Transportation Library News

Airports in India: On the Move

Airports in India, despite the global economic situation, are on the move.

According to the Aug./Sept. issue of Airports International, passenger volume increased by 32.5% between 2006 and 2007, and in recent years, the number of "operational" airports in India has gone from 50 to 87. The flurry of activity surrounding the construction of airports in India is largely due to privatization of the aviation sector in the 1990s.

Among the most interesting of the expanded Indian airports is (Bengaluru International Airport), which is a case in point of triumph over red tape. Originally conceived before privatization, the airport was scheduled to be built by the Tata Group. Mired in red tape, Tata pulled out, and a Siemen-led consortium finished the project 14 years after it had begun. In the meantime travel demand to Bangalore is so heavy that the old airfield may be developed as a second airport.

Piracy 2.0

The current economic downturn has inspired a new sort of modern piracy. The world of cargo theft has increased recently, as organized crime rings focusing on the theft of retail goods from commercial trucks in the United States have begun springing up with more and more frequency. As Charlie Morasch writes in his article "Grand Theft Cargo" in this month's issue of Land Line, these cargo theft rings operate like small-scale mafia families, preying on a field unprepared to adequately defend itself, and a system of investigation and prosecution which has not yet caught up with this new trend in the world of crime.

Punishments for first-time offenders convicted of cargo theft are relatively light compared to violent crime, however the U.S. Department of Justice reports that these modern day pirates are responsible for up to $1 million a day in cargo theft, and there is evidence that some of these crime rings may have connections to terrorist organizations abroad.

Enter TOMCATS, or Miami-Dade's Tactical Operations Multi-Agency Cargo Anti-Theft Squad. Miami is perfectly situated to not only be a U.S. hub for the shipping of legitimate cargo, but consequently also for the fencing of stolen and counterfeit goods. Thus, Miami-Dade has built a cargo theft squad of police and FBI personnel to investigate and prosecute this alarming trend. Read about the ways in which TOMCATS hopes to stop cargo losses to organized crime, as well as tips from longtime truckers for protecting cargo in this month's Land Line

Take a Look at a Book

The Transportation Library has acquired Chicago-Lake Geneva: A 100-year Road Trip, published by the Chicago Map Society and the Newberry Library. Here is an description of the book from the back cover:

Before in-car GPS devices, before highway numbers, even before road atlases, there were "photo-auto guides." A century ago, early motorists used these to make cross-country trips by taking the right turn at the yellow farmhouse, or the uphill fork near the big oak.

This book reproduces a 1905 guide used to navigate from Chicago to Lake Geneva and Beloit, with photos of the same scenes a century later. It shows a Chicago region that has been transformed--and even more remarkable, a few scenes that have remained unchanged. The original maps and modern maps help you carefully retrace the route. Whether you want to journey from Chicago to Lake Geneva, or just travel through time, you'll enjoy the trip.

Compute the commute to save - Benefit plans allow riders to pay with pre-tax dollars

Chicago Tribune (IL) - Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Author: Richard Wronski, Tribune reporter

Stung by roller-coaster gas prices, commuters in record numbers are hopping aboard buses and trains in the Chicago area, but they can shave even more off the cost of getting to work -- as much as $500 a year.

By setting aside part of their pre-tax earnings, commuters can help cover transit or van-pooling costs.

The wrinkle is that fewer than 2,000 Chicago-area companies provide such benefits to workers, according to the Regional Transportation Authority.

If San Francisco is any kind of trendsetter, that could change.

Worried about air quality and traffic congestion, the city recently became the nation's first to require businesses with more than 20 employees to offer transit benefit programs.

Experts say Chicago could follow.

Q. How much do I save?

A. Transit benefit plans work just like such popular employee programs as medical or child-care savings accounts.

Under federal tax law, a commuter can shelter up to $115 a month, or $1,380 a year, in pre-tax dollars to help pay commuting expenses.

By putting aside this money before it's taxed, commuters can save from $300 to more than $500, depending on their tax bracket.

For example, a worker making about $30,000 a year in the 25 percent tax bracket who sets aside $1,380 a year would save $492 in state and federal taxes.

Companies benefit because they don't have to pay taxes on the amount employees earmark for the program.

They could save about $116 a year per employee in payroll taxes.

Companies can also choose to give workers up to $115 a month in tax-free benefits for transit costs. The employer still gets the payroll-tax deduction.

Or employers and employees can share the cost of the benefit. Employers benefit from the payroll-tax deduction, and employees can set aside pre-tax earnings.

Q. How does it work?

A. The program enables companies and employees to buy CTA Transit Cards, Chicago Cards or RTA FareChecks, vouchers that pay for transportation anywhere on the RTA system, including Metra, the South Shore line and certain Amtrak routes.

Monthly passes and 10-ride tickets for Metra also are available.

The program is administered by a company's human resources department or by a third-party benefits provider.

Q. Why doesn't everyone get it?

A. Only 53 percent of employers are aware of tax-free commuter benefits, and of those, only 46 percent offer the benefit to employees, according to one survey.

Another national survey found that only 17 percent of companies with standard benefits programs provided the transit option.

Many companies believe they are too small to offer the program or don't feel they have the resources or expertise to deal with the paperwork, experts say.

The RTA says the transit benefit program has grown steadily, and the agency anticipates a surge in interest, said Phillip Shayne, the RTA's director of regional services.

Fall is the traditional time for benefit program open enrollments, and fear of another round of gas price increases probably will prompt more employees to take advantage of the transit option, Shayne said.

Slow down; it's a fake!

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is testing faux speed bumps that are painted on the road. Their substance is merely an optical illusion, but apparently they slow people down. Until they realize the bumps are two dimensional anyway." Go to http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/30/fake-speed-bumps-pai.html to read the story, but I recommend reading the comments to get a true sense of people's views

Looking at data

From the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/technology/31novel.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin we learn that at "an experimental Web site, Many Eyes, (www.many-eyes.com), users can upload the data they want to visualize, then try sophisticated tools to generate interactive displays. These might range from maps of relationships in the New Testament to a display of the comparative frequency of words used in speeches by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama." Perhaps a transportation-specific example should take this baby for a test ride and report back?

Hani Mahmassani, New TC director

Han Mahmassani has been named the new director of the Transportation Center of Northwestern University