One for the record books! Dramatic Drop in U.S. Highway Fatalities in 2009; Lowest Since 1950

Posted by transportgooru on September 9, 2010 in Automotives, Economy, Energy, Environment, Governance, Highways, ITS/Telematics, Infrastructure, Motorcycles & Scooters, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Safety, Society/Social Issues, Travel

The Transportation Department said late Wednesday that traffic deaths fell 9.7 percent in 2009 to 33,808, the lowest number since 1950. In 2008, an estimated 37,423 people died on the highways.

Tags: Aggressive Driving, drunk driving, Highway Fatality Statistics, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, Texting while driving, USDOT

Car-Sharing – Numbers reveal the growing appeal; Renting cars by the hour is becoming big business

Posted by transportgooru on September 7, 2010 in Automotives, Economy, Energy, Environment, Finance, Infrastructure, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Travel

Car-sharing started in Europe and spread to America in the late 1990s, when the first venture opened in Portland, Oregon, a traditional hangout of tree-huggers. For years it was organised by small co-operatives, often supported by local government. It still has a green tinge. One in five new cars added to club fleets is electric; such cars are good for short-range, urban use. But sharing is no longer small.

Tags: Car Fleets, Car Sharing, Car Sharing Statistics, Car2Go, Carsharing, London, Washington DC, ZipCar

You had a bad road trip? Not really. This Epic Chinese Traffic Jam Enters 9th Day; Expected To Last Another 20 Days

Posted by transportgooru on August 23, 2010 in Automotives, Economy, Energy, Environment, Highways, Infrastructure, Society/Social Issues, Travel

The back-up stretches over 62 miles on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. What’s worse, officials are saying that the jam could continue for up to a month (Sept. 13, the projected completion project for some of the projects causing this delay).

Tags: Beijing, Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, China, Epic Chinese Traffic Jam, National Expressway 110, Tibet, Traffic Congestion

Wanna be skinny & healthy? Forget those crazy diets and take public transportation

Posted by transportgooru on August 20, 2010 in Automotives, Governance, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Safety, Society/Social Issues, Transit, Travel

People who live or work in communities with high quality public transportation tend to drive significantly less and rely more on alternative modes (walking,cycling and public transit) than they would in more automobile-oriented areas. This reducestraffic crashes and pollution emissions, increases physical fitness and mental health, andprovides access to medical care and healthy food. These impacts are significant in magnitude compared with other planning objectives, but are often overlooked or undervalued inconventional transport planning.

Tags: America Public Transportation Association, APTA, buses, Environment, HCR, Health, Health care, Healthcare, livability, Physical activity, Physical exercise, Pollution, public transportation, Smart Growth, Trains, Transit, Transport, United States, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, VTPI, Walking

Making a community together… to design a street – Street Films documents London’s Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets

Posted by transportgooru on August 19, 2010 in Education, Governance, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Safety, Society/Social Issues

Making a community together… to design a street – Street Films documents London’s Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets

Tags: Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets, DYI Streets, London, Street Design, StreetFilms, Sustrans, Traffic Calming, Traffic Control, Transportation and Logistics, UK, Wales

Publication Alert: USDOT report examines the effects of the February 2010 snowstorms on airline performance

Posted by transportgooru on August 17, 2010 in Aviation, Economy, Finance, Governance, Infrastructure, Publications, Research, Society/Social Issues

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has released a special report that explores how several February 2010 snowstorms in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast disrupted air travel at airports across the United States. Quite an interesting read and for your reading pleasure it is provided below.

Tags: Airline, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation, United States Department of Transportation

Event Alert: Transportation Systems for Livable Communities Conference @ Washington, DC – Oct. 18-19, 2010

Posted by transportgooru on August 17, 2010 in Automotives, Energy, Environment, Events, Governance, Highways, Infrastructure, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Special Events, Transit, Travel

TRB is sponsoring the Transportation Systems for Livable Communities Conference on October 18-19, 2010, in Washington, D.C. The conference is being supported by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. The livability concept embraces cognate notions such as sustainability, quality of life, the character of place, the health of communities, and more. The conference is designed to bring together researchers and practitioners interested in this topic and will provide a timely opportunity to share research results, explore practical challenges, and identify potentially promising directions for future research. Space for this confernece is limited. Early bird registration ends August 26, 2010.

Tags: livability, Livable communities, Research, Research and Innovative TEchnology Administration, RITA, Transportation Planning, Transportation Research Board, TRB, Washington D.C.

Webinar Alert: General Overview of the 2009 MUTCD Parts 1 and 6 – Aug. 24, 2010 @1PM

Posted by transportgooru on August 16, 2010 in Education, Events, Governance, Infrastructure, Safety

This free webinar, on August 24 from 1 to 2pm EST, will provide a brief overview of the major revisions to Parts 1 and 6 since the 2003 version of the Manual. In December 2009, FHWA published the 2009 edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

The webinar will be presented by Ken Wood of FHWA and is being done in collaboration with the American Traffic Safety Services Association. Registration is required.

Tags: American Traffic Safety Services Association, ATSSA, Federal Highway Administration, FHWA, Ken Wood, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, MUTCD, Traffic Control, Training, Transportation and Logistics, Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Webinar

Event(s) Alert: IntelliDrive℠ User Needs Workshops and Inventors Meeting

Posted by transportgooru on August 10, 2010 in Automotives, Governance, Highways, ITS/Telematics, Infrastructure, Research, Safety, Society/Social Issues, Tolling/ETC, Transit

Attend one of three FREE IntelliDrive workshops and inventors meetings at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS-JPO), part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) will be hosting on IntelliDrive(SM) Systems Engineering User Needs to obtain stakeholder input for the definition of the core IntelliDrive System. User needs identified during these workshops will be critical to the development of the new IntelliDrive Concept of Operations (ConOps). The ConOps will describe the vision for how the IntelliDrive system will work, from the perspective of the user.

Tags: IntelliDrive, Intelligent Transportation System, Inventors Meeting, ITS, ITS Joint Program Office, ITS JPO, Research and Innovative TEchnology Administration, RITA, Systems Engineering, USDOT, Vehicle to Vehicle Communications

Amsterdam’s canal belt gets added to the UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Posted by transportgooru on August 5, 2010 in Governance, Infrastructure, Marine/Waterway, Society/Social Issues, Travel

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has agreed to add Amsterdam’s famous canal belt to the World Heritage List, the Dutch government said on Sunday.

Tags: Amsterdam, Canal Belt, Dutch, Dutch Government, Netherlands, North Holland, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, United Nations Educational, World Heritage List, World Heritage Site