(Source: Washington Post)

Victor M. Mendez, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, is Obama’s pick for administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Mendez worked under former governor Janet Napolitano before she became Obama’s homeland security secretary. In Arizona, Mendez helped implement the state’s multi-billion dollar freeway system and gained extensive experience in transportation funding, technology, infrastructure, research and planning.

Joining Mendez at the Transportation Department will be Peter H. Appel, Obama’s nominee for administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. A principal with the global management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney, Inc., Appel has over 20 years of experience in transportation and infrastructure projects. He has helped organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline and ocean shipping industries, and he previously served as a top aide at the Federal Aviation Administration and at Amtrak.

Below are the brief Bios of the nominees as shown in Washington Post.

Victor M. Mendez, Nominee for Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation

Victor M. Mendez was a member of former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano’s Cabinet as the Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation. He has extensive experience in transportation including innovations in the areas of funding and financing, technology, infrastructure, research, planning and internal operations. Mendez has served as a past President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and in 2008 he was selected as Leader of the Year in Public Policy in Transportation by the Arizona Capitol Times. Previously, Mendez was selected as the Deputy State Engineer to lead the implementation of the Phoenix area’s multi-billion dollar freeway system. Mendez earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University and a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. 

Peter H. Appel, Nominee for Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Department of Transportation

Peter H. Appel is a Principal with the global management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney, Inc. He has led business improvement initiatives for clients in the private and public sectors, with a focus on Transportation and Infrastructure. Appel has over 20 years of experience in Transportation, and has supported organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline, and ocean shipping industries with growth strategy, supply chain improvement, post-merger integration, public-private partnerships, and other key business and policy issues. Previously, Appel served as the Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and as Assistant Director for Pricing and Yield Management at Amtrak. Appel earned his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University in Economics and Computer Science with Highest Honors, and received his Master of Science in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Click here to read more.

(Source: Office of Planning, Environment and Realty Federal Highway Administration)

Recent Events

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer Announces Principles for Global Warming Legislation. On February 3, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced her intent to move quickly on global warming legislation and issued principles that she would like to see included. These include setting short and long term emissions targets that are certain and enforceable, using a carbon market to fund various efforts to reduce GHG emissions, and ensuring a level global playing field so that countries contribute their fair share to GHG emissions reductions. For more information including a link to Sen. Boxer’s Principles, see the Committee’s press release.

House Subcommittee Receives Testimony on Surface Transportation Energy Reduction.On January 27, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit heard from nationally recognized transportation experts and a panel of industry representatives about ways to reduce energy consumption and promote sustainability in the surface transportation sector.  Video of the proceedings and written testimonies (scroll down) are available on the Subcommittee website.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Holds Meeting on Maritime Transport and the Climate Change Challenge. On February 17, FHWA’s Mike Savonis presented (via videoconference) results from USDOT’s Gulf Coast Study Phase I to an international audience in Geneva.  Additional information and presentations from the three-day event are available on the meeting website.

U.C. Davis Provides Congressional Briefing on Low-Carbon Transportation Policies & Strategies. On January 12, 2009, the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) Institute of Transportation Studies provided a briefing to Congressional staffers on the future of low-carbon transportation. More information about UC Davis climate change activities is available on the UC Davis ITS website. (TransportGooru is proud to share a video of UC Davis’s Dan Sperling Talk about the current Transportation system and its effect on Climate change. See below)

 House Subcommittee Conducts Hearing on Monitoring GHG Emissions.  On February 24, the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment conducted a hearing on how to monitor, report and verify greenhouse gas emissions.  The purpose of the hearing was to determine the federal role in the funding of research and development of monitoring technologies as well as models to support reliable baseline data for GHG emissions.  The subcommittee heard testimony from businesses, government agencies, and localities on procedures and methods that can be used to monitor, report, and verify greenhouse gas emissions.  More information can be found on the Committee’s website at: http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=2359

State News

Oregon Governor Introduces VMT Fee Legislation. Following a study on charging a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fee in place of a state gas tax, the Governor of Oregon introduced legislation that could move the state closer to adopting a per mile road user fee in place of the 24-cent per gallon gas tax. Governor Kulongoski’s Jobs and Transportation Act of 2009 requires the Oregon DOT to develop VMT fee collection technology that could be used to replace the gas tax.  The Act also directs Oregon DOT to further study gas tax alternatives.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Enters First Compliance Period. The ten signatory states to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) began their first compliance period on January 1, 2009 and the period ends in December 2011. At that time the ten Mid-Atlantic and New England states will be required to submit emissions allowances equivalent to their carbon dioxide emissions. For more information on the program, see the Pew Climate Center RGGI website.

Announcements

New Energy and Climate Change Database for Planners.  The American Planning Association has launched a new database of energy and climate change activities in planning.  You can search the database by a variety of criteria such as state, topic, planning tool, timeframe, or geographic scale.  The database includes many examples relating to transportation.  The database website iswww.planning.org/research/energy/database.

Summit on America’s Climate Choices, March 30-31 in Washington, D.C. Congress has tasked the National Academies with setting the stage for national action on climate change. In response, the Academies have launched America’s Climate Choices, a suite of activities that will provide policy advice, based on science, to guide the nation’s response to climate change. Experts representing various levels of government, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and research and academic institutions have been selected to serve on four panels and an overarching committee.    The Summit on America’s Climate Choices provides an opportunity for study participants to interact with major thought leaders and key constituencies to frame the questions and issues that the study will address.  Registration and webcast information are available on the Summit website.  In addition to the summit, NAS is soliciting public input on the questions and content to be considered by the America’s Climate Choices Committee through the America’s Climate Choices website through April 17. 

Reminders

Washington State Department of Transportation Climate Change Weekly Digest, The Washington State DOT has an extensive Climate Change program and the Climate Change Team issues a weekly digest on climate change issues. For more information on WSDOT’s climate change activities see WSDOT’s climate change website. To be put on the email list to receive the weekly digest, please send a note to:StarkS@wsdot.wa.gov.

U.S. DOT Launches Web-Based Clearinghouse of Transportation, Climate Change Resources. The USDOT has launched a new, web-based clearinghouse of information on transportation and climate change. The site provides an introduction to climate change and transportation and related information on greenhouse gas inventories and forecasts, methodologies for analyzing greenhouse gases from transportation, climate change and adaptation, and federal, state and local actions on transportation and climate change. The site also includes a calendar of events and will soon be enhanced to provide an opportunity for users to post and respond to discussions and receive updates by email. To access the site, go to: http://climate.dot.gov. 

Transportation Research Board Starts a New Climate Change website. Transportation Research Board (TRB) has a new website offering information on TRB activities and products addressing transportation and climate change.

 (Source: AutoBlogGreen)

In an attempt to stay politically neutral, we’re going to stop short of offering opinions about Rush Limbaugh’s recent statements regarding hybrid automobiles and the intent of automakers like Ford and Honda to “please politicians overseeing the industry’s multibillion-dollar bailout.” What we will say, though, is that Limbaugh’s a little off when he suggests that hybrid vehicles are entirely unwanted. So sayeth Rush:

Nobody’s buying ’em. Nobody wants them! The manufacturers are making them in droves to satisfy Obama! Sorry for yelling. Nobody wants them!

While it’s true that hybrid vehicle sales tend to rise and fall with the ebb and flow of fuel prices, which are currently down from the record highs from a year ago, Edmunds’ Green Car Advisor points out that 1.3 million hybrid vehicles have been sold in America since 1999, the first year the fuel-saving vehicles entered the market. Obviously, there are more than a few people out there who want to cut down on their fuel usage. Further, these hybrid vehicle programs have been in development since well before President Obama was elected.

When TransportGooru took a sneak peek into the trascripts posted on Mr. Limabugh’s website, the following golden statements caught the attention:   “I will only say that those people have probably given up their individuality for what they think is a larger cause, but nobody wants them.  That doesn’t matter, because as I mentioned earlier in the program, a couple hundred more million acres placed off-limits, energy rich, shale oil, natural gas, placed off-limits by the US Congress.  We’re gonna become more dependent on foreign oil, more dependent on foreign oil.  Gasoline prices are going to go through the roof at some point, Big Oil will be blamed by the Obama administration, and then you will be forced to start considering cars you do not want and you are not buying.  Good-bye freedom.  We have got to drive these people out of office before it’s too late. ”

TransportGooru’s research found another rushed judgement on this issue back in June 2006 , as described in a Huffingtonpost article and the author David Franklin offers his counter along the way:

Rush says that, “Contrary to any loose statements made by our marketing partners in the environmental community and media, petroleum not consumed by Prius owners is not ‘saved.’ It does not remain in the ground. It is consumed by someone else. Greenhouse pollutants are released.” I find this statement baffling! Is there a backlog of “oil orders” that lies unfulfilled somewhere that I am unaware of? Are there companies out there just waiting for people to buy more hybrids, so that they can have their oil orders taken off backorder? Not to my knowledge. Logic would dictate that if demand for oil decreases, drilling and production of oil will decrease as well!

Perhaps if it was put another way it would be easier for Rush to grasp the cold hard logic behind what hybrids can do for this nation; “If every privately owned vehicle in America was traded in today for a Prius, it would reduce the amount of oil our nation requires to a level that could be fully supported by our own resources!”

Let me say that again in case it didn’t sink in fully the first time; “If every privately owned vehicle in America was traded in today for a Prius, it would reduce the amount of oil our nation requires to a level that could be fully supported by our own resources!” (and that’s without having to drill in Alaska!)

(Source: CNN)

There was a time when airline travel was a special treat, the kind of occasion that inspired passengers to dress up.

Take, for instance, “Mr. Poopy Pants” — a grown man who allegedly soiled himself 10 minutes into a flight from Florida to Minnesota. And then he just sat there.

 “We’ve all had our flying hell experiences,” said Gregg Rottler, creator of FlightsFromHell.com.

The site provides a venue for people to share their tales of woe, said Rottler. “It’s therapeutic … so it benefits them and provides entertainment value for others.”

Rottler, a 54-year-old environmental health supervisor in Tampa, Florida, launched the site more than two years ago. Since then,FlightsFromHell.com has attracted submissions from passengers and flight attendants that have run the gamut, touching on categories that include “odors,” “attendant issues,” “weird people,” and “luggage and delays.”

Among the story headlines: “Titanic toddler creates tumult,” “Wifey punched by elderly ‘sleepwalker,’ ” and “Lip-locked tousle-haired 20-somethings.”

“There’s something about being scrunched up with strangers … The seats aren’t that big, and once someone starts going wacko, it just creates an extremely stressful environment that was already stressful enough,” Rottler said.

TripAdvisor, the world’s largest online travel community, recently released survey results from more than 1,500 U.S. respondents asked to discuss what about flying bugs them most.

Flyers griped about fellow passengers snoring, vomiting and having “excessive flatulence.”

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Transportation For America; CNN via Youtube)

As painful transit cuts cripple more and more agencies across the country, major national networks are gradually tuning in to the story and seeing just how bad things are. CNN is the latest to cover the transit cuts phenomenon that’s wreaking havoc on the largest and smallest of our public transportation systems.

In a four-minute segment last week, CNN used Transportation for America’s handy map — which we created to document the 85 communities that are being forced to either cut service, increase fares, or lay off workers due to budget crises at the local and state level — and took an in-depth look at some of the impacts of cutting back public transportation at a time when Americans are riding transit in record numbers.   This peice on transit is part of CNN’s “State of the Union,” in which host and chief national correspondent John King goes outside the Nation’s  to report on the issues affecting communities across the country. 

 

At one stop Wednesday, a handful of developmentally disabled passengers boarded outside a local facility where they work. One told CNN she optimistic “something will get done about it” but said she isn’t sure how she is supposed to get around after Friday.

Kimberly Barge is a staff attorney at Paraquad, the gym where the Falks and other local disabled residents attend classes.

“People are frustrated, angry — almost to the point of hopeless in some cases because there aren’t many other alternatives for the disability community as far as transportation goes,” Barge told CNN.

Jean McPherson boarded the bus with her infant daughter. The 20-year-old is going back to school to get her high school diploma and though short on cash, she says she is now forced to explore buying a used car.

“I might end up losing my job or not being able to take my daughter to day care,” is how she sees the consequence of her bus route being shortened so that it no longer stretches out to her community. “You can’t afford a car; that is why you use public transportation. So a lot of people are going to be in a bad situation.”

 

Click here to read more.

LA Taansportation Blog – Transportation Headlines for Thursday April 2, 2009

StreetsBlog – Headline News for April 2, 2009

Thursday, April 2, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

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Registration is now open for IBTTA’s Upcoming Summit – The Future of Tolling:  ORT and the Path to Interoperability, June 14-16, 2009 in Tampa, FL 

Join IBTTA in Tampa, FL and receive cutting-edge information from agencies and toll service providers around the globe on the latest in all-electronic tolling, toll traffic management, and achieving full interoperability. This is the only Summit in the world in 2009 focused on the critical topics of Open Road Tolling, All-Electronic Tolling and Interoperability and will feature more than 100 of our industry’s most experienced and knowledgeable speakers, panelists and exhibitors. What matters most is your customer’s experience driving your roads, the quality of service they receive during the payment process and your success in collecting those payments. Are your customers satisfied? Visit IBTTA’s website to view the preliminary agenda and register today! 

AVIATION

1) American Airlines Union Goes Viral Against Execs

Link to AP story:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/American-Airlines-union-goes-apf-14824283.html

2) Aircraft Could be Brought Down by DIY ‘E-Bombs’

Link to story in New Scientist:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227026.200-aircraft-could-be-brought-down-by-diy-ebombs.html

3) EU Says Phone-Ready Planes to Double by Next Year

Link to column in The Wall Street Journal:

http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/04/02/eu-says-phone-ready-planes-to-double-by-next-year

BICYCLES

4) Promoting the Use of Bicycles on Federal Lands

Link to report from the Western Transportation Institute:

http://www.wti.montana.edu/documents/reports/pdf/4W1303_Final_Report.pdf

CAMERAS

5) In Surprising Reversal, Maryland Senate Rejects Speed Cameras

Link to story in The Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.cameras02apr02,0,1079669.story

ELECTRONIC TOLLING

6) Toll Discounts for In-State Residents Draw Constitutional Challenge

Link to story in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/us/02ezpass.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

GPS / NAVIGATION

7) TomTom Signs Deal with TrafficCast for Data for Wireless Navigation Device

Link to story in The Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123862738872480271.html

Link to news release from TrafficCast:

http://trafficcast.com/news/article/120/

PUBLIC INFORMATION / EDUCATION

8) New Jersey Warns Against Walking on Highways

Link to AP story:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090402_N_J__warns_against_walking_on_highways.html

RAILROADS

9) Microsoft’s Telephony Software Gains Railroad Ties

BNSF hopes software can replacing aging phone system and attract younger workers.

Link to CNET News column:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10209569-56.html

10) Latest Issue of Signal the Newsletter of ERTMS, the European Rail Traffic Management System

Link to newsletter:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/rail/interoperability/ertms/doc/011_signal_2009_04_en.pdf

ROADWAYS

11) Rural Issues with Optimal Sensor Placement for Transportation Applications

Link to report from the Western Transportation Institute:

http://www.wti.montana.edu/documents/reports/pdf/4W1531_Final_Report.pdf

SAFETY / SECURITY

12) US to Boost Ports of Entry Along US-Mexico Border

Plan calls for high-tech inspection equipment and surveillance systems.

Link to AP story:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h7YK6qe9Xpfr4heKG3_hRDGJP6jwD97A1AF80

Link to news release from the US Department of Homeland Security:

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1238626069590.shtm

13) Free Videos Aim to Reduce Teen Driving Fatalities

Link to story in The Wichita Eagle:

http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/757969.html

14) Ad Hoc Routing for Rural Public Safety

Link to report from the Western Transportation Institute:

http://www.wti.montana.edu/documents/reports/pdf/4W1566_Final_Report.pdf

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

15) FM Stations Help Punjab Police Control Traffic

Link to story in The Indian Express:

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/road-waves-fm-stations-help-police-control-traffic/441995/

16) Alcoa, Tennessee Named ‘Smart City’ for Transportation

Link to story in Blount Today:

http://www.blounttoday.com/news/2009/apr/02/alcoa-named-smart-city-transportation/

VEHICLES

17) Can a Speed Demon Tame Teen Drivers?

A young inventor’s gadget lets parents track kids behind the wheel.

Link to story and video in The Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/04/02/can_a_speed_demon_tame_teen_drivers

News Releases

1) AASHTO Launches Are We There Yet? We Can Be. America, Let’s Get Moving!

2) Dashboard Navigation System Doubles as Covert GPS Tracker: Lets Boss Sit in Passenger Seat

3) Apisphere to Provide Mobile Traffic Network with Location-Smart Messaging

Upcoming Events

National Transit Institute Transit ITS Regional Workshops – April 29-30 – Chicago & June 9-10 – Dallas

http://www.ntionline.com/CourseInfo.asp?CourseNumber=TRI-26

Today in Transportation History

1804 **205^th anniversary** – The HMS Apollo ran aground off the Portuguese coast. About 40 ships following in the convoy also were wrecked.

http://ageofsail.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/shipwreck-of-hms-apollo/  

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© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast

(Source: Associated Press via Yahoo! Finance)

 

Safety board says fatal accidents were up sharply in 2008 for air taxi, medical, tour flights

WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a spike last year in deaths from crashes of air medical, air taxi and tour flights, federal safety officials said Thursday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said there were 56 so-called on-demand flight accidents in which 66 people were killed in 2008. That’s the highest number of fatalities for such flights in eight years and an increase of 13 deaths over 2007. The on-demand accident rate was 1.52 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, virtually unchanged from the previous year.

The board held a public hearing earlier this year examining the safety practices of the air medical helicopter industry. Fifteen people were killed in four medical helicopter crashes in 2008.

Major U.S. airlines, however, suffered no accident fatalities in 2008 for the second consecutive year despite carrying 753 million passengers on more than 10.8 million flights, the NTSB said. Major airlines experienced 28 accidents last year, the same as 2007.

 Commuter airlines, which typically fly smaller turboprop planes, also didn’t have any accident fatalities despite making 581,000 flights last year, the board said. However, there were seven commuter airline accidents in 2008, up three from the previous year.

There were 495 people killed — one fewer than the previous year — in general aviation accidents in 2008, the board said. General aviation includes private and corporate planes.

Acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said the aviation safety record for 2008 was mixed.  Click here to access today’s press release and interesting statistical tables.

Table 1. Accidents, Fatalities, and Rates, 2008 Preliminary Statistics
U.S. Aviation

	Accidents		Fatalities		Flight Hours	Departures	Accidents per 100,000 Flight Hours		Accidentsper 100,000 Departures
	All	Fatal	Total	Aboard			All	Fatal	All	Fatal
U.S. air carriers operating under 14 CFR 121	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
– Scheduled	20	0	0	0	18,730,000	10,597,000	0.107	–	0.189	–
– Nonscheduled	8	2	3	1	621,000	190,000	1.288	0.322	4.211	1.053
U.S. air carriers operating under 14 CFR 135	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
– Commuter	7	0	0	0	290,400	581,000	2.410	–	1.205	–
– On-Demand	56	19	66	66	3,673,000	–	1.52	0.52	–	–
U.S. general aviation	1,559	275	495	486	21,931,000	–	7.11	1.25	–	–
U.S. civil aviation	1,649	296	564	553	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other accidents in the U.S.	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
– Foreign registered aircraft	6	4	7	7	–	–	–	–	–	–
– Unregistered aircraft	7	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–

(Source: AASHTO)

Washington, DC – “Are we there yet? The perennial question asked by kids on a long car trip is the same one all Americans should be asking about our entire transportation network,” said John Horsley, Executive Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). “Improving our transportation system must be a top priority for all of us since we are only investing half of what it would take to meet the needs of our nation’s growing population, demand for freight, and aging roads, bridges, and transit.”

 With the expiration date looming for the current federal transportation authorization, AASHTO has today launched a national campaign to build awareness and provide information on the critical needs of our nation’s transportation system.

Click here to explore the campaign.

(Source:  Treehugger & ManiacWorld)

We’re big advocates for all things human-powered, but we really really like to see this particular efficiency put to use for transportation. Enter with a flash “Rollerblade Man” who’s keeping all his options open by covering his entire body with a suit of wheels allowing one to travel up to 60 miles-per-hour while maintaining any position found in the Kama Sutra. Note: As always, please wear a helet if you are to attempt anything on rollerblades.  He’s wearing a helmet in the video below.