Green Design » Transportation

Intercity Trains: How Good Do Connections Need To Be?

WorldChanging Team — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:02:00 +0000

By Sarah Goodyear

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we return to the question of connectivity -- or, to translate it out of transpo jargon, how to get there from here.

The Transport Politic looks at one of the objections to high-speed rail: that people won't want to ride it because when they arrive at their destination, transit connections are insufficient or entirely absent. He points out that if you make the comparison to airports, even transit-impaired downtown rail stations have an advantage:

Do commuters need good transit at stations to be attracted to riding intercity trains? Few U.S. airports have efficient transit connections, and even those that do typically see few of their customers arriving by train or bus. Yet people who want to fly make it to the airport by car.…
More important, though, is the fact that many high-speed rail users, especially businesspeople, will be aiming their travel towards a destination within walking distance or a short taxi ride of the station. Unlike airports, which are by definition completely inaccessible by pedestrians, train stations can be positioned underneath major cities and provide direct access to the job centers. Unlike automobilists, who encounter congestion and high parking fees downtown, train users get reliable, non-stop connections into the focal points of major cities.

Rail opponents frequently like to point out that sprawl has reshaped the American landscape to such an extent that they argue it would be ineffective to focus the benefits of train travel at the center of town. But they usually neglect to mention the fact that in almost all metropolitan areas, the single largest employment zone remains downtown -- and it is usually the only walkable one. Similarly, for better or worse, U.S. cities from coast to coast have invested massively in new convention centers, sports arenas, museums, parks, and entertainment corridors over the past three decades — and the vast majority of that spending has been downtown, near centrally positioned train stations. For businesspeople and tourists, there will be a significant incentive to choose rail over air or automobile travel for convenience’s sake.

This post reminded me of my trip last spring to Meridian, Mississippi, where the city's then-mayor, John Robert Smith, showed me around the downtown. Since the rebuilding of Meridian's historic train station as a multi-modal transit center (Greyhound and taxis also use it as a hub), the eminently walkable downtown area has been cleaned up and revitalized. Smith hopes that Meridian, which is an important regional commercial hub, will be a stop on the high-speed corridor between Atlanta and New Orleans.

Related posts in the Worldchanging archives:
In Defense Of High-Speed Rail
Green? Dense? Walkable?
America 2050: Planning Megalopolis

This piece originally appeared in Streetsblog NYC.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 12:02 PM)

Now That’s What I Call a Neckdown!

WorldChanging Team — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:04:46 +0000

by Ben Fried

Since the spring, DOT construction crews have been building out traffic calming improvements all over the neighborhoods near downtown Brooklyn. When the years-in-the-making Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Project wraps up, pedestrians will have safer crossings at dozens of intersections. The sidewalk extension at the northwest corner of Smith and Bergen, shown here, is especially impressive. Several hundred square feet of street space now belong to pedestrians instead of cars.

I popped up from my subway ride home yesterday to take some pictures, and in the five minutes I spent there, it was plainly obvious that people feel more comfortable and at ease on the sidewalk with all that extra room. First, to give a sense of the extension's size, check out what this corner used to look like (you can use the green "Smith's Grocery" awning to orient yourself).

After the jump, more traffic-calmed goodness.

This is the view from the southwest corner, with the big extension on the far side of the street. I'm not the best at eyeball measurements, but the crossing distance on Bergen has got to be less than 20 feet now.

If you're on foot, you feel like you're in charge. You can run into a friend, catch up for a minute, and, yeah, stand nonchalantly by the curb without worrying about getting run over or obstructing someone else's way. If you're biking by, you might have to adjust your path a little...

...but that's okay. A place that feels safe to walk feels safe to bike, too. (This is the view from the northeast corner.)

Speaking of which, a rumor is circulating that DOT might install some bike parking here. The DOT press office told us the agency is "investigating the placement of racks in the vicinity of the sidewalk extension." I think there's enough room to go around.

This piece originally appeared on Streetsblog New York City

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 1:04 PM)

In Defense of High-Speed Rail

WorldChanging Team — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:08:54 +0000

by Sarah Goodyear

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we've got a post from Yonah Freemark at The Transport Politic on the importance of funding both intercity and intracity rail, despite limits on the amount of money available. Freemark takes on the argument that investment in transportation within cities should trump the construction of more efficient rail connections between cities:

[I]nvestment is needed in both intercity and intracity corridors. Claiming that we should not fund high-speed rail because urban transit is more important is equivalent to saying that federal subsidies to air travel and non-urban highways should simply end, because metropolitan areas need more investment and travel between cities is less important.

The U.S. certainly has “scarce resources” at the moment; the $9 trillion government deficit over the next ten years will likely force budget cuts and require a reevaluation of spending in all executive branches, including the Department of Transportation. But the question here is not whether to invest in urban or long-distance travel systems. The country continues to grow relatively quickly, and both in-city and intercity travel demand will have to be met. Thus, we simply cannot devote all funds currently designated for the latter type of travel to the former; while we certainly should commit more funds to urban transit, we also need to find new and better ways to move between cities, since more and more people will be doing exactly that.…
Arguing that improving urban transit should be prioritized over high-speed rail is acceptable, but ignoring the needs of long-distance travel is not. The United States has a serious need to invest in both intercity and intracity travel, and for trips of between 200 and 600 miles between large cities, high-speed rail is usually the most appropriate investment. In the pursuit of better transit within a city, we cannot forget that we also need to get between cities.

Be sure to also check out the piece Freemark had Tuesday on The Infrastructurist, in which he sharpened his pencil and re-ran the numbers on Ed Glaeser's unfavorable analysis of high-speed rail on the New York Times website. Freemark writes:

By populating his model with a better set of assumptions, we hope to show how badly the economist missed the mark even on his handpicked example of an HSR link between Houston and Dallas. In reality, a well-designed high speed intercity rail project between the two largest cities in Lone Star State would likely produce a net economic benefit -- not at all the white elephant Glaeser suggests. In this more comprehensive model that takes into account trivialities like regional population growth and a reality-based route, the annual benefits total $840 million compared with construction and maintenance costs of $810
million. Which is to say, our numbers show that HSR pays for itself rather handily.

St. Louis Urban Workshop takes the stuffing out of another HSR hater today. Check out the site's priceless "re-mix" of Robert Samuelson's Newsweek piece claiming the Obama Administration's rail plan is "a high-speed boondoggle."

Plus: How many folding bikes does it take to fill up a parking space? Cyclelicious has the photographic answer, which is sure to especially delight Brompton-lovers.

This piece originally appeared on Streetsblog New York City
CCphoto credit

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 4:08 PM)

Pret-a-Rouler? Paris to Launch Electric-Vehicle Sharing Program

WorldChanging Team — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:47:50 +0000

By Kirstin Butler

From two-wheel ride to four-wheel drive, the French capitol wants to add a new low-emissions option to the urban transportation mix. In addition to its already successful bike-sharing plan, the Parisian government recently announced that it plans to implement a program for residents to share electric cars. If successful, the citywide proposal will put 4,000 new battery-powered cars on the streets by late 2010, which its supporters say could reduce annual carbon emissions by 22,000 tons.

Earlier this month BusinessWeek reported that Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë officially announced the plan to launch Autolib (from the words “automobile” and “liberté”) in Paris and two dozen other cities. The program will work like a hybrid of existing car-sharing and bike-sharing service models. As with most car-sharing programs, drivers will register for the service by presenting a valid driver's license and paying a subscription fee. But like most bike-sharing programs, Autolib will allow users to access available two- or four-seat vehicles without making a prior reservation, simply by swiping their credit cards at one of 1,400 proposed recharging stands (the hourly rate is projected to be between US $6-$9). And, also as with bike sharing, users may return the car to any of the 700 stands within Paris or 700 in the surrounding suburbs.

Paris already boasts a thriving community transportation option in Vélib, its bike-rental scheme. Since taking off in 2007, that model has since been cited as inspiration for other urban bike-share programs around the world.

Autolib isn’t without precedent, either. Paris has a non-electric car-share service, Caisse-Commune, that currently boasts around 5,000 members and has been operating since 1998. And the city of Antibes on the French Riviera started a smaller-scale version of the electric car rental system several years ago (several orders of magnitude smaller, however, on the order of 11 electric cars).

According to BusinessWeek, the service will likely be operated as a public-private partnership, and several companies have already expressed interest in the contract. But a number of logistical (and political) hurdles remain before the idea can become a reality. For one thing, electric cars require a lot more maintenance than bikes. Skeptics question whether it’s even possible to keep up and protect such a large fleet, and French newspaper Le Parisien claimed that it would cost the equivalent of $14 million just to build the rental and recharging stations. Autolib has also received criticism from the Green Party for encouraging driving over biking, ride-sharing, or walking.

Still, the audacity of Autolib is in direct proportion to the scale of transportation challenges faced by contemporary cities. If it can deliver on its carbon-reduction promises, a singular, high-profile project such as Autolib could play a huge role in jump-starting demand for non-carbon-based transportation and energy alternatives worldwide. And in that case the exciting electric vehicle sharing service would go beyond merely being très chic, to offering true change.

Kirstin Butler is a generalist editor, researcher, and writer who lives in Brooklyn. She holds a Bachelor’s in art & architectural history and a Master’s in public policy from Harvard University.

Photo credit: flickr/limaoscarjuliet, Creative Commons license.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 2:47 PM)

Pret-a-Rouler? Paris to Launch Electric-Vehicle Sharing Program

WorldChanging Team — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:47:50 +0000

By Kirstin Butler

Photo credit: flickr/limaoscarjuliet, Creative Commons license.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 2:47 PM)

Web Apps For Transpo Planning: Share Your Insights

WorldChanging Team — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:07:52 +0000

By Lily Bernheimer

Andrew Nash, former Executive Director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, has just posted a paper about Web 2.0 for Transport Planning on StreetsWiki. He's asking the Livable Streets Community, as experts on the ground, to contribute to it before he presents the final draft at the Transportation Research Board's 2010 annual meeting.

Nash explains that web applications intended to improve the public input process for transportation projects often come up short:

The simplest example is using websites and e-mail to comment on planning studies. [But] often these systems are not very creative, simply mimicking the traditional paper-based planning process, which shows that there is room for innovation. An interesting idea is CitiWiki Pittsburgh’s project for creating a regional integrated transportation plan... It was meant to provide those who have a vested interest in creating a better transportation system with a tool and a venue for sharing their ideas for productively building such a system.

He goes on to propose a web app he calls Bus Meister, described in detail in a second wiki entry. The core feature of Bus Meister would be a game that:

...allows users to examine the impacts of public transport improvements on their own public transport routes. The game will both teach users about public transport operations and help them assess the value of their ideas... For example, the player could add traffic signal priority by dragging the “public transport priority signalization widget” onto the route map at the intersection.

Andrew invites you to make edits, corrections, and add additional examples or thoughts to the articles -- he'll take them all into account for the final draft. You can contact him directly, though we encourage you to keep the conversation public -- by contributing to the wiki or commenting on this post -- so everyone can benefit from your insights.

Also around the Community this week: Bike Hoboken is working with the city to secure state funding for a pedestrian/bicycle safety plan, PA Walks and Bikes is tracking how bicycle crash investigations are handled, and cyclists are needed this Sunday for a Biking Rules PSA photo shoot.

This piece originally appeared in StreetsBlog.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 1:07 PM)

Wanderlusting No. 1: The Welcome Mat in Copenhagen

Chris Turner — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:37:49 +0000

Wanderlusting on the Sustainability Trail
Postcard No. 1: The Welcome Mat in Copenhagen

It struck me as I was boarding my Copenhagen-bound flight at Heathrow’s swanky new Terminal 5 that I was sincerely looking forward to visiting the city’s airport again. Not just Copenhagen in general – Copenhagen airport. I can’t think of another airport on the planet I’d say that about, including fancy-schmancy Terminal 5 with its Gordon Ramsay-branded restaurant and Prada boutique, and it says a lot about how thoroughly Denmark as a nation has committed to sustainable living that even its airport makes me green with envy and keen to see more. Not for nothing Kastrup – this is its formal name – routinely tops best-in-the-world polls, and it’s got nothing to do with the goods and services on offer or the elegant design of the building itself.

Not that Kastrup’s a slouch in the design department. This is style-obsessed Denmark, after all, so it’s a fine-looking building – the international-arrivals concourse leading up to Customs, for example, is floored in dark, elegant hardwood. No, the real key to the genius of Kastrup (and of Denmark) shows itself first, along that same concourse, in the complimentary strollers lined up on either side next to the ranks of half-sized carry-on-baggage carts. I’ve seen the carry-on carts elsewhere, but complimentary strollers? The message is as straightforwardly brilliant and conscientious as the city itself: You and your kids have had a long journey. In fact, your four-year-old is probably fifty pounds of nitroglycerin waiting to be nudged too hard. Here, have a smooth ride to Passport Control. It’s the least we can do.

Even better – and the main reason I was eager to return to Kastrup – is the airport transfer. Here’s what you do: You get your bags, walk out into the arrivals hall, and head for the well-marked bank of automated and staffed ticket kiosks. Buy a ticket for the Metro or for the S-Bahn line run by DSB, the national railway. Both, in either case, stop in the terminal. You should probably use the DSB kiosk – fewer stops and more room for luggage – but if, like me, you’re jetlagged and your four-year-old’s thrumming like she’s mainlined directly to the wind farm out there in the Øresund and you mess up and buy a Metro ticket, don’t fret. The ticket’s good for the S-Bahn. It’s all been taken care of.

So just push your cart onto the adjacent automatic ramp (or use the nearby elevator), and it’ll whir you smoothly down to the train platform. In less than ten minutes, your train will arrive. Fourteen minutes after that, you’ll be disembarking at the central train station in the middle of the city – within a few blocks of nearly any hotel worth staying in.

This is sustainable living. Not only is the low-emissions, smart-grown, sustainable option readily available, it’s far and away the best choice. You’d be a sucker to pay for a rental and try to drive it all the way in here.

I love Kastrup airport. Love it.

Chris Turner is the author of The Geography of Hope, a Canadian bestseller and multiple award nominee detailing his 2005-06 travels in search of the state of the art in sustainable living. He has recently embarked upon a new global research tour for a forthcoming book on the structure of the sustainable twenty-first century economy. He is posting “postcard” blogs from his travels here on Worldchanging.com. This is the first posting in the series.

Photo credit: flickr/sigkyrre, Creative Commons license.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Chris Turner in Transportation at 5:37 PM)

Wanderlusting No. 1: The Welcome Mat in Copenhagen

Chris Turner — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:37:49 +0000

Wanderlusting on the Sustainability Trail
Postcard No. 1: The Welcome Mat in Copenhagen

I love Kastrup airport. Love it.

Photo credit: flickr/sigkyrre, Creative Commons license.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Chris Turner in Transportation at 5:37 PM)

Portland’s Transport Research Guru Headed to Obama Administration

WorldChanging Team — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:54:37 +0000

by Elana Schor

The U.S. DOT is expected to announce today that it has tapped Robert Bertini, a Portland State University professor who headed Oregon's state-wide transport research effort, as the No. 2 at the Research and Innovative Technology Administration -- the government's home for stats on all things transportation.

Bertini's hiring is an uber-wonky personnel move, to be sure. But it also signals the ascent of a reason-based approach to transportation policy, with a focus on increasing efficiency by helping communities shift a greater share of trips onto transit.

In testimony before Congress last year, Bertini outlined the dizzying array of projects his Oregon research consortium, known as OTREC, has embarked upon after its founding in 2005 (with a grant from the federal DOT). Here's just a sampling of what OTREC has studied:

The socio-economic impacts of imposing a new vehicle miles traveled tax

The relationship between transportation planning and land use, assuming "a certain set of goals are determined and pursued by politicians and planners," as Bertini put it

How to shift suburban multi-family housing developments to a broader mix of transport modes

Using technology to encourage more neighborhood pedestrian activity

How community safety affects public health for lower-income children

This piece originally appeared on Streetsblog New York City

Read more about US transportation in the Worldchanging archives:
Seattle to the World: Smarter Public Transport
Ray LaHood and Changing Our Thinking About Transportation
Redesigning Transportation

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 11:54 AM)

Plane To Train: The Ultra-Fast Route To A Travel Revolution

WorldChanging Team — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:33:38 +0000

by Dan Milmo, transport correspondent

Europe's largest high-speed rail operator has predicted that domestic air travel in the UK will lose millions of passengers to a 250mph train service if an ultra-fast network becomes a reality.

The chief executive of the French rail giant, SNCF, said the proposed network could dominate travel from London to all British cities as far north as Glasgow. Guillaume Pepy said the "crowning success" of Eurostar, which now controls 80% of the London to Paris and Brussels market, could be repeated if a replica of the French TGV system arrives in the UK.

"Distances as the crow flies in the UK allow the possibility to link almost all main cities to London [by high-speed rail] in more or less three hours," he said.

Transport analysts argue that rail journeys must be around three hours long to be competitive with airline services on the same routes. Travelling from London-to-Glasgow takes four and a half hours on Virgin Trains and, as a consequence, airlines account for more than eight out of 10 journeys on that route. A TGV-style line would take passengers from London to Scotland in around three hours, according to SNCF.

Pepy's comments, in a presentation at a recent London transport conference, came as airlines dismissed claims by the transport secretary, Lord Adonis, that high-speed rail should replace domestic air travel in the UK. Pepy said: "Three hours' travel time by train means a share between 66% and 70% of the air and rail market." The UK domestic air market accounts for nearly 46 million passenger journeys a year, with many travellers taking flights to Heathrow airport in order to connect with long-distance services.

However, SNCF warned that strong lobbying by regional politicians could result in out-of-the-way routes being built ahead of more deserving destinations. Cities such as Manchester are already launching lobby groups to demand inclusion in the network, but Pepy indicated that some parts of the multibillion euro TGV project were "more politically than rationally driven". Pointing to high-speed routes to further-flung destinations such as La Rochelle and Evian that had been built by the mid-90s, Pepy said a much-needed eastbound line was neglected for more than a decade and not commissioned until 2007.

The SNCF boss also indicated that the taxpayer would have to shoulder the financial burden of a high-speed network in the UK. The state and regional governments are paying nearly three-quarters of the €5.1bn (£4.3bn) price tag for the new line from Paris to Alsace in eastern France. "They want it, they pay for it," said Pepy. The TGV network made a profit of €798m in 2008 and generated a margin, or return on sales, of 18.5% – far higher than the average of around 3% for UK train operators.

Adonis said the government was keen to tap expertise from SNCF and Japan as it planned a high-speed network for the UK. "I am keen to engage closely with international experts on high-speed rail, not least those from France and Japan who have the longest experience," he said. France's TGV network comprises nearly 1,200 miles of track and carried 100 million passengers last year. It is second only to Japan's high-speed system in terms of scale.

However, it is understood that the government has already rejected one approach raised by the SNCF presentation. Pepy mooted doubling the scale of any high-speed network by building four lines rather than two, citing an error in calculating demand for the Paris-to-Lyon route. He said a new line between the capital and France's third largest city will now have to be built, because the original route has proven extremely popular and cannot be doubled from two tracks to four.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England said Pepy's comments heightened already strong concerns that a high-speed route would blight swaths of countryside. " The government needs to find a route that minimises the impact," said Gerald Kells of the CPRE.

This piece originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

Read more about emerging high-speed rail systems in the Worldchanging archives:

Government Unveils Sweeping Plans to Transform UK into Low-Carbon Economy
“Make No Little Plans”: Obama Lays Out Ambitious High-Speed Rail Plan
China Begins Transition To A Clean-Energy Economy

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 11:33 AM)

Bloomberg Tests Free-Transit Waters

WorldChanging Team — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:33:54 +0000

by Charles Komanoff

Mayor Bloomberg lifted a page straight from the Kheel Plan playbook yesterday in calling on the MTA to make crosstown buses free [PDF]. Bus riders
and transit advocates should be beaming.

Free buses will save bus riders time and money and will benefit everyone by luring some taxi and car users to transit and easing traffic gridlock. Ted Kheel recognized this as far back as the 1960s. Over the past year, he and I have quantified the benefits from free buses, and they're striking:

MTA Bus engineers recently clocked "dwell time" -- those
maddening seconds and minutes taken up by passenger boarding -- on the Bx12
Limited route from 207th Street to Co-op City. A typical run takes 56 minutes and
17 seconds, with passenger stops consuming 16 minutes and 16 seconds --
nearly 30 percent. The engineers found that doing away with fare collection could
slash dwell time on the Bx12 to 2 minutes 36 seconds: an 84 percent reduction
and a 24 percent saving in total trip time.

The combination of free fare and speedier service -- including less waiting,
since faster buses would arrive more quickly -- would attract many more riders.
We estimate 28 percent more (16 percent from the fare savings, 12 percent
from the time savings).

The 28 percent gain in ridership wouldn’t require more buses, even on crowded
routes, since the average fare-free bus would travel 32 percent faster. (That 24
percent time saving equates mathematically to a 32 percent speedup.) In
effect, absent the human gridlock to collect fares, buses could complete four runs
in the time it now takes to do three.

To be sure, these numbers aren't fully proven. The speed gains were measured on one bus route among hundreds, and the imputed boosts to ridership are based on elasticity studies from years ago. But the numbers make intuitive sense. And they're certainly impressive. We place the time savings to bus riders alone at $460 million a year, even valuing passengers' time at a meager nine bucks an hour. The additional travel-time savings to motorists from attracting even a modest number of drivers to transit buses would probably be worth far more.

The mayor says his proposal might not cost NYC Transit much since most crosstown bus passengers are free transfers from subways. The story citywide is probably different, though. We estimate that free buses in all five boroughs would cost $740 million a year (after netting $30 million now spent maintaining farebox machinery). How could this lost revenue be made up?

One way would be a modest weekday congestion charge to drive into the Manhattan Central Business District: $6 during peak hours, $2 overnight, and $4 in-between, charged inbound only. That’s just one option; others can be seen by inputting various congestion prices into the Balanced Transportation Analyzer spreadsheet. (All figures in this article are derived from and sourced in the BTA; start with the "Bus Boarding" worksheet.)

Ted Kheel views free buses as a down payment toward universal free transit in NYC, financed largely through a fair congestion charge. With his more limited proposal, a down payment toward Kheel's, Mayor Bloomberg has taken the first step toward realizing that vision.

This post originally appeared on streetsblog.org

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 11:33 AM)

Separating Myth From Fact on “Cash for Clunkers”

WorldChanging Team — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:12:33 +0000

by Elana Schor

As debate rages on in the capital over whether to keep assisting the auto industry by giving out more "cash for clunkers" rebates, two assertions are becoming commonplace: the program is helping diminish U.S. oil consumption, and the program is not paid for with new money.

The first argument was reiterated on Friday by President Obama, who said of the "clunkers" auto trade-in discounts: " This gives consumers a break, reduces dangerous carbon pollution and our dependence on foreign oil, and strengthens the American auto industry."

That same day, however, energy analysts were crunching the numbers for Reuters. Even if $2 billion in new "clunker" rebates were offered, they found, the total resulting decline in America's daily oil consumption would be 0.05 percent:

"It has proved to be a highly successful vehicle marketing tool," said Tim Evans, energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective in New York. "But you would need a microscope to see the demand impact for gasoline from this program because it involves a relatively small number of vehicles."

The Reuters estimate assumes an average upgrade in fuel efficiency of 10 miles per gallon, which is in line with initial auto industry statistics on new trade-ins.

The analysis also assumes 250,000 trade-ins, which the government estimates is roughly the number that took place during the first $1 billion week of the taxpayer-subsidized "clunkers" program. Given the likelihood of new funding for the rebates, however, that 0.05 percent number could double or triple -- for a total daily oil-consumption reduction of 0.15 percent.

The second argument, that offering $2 billion in extra "clunkers" cash would not amount to deficit spending, stems from Democratic leaders' decision to shift the funds over from a Department of Energy (DoE) loan guarantee program.

That strategy was designed to appeal to fiscal hawks who would have a difficult time voting to add to the already trillion-dollar federal deficit. Indeed. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) already put her leaders on notice (via Twitter) that she could only vote yes on "clunkers" if no new money was spent.

But the DoE loans in question were approved to encourage the development of alternative energy and biofuels, two "green job" creators that have influential allies on Capitol Hill. Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is already criticizing the shift as a raid on the clean-energy pot, and Renewable Fuels Association chief Bob Dineen said he wants Congress to promptly put the $2 billion back home at the DoE:

The ethanol industry understands the trying economic times this country finds itself in and thus supports ideas like the "cash for clunkers” program, but is concerned to see the program paid for by depleting the renewable energy loan guarantee program. We hope Congress will move quickly to replenish the fund. One of the advantages of the “cash for clunkers” program is putting more fuel efficient cars on the road, however those new cars should also be running on renewable fuels like ethanol in order to benefit both the changing climate and the domestic economy. For the U.S. long term auto and fuel needs, it seems counterproductive to limit the renewable fuels industry.

Given the political pressure already being exerted, it's difficult to see how congressional leaders can avoid spending a new $2 billion to keep the auto rebates alive. Replenishing the DoE fund would take place in a separate vote later this year, however, making it easier for lawmakers to claim they're not adding to the deficit with this week's "clunkers" vote.

This post originally appeared on Streetsblog

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 11:12 AM)

The Solar Forest: Charging Station And Shady Spot For Electric Cars

WorldChanging Team — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:44:35 +0000

by Christa Morris

The approaching age of electric vehicles presents us with a secondary, albeit significant, challenge: building accessible recharging stations with renewable energy. While we’re at it, can our parking lots be shady, please?

One solution may already have arrived. In Neville Mars’s dreamy design, appropriately dubbed the Solar Forest, large, leaf-shaped photovoltaic panels on branching “trees” will provide both shade and power-up plugs for electric cars relaxing on the parking lot underneath.

The viral spread of this design would suggest this is a novel idea. But between the years of 2005 and 2007, Envision Solar cultivated its own Solar Grove in Kyocera’s San Diego parking lot. With the same goal of shading cement parking lots while capturing solar energy, this forest came to life with large, flat and rectangular PV “trees.” The solid technology promised to repay costs of installation within five years, but the clunky array looked more like helicopter landing pads than trees. Although functional, the Solar Grove failed to draw as much attention.

In contrast, the blog-storm in the past week has focused little on the science behind the Solar Forest, and instead has been fueled by the trees’ organically striking visual appeal. In order for companies to fork up the initial installation costs, it is crucial that solar-parking-lot solutions are not just convenient and sustainable, but attractive as well.

The final question is whether the structure truly translates into function. Like many others, I was initially concerned whether the shade of overlapping PV leaves would waste surface area. However, Mars assured Mike Chino of Inhabitat.com that the leafy canopy design was not a goal, but the best solution to maximizing shade for the cars and sunlight for the PV panels—much like the dogwood tree in my backyard, the Solar Forest’s leaves will tilt and rotate with the sun.

If the Solar Forest can be modular and economical as well as effective, it will be worldchanging. Think of how much under-utilized, sun-baked parking lot space exists alongside a single strip mall! In any event, the excitement this idea has generated brings attention to the vital role of biomimicry in sustainable design, as well as the key goal of transforming the unsustainable (and downright ugly) spaces of the world into useful, beautiful, and bright green landscapes.

Learn more about, biomimicry, solar projects and EVs in the worldchanging archives:
Biomimicry 101
Solar Carbon Payback
Project Get Ready Aims to Create Electric Vehicle Revolution

Creative Commons Photo Credit

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 2:44 PM)

Trip Planning For Cyclists: Coming Soon to the US?

Julia Levitt — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:07:08 +0000

Elly Blue at BikePortland.org posted a thoughtful article this morning about "chasing the dream of online bike route planning."

Easy mapping for drivers is old news; increasingly, "walkshed technologies" are making walking or taking transit a stress-free experience. But people who want similar tools for cyclists face a steep barrier to entry in the U.S.: a major lack of data about where it's safe to bike. Right now, the bike route-mapping scene is dominated by a handful of startups and software-savvy trailblazers, and even mapping standby Google refers cyclists to wiki-style resource OpenStreetMap:

But the data available is only as good as what has been uploaded — and in many places in this country, bike route data simply doesn’t exist. [Aaron] Antrim says he would love to see the League of American Bicyclists make map data a consideration in their Bicycle Friendly Community awards program. In the meantime, OSM is often updated through company-hosted mapping parties (Chris Smith recently wrote in PortlandTransport about attending one of these). OSM also makes software available that shows undocumented streets so that intrepid users can fill in the blanks.

Another problem with bike map data, according to Antrim, is that there is no universal classification for bike routes. The European Union has a standard classification, but in the United States it’s still a free for all. A “bike boulevard” in one city might be called a “bikeway” or a “low traffic street” in another. There are standard classifications, but as Antrim says “there are many variables in what goes into making a facility, so classifying that is a challenge.”

Bikers can't easily use the same routes that online mapping tools provide for cars. Cyclists need to be sure that their planned route won't lead them by surprise to a highway or dangerous arterial, and customizing the routes manually can take quite a bit of manipulation:

Planning a bike route with Google Maps from jason Stein on Vimeo.

Blue spotlights several emerging resources with strong prospects, including Portland-based byCycle.org, NYC's Ride the City, and Atlanta's multi-modal A-Train. And she reports on some rumors that Google might be launching its own tool sometime in the near future.

Raising the profile of cycling as a mode of transportation to rival cars is a worthy pursuit for North American cities, and those working to gather (and standardize) the necessary data are doing terrific (and time-consuming) work. If this is a conversation you're involved in, or that sparks your interest, Blue's piece is worth checking out in full.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Julia Levitt in Transportation at 2:07 PM)

Design Fest: Taxis of the Future

Julia Levitt — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:48:03 +0000

Taxi services provide a terrific benefit to urban dwellers as a supplement to mostly car-free lifestyles, a safe ride home after a few drinks, etc. But even with hybrid cab fleets hitting the roads in a growing number of cities, the design of most cabs falls pretty sadly short in terms of efficiency and intelligence. Bulky five-passenger vehicles are generally used to transport the driver and a solo fare. Not only is this a waste of energy, but the large vehicles also exacerbate congestion and make it tougher for drivers, who must purchase their own fuel, to make a good profit.

A few weeks ago, designboom featured a really fun collection of taxi concepts from automakers and designers in markets around the world. There are two-person models, social interaction-oriented group cabs, and even a water taxi. Though the actual practicality of many of these is questionable, the series is a great kickstarter for imagining ways to fit taxi service into a more efficient and enjoyable package. I think my favorite details are those that reflect the culture and habits of specific cities or regions.

What kind of cab would work best in your city? Please share!

Image source: designboom

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Julia Levitt in Transportation at 4:48 PM)

Design Fest: Taxis of the Future

Julia Levitt — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:48:03 +0000

What kind of cab would work best in your city? Please share!

Image source: designboom

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Julia Levitt in Transportation at 4:48 PM)

Would You Cover Your Tracks With Roadside Assistance For Cyclists?

WorldChanging Team — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:12:03 +0000

By Leo Hickman

If the RAC or the AA offered a 'breakdown' service, would you sign up? What sort of policy details would you find attractive?

Every cyclist can probably recall a time when they've "caught a flat", or slipped a chain on the way to work or an important meeting. Not all of us carry puncture repair kits at all times, or have the know-how or time to repair a bike on the spot and continue with our journey as if nothing's happened. I suspect that many of us would like to have the reassurance that a bike mechanic, or lift to our destination, is only a phonecall away. If motorists can travel safe in the knowledge they are covered by roadside assistance, then why can't cyclists?

Earlier this month, the American Automobile Association – better known as the AAA – started to offer roadside assistance to cyclists in Oregon and parts of Idaho. "We're the first AAA chapter in the country to try this," said Marie Dodds, spokeswoman for the AAA of Oregon and Idaho. "It only makes sense, since bicycling is such a popular transportation option in this part of the country."

A survey of AAA members last year found that 37% of its members in Oregon and Idaho said they would like bicycles added to their cover. All of the AAA's Plus, Plus RV and Premier members now receive the cover at no extra expense.

"In some ways, we are literally inventing the wheel, so we don't know what the demand will be like," said Dodds. "We may just get overwhelmed."

At present, the cover doesn't include an on-the-spot repair of the bike, just a lift to anywhere within a 25-mile radius of the breakdown. "There are a million sizes of tires and tubes," explained Dodds. "Our people are not prepared to repair bikes."

Still, it's a start and this innovative move has been welcomed by biking bloggers in the US. However, it has left one AAA competitor fuming. Better World Club says that it has been offering nationwide breakdown cover to cyclists since 2003.

"Gee, I'm used to saying that Better World Club offers the nation's only bicycle roadside assistance," said Better World Club's president Mitch Rofsky. "Since this service is only being offered in Oregon and southern Idaho, I guess I'll have to change that to 'Better World Club offers the nation's only nationwide bicycle roadside assistance'. We look forward to AAA copying our mass transit discount as that would run counter to its decades long hostility to mass transit."

Rofsky does make a valid point: should cyclists really welcome such a hand of friendship from long-time members of the motoring lobby? After all, the AAA and their ilk have been campaigning for years to reduce fuel taxation and increase road-building. Of course, the roadside assistance for cyclists is only being offered to car-owning AAA members, but that shouldn't negate how useful such cover could be.

Would cyclists here in the UK welcome such a move by the companies offering nationwide breakdown assistance? I decided to call the AA, RAC and Green Flag to see if they had ever thought about it.

"We're watching developments [in the US] with interest, but have no plans yet," said an RAC spokesperson.

It was a similar message from the AA: "We constantly look to improve and develop the services we offer members, but we have no plans at present to offer roadside assistance to cyclists."

Dan Robinson, head of Green Flag, said: "We have no plans at the moment to follow in the footsteps of recovery clubs in America. However, we pride ourselves on our innovation. If there was an appetite for bike recovery amongst our customers, we could include it in our personal cover product option."

A Green Flag spokesperson did add, though, that the company would "be interested to hear if Guardian readers wanted this service and if you get any feedback we would love to know".

I see that as a challenge, fellow cyclists. If you would be interested in being covered by a policy offering roadside assistance then please do express your opinions below. What sort of price and policy details would you find attractive? Better World Club's "Bicycle Only" membership, for example, costs $39.95 (£24) a year ($17 for each household's additional cyclist) and for this premium you are allowed two service calls and up to 30 miles of "coverage" a year. It also throws in a free enrolment to the League of American Bicyclists which normally costs $30 a year.

Is this the kind of package you would sign up to? Or is this something, say, a coalition of local bike shops could offer cyclists instead?

Check out other bright ideas on bicycling in the Worldchanging archive:

"Bike Boxes": A Simple Idea that Could Save Lives

Create Your Own Bike Lane

B-Cycle: Plug-and-Play Bike Sharing for North America

This piece originally appeared in The Guardian.

Photo credit: Flickr/John Spooner, Creative Commons License.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 4:12 PM)