(Source: Autobloggreen)

 

You know what state needs more smart fortwos? Texas. That must have been Daimler’s thinking before approving an expansion of the car2go carsharing service there. Daimler started car2go in Ulm, Germany last October and it will be coming to Austin, Texas – that little blueberry in the big red cherry pie of a state – this fall. There are now more than 200 fortwo cdi models that anyone in Ulm, visitor or resident, can rent by the minute, hour or day, 24/7. Costs range from 19 euro cents a minute to 9.90 euros an hour to 49 euros a day. Unlike other car-sharing services, registering for the car2go service is free. Daimler didn’t release any information on possible pricing for the U.S. service.

 

The Daimler press release available on Autobloggreen has some additional info. on this, including this nugget:

The capital of Texas with its 750,000 residents is appreciably bigger than Ulm and is distinguished by its open-mindedness and its very involved citizens. “We very much look forward to becoming the first international partner of car2go,” says mayor Will Wynn. “Our city is known for its strong sense of environmental responsibility. car2go fits this wonderfully because we can then offer the residents of Austin an intelligent mobility concept with a high positive environmental factor. The project has our full support.” 

As in the first phase of the German pilot project, car2go will begin in Austin with a defined group of users, for example city employees. It is then planned to make car2go accessible to the public in Austin in a second step.  Other factors predestining Austin to be the first international car2go city are the city’s size and its up-to-date economic structure. Among other things it is the location of the fourth largest university in the USA. Beginning in autumn 2009 a fleet expected to number 200 smart fortwo mhd vehicles with automatic start/stop function will be put into operation there.

Click here to read more and to view an awesome picture gallery showing more Smarts in Austin.

(Source: Autoblog; Picture: Autoblog)

 What can $50,000 can get you?

After a lot of hype and delivery of 250 Tesla Roadsters, the company’s Model S was unveiled today in Hawthorne, California.  It is expect that production will be ramped up to 20,000 units annually by the end of the first year of production; after the $7,500 tax break, the Model S will start at just under $50,000 – $49,900 to be exact; and 440-volt charging will be available. That base price is for the 160-mile range pack; a 230-mile range pack and a 300-mile range packwill also be available. The biggest hitch: the car doesn’t go into production until Q3 of 2011.

Transportgooru thinks this is a game changer and here is the “why”:

• According to Tesla’s numbers, buying a Tesla S will save you $10-$15K vs a comparably priced gas-powered sedan when gas is $4 per gallon. For an equivalent comparison, you’d have to lease a $35,000 gas-powered car. 
• The car fits seven people and their luggage: five adults and two children in rear-facing seats under the hatch inside, with luggage in the boot up front.
• If not people, it can fit a mountain bike with its wheels still on, a surfboard and a 50-inch television at the same time.
• On a 220V outlet, the car can be recharged in 4 hours.
• The quickness: the standard S will get to 60 in 5.5 to 6.0 seconds. A coming sport version will get to 60 in “well under five seconds,” the company’s folks say.

These facts are what one would come to expect from a conventiona, gasoline powered automobiles that rules the roads today.   As more charging stations pop-up around the country, these vehicles will make transportation seamless.  The few cons  that could be obviously recognized are the re-charging times and the lack of charging stations at public locations (Gas stations, parking lots, etc).  With the conventional gasoline cars, refuelling is quick and doesn’t take more than 5 minutes at the gas stations, which means you can continue travelling without enduring massing delays while traveling longer distances.   It can be expected that unveiling of such cars renders a wonderful opportunity for regional electric companies to enter a niche market to provide “electricity” through charging stations in the service areas along highways, just like a gas station.  Or even better if these charging stations are added to existing gas stations.   If charging times can be shortened with the advent of new technology (See the TransportGooru article about MIT’s breakthrough research on batteries, allowing for lightening quick charging times) 

Click here to read the entire post on Autoblog’s site anddon’t forget to check out the eye popping Tesla Gallery.  Here is Wall Street Journal’s interview with Tesla at the North American Int’l Auto Show (via YouTube):

(Source: Bloomberg & Livemint.com)

Global airline passenger traffic fell 10 percent last month, the steepest decline since the recession began, led by a plunge in long-haul travel.

The decline, gathering pace from a 5.6 percent fall in year-on-year traffic in January, included a 12.8 percent reduction in passengers flown by Asia-Pacific carriers and a 12 percent drop among North American airlines, the International Air Transport Association said today in a statement.

While passenger numbers continued to deteriorate, the pace of declines in the freight market leveled out. International freight volumes were down 22.1 percent from a year ago, compared with drops of 23.2 percent drop in January and 22.6 percent in December, IATA said.

:  “Freight traffic, which began its decline in June 2008 before passenger markets were hit, has now had three consecutive months in the minus 22 to minus 23% range,” IATA added, says the Livemint.com (WSJ) article.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general, said: “We may have found a bottom to the freight decline, but the magnitude of the drop means that it will take time to recover.”  But even as freight traffic stabilises, airlines are now feeling the squeeze in passenger traffic.

(Source: Streetsblog)

How can federal policy encourage walkable street networks instead of highways and sprawl? 

(Source:  Autocar via Autoblog/Jalopnik)

Autocar’s review:  Riding on small 12inch wheels and tubeless tyres, the Nano rides surprisingly well. Most bumps are rounded nicely, but as the speeds climb the ride can get a little choppy. The steering has a little vagueness around the centre position, dial in more lock; it feels direct and provides good feedback as well. Grip levels are decent but are limited by the narrow tyres. Straightline stability is also commendable.

Here is the verdict: 

So is it a proper car? Yes, it definitely is. It offers better space than even a Santro at the front, while backseat space is quite decent. Comfort levels are good and it will come with an efficient engine as well. It isn’t perfect; owners will want more power and a 5-speed gearbox. But Tata has achieved what it had set out to do – Affordable motoring for the masses. 

Our good friends at Jalopnik say this after watching the review from Autocar:   The reviewers seem amazed the car is able to drive down the road and not feel like it’s going to roll over at any moment. Sort of like Sarah Palin in Vice Presidential debates, if you set the bar so low you’re only expecting to see a human being able to put a three-word sentence together, you can’t not clear it. Thus, the reviews are filled with notes galore on the tiny wheels, flat seats, and comparisons to the Model T.  

The school’s Mobile Experience Lab explores the future of life with the mobile handset

(Source: ContactlessNews via Bernie Wagenblast’  TCN)

Most trials of Near Field Communication (NFC) have involved payment applications at the neighborhood department store, restaurant or transit agency. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge took a different tact, however, attempting to illustrate the many other ways NFC could be used in everyday life.

The result was a video featuring several students and how they utilized NFC-compliant cell phones. Right now, it’s more a vision on how NFC can influence the lives of citizens, says Federico Casalegno, director of MIT’s Mobile Experience Lab and one of the movers behind this NFC project.

(Source: Washington Examiner)

The majority of crimes in the system occur in Metro’s parking garages and lots, where items such as briefcases, laptops and cell phones are stolen from vehicles. Larceny rose 15 percent in parking lots since 2007.

Riders can take some solace that reported assaults declined somewhat. There were no rapes or homicides. But the number of thefts rose substantially.

Robberies, which involve theft from a person, jumped by nearly a third. Larceny, the most frequently reported crime, jumped 17 percent for a total of 864 cases, up from 739. Larceny is theft without the owner present.

“With more people in the system, more crime occurs,” said Metro Transit Police Deputy Chief Jeff Delinski.

Yet not all of the increase can be explained by the 3 percent increase in ridership, which was well below the increase in serious crimes reported. And though transit police made more arrests last year than in 2007, the growth was smaller than the number of serious crimes overall.

Click here to read the entire report.

 (Source: The Transport Politic & GAO; Photo: Swanksalot@flickr)

General Accountability Office sees federal involvement in planning and financing as necessary for high-speed rail construction

(Source: Faster Forward blog – Washington Post)

Upgrading Transit’s Interface: Metro Releases Google Transit Data

This morning, Metro’s Web site has a new page with a title not normally seen on the online presences of transit agencies: “Developer Resources.”

Photo Courtesy: Mymetrostop@Flickr

That page offers a download of Metro’s bus and rail schedules inGoogle Transit Feed Specification format, ready for any developer to download and reuse in a Web page or in a standalone program. (At the moment, clicking through the user agreement on the page only sends you back to the user agreement, but I’m sure somebody at Metro will correct that soon enough. Right?)

 In doing this, Metro is following the example of a lot of smart Web sites — but too few government agencies — by letting the rest of the world re-use, re-publish and mash up its data. The immediate effect of a GTFS download may only be the addition of Metro rail and bus routes to thetransit guidance offered on Google Maps (assuming the Mountain View, Calif., Web firm doesn’t object to Metro’s terms of use). That alone should make Metro’s services far more “discoverable,” to use a little human-interface jargon. But when anybody else can play this game, the possibilities are wide open.

In the same way that Web developers have used Google Maps tools to build crafty sites charting everything from real-estate sales to campaign donations, people will be able to build Web sites, widgets and programs using Metro’s data in ways that the company hasn’t thought of and may never dream up on its own.

For a sense of the possibilities, look over this interview from last year, in which two managers in Portland, Oregon’s Tri-Met transit agency explain how independent developers and other government agencies are building useful software and services off their data feeds with minimal cost and effort.

(Source: Autoblog)

Aftermarket group warns Cash For Clunkers legislation will expand landfills

The House is currently looking at a Cash for Clunkers bill that would give owners of eight-year or older vehicles up to $5,000 to turn in their car or truck for a more fuel efficient vehicle. The deal sounds great for the owners of beaters, and automakers wouldn’t complain much either. The most politically friendly aspect of the legislation, though, is the perceived positive impact on the environment. More fuel efficient vehicles emit less CO2 than an older model, and less oil use means less drilling. Less drilling means a decreased dependency on foreign oil. That sounds like a win, win, win, win proposition, but one organization isn’t so sure.

The Fight Cash For Clunkers group claims that the legislation would do more harm to the environment than good. Aaron Lowe, vice president of government affairs for the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, says Cash For Clunkers will lead to more vehicles being scrapped, which would then lead to more car waste in landfills. The group would rather owners of older vehicles take steps to improve the efficiency of the vehicles they already own. 

Click here to read the entire article and don’t forget to register your comments below on tihs very important issue.  Take action!

Note: Transportgooru wonders how other Governments such as Germany are able to successfully implement similar programs ( while battling this environmental/recycling challenge ).  Instead of fighting the Government, can Fight Cash for Clunkers work with the Government and find meaningful ways to approach this issue.  Failure to understand and implement this program soon, may soon lead to behemoth challenges, both economically and environmentally.  Here are some related  articles from the Transportgooru.com archives:

(1) Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act revives “Cash for Clunkers” scrapping plan in U.S.

(2) Should the U.S. institute a vehicle scrapping plan?

(3) Germany plans to extend Abwrackprämie aka “Environmental Bonus” (in plain english, car scrapping program)