Transportation Library News

A man, having failed to fend off a ravening, gas-swilling beast by throwing tools at it, is slowly eaten alive:

Car eats man!

From the Instituto Mexicano del Transporte (Mexican Transportation Institute) web site, http://www.imt.mx/Espanol/ETAN/index.html, you have access to the statistical source North American Transportation in Figures http://www.census.gov/econ/www/natf/natf.html .A multi lingual, multi-national resource that "examines transportation and transportation-related passenger, freight, economic, safety, energy, environmental and demographic statistics relating to Canada, Mexico and the United States. This publication serves to increase awareness of transportation-related statistics currently available in each of the three countries, helps to assess comparability of the data, determines where information gaps exist and reveals which additional data are needed for a more complete picture of transportation in North America."

But wait there is more

The Instituto Mexicano del Transporte (Mexican Transportation Institute) has created a nice little web site, http://www.imt.mx/Espanol/ETAN/index.html, consolidating Mexican, Canadian and US transportation agencies and transportation statistical information websites. Although, I am sure most of us in the transportation information world already have all (or most) of these links, the Mexican site serves as a shortcut.

The emphasis is on Mexican government transportation agencies, transportation information and news, going pretty deep and far afield on related subjects. However, the data for their national transportation statistics is dated; the latest is from 2001. Also, unless you are fluent in Spanish, the sites may be a little daunting since there is no English translation. Canadian information is presented in either English or French, while US is only in English.

Chicago Tribune (IL) - August 6, 2008
Author: JON HILKEVITCH ; Tribune reporter Deborah Horan contributed to this report.

It's no secret that traffic congestion in the Chicago region is bad and getting worse.

But a new study says time stuck in traffic is costing each commuter and his or her employer about $14.75 an hour, or $1,580 a year, in the six-county Chicago region.

And wasted fuel and air pollution increase the overall costs.

The total price tag for the Chicago area: a whopping $7.3 billion, almost double previous estimates, the study by the Metropolitan Planning Council concludes.

Wasted fuel, lost time in traffic and environmental effects are dragging down the regional economy and crimping lifestyles, the report warns.

The price tag on driving may grind gears

You may want to sit down before reading how much it is costing to sit in traffic in the Chicago area.

Worsening congestion is causing commutes in the six-county region to take longer, costing drivers and businesses $7.3 billion a year in wasted fuel and lost time.

Gridlock is increasing the uncertainty about when workers will get to offices, when an overnight shipment will arrive at the loading dock and whether a pizza will still be hot when it is delivered, according to a study released Tuesday by the Metropolitan Planning Council, a non-profit civic group.

Throwing away money

Time wasted in traffic jams is costing commuters and their employers an average of $879 a year in the collar counties and $3,014 in Chicago, the study estimated. For the six-county region combined, the cost of congestion comes to an average of $1,579 for each worker and his or her employer.

Overall, the loss for the region from extra commuting time caused by congestion totals $5.1 billion. The number grows to $6.98 billion when commercial vehicles are added.

Fossil fools

The absence of a coherent strategy to invest in transportation improvements -- more mass-transit and expanded highway lanes -- is costing the region $681 million a year in wasted gas because of congestion, the report said.

Cough it up

The environmental impact, including more air pollution and respiratory illnesses, totals an additional $33 million.

Kachif Syed, 23, an information technology consultant who lives in Palatine, bought a car with his roommate six months ago to reduce costs. To avoid the worst traffic congestion, the roommate drops Syed off at work in Mt. Prospect at 7:30 a.m. -- 1 1/2 hours before he is required to start.

"I try to take the train or bus where I can," Syed said while stopping for coffee on Deerfield Road, where traffic was backed up before the start of the evening rush period.

It'll cost billions to ease congestion

Instead of squandering $7.3 billion a year in congestion-related costs, the money could be spent building the equivalent of eight CTA Red Line extensions, with enough money left over to provide 282 million free train rides, according to the planning council.

If nothing is done to address the problem, traffic congestion will balloon to an $11.3 billion drag on the regional economy by 2030, the council said.

A tough sell

But Syed is unconvinced. "I am already paying 33 percent of my paycheck to taxes," he said. He has no desire to contribute more money to widen roads or pay for new trains and buses.

Longer, more unpredictable commutes

A driver whose commute should take 30 minutes is spending about 66 extra minutes behind the wheel each week as a result of congested roads during rush hour, the study calculated. Congestion adds 22 percent to peak travel times.

Not just a city problem

Although congestion is heaviest on Chicago's expressways, much of the traffic originates in the surrounding counties. Traffic backups on arterial streets tend to be much heavier in the collar counties because of lower average vehicle speeds, leading to more air pollution, the study found.

Nearly three-quarters of the Chicago region's traffic occurs on arterials roads, according to the study, "Moving at the Speed of Congestion: The True Costs of Traffic in the Chicago Metropolitan Area."

Excluding downtown, Chicago accounts for 39 percent of the traffic delays in the region, the study said. The downtown area represents an additional 8 percent.

About 24 percent of traffic delays occur in suburban Cook County; 16 percent of delays are in Lake County; 8 percent in DuPage County; 2 percent each in McHenry and Kane Counties; and 1 percent of delays are in Will County.

Where congestion originates

Even though most delays occur in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County, much of the traffic involved in those delays originates someplace else. About 14 percent of the total miles traveled in the Chicago region involves vehicles that started commutes in DuPage County. Twelve percent of the total vehicle miles originated in Lake County; Will County, 8 percent; Kane County, 6 percent; and McHenry County, 5 percent.

Cargo crunch

The freight industry loses about $1 billion annually because of traffic congestion in the Chicago area, the study found.

As congestion here has worsened, United Parcel Service has had to add drivers and delivery runs to avoid paying refunds to customers for late arrivals.

"We are trained to avoid traffic jams," said Doug White, a UPS driver for 22 years. Drivers are required to report congestion and crashes, so other UPS drivers can avoid the trouble spots, he said.

"We know all the little back roads and side roads," he said.

The Transportation Library has acquired Clipping the Clouds: How Air Travel Changed the World by Marc Dierikx. Here is an description of the book from the publisher's Web site:

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is difficult to imagine our world without aircraft. Airplanes are everywhere, and rapid air transport has become one of the necessities of our time. Yet one of the peculiarities of powered flight is that it has stayed in the public focus for over a century. Clipping the Clouds looks at the history of aviation in a challenging new way, covering not just the technology, but the way aviation has interacted with society since its very beginnings.

Mixing in pop culture--each chapter opens and closes with an excerpt from a movie that depicts elements of air transport illustrating the chapter's theme--Dierikx provides a chronological history of the evolution of air travel since 1919. He covers the significant challenges and developments in air transportation for each of four chronological periods, starting with how and why aviation came to play an important role in international politics and economic relations. He follows with an examination of how improvements in technology influenced existing concepts of distance, created new travel patterns, and what effect the growth in numbers of passenger and cargo had on air transportation. Finally, Dierikx looks at how airlines have become increasingly detached from national interests and state control, concluding with an overview of the current state of air travel and a description of the role air transportation has played in the creation of a global society.

If it's a lead article in the Nation section of the New York Times, perhaps we can all take notice: after largely disappearing in the 1950s, the streetcar has returned to American cities. The Times article features the proposed system in Cincinnati, which will be closely modeled on the system in Portland, Oregon. Portland was the first American city to build a modern light rail system in 2001, and is substantially adding to the system. The Times reports that 40 other cities, including New Orleans, are planning a similar return to streetcars. Advocates point to urban renewal, traffic congestion relief, and environmental factors; critics point to the cost of bringing back streetcars to cities where they have long vanished.
With few alternatives to relieving traffic congestion and the sudden rise in fuel costs, the comeback of light rail in the United States is certain.

This trend is no surprise to readers of Tramways & Urban Transit, a glossy monthly published by the Light Rail Transit Association in the U.K.
Tramways celebrates light rail systems around the world with splashy color photographs, mainly in Europe, where most cities have expanded and revitalized their systems. Successful light rail systems aren't limited to nearly every European city, but also in countries as diverse as Uzbekistan, Argentina, India, and Cambodia. Alongside international locales, Tramways has reported monthly on a plethora of American cities planning, opening, and expanding light rail systems.

The streetcar returns.

http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.lrta.org/

Airline Business has released its 2007 Top 150 Airports, and emerging markets led the way with spectacular growth.

Airport traffic in the United States was relatively slow in 2007 with only a 2.3% increase over 2006. Despite slower growth, American airports dominate the top 25 airports in terms of passenger traffic. 13 American airports appear among the international top 25. Not surprisingly, Hartsfield Atlanta International remains by far the busiest airport in the world, carrying
89,379 passengers, a 5.3% increase over 2006. Chicago O'Hare remains the second busiest despite a 1.1% loss over 2006, but O'Hare is still busier than London Heathrow, the third busiest airport. Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, New York JFK, Las Vegas, Houston, Phoenix, Newark, Orlando, Detroit, and San Francisco round out entries of American airports in the international top 25.

Perhaps more interesting than domestic rankings, emerging markets posted spectacular growth. Middle Eastern passenger volume increased by 15.2% in 2007; African passenger volume was close behind at 14.1%, and Latin American/Caribbean volume was very strong at 10.1%. Dubai International (properly, Matar Dubayy al-Dawli) is now the 27th busiest airport in the world; Johannesburg International appears at 67th; and Cape Town International moves into 148th place with 15.1% growth. As the Vietnamese economy takes its place among other Southeast Asian markets, Tan Son Nhat International in Ho Chi Minh City appeared at 129th place with stunning 21.4% growth. Not surprisingly, numerous Chinese and Indian airports appear on the list and post spectacular growth.

With the fuel cost increases that began in late 2007, the rankings in 2008 promise to be interesting, but despite all barriers countries with strong emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia are sure to continue spectacular growth.

Airline Business's associated web portal Flight Global has premium content for industry insiders, but the site's almost hourly posting of aviation news is fascinating reading for professionals, researchers, or general readers.

http://www.flightglobal.com/

We all know that road rage has been an issue of concern and study for many years. See, for instance, these two books in the Transportation Library's collection.

Garase, Maria L. Road rage. New York : LFB Scholarly Pub.,2006.
HE 5620.P9 G212

and

Walters, Carol H. and Scott A. Cooner Understanding road rage : evaluation of promising mitigation measures.
College Station, Tex. : Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University System ; [Springfield, Va. : Available through the National Technical Information Service, 2001.
http://tti.tamu.edu/product/catalog/reports/4945-2.pdf
HE 5620.P9 U55 pt.2

The Onion presented a humorous but elegant solution several years ago that provides not only a channel for the anger, but a more fuel-efficient car as well!

The Transportation Library has acquired The New York, Westchester & Boston Railway: J.P. Morgan's Magnificent Mistake by Herbert H. Harwood, Jr. Here is an description of the book from the publisher's Web site:

When the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway opened in 1912, it was one of the engineering wonders of the American railroad world. Built to the highest level of engineering standards and operated with strict punctuality, the "Westchester" was a high-speed, high-capacity electric line designed to develop and serve upper-income communities in one of New York City's most rapidly growing suburban areas. Unbeknownst to most, reigning financial power J. Pierpont Morgan was behind the funding of the line.

Unrecorded millions, paid out for unknown reasons, raised the Westchester's construction total to a breathtaking $2 million a mile, almost $40 million a mile in 2005 dollars. Yet this railroad, designed to carry more than 100,000 people a day efficiently and comfortably, ran through virtually undeveloped territory and duplicated the line of the parent company that built it. Due to woeful financial performances and failure to show a profit, the Westchester trains stopped running within 25 years of their christening.

Chicago Tribune (IL) - August 22, 2008
Author: Robert Mitchum, Tribune reporter

For many bicyclists on the streets of Chicago, coming upon a red light or a stop sign is not necessarily a signal to halt.

"If there's nothing around, no traffic, it doesn't faze me," said Larry Smith, 32. "It's a victimless crime. When you're riding a long distance, stopping and starting all the time just adds to your fatigue."

But this week, city officials warned that they would step up enforcement of bike laws as gasoline prices and environmental concerns lead to more bikes sharing city roads.

Visiting three of Chicago's most bike-heavy neighborhoods, police officers and representatives from the city's Bicycle Ambassadors program stopped and warned cyclists who broke the law.

Some laws being highlighted -- such as the requirement that cyclists use head lamps at night -- might strike even seasoned cyclists as a surprise. Others -- such as the observance of stoplights and the ban on adults riding on sidewalks -- are commonly known and frequently flouted.

But while participants in this campaign were merely handing out informational fliers and free accessories, not tickets, the grace period for two-wheel traffic violations may be coming to an end.

"We're going to see an increase in enforcement," police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. "We're going to be enforcing the same traffic laws for bikes as well as motorists, so that both respect each other and the rules of the road as far as bike safety and motor safety."

After being waved over Thursday evening on North Halsted Street by Sgt. Mark Silva near the six-way intersection with Clark Street and Barry Avenue in Lakeview, cyclist Scott Krueger, 35, was confused about what he did wrong.

Told that he did not stop at a red light before making a right turn from Clark onto Halsted, Krueger asked, "Is it against the law?"

"It is a citable offense, absolutely," Silva told him. "But we're not out here to punish people, we're out here to change habits."

'People can die'

Silva and bicycle patrol police Officers Lisa Taras and Kelvin Choe said they rarely write tickets for cyclists who run stop signs or go the wrong way on one-way streets. But Silva emphasized that cyclists do need to at least be warned about dangerous behavior, to prevent serious accidents.

This year, four Chicago cyclists have died in bike-car collisions.

"Most people we talk to say that rolling through a stop sign or a light is not that important compared to other things going on," Silva said. "But people can die."

Proving his point, one cyclist who ran a red light narrowly missed being struck by a car as officers and ambassadors watched from a block away.

In their three hours of monitoring, about 30 cyclists were pulled aside by officers, nearly one-fifth for riding through the intersection.

Many of the cyclists were given short lectures from the officers and friendlier advice from ambassadors like Charlie Short, 29, and Jason Jenkins, 34, and the cyclists responded with apologies and sheepish embarrassment. But most admitted they weren't likely to change their behavior.

"I try to do just common sense," said Geoff Keller, 36, who was stopped while riding home from running errands. "Follow 90 percent of the rules, and for the 10 percent you're breaking, know that you're breaking them and look at what the safety issue is."

What about motorists?

Others questioned the logic of ordinances that mandate bikes follow the same laws as cars, and they bristled at the idea of putting the responsibility for avoiding wrecks on cyclists.

"Accidents are usually the motorist's fault," said bicyclist Gianna Pena, 23. "That's where the focus should be."

Todd Gee, organizer of the alternative transportation advocacy group Break the Gridlock, agreed.

"If the goal is to have fewer people going to the hospital or the morgue because of transportation collisions, the biggest win is cracking down on bad motorist behavior, not bad cyclist behavior," Gee said.

Risking a $25 fine

The core of Chicago and Illinois bicycling laws is that cyclists have all the rights of people driving other vehicles on city and state roads, as well as all of the responsibilities.

That means following all street signs and stoplights or risking a $25 fine.

Joanne Moss, 60, who drives around Lakeview frequently as the owner of a cleaning service, said that ticketing cyclists might not be practical or effective, but pleaded with them to bike more responsibly.

"It scares me because I don't want to kill somebody, or even break somebody's leg," Moss said. "I don't want to carry that for the rest of my life, even if they were in the wrong."