Infograph: London’s Unlicensed Minicabs statistics – Quite shocking!
Image Courtesy: BounceCars.com via now-here-this.timeout.com
Click here to read more about the unlicensed minicabs issue in London.
Global Reality Check – On average, American drivers are taxed roughly 10 times less than their European counterparts for each gallon of gasoline
Below is a tweet that got me wondering. Despite knowing the bad status of the Highway Trust Fund, why is congress so hesitant to raise the gas tax? I’m sure many of you are left asking the same question. Several years have gone by and many transportation reauthorizations bills have been enacted since the last time we raised the gas tax (in the early 1990s). But there is still no appetite to raise the gas tax, even by a few cents (and there seems to be any sense of urgency as well). Hopefully this trend is reversed in the upcoming re-authorization in 2015. BTW, am I alone in thinking that this picture below also subtly answers why we love our cars so much and like to build houses far from the urban core? What would happen to our current development model/real estate practices if gasoline was taxed like how it is done in Europe?
#roadfinancing #advocacy RT @ARTBA: Funding = road quality, just ask the EU #TMAW #FixtheHTF http://t.co/POeb0cEyq3 pic.twitter.com/HSHKuEFsbT
— CarolineVisserGRL (@GlobalRoadLinks) June 24, 2014
If you get a chance, visit this brilliant website (by ARTBA), Transportation Makes America Work, to see the impact of how this current gas tax situation is affecting the nation’s progress (you can even check out the impact on your particular state’s infrastructure). Also if you are interested, you can take action by contacting your local representative right on the website (and if you are a transportation nerd like me, you can always download the app on your phone and be ready to spill the facts in any discussion).
Image courtesy: tmaw.com –
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“She wears her nursing bra like a bullet-proof vest and swapped her sexy handbag for a snot-stained sack”- British Mom Spits the Rhymes for Fiat 500L
Blame it on Toyota for starting the fad of mommys and daddys rapping to sell an automotive (remember, Swagger Wagon?). Now, Fiat has taken it to the next level and added a bit of British Swag to make it sexy. Yeah! What is there to not love a Fiat driving, British mother of rap who brags about wearing her nursing bra like a bullet-proof vest and swapping her sexy handbag for a snot-stained sack. Oh, and she proudly declares that her crew also includes her bitches (two cute little dogs) and her hose (of the garden variety). Refreshing, right? Fiat is awesomely rolling in the deep lately with creative advertising. It all started with its commercial for the 2012 Super Bowl titled Seduction and it has progressively gotten better from there. Can’t wait to see the next evolution of this creative binge. Check it out!
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNVde5HPhYo&hd=1′]
(via Mashable)
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Keeping track – A Dutchman’s funny car sticker
(Source: Imgur)
Not sure what he is implying with the score keeping (possibly the 8 years he spent as a cyclist and four on a wheel chair or it could very well be the number of bikes and wheel chairs he took out while driving the car) but he seems to have a good sense of humor..
Image courtesy: Imgur
Rail Creep – Europe’s High-Speed Rail Revolution Poised to Cross the Atlantic
This article makes an awesome case for high-speed rail.. I like this part:”For decades, the United States ignored technological advances in rail travel, leaving passenger trains in a nostalgic time warp. Devoted to their cars and jetliners, Americans dismissed “bullet trains” as engineering novelties or costly foreign experiments unsuited to the way we live and travel.
But now, 46 years after Japan inaugurated its 130-m.p.h. Shinkansen train service, 29 years after France opened its 160-m.p.h. TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, or high-speed train), 18 years after Spain launched its high-speed AVE service between Madrid and Seville, the United States finally seems ready to move.”
Amplify’d from www.philly.com
At precisely 10:30 a.m., with quiet jazz wafting from its speakers, AVE Train 3103 glides out of Atocha Station in central Madrid, its sleek nose pointed east toward a rising sun and Barcelona.
Even with a stop in Zaragoza, the 385-mile trip, which takes seven hours by car, is scheduled to last two hours, 52 minutes. Without the stop, it’s two hours, 38 minutes. Cruising speed: 186 m.p.h.
Of course, the train will be on time: If it’s more than five minutes late, the passengers get their money back.
Compare that with the Pennsylvanian, the daily Amtrak train that travels a similar distance – 353 miles – from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. That laborious journey takes almost three times as long: seven hours, 23 minutes, a half-hour longer than it took in 1941. Twelve station stops. No jazz. No refunds.
Or compare it to Amtrak’s Acela Express between Philadelphia and Boston: When it’s on time, the train makes that 318-mile trip in about five hours. Slightly faster than driving, but slower and more expensive than flying. And it’s late 30 percent of the time.
In Europe, fast trains are transforming the continent, bringing cities and countries within a few hours of one another, erasing centuries-old regional divisions, resuscitating long-dormant towns, cutting air pollution, creating new economies and manufacturing jobs, and, in a reversal of 20th-century fortunes, making some air travel obsolete.
For a country mired in automotive gridlock and air-traffic jams, increasingly dependent on foreign oil and polluted by its own toxins, the stakes could not be higher.
Here’s the price Americans pay for a transport system that has become overcrowded, wasteful, slow, and expensive: $87.2 billion a year lost in automotive gridlock, more than $750 for every U.S. traveler. That’s more than 2.8 billion gallons of gas wasted – three weeks’ worth per traveler. And time wasted in traffic jams totals 4.2 billion hours – nearly one full workweek for every traveler.
The cost of domestic air-traffic delays, according to a 2008 analysis by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, is as much as $41 billion annually, including $19 billion in increased operational costs for the airlines and $12 billion worth of lost time for passengers.
The environmental price tag has become starkly clear ever since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April, killing 11 people and spilling 210 million gallons of oil. More than 57,000 square miles of the gulf, rich in fish, shrimp, oysters, and crabs, remain closed to fishing because of the disaster.
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/akNTXa
Majority Leader Harry Reid: Senate will vote to extend “cash-for-clunkers” program before going home on Friday
(Source: AP via Yahoo & New York Times)
The Senate will vote to extend the popular “cash-for-clunkers” program before going home on Friday, Majority Leader Harry Reid declared Tuesday in a strong signal the government won’t let the trade-in rebates die under the surging demand that has almost exhausted federal backing.
Images via Apture
Reid’s GOP counterpart, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, predicted his party would not block a vote and “the matter will be completed.” Republicans were still demanding a chance to amend a House-passed version that would extend the program into September, but Democrats were confident the bill wouldn’t be changed.
“There obviously is a real pent-up demand in America,” the Transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, said. “People love to buy cars, and we’ve given them the incentive to do that. I think the last thing that any politician wants to do is cut off the opportunity for somebody who’s going to be able to get a rebate from the government to buy a new automobile.”
Visiting the White House for a lunch with the President, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, was also asked about the program.
“We’ll pass ‘cash for clunkers,’ ” he said. And Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, who is the minority leader, said there would be a vote, but he did not suggest an outcome. Opposition to extending the program has been dissipating. One vocal GOP critic, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, said Tuesday he would not try to block the legislation. And three lawmakers who wanted the program limited to the purchase of even more fuel-efficient vehicles said Monday they would back the plan.
Republicans have said it puts the government in the bad position of picking winners and losers.
“People want to know what’s going to be next. Cash for shoes? Cash for groceries?” said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
The first $1 billion in funding is expected to lead to sales of 250,000 vehicles and the additional $2 billion would generate sales of perhaps a half-million more vehicles. The program has encouraged about a quarter-million Americans to buy new cars at time when the economy is still in recession and badly needs a boost.
Buyers of new cars and trucks have swamped formerly deserted auto dealers to claim their rebates — up to $4,500 when they trade in older models that get significantly worse gas mileage. The older vehicles are then scrapped.
Because the House has already recessed for August, any change by the Senate would effectively interrupt the rebate program until Congress returns in September. Consumers who don’t get in on a deal this week would have to wait until then to take advantage of the rebates, assuming eventual passage.
Click here to read the entire article.
Jalopnik’s Words of Wisdom – Five Ways To Get Screwed By “Cash For Clunkers” a.k.a. Car Allowance Rebate System (C.A.R.S.) Act
(Source: Jalopnik)
Image Courtesy: Jalopnik
Now that the President has signed the “Cash For Clunkers” into a bill, a lot of you may be thinking hard about trading your old meta for a shiny new one. Through various articles Transportgooru has already discussed in great lengths about the details associated with the Cash for Clunkers, including the eligibility criteria for trading your old vehicle.
To add to that, our good friends at Jalopnik have put together this awesome list (see below), which I think is a must read for anyone who is contemplating a trade under Cash for Clunkers program. Here is the list in reverse order.
5.) Buy A Clunker Now!
Some unscrupulous sellers may try and convince you to buy a clunker for a few hundred dollars with the promise of being able to trade it in for a $4,500 voucher. In reality, if you haven’t owned your car and kept it running and insured for a year you’re not eligible. Don’t buy a beater unless you want to keep it for a while.
4.) Trade In Your Car Early! –
We’ve read reports on forums of people already taking advantage of the Cash for Clunkers bill. In reality, they’re being taken advantage of. The law has been signed, but the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration hasn’t finalized the rules. It probably won’t go into affect until after July 24th. If you are being offered a “voucher” on your clunker you’re really just getting money for your trade-in, which the dealer can then resell. The most you lose is your car, but the dealer could face a fine of up to $15,000.
3.) Scrap A Car Worth More Than The Voucher
The used car market isn’t great right now, but this doesn’t mean your vehicle doesn’t have some value. Make sure to check the value of your car using a resource like KBB before trading in an older car that, it turns out, is worth more than $4,500 or $3,500 on the open market. Dealers have a greater incentive to sell you a new car and scrap your old one than to get the value of your trade-in “clunker.”
2.) Get Denied For Other Discounts
The voucher program is not designed to be a stand-alone discount program, meaning you’re still eligible for whatever other discounts automakers are offering (and there are a lot of those). With 0% financing and thousands cash back you’re getting cheated if you just get the value of your trade-in off a new car. The average incentive, according to Edmunds, was $2,930 for June. So you could possibly get $4,500 + $3,000 off of a new car.
1.) Avoid Moving Up To A More Profitable Class
If you own a truck or SUV you can use your voucher to trade it in for a car and, likely, get a larger voucher. Many dealerships will want to put you into a new truck because they’re more expensive than most cars, but if you don’t need a truck you can trade your old one in and find an inexpensive car with 10 MPG better fuel economy, which qualifies you for $4,500. For example, if you’ve got a 1991 V6 Ford F-150 you can trade it in for a $15,000 2009 Ford Focus for your kid and get the full $4,500 off, instead of paying upwards of $20,000 for a new truck and only getting a $3,500 voucher.
If you still have any questions, please visit the official “Cash For Clunkers” CARS Act website. For those interested, please click here to checkout the nice picture-filled essay on Jalopnik’s website and don’t forget to drop a note thanking them in the comment section for keeping us informed.
Navigation Device Gone Wild! American tourist in Germany follows outdated GPS into oncoming traffic
(Source: The Local, Germany)
Image Courtesy: Apture
An American tourist caused an accident near Karlsfeld over the weekend, banging up some €45,000 in damages when he followed an outdated navigation system prompt in the wrong direction, daily TZ reported on Monday.
According to the paper, the man’s Mercedes Vito rental car system had not been updated with the new exit from the B471 motorway near Karlsfeld, 20 minutes north of Munich.
The oversight caused him to drive himself and seven passengers into oncoming traffic, where they came face to face with a Peugeot. Both cars wound up veering off the road and into a ditch, the paper said.
The Vito landed on the roof, but all eight passengers in the Mercedes escaped injuries. The Peugeot driver suffered a whiplash injury.
Click here to read the entire article.
Car Allowance Rebate System (C.A.R.S.) Act a.k.a “Cash for Clunkers” Update: June 26, 2009
(Source: New York Times – Wheels Blog, Sec. LaHood’s Fast Lane Blog, U.S. News and World Report)
First of all, it’s no longer Cash-for-Clunkers. The program is now called the Car Allowance Rebate System (C.A.R.S.). The program, which President Obama signed into law on Thursday, pays consumers up to $4,500 in credit for trading in their cars or trucks for those that are more fuel efficient. The law allocates $1 billion for the program.
The incentive program begins within 30 days of today’s bill signing by the President. The final day for an eligible purchase or lease is November 1, 2009, or when DOT exhausts the funds set aside for the program, whichever occurs first. The credit is not retroactive prior to the start of the program and cannot be applied toward the purchase of used vehicles.
Of course, there are plenty of regulations to determine what vehicles qualify for the credit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is overseeing the program, has put together this Web site to help consumers who would like to participate in the program.
Image Courtesy: USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood's Fast Lane Blog
Today, the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote on his blog: “This program helps consumers pay for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles when they trade in less fuel-efficient cars or trucks. Stimulating the automobile industry while improving the environment and reducing fuel consumption–these are outcomes the DOT is pleased to support.
Congress and the Obama Administration recognize this is an important time for the automobile industry. And, the CARS program will help boost car and truck sales. Moreover, since the auto industry has improved vehicle safety and reduced vehicle emissions over the years, we are also excited about a program that puts vehicles on the road that are safer, pollute less, and get more miles to the gallon than the vehicles they replace.
CARS will be implemented by DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It’s a new responsibility this department welcomes; I know the folks in NHTSA stand ready to fulfill their new charge. I encourage everyone to learn more about the program from the website, www.cars.gov, or call NHTSA’s Auto Hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236). ”
The C.A.R.S. rebate does not count on top of the trade-in value of your vehicle. In the F.A.Q. section of CARS.gov: “The law requires your trade-in vehicle to be destroyed. Therefore, the value you negotiate with the dealer for your trade-in vehicle is not likely to exceed its scrap value.”
An Important FYI item: N.H.T.S.A. warns consumers of unofficial C.A.R.S. Web sites that are now popping up, reports USA Today. “Some want a lot of personal information, and talk about consumers being able to pre-register,” said Eric Bolton, a N.H.T.S.A. spokesman. “Consumers don’t have to register for this program at all.”
For those of you who are contemplating the purchase of a new vehicle under this program, here is a wonderful guide put together by the U.S. News and World Report:
10 Things You Should Know About Cash for Clunkers Car Allowance Rebate System”
1. What’s the official definition of a clunker? A driveable car made within the last 25 years, with a fuel economy rating of no more than 18 mpg. To learn more about the combined city/highway fuel-economy of your car, check out the Car Allowance Rebate System site.
2. Here’s how the program works: you trade in your old car for cash towards the purchase of a new, more efficient one. The better the mileage of the new car , the more money you’ll get towards its purchase – either $3,500 or $4,500. Check out Jalponik’s handy chart to figure out how much you might be able to claim. The minimum combined fuel economy of a new car purchased under the program must be at least 22 mpg, while new small trucks and SUVs have to get at least 18 mpg, and large trucks have to get 15 mpg. The old cars will be salvaged once they’re turned in.
3. Consumers should act fast. The bill provides vouchers for one million purchases, and the window of time is only fron July 1 to November 1. The bill will be revisited in the fall , and some changes may be made at that time.
4. The program will cost $4 billion. Funds will come from TARP.
5. Sorry, would-be entrepreneurs: it’s off-limits to buy an old car and “flip” it for the program – the car must have been insured by the same owner for at least one year before the trade.
6. The environmental idea behind the bill is that it takes old, inefficient vehicles off of the road. But some environmentalists are actually opposed to the bill because it takes functioning cars off of the road before their time is up, and does not permit the vouchers to go towards used vehicles, even if they are more fuel-efficient. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who sponsored an alternate bill stated that the current version undermines fuel efficiency standards and provides “handouts for Hummers.” On the other hand, some argue that higher fuel standards would disproportionately benefit foreign cars, denying American automakers their much-needed boost.
7. The economic incentive of the bill is to jump-start drowsy auto sales. According to Bloomberg, similar programs worldwide have raised auto sales 25 percent to 40 percent in Germany, 15 percent in China and 8 percent in France.
8. Even if it’s not designed entirely the way environmentalists had hoped, there are still green benefits. Says Treehugger: “One positive effect the bill could have, though, is simply to further advance the presence of ‘fuel efficiency’ as a reward term in the skeptical American consumer market. Yes, hybrids continue to sell, but not to 99 percent of the population. The bill could, albeit in a relatively minor way, serve to advance an attitude that places importance on fuel efficiency in the future.”
9. Cash for Clunkers is expected to have a great impact on the Hispanic community. That’s why the program is getting a celebrity endorsement from Dancing With The Stars’ Cristian de la Fuente and Ugly Betty’s Angelica Vale.
10. As always, buyer beware. It doesn’t make sense to trade in your vehicle unless its value is less than or equal to what you’d get in the program. Edmunds has identified a list of cars that are guaranteed to be worth less than the value of the voucher. You can find it here (PDF). Said ABC News Consumer Correspondent Elisabeth Leamy, “From a strictly consumer standpoint, the Cash for Clunkers program is not a great deal. Yes, if you are bent on buying brand new, you will save money. But the savings are nothing compared with how well you can do by buying a used car.”
Cash for Clunkers Update – June 19, 2009: Bill clears the Senate; Next-up President’s signature; Europe reports sales boost after scrapping plan
(Source: Autoblog, Washington Post, Detroit Free Press, AFP via Google)
Image Courtesy: Jalopnik
Clears Senate
After narrowly surviving an attempt by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. to strip it from a war-spending bill, the Cash for Clunkers program passed the Senate yesterday evening. Well, the $106 billion war-spending bill passed the Senate on a 91-5 vote, but the $1 billion scrapping program earlier survived Sen. Gregg’s attempt to have it removed and thus passed, as well. Now the bill makes its way to President Obama, who is expected to sign the bill into law, after which the U.S. Transportation Department reportedly has one month to figure out how the Cash for Clunkers program will be run. Since Congress reduced funding for the program from $4 billion to just $1 billion, it’s expected that the money will run out long before the program is scheduled to end on November 1.
“We are gratified that the Congress delivered on this administration priority, and President Obama looks forward to signing it into law,” according to an administration statement.
Details, Details, Details,
Vehicles purchased after July 1 will be eligible for the refund vouchers worth as much as $4,500 to turn in gas guzzlers and buy new cars that are more fuel efficient.
The agency in charge of administering the program, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will work out all the details within 30 days of enactment, according to Rae Tyson, spokesman for NHTSA.
Congress predicts this will result in the sale of about 250,000 new vehicles. The funding is good only until Nov. 1 and could run out before that. In that case, the voucher pro gram — unless Congress ap propriates more — would end.
Consumers would be able to start using the vouchers as soon as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalizes the rules — a process that must conclude within 30 days of the president’s approval.
Under the program, trade-in vehicles, 1984 models or newer, must have average fuel economy of no more than 18 miles per gallon. And the new car or truck must get better gas mileage than the one that was scrapped.
The payoff grows depending on the difference in the fuel efficiencies of the old and new cars. For instance, a new car getting at least 4 more miles per gallon than the old car will be eligible for a $3,500 voucher. A new car getting at least 10 more miles per gallon would get a $4,500 voucher.
To guarantee vehicles are actually roadworthy — and not just sitting on cinder blocks — trade-ins must be registered and insured to the same owner for at least a year.
Kudos & Pats in the Backs
Image Courtesy: Apture
Cash for clunkers proponents in Congress said the subsidies will spur sales.”The simple fact is that we need to get Americans into car showrooms and this is the bill that will do it,” said Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., in a statement.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said the program will boost jobs in auto states. “This program will provide an economic stimulus at a time when hardworking families need it most,” Stabenow said in a statement.
GM said it had decided to keep 60 of the more than 1,000 dealers with whom it had sought to terminate agreements. The reversals were made after the automaker corrected financial information that was used to evaluate which stores to keep. Dealers applauded the Senate’s action yesterday, and some got additional good news. John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, hailed the measure, saying it “will boost consumer confidence, get the economy going again and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Congress is giving consumers a strong incentive to replace their older vehicles with new, more fuel efficient cars and trucks.”
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said “The program is an important step forward for America. “It provides incentives for consumers to buy new, more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, providing a boost to the auto industry and protecting jobs, while limiting fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.”
The legislation comes with number-one US automaker General Motors in bankruptcy and Chrysler emerging from court protection under a government-backed alliance with Italy’s Fiat in the face of plunging auto sales.
Cash for Clunkers Update from Europe (Channel 4 via Autobloggreen)
Several other countries, such as China and Italy, have offered similar trade-in vouchers. And lawmakers point to the success of Germany’s program as indication that vouchers can turn dismal auto sales around. At the end of the program’s first month, sales in Germany were up 21 percent from a year before. During the same period, U.S. sales slumped 41 percent. Now, a leading provider of automotive data and intelligence says the European motor industry is showing signs of recovery following the introduction of scrappage schemes on the continent. According to a new study by Jato Dynamics, the European automotive market may be rebounding ever so slightly from its alarming lows of early 2009.
Though new car purchases are down by just over 13 percent year-on-year, there was actually a mild 2.4 percent improvement in May over April. The German market is now 39.7% up on May 2008 – a 20.3% improvement over last month’s figures. France, meanwhile, is up 11.8% over the figures for April. “If Germany provides a template for the other markets where scrappage schemes have been introduced, we may be at the very beginning of a period of recovery in Europe. It’s far too early to know what the sustained effects of the incentives will be, but at a time when the industry needs to see some rays of hope, it’s encouraging to witness some improvement ” says David Di Girolamo, Head of Jato Consult. Interestingly, small, fuel efficient hatchbacks are performing better than the rest of the market, which is thought to be due to the various scrapping schemes in Europe.
The US market has steadied somewhat from lows earlier this year but the sales pace in May remained 33.7 percent below that of one year ago. Let’s hope the American consumers will follow their European counterparts in boosting the vehicle market> Eeven if it is only a liitle, the market can use any push to build its recovery.
