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Rail~Volution: Call for Proposals Entry Deadline: April 1, 2009

February 25, 2009 at 6:18 pm

(Source: Planetizen)

This announcement was posted by: Rail~Volution

Rail~Volution 2009: Boston October 30-November 1, 2009

Rail~Volution is a conference for passionate practitioners – people from all perspectives who believe in the role of land use and transit as equal partners in the quest for greater livability and greater communities. The success of the conference depends on the quality and diversity of presentations. Rail~Volution solicits your story-sharing expertise, experience, success and challenges.

THEME:  This country is being reshaped by the economic crisis, suburban foreclosures, volatile gas prices, and concern about the carbon footprint of development—creating enormous momentum for change. The new administration is committed to change, and Congress is deliberating the bill that sets transportation policy and funding for the next six years. Livable communities near transit are more economically and environmentally sustainable and we need more of them now. Let’s rise to the challenge. The window of opportunity is opening wide.

Help us enliven the discussion! Give us your ideas now!

http://www.railvolution.com/CallForProposals_2009.asp

For more information contact:
Mary Simon
Rail~Volution
1120 SW 5th Avenue Suite 800
Portland, Oregon 97204
USA
Phone: 503-823-6870
Email: mary.simon@pdxtrans.org
Web: www.railvolution.com

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GOP gas tax protest draws dozens

February 25, 2009 at 6:01 pm

(Source: Boston Globe)

rizer_GOP-demo1_met.jpg
(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

A few dozen activists clutching posters and red gasoline cans attended a Republican rally this morning on the steps of the State House to protest the governor’s plan to raise the gas tax by 19 cents.

The protesters urged drivers on Beacon Hill to honk to object to Governor Deval Patrick’s transportation bill, which would increase the gas tax instead of tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

“Everybody who drives to work was honking their horn,” said Barney Keller, spokesman for the state Republican Party. “It went excellent. We had people braving the cold.”

Click here to read the entire article.

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Calcutta Tramways Buses Make Switch to Biodiesel Blend: 35% Lower Pollution Expected

February 25, 2009 at 5:44 pm
(Source: TreeHugger)

kolkata bus photo
photo: Richard via flickr

Indian Railways has already been running some of its trains on biodiesel. NowCalcutta Tramways Corporation has announced that it will be running its buses partly on biodiesel: A memorandum of understanding with Emami Biotech was signed last week for the supply of 250 kiloliters per month of biodiesel.

Click here to read th entire article.

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World’s Greatest Driving Road Located In Abu Dhabi?

February 25, 2009 at 4:35 pm

(Source: Jalopnik)

Armed with only a BMW M3 and a camera, 5th Gear’s Tiff Needell examines what they claim is the world’s greatest driving road, located in the U.A.E. capital of Abu Dhabi. Where else?

The Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road wraps its way around the Jebel Hafeet Mountain, the second highest peak in the U.A.E. at over 4000 feet. The road offers brave drivers 60 corners over 7.3 miles of perfectly paved asphalt while offering a beautiful view of the desert below.

Click here forsome awesome pictures and the rest of the Jalopnik article.

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BMW’s New Navigation System Knows Where You’re Going

February 25, 2009 at 3:57 pm

(Source: 4WheelNews via Jalopnik/Gizmodo)

(Image Courtesy: BMWUSA)

BMW is reportedly developing a new navigation element which can guess your next destination based on driving habit and time of day. BMW is sorry Dave, it cannot let you put this route at risk.

4WheelNews.com reports:  According to BMW the system, which is aptly called the ILENA, short for Intelligent Learning Navigation, is already 80 percent accurate with regards to it guesses of the car’s next possible stop. This system besides the convenience also aims at efficiency. The onboard computer can do some computations and analyses based on the information it gathers and automatically adjusts the car’s performance and power utilization accordingly. When this idea is brought to all of the car’s system, it can effectively lower costs between 5-10 percent.

Click here to read the entire Gizmodo/Jalopnik article.  Click here to read the entire 4WheelsNews article.

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The U.S. Navy Has a Top-Secret Vessel It Wants to Put on Display

February 25, 2009 at 3:23 pm

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

Sea Shadow and Its Satellite-Proof Barge Need a Home; Plotting in Providence

Anybody want some top-secret seagoing vessels? The Navy has a pair it doesn’t need anymore. It has been trying to give them away since 2006, and they’re headed for the scrap yard if somebody doesn’t speak up soon.

Navy Seeks Home for Secret Vessel

View Slideshow

[SB123506358018524221|section=US:slideshow]

One is called Sea Shadow. It’s big, black and looks like a cross between a Stealth fighter and a Batmobile. It was made to escape detection on the open sea. The other is known as the Hughes (as in Howard Hughes) Mining Barge. It looks like a floating field house, with an arching roof and a door that is 76 feet wide and 72 feet high. Sea Shadow berths inside the barge, which keeps it safely hidden from spy satellites.

“I’m fascinated by the possibilities,” Frank Lennon said one morning recently. Mr. Lennon runs — or ran — a maritime museum here in Providence. He was standing in a sleet storm on a wharf below a power plant, surveying the 297-foot muck-encrusted hulk of a Soviet submarine that he owns. His only exhibit, it was open to the public until April 2007, when a northeaster hit Providence and the sub sank.

Click here to read the entire article and click here for viewing the fantastic slideshow of this vessel.

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DOT will take back seat to White House advisers on climate — LaHood

February 25, 2009 at 2:47 pm

(Source: ClimateWire via NYTimes)

The Transportation Department will follow the lead of the White House’s top climate and environmental officials when it comes to meeting President Obama’s global warming agenda, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said today.

LaHood told a group of state transportation officials that while he has already taken part in a number of meetings to discuss climate change legislation with Obama, DOT would likely take a back seat in the climate debate.

“We’ve really taken all of our cues from Carol Browner,” he said, referring to the White House coordinator for energy and climate issues.

LaHood said Browner and U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson would most likely do the heavy lifting when it comes to meeting Obama’s climate goals. DOT is “in the room, we’re at the table, but we probably have less of a role than perhaps some of these other agencies do,” he said at the Washington forum.

DOT instead will focus on finalizing new corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards for the auto industry.

LaHood said his agency was working to finish the rulemaking for model year 2011 by this April’s deadline. “We’re going to move that out the door,” he said. “We’re going with what the president asked us to do with respect to CAFE standards.”

Under the proposed rulemaking issued by DOT last year, carmakers would have to raise their fuel economy by 25 percent by 2015. The proposal would push automakers more than halfway to the minimum goal set by Congress of an average of 35 mpg by 2020.

Click here to read the entire article.

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Driving or Riding in an Ethanol-Powered Vehicle Could Be Sin: Islamic Scholar Opines

February 25, 2009 at 2:33 pm

(Source: TreeHugger)

ethanol filling station photo

photo: Morris K Udall Foundation via flickr

Add another twist to the discussion of reasons to take objections to biofuels: Saudi scholar, Sheikh Mohamed al-Najimi has expressed his opinion that under Islamic law the use of ethanol could be considered a sin, as it is a form of alcohol:

This opinion is based on a statement by “the prophet that prohibited all kinds of dealings with alcohol including buying, selling, carrying, serving, drinking, and manufacturing.” (Al Arabiya via Biofuels Forum)

Sheikh Mohamed, who’s a member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, stressed that this opinion was his own, was not a fatwa, and urged Islamic leaders to study the issue. Furthermore, the ban should extend beyond predominantly Muslim countries, to include Saudi and Muslim youth studying abroad who may ride in vehicles powered by biofuels.

Click here to read the entire article.

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Telebriefing: Transportation experts discuss transportation stimulus spending

February 25, 2009 at 2:21 pm

(Source: Transportation for America)

In a telebriefing last week moderated by Transportation for America campaign manager James Corless, a panel of transportation experts from range of backgrounds discussed the transportation infrastructure portion of the stimulus bill and what it means for the future of our transportation system.

The group of panelists – which included Meridian, Mississippi Mayor and rail advocate John Robert Smith, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials President Allen Biehler, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) General Manager and CEO Beverly Scott, and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Rob Puentes – spoke optimistically about the potential for stimulus dollars to jump start the economy with investments in projects across the country and put a down payment on a balanced, 21st-Century transportation system.

A variety of transportation and infrastructure reporters, including Alex MacGillis of the Washington Postand Michael Cooper of the New York Times, were included in the call, and asked the panelists a number of questions about the logistics of spending the stimulus dollars, the impact it will have on reauthorization, and the how the stimulus compares to previous investments in infrastructure.

Click here to read the entire article and to listen/download this interesting telebriefing in MP3 format.

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Promoting Public Transit: I Heart This Subway Map!

February 25, 2009 at 2:05 pm

(Source: TreeHugger)

zeroperzero new york image

Image: New York Subway Map by Zero Per Zero

We like talking about promoting public transit here on Treehugger and at Planet Green, noting that cities and countries that get it right can create a very positive image that in turn steers more people towards leaving their car at home. So, I was happy to see Zero Per Zero, a Seoul-based design team, re-thinking railmaps and subway maps. Using bright colours and a big dose of humour, Kim Ji-Kwan and Jin Sol from Hongik University are now in Tokyo to display their work.

The maps come in a small folder with stickers for marking favorite spots, restaurants, appointments, hotel locations, and major attractions. When traveling, the folder can also be used to jot down notes and to hold transit passes, tickets, and more. Made of paper.

Click here to read the entire article, which has a couple of more cool pictures.

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