How not to run a railroad

If you're going to build an unprofitable railroad in order to bring tourist business to your town, that's fine. But if you're going to try to get into another sideline business to pay for the money-loser, it won't be long before you're in over your head.

AP reports that this is what the city of Tacoma, Wash., is doing. In order to fund a tourist train to Mount Rainier National Park, the city purchased a short-haul freight line, which is bleeding cash to the tune of $70,000 per month -- not chump change for a smallish city like Tacoma. Now there's no train to the mountain, an expensive rail line and the tracks to the park are only safe at 10 miles per hour.

The moral: Try to minimize the number of money-losers you take on at one time.

BART Party

Last car on the train is the party car, eh? I think DC needs a party car as well, but one without food or drink, lest we get fined by the man.

Stunning ignorance

This woman just doesn't get it about mass transit.

There has been a lot of debate lately about the cost and future utilization of the Metro light-rail system. What concerns me is I never see any discussion about the personal safety risks.

You're more likely to be smashed to bits on the expressway by a drunken driver than on a train.

I would dearly love to see the statistics from all of those cities with: light rail, elevated trains and/or subways, for muggings, assaults, rapes, and murders.

I am a middle-aged woman, and I do not intend to set foot on any form of mass transit until my personal safety concerns have been resolved.

There is a reason the New York subway system has its own police department. And it is not to catch litterbugs.

-Brennda Gibbs, Glendale

See, this is the sort of ignorance that transit advocates have to deal with every day. I'm surprised the Arizona Republic ran this letter, considering the factual errors.

When You Go To San Francisco, Be Sure To Take The High Speed Rail

A new study cited in the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the best way to save California from itself is to install high speed rail:

A 700-mile, $37 billion high-speed rail system is California's best shot at handling intrastate travel as the state's population swells over the next two decades, according to an environmental study to be released today. The long-awaited report concludes that a high-speed rail system linking the Bay Area and Sacramento to Los Angeles and San Diego through the Central Valley would be far cheaper and less environmentally damaging than expanding highways and airports.

The reports predicts that an effective high speed rail system could has the same travel time as a commerical flight from the Bay Area to L.A. (~3:20 minutes door-to-door) but actually cost less. 68 million passengers are expected to be carried by 2020.

As with all of these ideas, it's an excellent step toward getting people out of their cars and onto mass transit. And if Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is any indication, city-to-city trains that take about the same time door-to-door as airplanes are highly used. The problem here is keeping cost low enough that the train will be used by anyone but business people. And especially given California's current budget crisis (and the Governator's push to take the bond issue for the high-speed rail off the ballot), money will be the most important factor in getting this built and making it useful.

Newsflash: It doesn't snow underground

If you live near where we live, you're buried under a few inches of snow and ice. While it's not enough to get your average northerner down, we're south of the Mason-Dixon line and a lot of people don't know how to drive in this stuff. I don't like commuting in it either, but I take Metrorail, which is operating all lines. Busses, on the other hand, are on snow emergency routes, which aren't particularly well-marked. If you ever wonder why people will choose spending far more money to build an undeground system when proponents of BRT claim the exististing-roads option is cheaper, this weather may provide an insight as to why.

Washington is a city with a lot of people who absolutely, positively have to be there, no matter how messed up the roads are. Metrorail helps them get to work. If only Metro was this resolute during the Hurricane.

Mexico City - the City That Reads

When I lived in Baltimore, the bus stop benches had written on them "Baltimore: The City That Reads," as if other cities didn't do so and were proudly cities that skimmed or just looked at the pictures. It was a running joke that didn't reflect well on the city.

Now Mexico City is putting its money where Baltimore's mouth was and giving away free books on its large subway system. It's the sort of grand civic gesture that just isn't made anymore. It recognizes commuters as people with interests and intellects, not just homo economicus to be incentivized into favorable behavior, which may go a long way to creating a stronger sense of community among riders.

Bravo!

The Strange Marriage of Metro and Mortgages

An article in today’s Atlanta Constitution Journal offers information on a public transit/home ownership initiative being kicked off today in metro Atlanta. The program, Smart Commute allows home buyers to qualify for larger mortgages if they buy homes near public transportation lines and promise to use them. An excerpt from the Journal article:

Here's how it works: Potential home buyers promise to swap driving for public transportation. The program allows only one car payment per household. The savings on car notes, insurance, gasoline and maintenance are added to income and other calculations that determine mortgage amounts. Mortgage rates do not change. Houses must be no more than one-quarter mile from a MARTA bus stop or a half-mile from a rail station.

The article goes on to say that the average Atlanta couple “could qualify for an extra $14,000 on a mortgage” through the program. A single person could qualify for up to an extra $11,000.

Fannie Mae started the program in 2001, and Smart Commute is now in place in 16 other metropolitan areas, but seems to be having trouble getting off the ground. And yes, local readers, it does appear to be in place in the DC area. Check out the Washington Regional Smart Commute Initiative for more information. The Washington initiative offers participants additional transit benefits, including:

METRO: 50% off all Metrobus and Metrorail purchases of up to $100 per month for up to 6 months
FlexCar: Free lifetime membership and $25 in free usage credits
Arlington Transit: 50% discount for up to two qualified borrowers on up to $600 in fare media for ART, Metrobus, and Metrorail
DASH: 30-day free pass, one per household

And many more…

I personally think this is a great idea and would love to see it promoted more than it currently is.

"The people ride through a hole in the ground"

Freight tunnels, east side subways, big downtown hubs - it's hard to imagine stuffing more things under New York City, but there are people who have been trying for years to do just that -- the Times has a summary.

Highway hypocracy

Georgia drivers don't want to get killed out on the roads, but they don't want to pay for it either. Aah, that road-loving libertarian sentiment runs deep in these people.

As long as they don't have to pay.

Another beef: The article quotes the guy from TollroadsNews, who is a blind idealogue and a major tool. However, he does come out on the side of recouping costs, which is nice, but doesn't make up for his constant opposition that doesn't involve asphalt and an E-Z Pass.

TEA-21 for two

So Colorado is going to benefit from this new funding formula, which I suppose is good if you're from Colorado, but probably bad if you spend less on roads and more on transit. More information pending...

UPDATE: So is Iowa. Don't you think that it's funny how they never actually explain why the new formula gives these states more money?

EUREKA: From Da Post

Another part of the funding debate is an effort to guarantee that each state receives aid totaling at least 95 percent of the gas taxes its drivers pay, thus minimizing the disparity between "donor" states including Texas, Florida and California and "donee" states in the Northeast and Midwest.

There you go - transit riders don't pay gas taxes, so any effort to get people off roads and on rails would mean less funding. I'd say it was a perverse incentive or an unintended consequence, but I think the people who wrote the bill know what they're doing.

Let There Be Light...in the WTC Transit Hub

Newsday reports that the desire for the new World Trade Center Transportation hub will shine natural light 60 feet underground and will shuttle people between trains on mechanical walkways.

The $2 billion transit station is being designed to "be comparable to city landmarks like Grand Central Terminal."

The hub will link ferries, commuter trains, and 14 subways lines, a huge open plaza, and probably two Duane Reades and three Starbucks.

No Riders, No Money...But Who Gets To Estimate Riders?

KOIN reports that the Federal Transit Administration has altered one of the formulas it uses to compute ridership figures. And the new formula is going to cost TriMet nearly $20 million:

Federal officials have trimmed $20 million from their contribution to a proposed Beaverton-to-Wilsonville commuter rail line. The rail was estimated to cost $123 million. TriMet had projected 4,000 riders daily, but a change in how the Federal Transit Administration figures ridership drops that number to 3,000.

"Saigon, sh*t, I'm still only in Saigon."

So they're going to build an underground subway in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). It should work - they know a thing about building underground tunnels.

Well, at least nobody's going to get hurt monkeying around.

Why?

Charlie don't subway surf.

Porn on Trains

Japan Today asks readers how they feel about men reading porn or sexually suggestive material on trains.

1) When did people start reading porn in public? And in what countries? Because I'm definitely moving there.

2) But, why in God's name would you read Hustler or Juggs on a train, for pete's sake? What's the fun in that? In a bookstore, or on a college campus, or on a beach, maybe, but in a train? Go get a life. Or a girlfriend.

Among my favorites:

• Mrs. Manners Would Approve of Reading It, But She Wouldn't Let You Pose For It: "It is OK because it is not a violation of manners at all. What is wrong is when an adult cannot instill values and discipline in their children. Basically, why are there so many girls willing to pose in those kind of magazines? Answer: because their parents didn't teach them the difference between right and wrong. Look at this station. During summer, these high school girls dress like whores in little more than bikinis."
  
• Sex Magazines on Trains Make Me So Hot: "When I see a businessman in a suit reading a magazine that contains kinky sex stories and laughing silently with his eyes glued to the page in his hands, I get goose bumps all over my body." (She meant she was upset, not excited, but that's not how I would have read it).
  
• Look All You Want, My 5-Year Old Daughter Likes Blondes, Too: "Is it a bad thing? If a man wants to read such material, he can go ahead. I've never thought it was annoying. I think even if a kid sees a magazine ad featuring a babe in a bikini making a super sexy bomber pose, he won't realize what she really means to adults."
  

And on top of it all, a magazine publisher has put a "raunchy ad" up on Subway car walls. Heaven forbid they look at the cover of Maxim or even Vogue, for that matter.

So, loyal readers, we have a question for you. Does your transit system approve of people reading pornography which commuting? And if they don't now, do you think they should?

[Courtesy Fark]

AirPain

More complaints about the AirTrain, the expensive train to the train to the plane boondoggle in NYC. Not like you didn't hear predictions that it would suck anywhere.

Forget ING..Real Free Rides

According to The Vancouver Sun, TransLink riders don't like paying for transit. In fact, they don't like paying for it so much that almost 5.3% of SkyTrain passengers evade their fares, as do 2.5% of bus passengers. I've never seen comparative figures for D.C. and other major transit hubs, but I'd be curious. There have been many days when I've underpaid my bus fare, either accidentally or for lack of change -- and most times the drivers tell me not to worry about it.

Interstingly, it can add up to major loses -- TransLink's lost CA$3.3 million on the SkyTrain in 2000, and CA$2.9 million on buses.

Boston's B-aaah-T boondoggle

Do you get the feeling that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) proposals exist only to steal some thunder from rail advocates? Remember how they say it's cheaper and faster to build? Well, Boston proves all that wrong with their expensive Silver Line bus-in-a-tunnel plan.

On the other hand, MBTA fares are some of the lowest in the country, only recently breaking the $1 barrier for a subway ride. That could account for their fiscal trouble.

Sunk in an irony storm

OK, so cruise ships aren't exactly the day-to-day commuter stuff we usually do, but this is just too good to leave alone.

Here's some background. A very old American maritime law states that a foreign ship cannot visit two American ports in a row. This is bad for cruise lines that visit Hawaii, since there really aren't any American cruise ship builders anymore and any foreign jaunt between stops in Hawaii would be a 2,000-mile detour.

Enter Sen. Trent Lott (R), who secured some massive pork to finance some shipbuilding in his home state. Despite all the funding, the project failed miserably and the company went under. However, even more pork and law-tweaking allowed the ships' few completed parts to be assembled and completed in Germany while the ship remained "American-made."

From the St. Petersburg Times:

"Although the law regulating domestic shipping is more than eight decades old, Congress had no trouble creating a loophole for a generous political benefactor. The deal started with a failed, $180-million scheme to build ships in Mississippi at taxpayer expense and ended with a sweetheart deal for Norwegian Cruise Line, whose corporate offices are in Hong Kong and Malaysia, the New York Times reported.

[Norwegian Cruise Lines] was allowed to buy the unfinished pieces of the two Mississippi ships for $24-million, finish building them in Germany and then put American flags on those and an existing ship, whose name will be changed from Norwegian Sky to Pride of Aloha."

The ship sank in Germany.

Serves you right, Trent.

Rochester Toronto Ferry Speed Record

The Rochester-Toronto Ferry (which was apparently been getting a lot of press, because this post keeps getting found by Google searchers) has something to celebrate -- a new speed record. According to Canadian American Transportation Systems, the vessel was clocked travelling at 55 mph during sea trials last week. It was excepted to top out at 50 mph.

The ship will begin making trips on May 1, 2004 and will accomodate 750 passengers, 220 vehicles, and up to 10 buses or large trucks.

Toronto has finally decided to build a ferry terminal, however, something that was up in the air as of several months ago. They are using $8 million from a legal settlement to fund the project, which is expected to break ground in two weeks.

Whether the project will actual encourage travel between the two cities is an open question, however. While Rochester is exceptionally excited about the project, the reaction in Toronto has been cooler.

To quote one Toronto reporter: "Why Rochester?"

On to something in Ontario

The Toronto Star covers a report on the unemployed in Hamilton, Ont.:

"The majority of employment service centres and clients who were surveyed for the report said lack of public transportation was a major reason why they were unable to obtain and retain a job. Many of those who have trouble finding employment are young people, new Canadians and those with disabilities."

Interstate Rest Areas

So it's not transit, specifically, but I guess buses could stop there, so it's close enough. Either way, it's a cool idea, so you're getting to read about it.

Maryland is designing a new welcome center to go on I-270. According to the AP (via ENN News), the welcome center will be entirely "green":

All designs must include self-contained electrical, water, and waste-treatment systems for the 1,200-square-foot structure, Darnell told contestants at a meeting.

"The goal here is to have almost zero impact on the environment," Darnell said. "The water supply would come from rainfall ... we won't deplete the groundwater, we won't discharge anything into the groundwater. All the energy, electricity, and so on, would come from the sun and wind."

According to the Maryland State Highway Administration, this would be the first completely self-sufficient rest area in the country.

Sneaky Tim

Gov. Tim Pawlenty isn't saying he's going to budget money for the proposed Northstar commuter rail line.

Not yet.

However, he is talking about "transit-oriented" developments near proposed stations and will hold a press conference in the heart of the corridor...

"We can neither confirm nor deny whether the Northstar Corridor is included," Pawlenty spokesman Dan Wolter said. "But it's fair to say that the locations of the governor's announcements are usually selected for a reason. Nixon didn't go to China to talk about Japan."

Oh you sly dog!

Transit headlines

It's so hard to stay on top of everything, but here's a start:

News of Moscow Metro

Penang monorail project right on track

Light Rail boosts business downtown [Houston]

Subway Lines to Be Extended to Ease Traffic [Seoul]

Branson [Mo.] leaders may study possible mass transit system

Bonding bill may incubate transit system [Duluth PRT]

$50m monorail plan for Fountain Gate [Melbourne, Australia]

Federal Transit & Road Funding

People in the U.S. pay a federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon that is intended to go to fund new roads and mass transit.

Other things it has funded, according to the Asbury Park Press, include:

• A Battleship Museum in Camden, NJ
  
• A Historic Tavern in Rahway, NJ
  
• A Walkway in Tukerton, NJ
  

16,000 transportation "enhancement" projects have been funded over the last ten years for a total of $5.6 billion. Most of this has ($3 billion) -- rightly so -- gone for pedestrian and bicycle trails. But almost $2.6 billion has gone for historic preservation and other attractions.

Now I'm a huge fan of historic preservation. But I also realize that $2.6 billion over ten years is $260 million more that could be used to fund Amtrak -- or, even better, other smart local transit projects. Historic preservation should be funded with money specifically earmarked for that, while gas tax money should fund transit projects which help to alleviate congestion on roads (or at least fund the roads themselves). If I want to see a battleship museum, I'll pay for it myself, but not at the expense of transit projects.

The "Father" Houston Light Rail

The Houston Chronicle has an interesting article on Howard Horne, the real estate mogul, business man, and public servant who the Chronicle says is, "most responsible for the [METRO light rail] project."

Aside from lauding Horne for his tireless efforts in support of light rail, the article also briefly chronicles the way he turned around one of the worst public transportation organizations in the nation:

[In 1973, Houston] voters trounced a referendum to create a regional mass transportation agency. After the election, Horne took the new mayor to Atlanta to see the fledgling regional transit authority that was planning rail.

Horne, whose company focused on downtown development, wanted to try again, insisting that rail could reverse a slow deterioration of the central business district.

"The idea for rail became complete for me on that trip," [former Mayor] Hofheinz said.

Upon returning to Houston, the city started the process of buying the private company that operated the bus system. The company was in horrid shape.

Under Horne's guidance, four years after rejecting a transit agency, voters in 1977 approved imposing a 1-cent sales tax to create Metro, which took over the bus system.

Horne was the agency's first chairman.

Rail was a long-term goal, said Metro legal counsel Jonathan Day, city attorney under Hofheinz who has represented Metro since its inception.

First, Metro had to improve its bus system, which a decade later, after some false starts, was considered among the better ones in the nation.

Most interesting to me is the discussion of the way in which the infrastructure for the METRO rail was put into place:

In the meantime, Horne and Metro board member Dan Arnold pushed for a highway system that could evolve into rail. Metro paid for contra-flow lanes on highways, which turned into HOV lanes, which eventually could be used for rail when the time came, Day said.

"I believed that you can't build your way out of traffic congestion," Horne said. "You have more cars so you build more (highway) lanes so you have more cars so you build more lanes so you have more cars.

"To ease congestion, you need an alternative."

In 1981, Horne resigned from Metro amid complaints the bus system was not turning around fast enough.

But he continued to push for rail, being the biggest big-picture cheerleader for the idea. He raised money for a failed rail referendum in 1983 and for a successful one in 1988.

The idea of building highway lanes with the intent of using them for mass transit is extremely appealing to me, anyone know where I can find more info on this?

METRO Light Rail

Amish Tech Support has some excellent pictures and movie clips of the new Houston METRO light rail line. Very cool trains.

[Courtesy Where Worlds Collide]

Don't sleep in the subway, darling

Or this will happen.

A "Concrete" Plan

Governor George Pataki of New York has announced a plan for a plan, according to the Albany Times Union. In the State of the State speech, he said:

Later this month, the LMDC, Port Authority and the MTA will announce four options to provide direct access from Lower Manhattan to JFK and Long Island. It is an ambitious project, but one we must pursue if New York City is to join the ranks of Chicago, London and other central business districts that provide direct access to its airports. Over the next four months, the options will be vigorously analyzed. In April, we will announce the selected option, along with a concrete plan to fund it and to build it.

Any ideas on what it might be?

Where's my $50?

Check out this Post story about the Virginia-Maryland Woodrow Wilson bridge. Talk about coddling those who don't need it! Let's take a look at what's going on:

The $2.56 billion construction project involves the replacement of an aging span that is not only an important link along the East Coast's main highway, Interstate 95, but also a crucial commuter route for the Washington region. Each day, 200,000 vehicles cross the bridge, which was designed to carry 75,000.

For the entire national rail network.

Sea to shining sea.

For the price of one stinkin' bridge, we could upgrade tracks all over the nation, reducing travel time for millions by taking cars off the road. Heck, we could pay for everybody's morning commute on BART every day for over 27 years! But gas-guzzlers in a wealthy suburban county want their bridge, so the bridge they shall have. But while their shiny new span is being constructed, they're paying commuters not to use the old bridge.

The pay-to-ride program, dubbed "Bridge Bucks," is designed to remove 1,000 vehicles from the travel lanes at a first-year cost of about $745,000...

[...]

The Bridge Bucks program will last for at least a year and is open to the first 1,000 commuters who qualify, 500 from Virginia and 500 from Maryland. To qualify, drivers must pass through part of the project corridor as they commute to work or school.

They will receive the equivalent of $50 a month in the form of Metro passes or bus passes, or the money will be sent directly to vanpool operators to subsidize the riders' fares, Undeland said.

I take Metro every day and keep my car parked for most of the week. Where's my $50 for reducing congestion? And what about commuters from D.C. who use the Wilson bridge? I know plenty of people (OK, two, but I'm relatively new in town) who commute from the city out to Reston, so why is it so hard to imagine someone taking the 295 out to the Beltway for a job in the southern reaches of Alexandria? Where is their $50 to keep them off the roads? Heck, where's my voucher for getting stuck in tie-ups behind P Street bridge construction or on Massachusetts Avenue this summer when they re-paved the tunnel under 15th Street? If I wasn't in my car, the backup wouldn't be as long, so logic follows that I should be up for a voucher as well.

This is what happens when you deny Washingtonians the vote while giving it to all the surrounding counties -- Washingtonians pay full fare while P.G.ites and Fairfaxers get compensated for their inconvenience.

Screw them. Screw everyone. I'm going out to get a sandwich.

Nothin' cooking in Md.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, both of whom might run for Governor, criticized Gov. Bobby "Intercounty Connector or Bust" Ehrlich for doing nothing to improve transit in the state.

"Ehrlich's transportation secretary, Robert L. Flanagan, defended the administration's commitment to mass transit but flatly ruled out additional subway construction beyond an extension of the Green Line in the city. Flanagan said such an expensive endeavor could not compete for federal dollars with other transit plans around the country."

Transit in Baltimore is worth looking into, even if the city is shrinking and nobody uses existing service. If I had my way, I'd tear down the light rail north of Penn Station - it's a bigtime money loser and a sunk cost - re-routing it up Charles Street past the colleges up through Towson. I'd also think seriously about at least one new line going crosstown, linking up the city along an axis not covered by limited-access highway and opening up new neighborhoods to development.

But that's expensive and the city and state are broke.

MTA should first speed up MARC service betwen Baltimore and Washington by elevating platforms at West Baltimore and Halethorpe, where stops take longer as conductors lower the stairs.

The problem with getting money for all of this is that Baltimore City doesn't really have a traffic problem. Building viable transit in Baltimore is simply a test of whether it is practical, politically and economically, to turn a down-on-its-heels manufacturing and port town into a growing modern city by making it easier to get around.

An idea: Grant condemned property around proposed stations (of which there is plenty) to builders on a 99-year lease on the condition they build and operate the line. It would generate development and ridership, but is there any company willing to shell out $1 billion or more to build the line and millions more on construction on the bet the real estate will pan out?

"WHAT, WHAT? I can't hear you, I'm too busy running over pedestrians"

It appears that Washington, DC has followed the trend of major American cities and banned talking on the cell phone while driving. Under a new law passed on Tuesday by the DC city council, drivers using a mobile phone without a hands-free device will face a $100 fine.

The Washington Post reports:

The legislation, approved by a vote of 12 to 1, would apply to all drivers in the city, regardless of whether they live in Washington. Exceptions would be allowed in emergencies and for police and emergency medical personnel who are on duty.

The dissenting vote came from council member Jim Graham who said the council should not create a measure that will take police attention away from more serious crimes.

Although I think this is a step in the right direction, this seems to me to be only part of the solution. Although hands free devices do help people keep both hands on the wheel, they do nothing to address the issue of distracted drivers on cell phones.

(thanks NM)

F*&%$ng Tourists

As a rush hour Washington Metro rider, I find the trip pleasant enough. People step to the middle of crowded trains, keep to the right on escalators if they're standing and generally know a thing or two about subway etiquette.

However, I was recently on a mid-day trip that required a transfer between the Yellow and Red lines at Gallery Place. As the last two people to make the train, my friend and I crowded in, stuck pinned against the doors. When we caught our breath, I found myself bent at an angle over the backside of a stroller, facing one of those large midwestern families. Slightly beyond them was the middle of the car, completely empty. I suggested to what looked to be their ringleader that the brood (and I) would be much more comfortable if they spread themselves more evenly throughout the car. He informed me that there was no need because they were getting off at the next stop. Did they think they would miss the stop if they went the 10 feet from the middle of the car to the door?

Just as I was about to begin a tirade about fat, stupid, fannypacked tourists who haven't been on any form of train since the monorail at Disneyworld and how that should stay out of the way of people who had a reason to be here other than to buy "CIA" sweatshirts and gawk at Dorothy's red shoes at the Smithsonian American History Museum, we arrived at Metro Center and they piled out of the train, making it again safe for us elitist and snobby blue-staters, who are blessed with the ability to understand what "mutual respect" means.

It makes me wish I had this shirt.

U.S. Patent 6,668,729

Bryan Richards of Provo, UT has been awarded United States Patent: 6,668,729 for a "Transit System" whose purpose is as follows: The invention advantageously provides a transit system for individual vehicles, including a substantially enclosed guideway with a transit lane and a transition lane. Disposed along the guideway are selectively actuable portals, configured to allow substantially transverse ingress and egress of vehicles into the transition lane. The vehicles are configured for automatic control within the guideway and during ingress and egress, and may also be configured for independent control by a driver outside the guideway. In the transition lane the vehicles accelerate to a transit speed and merge into the adjacent transit lane. The guidance system allows the vehicles to combine into controllably linked "trains" in the transit lane. Upon approaching a selected destination portal, an individual vehicle returns to the transition lane to decelerate for exit. The guideway is preferably comprised of individual guideway modules which are mass-produced to produce an economical system. The diagrams at right and below show the idea for the guideway. The patent is basically a system that creates a automatically-guided train system for existing automobiles. For example, one would drive onto an Interstate highway and, instead of manually driving the four hours from D.C. to New York, would drive onto the moving rail network, connect their car, and then be freed from driving until they were off the Interstate. This is not a new idea. People have been kicking it around for ages (especially on long road trips when everyone is tired of driving). Twenty years ago I think it would have been a fantastic & effective idea - a way to reduce accidents, driver fatigue, and lower the amount of gasoline used. Now, however, the idea has missed its time. It makes more sense to begin work on a network of satellites and transmitters designed to control automobiles automatically -- no need for a rail system when the automobile can "drive itself". Interstate travel will, for the next several decades at least, be by automobile (until we perfect the flying car, that is). But we will see the development of guidance systems that allow cars to be self operating, especially in highway-like environments.

End of an Era

The New York subway token is no longer accepted on city buses. As of January 1, 2004, the phase-out of the token is nearly complete. The New York Daily News reports that "Transit Authority officials are on the hunt to find the token that marked the end of an era." For 50 years the metal discs have all but symbolized transit in the city that never sleeps, and officials want to find the last one to grace a city bus.

But for those of you who'd like to get rid of those last tokens sitting in the change cup at home, there is still one place they are accepted, Roosevelt Island Tram. But act fast, because according to New York Newsday, "Metrocard machines will replace the token-fed turnstiles in February."

"Dude, this new ride sure is nice, but where am I gonna put my board?"

There's a transit crisis in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The four new Southern Teton Area Rapid Transit (START) buses may be flashy, but they lack the ski and snowboard racks which are standard on older START buses. The crisis has sharply divided the community in Jackson. Said resident J.R. Zetz, "When the crowd gets heavy, it will be pretty tight. It's kind of weird they don't have [racks]."

If only these were the only transit problems we all had to deal with...

Score one for the Free Market

What makes for optimal transit use? Drunkenness.

Apparently, the Tijuana Trolley is one of the few transit systems in the nation that actually earns more money than it costs to operate, according to a Houston Chronicle article. The 16-mile line (from downtown San Diego to the US/Mexico border) was built with no federal money, either.

The train, which goes from San Diego to the US/Mexico border, carries revelers who wish to party in Tijuana but who don't want to worry about driving back. It takes approximately 40 minutes.

Anyone know how the Blue Line ended up being profitable?

[Link courtesy Off the Kuff]

Step away from the car, fatty.

The Kansas City Star tells what we already know:

According to a recent medical study, it seems a Kansas Citian could weigh 10 pounds more than a New Yorker of similar stature and structure just because Kansas Citians tend to use cars more. And a typical suburbanite in Kansas City could weigh a few pounds more than a similar-size person in urban Chicago or San Francisco just because we walk less.

Don't Be a Hoser, Yeild to the Bus, 'Eh

Effective today, drivers in Ontario Canada must yield the right of way to buses. According to the Canadian Press the new law took effect province-wide following a month-long public awareness campaign. Buses currently sport yield-to-bus decals.

According to Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar, the new law, "will reduce travel times for transit users, and make transit more efficient, reliable, and help get more people out of their cars and into public transit."

Is this a good idea? Will folks yield to buses? Drivers are always reluctant to relinquish the right-of-way, but the right approach to public awareness and enforcement can change the way people drive. For example, drivers must always yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, but try crossing at a crosswalk in Washington DC without a stop light or stop sign (an insurance policy is recommended). Contrast the same situation with most cities in Massachusetts and one will find a different situation due to flashing lights at many crosswalks and hefty fines (which are actually enforced) for failing to yield.

DMUs in Fla.

The Tri-Rail commuter line in South Florida is getting diesel multiple units, or DMUs, which are basically combination locomotive-passenger cars. This means more frequent trains for riders and lower costs for the transit agency.

It also makes commuter-style lines on existing tracks more economically viable elsewhere in places like Nebraska and New Mexico. DMUs, combined with track upgrades, could allow rail to replace commuter planes between regional hubs and smaller cities by reducing the cost of operating trains. Unlike true commuter lines that operate mostly to bring people from home to work and back every day, these trains would cause fewer problems with the freight lines that own the tracks because the trains would be more evenly spaced out throughout the day, corresponding to flight schedules. With biodiesel, these DMUs could be non-polluting as well. What's not to like?

All I Want for Christmas is Light Rail

Houston's light rail line opened on Thursday. 7.5 miles (with 16 stations) have been completed so far, and a 22 mile "extension" was approved during the last election.

The line is expected to draw 33,000 riders a day paying $1 per trip.

[Picture Courtesy AP/ABCNEWS.com]