a URL and waited for people to visit the mobile site. When the visitors got to the website, the fun began. Watch to see what happens at probably what I call the best bus stop ever. Sigh! I wish my bus stop would offer something like this to spice up my sleepy mornings.

Related articles

• Qualcomm’s New Ingenious Web Ad Series Shows the Merits of Waiting at a Bus Stop
• Qualcomm asks: sled dogs or the bus today, ma’am?
• Qualcomm’s new ‘Born Mobile’ ad series makes the bus stop fun again
• Qualcomm details ‘always-on’ Snapdragon voice activation features

English: Flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an organization of the United Nations Deutsch: Flagge der Internationalen Atomenergieorganisation (IAEO), eine Organisation der Vereinten Nationen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a team leader reporting to the Section Head, the Unit Head develops the IAEA‘s programme on the safe transport of radioactive material and leads the Unit’s activities to ensure the efficacy of the IAEA’s programme on a global level.

The Unit Head has several roles:

1. a programme coordinator in a specialized, multilateral environment with diverse views on the issues, finding practical solutions and presenting arguments that can achieve results;
2. a senior specialist whose extensive experience in and knowledge of the area form the basis for mutual respect vis-à-vis high-level regulators and operators in Member States,
3. a manager ensuring that programmes and tasks are implemented effectively;
4. an adviser/promoter conveying to multiple audiences the IAEA’s vision and mission in this area; and
5. a facilitator of inter-organizational cooperation in transport safety and cooperation with other organizational areas in the IAEA dealing with this area of work.

The Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety develops and maintains standards for radiation protection, radioactive waste safety and safety in the transport of radioactive material that enable the beneficial uses of radiation to be exploited while ensuring appropriate protection of workers, the public and patients. It also assists Member States in the implementation of these standards and provides related appraisals and services.

The Regulatory Infrastructure and Transport Safety Section (RITS) is responsible for developing and providing Member States with safety standards, guidance and tools to foster regulatory infrastructure for the control of radiation sources, for the safe transport of radioactive material, and for managing information on the identification of needs in Member States that would be used to improve radiation, transport and waste safety.

The Transport Safety Unit is responsible for establishing and maintaining safety standards related to the worldwide safe transport of radioactive material, including the IAEA’s Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, and to appraise the application of the safety standards in Member States. This includes efforts to foster the harmonized incorporation of the Transport Regulations and other associated safety standards by international organizations, and dangerous goods and modal organizations. In addition, the Unit manages projects concerned with key aspects of the Transport Regulations, provides training related to the safe transport of radioactive material, and operates and maintains databases relating to transport issues. The Unit convenes meetings to guide its activities, involving experts from Member States and associated international organizations, including the periodic convening of the Transport Safety Standards Committee (TRANSSC). It is also involved in the provision of technical cooperation for Member States, including training activities.

The environment of the Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety is dynamic, participative and interactive with continuous inputs received from internal technical counterparts and external counterparts in Member States, from other international organizations and from the international scientific community.

Click here to learn more.

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• Radioactive material stolen from van
• IAEA, Iran talks end without deal: report
• Iran suggests progress, but no deal, in U.N. atom talks (Reuters)
• International Atomic Energy Agency determined to continue dialogue with Iran

Source: Center for American Progress

Amidst all the exhaustive and bitter political battles that rage day after day over the weak fiscal health of the nation, there are so many little things that slip away from the attention of tax paying public. And here is one such that I happened upon via twitter.

Guess what?

Just by eliminating a tax loophole that gives special treatment to corporate jets, for example—at a cost to taxpayers of $3.2 billion over 10 years – Congress could avert cuts that would cost thousands of jobs, hurt millions of disadvantaged students, and force hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families to lose critical nutrition and housing supports this year.

Information nuggets such as this make me wonder why our Politicians find it so difficult to act to avert painful cuts (in $$ that eventually affect middle and lower-income families) by taking a more balanced approach to deficit reduction.  Corporations are people too?  Not really (but the highest court in this land says otherwise). As CAP notes, “Unless Congress acts, on March 1 automatic and indiscriminate spending cuts will hit key programs, costing our economy more than 1 million jobs and cutting essential services for millions of low- and middle-income families.” That leaves me with this question: Will the politicians be rational for a change and do the right thing for the country? Or, will they continue to squabble and be addicted to doing their habitual partisan battles?  Time will tell. Sigh!

This one is for the gearheads and motorcycle (apparel) historians..

Infographic by Bennetts

Today TTI had released its latest edition of the popular product – Urban Mobility Report (2012). The 2012 edition introduced for the first time,  a way to measure that degree of unreliability in planning a trip, as part of the annual Urban Mobility Report (UMR).   The press release explains it succintly:

The Planning Time Index (PTI), a measure of travel reliability, illustrates the amount of extra time needed to arrive on time for higher priority events, such as an airline departure, just-in-time shipments, medical appointments or especially important social commitments. If the PTI for a particular trip is 3.00, a traveler would allow 60 minutes for a trip that typically takes 20 minutes when few cars are on the road. Allowing for a PTI of 3.00 would ensure on-time arrival 19 out of 20 times.

Access the whole report (PDF) by clicking the cover photo of the report below.

TTI’s 2012 Urban Mobility Report

As one would expect, the reactions for the report was mixed – both positive and negative from the transportation community.  That said, here are some highlights from the 2012 UMR:

Congestion costs are increasing. The congestion “invoice” for the cost of extra time and fuel in 498 urban areas was (all values in constant 2011 dollars):

• In 2011 – $121 billion; In 2000 – $94 billion; In 1982 – $24 billion

Congestion wastes a massive amount of time, fuel and money. In 2011:

• 5.5 billion hours of extra time (equivalent to the time businesses and individuals spend a year filing their taxes).
• 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel (enough to fill four New Orleans Superdomes).
• $121 billion of delay and fuel cost (the negative effect of uncertain or longer delivery times, missed meetings, business relocations and other congestion-related effects are not included) ($121 billion is equivalent to the lost productivity and direct medical expenses of 12 average flu seasons).
• 56 billion pounds of additional carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere during urban congested conditions (equivalent to the liftoff weight of over 12,400 Space Shuttles with all fuel tanks full).
• 22% ($27 billion) of the delay cost was the effect of congestion on truck operations; this does not include any value for the goods being transported in the trucks.
• The cost to the average commuter was $818 in 2011 compared to an inflation-adjusted $342 in 1982.
  

  English: Traffic congestion on southbound Interstate 95 in Baltimore, Maryland, near milepost 50. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Congestion affects people who travel during the peak period. The average commuter:

• Spent an extra 38 hours traveling in 2011, up from 16 hours in 1982.
• Wasted 19 gallons of fuel in 2011 – a week’s worth of fuel for the average U.S. driver – up from 8 gallons in 1982.
• In areas with over three million persons, commuters experienced an average of 52 hours of delay in 2011.
• Suffered 6 hours of congested road conditions on the average weekday in areas over 3 million population.
• Fridays are the worst days to travel. The combination of work, school, leisure and other trips mean that urban residents earn their weekend after suffering over 20 percent more delay hours than on Mondays.
• And if all that isn’t bad enough, folks making important trips had to plan for approximately three times as much travel time as in light traffic conditions in order to account for the effects of unexpected crashes, bad weather, special events and other irregular congestion causes.

Congestion is also a problem at other hours. 

• Approximately 37 percent of total delay occurs in the midday and overnight (outside of the peak hours) times of day when travelers and shippers expect free-flow travel. Many manufacturing processes depend on a free-flow trip for efficient production and congested networks interfere with those operations.

Related articles

• Commuters’ wasted time in traffic costs $121B
• Houston makes list of top 10 most congested cities
• New Road Congestion Report
• Washington Is No.1 In Traffic Congestion
• Americans wasting billions in traffic jams

(source: Frost and Sullivan)

The chart below came to me via twitter and I felt compelled to share.. As the pace of technology deployment accelerated in the automotive market , one of the directly impacted segments was the carsharing business. What used to be a small segment dominated by ZipCar has now burgeoned into a full blown industry and more new participants are entering the fray with bold new ideas. It is only going to get better in the days ahead as the technology matures and more people decide to ditch their personal vehicles and opt for “renting” by the hour (i.e., sharing).

Related articles

• Carsharing business keeps growing
• The future of the car in the city: Vol. 1., No. 1. Carsharing Policy Guide for local government
• Urban Carshares : Smart, Sustainable, Transportation for City Dwellers
• Presentation of Paris Autolib’ carsharing project: “A new way of getting around in cities”

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is looking for a dedicated, self-motivated lover of bicycling to assist in planning and executing major components of our East of the River 2013 Bicycle Outreach Initiative. This is an expansion of our successful 2012 program and includes distribution of community engagement and outreach materials and organization of educational offerings, bicycle repair clinics, bike rides, and community events. The project area is the District of Columbia east of the Anacostia River, with specific emphasis on the Congress Heights, Anacostia, and St. Elizabeths areas.

The East of the River Program Associate will have primary day-to-day responsibility for delivery of bicycling outreach through one-on-one, grassroots community engagement, and will be responsible for coordinating logistics of numerous outreach events to communicate to community members the value of bicycling as a viable form of affordable, healthy, sustainable transportation.

Image Courtesy: Anacostia Yogi – http://www.anacostiayoga.com

This position is grant-funded and is anticipated to run through mid-August 2013. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, committed to getting more people on bikes, a strong communicator, knowledgeable about the community to be served, and organized. Hours are flexible, but weekend work will be required. The majority of work will be outdoors likely involving bicycling, interacting with the public, or at outdoor community events, but the associate will also be responsible for planning and preparing reports for supervisors and funders.

The associate will report directly to the WABA outreach coordinator and will be directed by WABA program staff. This will afford the associate the opportunity to learn from professionals in the fields of event planning, community planning, grassroots organizing, online activism, and outreach.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A strong commitment to WABA’s mission, growing bicycling as transportation
• Excellent writing, presentation, and public-speaking skills
• A flexible schedule and willingness to work evenings and weekends as needed
• The ability to organize time wisely and multi-task in a relaxed and fun, but demanding, environment
• Experience with Microsoft Office

Benefits include a flexible schedule, vacation, and sick and personal leave. Compensation is $15 an hour. This position is part-time, about 20 to 25 hours per week.

Apply

Send a cover letter describing why you are the best candidate for this job, along with a resume, to jobs@waba.org. No phone calls, please. The position is available immediately, and applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

WABA is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, sex, or age.

About the Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Making bicycling better through advocacy and education, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association promotes biking as a healthy, low-cost, and environmentally friendly form of transportation and recreation. With 4,000 members region-wide, WABA serves bicyclists throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and Virginia.