http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/ en Copyright 2009 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:43:35 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Paying the Toll: Local Power, Regional Politics, and the Golden Gate Bridge by Louise Nelson Dyble. Here is an description of the book from the publisher's Web site: Since its opening in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge has become an icon for the beauty and prosperity of the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as a symbol of engineering achievement. Constructing the bridge posed political and financial challenges that were at least as difficult as those faced by the project's builders. To meet these challenges, northern California boosters created a new kind of agency: an autonomous, self-financing special district. The Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District developed into a powerful organization that shaped the politics and government of the Bay Area as much as the bridge shaped its physical development. From the moment of the bridge district's incorporation in 1928, its managers pursued their own agenda. They used all the resources at their disposal to preserve their control over the bridge, cultivating political allies, influencing regional policy, and developing an ambitious public relations program. Undaunted by charges of mismanagement and persistent efforts to turn the bridge (as well as its lucrative tolls) over to the state, the bridge district expanded into mass transportation, taking on ferry and bus operations to ensure its survival to this day. Drawing on previously unavailable archives, Paying the Toll gives us an inside view of the world of high-stakes development, cronyism, and bureaucratic power politics that have surrounded the Golden Gate Bridge since its inception. ------end------ The title in the first paragraph should be a link to http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/take_a_look_at_a_book_15.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/take_a_look_at_a_book_15.html Home Page Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:43:35 +0000 Chicago Tribune (IL) - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Author: Kathryn Dill, Special to the Tribune U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk urged Pace on Monday to abandon its plan to spend stimulus funds on diesel-fueled buses and instead buy a fleet of hybrid vehicles. Pace is planning to use the approximately $33 million to buy 58 diesel buses. A hybrid bus would use about 30,000 fewer gallons of fuel than a diesel bus over the course of the vehicle's lifetime, and taxpayer savings generated by a fleet of hybrid buses could exceed $2.6 million, according to a statement from Kirk's office. "It's time for Pace to go green," Kirk (R-Ill.) said at a news conference in Highland Park. Pace marketing department manager Doug Sullivan said the transit provider has appealed to Kirk repeatedly in the last several years for funding to buy hybrid vehicles, and each time the request was denied. "We find it ironic we've asked Kirk to help us buy hybrid buses several years in a row, and he hasn't stepped up," Sullivan said. Sullivan said the 30-foot diesel buses Pace is planning to buy for $290,000 each will get 5.25 miles to the gallon, about half a mile per gallon more than the 40-foot hybrid buses Kirk is urging them to buy for $600,000 each. "The fact that the word 'hybrid' is in there sends everyone off thinking this is magic technology," Sullivan said. Sullivan said Pace wants to explore using hybrid vehicles in the future, but the agency believes that for now the diesel buses are more cost- and fuel-efficient. Kirk said the buses Pace wants to buy, "while not being Soviet-era diesel buses," will still use more than 1 million gallons of fuel and release more emissions than the hybrid fleet. When asked about Pace's previous requests for federal money, Kirk said, "Pace has received a record amount of funds. I think they should choose the higher-technology, lower-emissions option." http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/hybrid_is_the_way_to_go_kirk_t.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/hybrid_is_the_way_to_go_kirk_t.html Home Page Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:19:45 +0000 Here is a link to the Transportation Library's catalog record for the report. Here are some passages from the executive summary: "Because the deal was presented to the City Council with very limited information and because the Council scheduled its vote a very short time later, there was no meaningful public review of the decision to lease the parking-meter system.... "In addition, the driving force behind the decision to lease the parking meters was the City's short-term budgetary need. While we do not question the seriousness of the City's budget problem that was presented in Fall 2008 because of the recession, the hasty, "crisis" nature of the decision-making process meant that the short-term budget problems and the large upfront payment the City was receiving overshadowed all other legitimate, long-term, public-interest issues... "These failures meant that, among other things, the City did not allow for proper consideration of alternatives to the exact 75-year lease deal it entered into. The IGO report finds that, in fact, there were valid alternatives to this lease deal that could have solved the City's short-term budget problem without (i) raising the meter rates to the same level, and (ii) giving up control of the parking meters for such a long period of time.... "The report also finds that the City was paid, conservatively, $974 million less for this 75-year lease than the City would have received from 75 years of parking-meter revenue had it retained the parking-meter system under the same terms that the City agreed to in the lease." Leonard Gilroy of the Reason Foundation discusses the report at the Out of Control Policy Blog. ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/begin_entry_earlier_this_month.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/begin_entry_earlier_this_month.html Home Page Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:04:44 +0000 http://travelinglight.professionaltravelguide.com/2009/06/traffic-barrel-monster-man-arrested-in.html. Even more coverage may be found through a Google search.]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/traffic_barrel_art_a_novel_way.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/traffic_barrel_art_a_novel_way.html Home Page Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:03:26 +0000 http://nucat.library.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=4701249). As with many other big-ticket items, customers fearing impending layoffs may be hesitant to purchase non-refundable airline tickets. For this reason, England's Flybe became the first airline to offer a full refund for customers who have been laid off after purchasing tickets. This new policy, known as the "book with confidence" plan, may indeed attract travelers who fear that they are on shaky footing in their jobs and who may otherwise have avoided purchasing airline tickets for this reason. Other airlines, such as JetBlue, have followed suit by making changes in their return policies. ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/lowfare_airlines_lure_customer.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/lowfare_airlines_lure_customer.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:38:29 +0000 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090525/od_nm/us_prisoners_cycling_odd (Reporting by Guillaume Frouin; writing by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Andrew Roche) ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/what_could_possibly_go_wrong.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/what_could_possibly_go_wrong.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:34:35 +0000 Tracks across Continents, Paths through History: The Economic Dynamics of Standardization in Railway Gauge by Douglas J. Puffert. Here is an description of the book from the publisher's Web site: A standard track gauge-the distance between the two rails-enables connecting railway lines to exchange traffic. But despite the benefits of standardization, early North American railways used six different gauges extensively, and even today breaks of gauge at national borders and within such countries as India and Australia are expensive burdens on commerce. In Tracks across Continents, Paths through History, Douglas J. Puffert offers a global history of railway track gauge, examining early choices and the dynamic process of diversity and standardization that resulted. Drawing on the economic theory of path dependence, and grounded in economic, technical, and institutional realities, this innovative volume traces how early historical events, and even idiosyncratic personalities, have affected choices of gauge ever since, despite changing technology and understandings of what gauge is optimal. Puffert also uses this history to develop new insights in the theory of path dependence. Tracks across Continents, Paths through History will be essential reading for anyone interested in how history and economics inform each other. ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/the_transportation_library_has_2.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/the_transportation_library_has_2.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:25:07 +0000 , http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-05-25-licenses_N.htm]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/no_smiles_on_licenses.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/no_smiles_on_licenses.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:11:06 +0000 Chicago Tribune (IL) - Friday, June 5, 2009 Author: Sally Ho, Tribune reporter The growing ire over Chicago's parking meters took on yet another dimension Thursday when roughly 50 coin-fed meters were vandalized in the two North Side neighborhoods of Uptown and Ravenswood. The damage included globs of goo smeared on the parking meters or left to dry in the coin slots. The vandals also wrote the words "SLAVE" and "KILL COPS" on a few of the meters ' display windows in black marker. Many display windows were completed covered by silver spray paint. The goo obstructing the coin slots was likely an adhesive thought to be glue or putty, Chicago police said. The putty is removable, and the meter usable if a motorist has "something to scrape it with," Chicago police spokesman Robert Perez said. Since Chicago leased the parking meters to a private company, Chicago Parking Meters LLC, earlier this year, city officials, the company and the meters themselves have been the target of controversy, with complaints about price increases, computer glitches that made some pay-and-display parking machines inoperable, and non-working and mismarked meters. Police on Thursday said the meters were in the 5100 block of North Clark Street., the 5000 block of North Sheridan Road, the 1000 block of West Argyle Street, the 4900 block of North Winthrop Avenue and the 4900 block of North Kenmore Avenue. On the meter-lined 5000 block of North Sheridan, where Supermart Grocery sits, manager Syed Ali said about 30 customers complained to him Thursday about the meters. He said the meters, which are a cause of frustration for customers, have been hurting business. "They cannot park, so they come in a hurry," Ali said. "They're all very angry, saying all kinds of bad words." City officials "need to do a better job creating awareness when things change. There's no confidence for the Olympics because of this kind of thing," Ali said, referring to the city's bid to host the 2016 Olympic games. Nearby, Jo Jaydos searched without luck for a working parking meter in the 5000 of North Sheridan. She had an appointment to visit her acupuncturist. In the end, she decided to move her car to another block, fearing city workers would ticket her for not feeding a broken meter. "I don't want to get ticketed or towed," Jaydos said. When meters are inoperative, customers are to report the malfunction to the phone number listed on the meter, Chicago Parking Meters spokeswoman Avis LaVelle said. Once reported, the customer is given a confirmation number to validate their parking for the duration of the malfunction, to use in case they are cited for a parking violation, LaVelle said. Malfunctions are fixed within two days. If a meter is "visually inoperable," Chicago Revenue Department ticket-writers are trained not to issue tickets, said Ed Walsh, a spokesman for the department. "Anyone who comes upon a broken meter should report it through the city's 311 non-emergency line, and if they receive a ticket, they should contest it," Walsh said. Some people don't want to take any chances. Tyler Yager and Vannak Chin of Carbondale, Ill., were visiting the area and tried to park in the 4900 block of North Winthrop, inserting coins in the meter even though the display window was covered with spray paint. Yager took a photo on his cell phone as proof they fed the meter. "We'll contest it if we get a ticket," Yager said. http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/vandals_wreak_meter_mayhem_dam.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/06/vandals_wreak_meter_mayhem_dam.html Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:07:10 +0000 http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/bike+fit.html. ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/if_the_bike_fits.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/if_the_bike_fits.html Thu, 21 May 2009 21:55:38 +0000 http://nucat.library.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=2664049). Much of the funding earmarked for transportation development will go to Amtrak, the nation's long-suffering national passenger rail service.This will be used for a variety of facilities, track and rolling stock improvements which have been on the back-burner for quite a while. Additional funding will go to state and local transit around the country, which experts hope will create jobs to alleviate unemployment resulting from the economic crisis. Finally, a portion of the recovery funds will go toward the long hoped for development of a high-speed passenger rail service in the United States. President Obama has displayed his support for high-speed rail in America on numerous occasions, even comparing it to President Eisenhower's innovative interstate highway system. Read more about the economic recovery act and its impact on rail transportation in this month's Progressive Railroading. ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/is_it_finally_time_for_highspe.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/is_it_finally_time_for_highspe.html Thu, 21 May 2009 21:52:29 +0000 Lighter than Air: An Illustrated History of Balloons and Airships by Tom D. Crouch. Here is an description of the book from the publisher's Web site: This richly illustrated book chronicles lighter—than—air flight from Archimedes' discovery of the principle of buoyancy to the latest in sport balloons and plans for future airships. Far more than a timeline of events, Lighter Than Air focuses on the people -- flamboyant and daring, heroes and scoundrels -- who made history in the sky. Here are the eighteenth—century pioneers who first took to the skies, the peripatetic aeronauts who criss—crossed two continents a century later, the airmen who manned the great rigid airships, and the intrepid balloonists who flew their craft across oceans and continents in the years following World War II. The first half of the volume recounts the invention of the balloon, the golden age of the professional aerial showmen in Europe and America, the use of balloons for aerial reconnaissance, and the key role of balloons in scientific research. The second half presents the rich tale of the airship from eighteenth—century dreams to twentieth—century reality. These chapters describe the early development of the pressure airship, the emergence of the rigid airship and its golden age in the first half of the twentieth century, and the military and civil applications of these aerial behemoths. The author concludes by discussing modern blimps, sport balloons, and dreams of a future for airships. The highly accessible text is complemented with a wealth of prints and photos from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., the Museé de l'Air et de l'Espace at Le Bourget, the Zepplin—Museum at Zepplinheim, and the Imperial War Museum in London. Written by award—winning aeronautical historian Tom D. Crouch, Lighter Than Air brings to life the color and excitement of buoyant flight. ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/take_a_look_at_a_book_14.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/take_a_look_at_a_book_14.html Thu, 21 May 2009 21:37:36 +0000 http://archives.californiaaviation.org/pilot/msg00093.html). Notwithstanding the greater access provided by air transport, the dog team still seems to have its place in Alaskan culture: Musher John Suter has driven (and finished!) his team of standard poodles (http://home.gci.net/~poodlesleddog/) in various races since 1976, as has his daughter. There are also times of the year in which pilots are simply obliged to stay grounded. At those times, the dog sled is likely still the best way of traveling over distances ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/the_dog_team_is_alive_well.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/the_dog_team_is_alive_well.html Thu, 21 May 2009 21:34:59 +0000 Chicago Tribune (IL) - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Author: Jon Hilkevitch, Tribune reporter CTA bus drivers who don't stop to pick up riders are responsible for causing the most common complaint to the transit agency, although the number of gripes in almost all the major categories has fallen since last year, according to new data based on customer phone calls and e-mails. In the first three months of this year, riders have contacted the CTA to complain about 468 "pass-up" incidents in which bus drivers failed to stop at bus stops or wait for people flagging down a passing bus, according to a summary compiled by the transit agency to track complaints, kudos and trends. More than 600 pass-up complaints were received in each of the last two quarters of 2008. Rude bus and train operators ranked as the second-biggest irritant to riders so far this year. Complaints about rude operators totaled 458 in the first quarter, down from more than 500 in each of the two previous three-month periods, the records show. The replacement of aging buses with a modern fleet as well as track work to reduce rail slow zones may account for a decrease in complaints about service delays, officials said. The reduction in complaints overall his year is occurring amid a ridership increase of 2.5 percent through April, compared with the same four-month period in 2008. If the complaint statistics continue to drop, the customer feedback suggests that the CTA's frontline employees are behaving more politely, operating buses and trains in a safer manner and are more helpful in giving directions and answering questions about fares. The CTA is trying to instill a greater sense of pride at the agency and has restarted discussions with the transit unions about stressing the importance of providing courteous and on-time service, CTA President Richard Rodriguez said. The effort is being directed especially toward hundreds of new part-time bus drivers and other recent new hires who tend to be younger than many in the CTA workforce and may view their jobs as a paycheck more than as a career, Rodriguez said. Regarding the problem of bus-bunching, customer complaints are declining over buses on the same route moving in a conga line, one behind the other. The total pool of bus-bunching complaints received by the agency is small, however, making the impact of recent CTA efforts to maintain proper intervals between buses difficult to gauge. Service delays, which might be expected to spark the bulk of complaints, dropped to 406 in the first three months of this year, down from more than 570 in the previous reporting periods. CTA officials set a performance goal for this year of holding rail delays lasting 10 minutes or longer to no more than 78 incidents a month, down from a monthly average of 90 incidents in 2008. Seventy-six such delays were reported in March, 63 in February and 86 in January, according to transit records. The CTA is meeting its targets for miles of service between rail-car defects or bus disruptions caused by equipment problems, according to the latest monthly performance reports. CTA rail cars were in service an average of 4,068 miles in March until a defect occurred. The goal for the year is at least 3,750 miles between defects. CTA buses traveled 3,570 miles on average in March until sidelined by equipment problems. The target for the year is at least 3,000 miles. Meanwhile, other top areas where customers took the time to complain that the CTA has fallen down on the job include: *The failure of agency employees to help riders, averaging 347 complaints a quarter from July through March. *Reckless driving, averaging 294 complaints per quarter over the same nine months. *Operators talking on a cell phone while driving buses or trains, producing an average of 114 complaints per quarter. The CTA received an average of 130 commendations a month in the first quarter of this year about employees who went the extra mile. Those pats on the back outnumbered the brickbats in several categories of quarterly complaints, including bus drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, 53 so far this year, down from more than 100 per quarter in 2008; bus drivers missing stop signs, reported 98 times this year; and bus-bunching, averaging 64 complaints quarterly over each of the three-month periods. About half the e-mails and calls received by CTA customer service agents at 888-YOUR-CTA (888-968-7282) were about managing the accounts of the Chicago Card and the Chicago Card Plus, which are the transit "smart cards" used for paying fares, CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said. General information requests averaged 291 a month in the first quarter of this year, she said. http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/gripes_to_cta_in_slower_zone_a.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/gripes_to_cta_in_slower_zone_a.html Thu, 21 May 2009 21:29:04 +0000 http://www.freep.com/article/20090505/COL12/90505030/Drivers%20with%20mirror ]]> http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/rearview_mirror_decorations_il.html http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/news/2009/05/rearview_mirror_decorations_il.html Wed, 06 May 2009 21:39:33 +0000