Transportation Library News

Take a Look at a Book

The Transportation Library has acquired Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) by Tom Vanderbilt. Here is an description of the book from the publisher's Web site:

Would you be surprised that road rage can be good for society? Or that most crashes happen on sunny, dry days? That our minds can trick us into thinking the next lane is moving faster? Or that you can gauge a nation's driving behavior by its levels of corruption? These are only a few of the remarkable dynamics that Tom Vanderbilt explores in this fascinating tour through the mysteries of the road.

Based on exhaustive research and interviews with driving experts and traffic officials around the globe, Traffic gets under the hood of the everyday activity of driving to uncover the surprisingly complex web of physical, psychological, and technical factors that explain how traffic works, why we drive the way we do, and what our driving says about us. Vanderbilt examines the perceptual limits and cognitive underpinnings that make us worse drivers than we think we are. He demonstrates why plans to protect pedestrians from cars often lead to more accidents. He shows how roundabouts, which can feel dangerous and chaotic, actually make roads safer-and reduce traffic in the bargain. He uncovers who is more likely to honk at whom, and why. He explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of our quest for safety, and even identifies the most common mistake drivers make in parking lots.

The car has long been a central part of American life; whether we see it as a symbol of freedom or a symptom of sprawl, we define ourselves by what and how we drive. As Vanderbilt shows, driving is a provocatively revealing prism for examining how our minds work and the ways in which we interact with one another. Ultimately, Traffic is about more than driving: it's about human nature. This book will change the way we see ourselves and the world around us. And who knows? It may even make us better drivers.

Around the World in 80 Days!

In the cutting edge field of Transportation periodicals, it is rare that one comes across an adventurous historical piece. However, I found just that in the August 2008 issue of World Trade. In his article "Around the world in 80 days - hours - minutes", Jeremy N. Smith chronicles the evolution of global circumnavigation, which can now be done by a space shuttle in well under two hours.

Smith begins his exploration just before the turn of the 20th century in a world "suddenly obsessed with speed" after several developments, such as pocket watches and automobiles, began to allow people not only to keep strict schedules, but to travel at high speeds to achieve such pursuits. On January 25th, 1890, in the heart of this global fascination with travel and speed, Nellie Bly set out on a journey around the world, inspired by the 1873 Jules Verne classic Around the World in 80 Days. Bly was a reporter for the New York World, a newspaper thriving in the time of yellow journalism, and thus chronicled her journey in a series of wildly popular articles. She successfully traveled from Hoboken, New Jersey east with pit stops including England, Egypt, and Japan. She arrived back in Hoboken in just over 72 days effectively throwing down the gauntlet for a succession of new records as technology-and thus speed-improved in the ensuing generations.

For further reading on the topic of global circumnavigation, see Smith's article on page 54 of World Trade (August 2008) as well as Nellie Bly: daredevil, reporter, feminist by Brooke Kroeger and "Fast and Fearless" by Heather Baldwin (Rolls Royce Magazine, March 2001, page 24).

Serious Humor

Journey-to-work issues have been a topic of research in transportation for some time, including discussion of cost of transportation, length of commute, mode choice, etc. This Youtube video presents a mode for which no studies seem to have been undertaken.

Take a Look at a Book

The Transportation Library has acquired Aviation Markets: Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform by David Starkie. Here is an description of the book from the publisher's Web site:

Aviation Markets: Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform is a collection of 17 papers selected from David Starkie's extensive writings over the last 25 years. Previously published material has been extensively edited and adapted, and combined with new material, published here for the first time. The book is divided into five sections, each featuring an original overview chapter, to better establish the background and also explain the papers' wider significance including, wherever appropriate, their relevance to current policy issues.

These papers have been selected to illustrate a significant theme that has been relatively neglected thus far in both aviation and industrial economics: the role of the market and its interplay with the development of economic policy in the context of a dynamic but partly price regulated industry. The result provides a strong flavour of how market mechanisms, and particularly competition, can operate to successfully resolve policy issues.

The book will be of interest to academics and those engaged in the formulation of aviation policy, such as public administrators and consultants, as well as those working in the aviation industry. It is also relevant to economic studies in a more general context, particularly to students and practitioners in industrial organisation economics, including those studying and researching the public utility industries.

Fly me to the moon

On a departure from previous columns, today I am presenting an interesting (read informative) website that rates all things related to the air transportation business: air carriers, airports, airport lounges, up to and including airline seats! But, to make things even more interesting, the reviews are not written from the corporate side of the aisle, but from the customer's perspective; thousands of customers. Coverage is US and international and it looks to me as if they cover every single current airline and those recently deceased.

Skytrax http://www.airlinequality.com/ is not only fun to browse, but also an interesting resource for those of us who have to research the business side of air transportation. It is also a good resource for those who want to know about how other travelers rate their experiences.
Now, going back to the best seat question: if flying "United on an Airbus A319 - Economy Plus: Row 6 at the front of Economy plus - the partition wall does not go all the way to the floor. You can still put bags under the first class seats ahead of you. Plus the wall angles away from you at the bottom to give more leg room." Keep that in mind when making your next reservation.
Roberto A. Sarmiento

Older Drivers: NHTSA Studies Safety Issues

NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the U.S. Dept.
of Transportation, recognized that the elderly segment of the population is rapidly aging, and will continue to do so. In response to the trend, NHTSA has issued a report titled Occupant Protection Issues Among Older Drivers and Passengers. The first phase of the report summarizes the extensive body of research published about older drivers, and the second summarizes the results of a focus group on elderly attitudes towards seat belt use.
The third, and most interesting phase, was a observational study of human factors in seat belt use for older occupants. Sharon Levi and Doreen M. De Leonardis of WESTAT in Rockville, Maryland had fifty-four adults rate six different seat belt systems on comfort, convenience, and likelihood of use, as well as collecting other human factors data. Older drivers, interestingly, preferred seat belt systems in compact and full-size
vehicles: the seat belts in these vehicles were easier to locate and use.
Mid-size two-door vehicles rated very poorly: seat belt systems in these vehicles are farther behind the seat, and older drivers found them difficult to locate and use. The observational study also revealed that overweight and smaller stature older adults had lower seat belt usage and found them uncomfortable.
This report, as well as a large wealth of resources on older drivers, can be found under the "Older Drivers" section of the NHTSA website.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Cash may pave way for rail - Canadian National needs $150 million for bridges, panel suggests

Chicago Tribune (IL) - September 10, 2008
Author: Richard Wronski, TRIBUNE REPORTER ; The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If the Canadian National Railway wants to prove its commitment to solving traffic problems caused by its plan to acquire a suburban railroad, it should set aside $150 million to help pay for overpasses and other improvements.

That is the message contained in a draft of a letter to federal regulators from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the region's top planning body. The letter was made public Tuesday.

The railroad also should promise to abide by a federally imposed plan to address delays at more than 15 rail-highway grade crossings in a dozen Chicago-area communities if the CN's plan to purchase the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway is approved, according to the letter.

The planning agency's board will meet Wednesday to discuss the letter, which will be sent to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

The 15 board members, who include planning officials and leaders from Chicago and suburbs, could vote to approve it or change the recommendations.

The letter represents the agency's most detailed stand yet on the CN's $300 million plan to acquire the EJ&E.

The transportation board's preliminary environmental impact analysis of the acquisition "does not provide the information necessary to make an informed decision," the draft said.

The CN did not have a comment on the agency's letter Tuesday.

The railroad plans to run its freight trains on the lightly used EJ&E to bypass Chicago's congested rail corridor.

Most suburbs along the 198-mile EJ&E, which stretches from Waukegan to Joliet to Gary, oppose the plan, which would triple or quadruple freight traffic.

Chicago and many close-in suburbs would see fewer trains, however, and support the proposed sale.

Setting aside $150 million for so-called mitigation concerns such as new signals and overpasses is considerably more than the $40 million the CN has committed to spending. A single overpass can cost $60 million.

On Tuesday, members of the Surface Transportation Board joined Chicago-area members of Congress and local officials at a hearing in Washington on proposed legislation tightening the rules on railroad acquisitions. Under the proposed legislation the impact on communities would be considered.

Several Congress members representing the suburbs, including Democratic Reps. Melissa Bean and Bill Foster and Republicans Judy Biggert, Peter Roskam and Donald Manzullo, called for tighter rules. They also want them made retroactive to cover the CN acquisition.

But that could threaten CN's plan to buy the local railway, the company's chairman and CEO said.

Hunter Harrison, testifying before the House Transportation Committee, said no good public purpose would be served by making the bill cover the proposed $300 million sale.

The CN executive said the measure could kill the proposal to buy EJ&E.

"This deal could go dead on this, and we could spend $50 million or $75 million for nothing," Harrison said.

Transportation board Chairman Charles Nottingham said the changes weren't needed and would complicate the approval process.

Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski, a member of the transportation and infrastructure committee, said clarification of the rules is needed. But he criticized the transportation board's hearing process.

Too much attention has been focused on the communities along the EJ&E while Chicago and the inner suburbs that would benefit from the CN's plan have "largely been left on the sidelines," Lipinski said.

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rwronski@tribune.com