Car-Sharing – Numbers reveal the growing appeal; Renting cars by the hour is becoming big business

September 7, 2010 at 5:35 pm

Source: The Economist

Car-sharing programs have been gaining a lot of popularity and building up momentum over the years, especially in urban environments such as Washington, DC, NYC, etc.  The Economist has done a good coverage of the growing trend and here are some of the interesting nuggets that caught my attention:

  • One rental car can take the place of 15 owned vehicles
  • By 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users
  • Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market.
  • A car owner doing 12,000 miles (19,000km) a year can save $1,834 by shifting to a car-sharing service

Car-sharing started in Europe and spread to America in the late 1990s, when the first venture opened in Portland, Oregon, a traditional hangout of tree-huggers. For years it was organised by small co-operatives, often supported by local government. It still has a green tinge. One in five new cars added to club fleets is electric; such cars are good for short-range, urban use. But sharing is no longer small.

Frost & Sullivan, a market-research firm, estimates that by 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users. Outside America, most of the growth is in Britain and other north European countries such as Germany. The market leader is a company called Zipcar, founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is now headed for a public listing. Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market. It recently bought Streetcar, the market leader in London, though competition authorities are still scrutinising that deal.

The sharing trend is now seeping into another prominent area of transportation – the bicycles.  Many cities around the world, including London and Washington, DC,  are beginning to install innovative bike-sharing programs that offer a great advantage for those who prefer to check the city by biking than by driving.   Looks like the “sharing” trend is only going to intensity in the years ahead given the state of our poor economies and shrinking wallets! the societal, ecological and environmental benefits resulting from such sharing schemes are definitely a big plus for many more cities to consider implementing such schemes for car as well as bikes.   After all didn’t we  already know the saying  “Sharing is Caring”.

Click here to read the entire article.

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How about some Mozart with your in-flight meal? Orchestra Plays Concert on a 747

September 2, 2010 at 3:15 pm

(Source: ABC)

Why doesn’t these things NEVER happen in my flights? Hmmm..  I am happy for these folks who had a bit of entertainment to cheer up during their long flight and a story to tell when they land. After battling the hassles of baggage check-ins and security checks, these folks probably appreciated this nice musical treat..

Note:  Silly me can’t help but think aloud about these questions: what would the reaction be if these guys were a bunch of middle-eastern musicians wearing traditional robes – how would the airline staff react to such a spontaneous request to play music?  Thank god, KLM staff were not so uptight about letting some musicians to get off their seats and play their gear..

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You had a bad road trip? Not really. This Epic Chinese Traffic Jam Enters 9th Day; Expected To Last Another 20 Days

August 23, 2010 at 1:48 pm

(Source: CNN)

You thought you had a bad time on the road? Wait till you see this one and start thanking all the gods that are out there.  Here are some snippets about this epic, mother of all traffic jams that ever happened on Earth.

The gridlock, which started August 14, involves thousands of trucks between the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Chinese capital of Beijing.

The back-up stretches over 62 miles on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. What’s worse, officials are saying that the jam could continue for up to a month (Sept. 13, the projected completion project for some of the projects causing this delay).

Reason cited: “Insufficient traffic capacity on the National Expressway 110 caused by maintenance construction since August 19 is the major cause of the congestion,” a Beijing Traffic Management Bureau spokesman told the Beijing-based Global Times.

Other undesired outcomes borne from this mess: Bored drivers playing cards to pass time, and enterprising local vendors doling out instant noodles for as much as 4-times the actual cost.


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Wanna be skinny & healthy? Forget those crazy diets and take public transportation

August 20, 2010 at 1:57 pm
American Public Transportation Association
Image via Wikipedia

(Source: APTA)

Have you ever wondered what is the key to a good health and long life – I knew that it has to be the public transport.  Look at the Europeans —  healthy & happy– riding their bikes, trains, trams, buses, etc.  If you still don’t believe what I’ve said, you now have the proof.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has released a report that explores ways that public transportation affects human health, and ways to incorporate these impacts into transport policy and planning decisions.

Evaluating Public Transportation Health Benefits, a study conducted for APTA by Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute aggregates the findings of several recent studies and concludes that people living in transit-oriented “smart growth” communities enjoy several health benefits, not seen in other communities, including residents drive less, exposing them to a lower risk of fatal vehicle accidents.

People who live or work in communities with high quality public transportation tend to drive significantly less and rely more on alternative modes (walking,cycling and public transit) than they would in more automobile-oriented areas. This reduces traffic crashes and pollution emissions, increases physical fitness and mental health, andprovides access to medical care and healthy food. These impacts are significant in magnitude compared with other planning objectives, but are often overlooked or undervalued inconventional transport planning.

Various methods can be used to quantify and monetize(measure in monetary units) these health impacts. This analysis indicates that improving publictransit can be one of the most cost effective ways to achieve public health objectives, and publichealth improvements are among the largest benefits provided by high quality public transit andtransit-oriented development.

Some of the key findings from the report are listed below:

  • U.S. Center for Disease Control recommends that adults average at least 22 daily minutes of
  • moderate physical activity, such as brisk walking, to stay fit and healthy. Although less than half
  • of American adults achieve this target, most public transportation passengers do exercise the
  • recommended amount while walking to and from transit stations and stops.
  • The United States has relatively poor health outcomes and high healthcare costs compared with peers, due in part to high per capita traffic fatality rates and diseases resulting from sedentary living. Public transit improvements can improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
  • Inadequate physical activity contributes to numerous health problems, causing an estimated
  • 200,000 annual deaths in the U.S., and significantly increasing medical costs. Among physically able adults, average annual medical expenditures are 32% lower for those who achieve physical activity targets ($1,019 per year) than for those who are sedentary ($1,349 per year).
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Verdict is in for American Atheists vs. Duncan (08-4061) – Federal appeals court says highways’ crosses are unconstitutional

August 19, 2010 at 5:40 pm

(Source: CNN)

Memorial crosses erected along Utah public roads to honor fallen state highway troopers have been found unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the 14 large crosses would be viewed by most passing motorists as “government’s endorsement of Christianity.”

“We hold that these memorials have the impermissible effect of conveying to the reasonable observer the message that the state prefers or otherwise endorses a certain religion,” concluded the Denver, Colorado-based court. The state of Utah and a private trooper association have the option of appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A Texas-based group, American Atheists, successfully sued five years ago to have the nonprofit memorial project scrapped, and the crosses removed from public property.

At issue was whether the crosses violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, by having the government endorsing the Christian symbols, even if indirectly.

Click here to read more about American Atheists v. Duncan (08-4061)

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Making a community together… to design a street – Street Films documents London’s Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets

August 19, 2010 at 4:51 pm

(Source: Street Films)

Recently, our awesome folks at Streetfilms got a walk through of a  successful DIY project — on Clapton Terrace in London.  Called “DIY Streets,” a total of 11 communities across England and Wales benefited through this program, which brings neighbors together to help them redesign their streets in a way that puts people, safety, and streetlife first.  The non-profit Sustrans is pioneering this community-based method to reclaim streets from high-speed traffic and make neighborhoods safer and more sociable places.

Click here to read more.

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Wanna be famous? Get a DUI in Evsham TWP, NJ; Cops will post your DUI mugshots on Facebook

August 17, 2010 at 3:48 pm

(Source: Allfacebook.com)

There are so many reasons not to drink and drive, but if residents of Evsham Township needed one more, their police department has given it to them: now, drunk drivers get featured on the Evsham Township Police Facebook page, complete with name, listed offence, and mug shot. While this might be an effective way to deter criminals, there are some that question whether it is ethical to post these details on a Facebook page that can be viewed by millions of users.

police-department

Image courtesy: Allfacebook.com

Drunk drivers are not the only criminals to find themselves in the red hot spotlight of the Evsham Township Police Facebook page: a car thief, a store robber, a gang found fighting in the street and a movie theater burglar are among those with their mug shots splashed across the page. But the drunk drivers are the sticking point for a lot of legal and ethical debates. Is it right to post pictures of people who have been charged but not yet convicted?

Click here to read the entire story.

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Publication Alert: USDOT report examines the effects of the February 2010 snowstorms on airline performance

August 17, 2010 at 1:03 pm

Remember those crazy storms that dumped loads of snow on the cities and towns along the Eastern seaboard and many mid-Western states across the US during February 2010?  Apart from the impact on the surface transportation modes, these storms wreaked havoc on the aviation sector, terribly disrupting the  performance of the whole sector.

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has released a special report that explores how several February 2010 snowstorms in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast disrupted air travel at airports across the United States.  Quite an interesting read and for your reading pleasure it is provided below.

For those interested, you can click here to download the report.

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Ice cream vendors are no softies – Tempers flare over parking spot in NYC

August 16, 2010 at 4:50 pm

(Source: DNA Info. via Huffington Post)

What happens when two competing ice cream vendors are fighting over a prized parking spot in New York City? The video shows how things got ugly between two vendors who sell ice creams…

Yes We Can (rid ourselves of oil addiction)! Info. graphic shows the math & the transition path

August 12, 2010 at 11:58 am

(Source: Free Insurance Quotes.org)

Can the U.S. replace 100 percent of its gas consumption with electricity? By this math, yes, we can:

The Mathematics of the Electric Car

Image Courtesy: FreeInsurancequotes.org