29G Memoir – An expatriate’s nostalgic recollection of commuting by bus in Chennai, India

Posted by transportgooru on September 7, 2010 in Funny Stuff, Safety, Society/Social Issues, Transit, Travel

These days I should not be complaining about my daily commute after living through some of these experiences. As dangerous as it sounds, most of my commutes to work and school back in India involved holding on to a window grill for dear life with just one hand and only one foot on the bus’ steps as it whizzed by at 60km/hr. For crying out loud, the country has 1.3 billion people and at times it felt like as if the entire citizenry of the nation decided to ride the very bus that I took to school/work!

Tags: 29G, Anna Nagar to Porur, Bus, Bus Stop, Chennai, Chennai Metro, Commuter, Daily Commute, India, Pallavan Pokkuvarathu Kazhagam, Pallavan Transport Corporation, PTC, Tamil Nadu, Transit, Transportation

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

Publication Alert: U.S. Dept. of Energy Publishes 29th Edition of Transportation Energy Data Book

Posted by transportgooru on August 17, 2010 in Automotives, Aviation, Economy, Energy, Freight, Governance, Highways, Publications, Research, Transit, Travel

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has released the latest issue of its annual statistical compendium designed to characterize transportation activity and explore data on other factors that influence transportation energy use.

Tags: Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, ORNL, Statistics, Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 29, U.S. Department of Energy, United States Department of Energy, USDOE

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.

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

Bringing Sexy Back … To A British Bus-Station!!!

Posted by transportgooru on July 24, 2010 in Infrastructure, Society/Social Issues, Transit

Austin Smith Lord was the people’s choice winner against stiff competition, which included Wilkinson Eyre and Zaha Hadid. (The winner was a plan by Grimshaw Architects.) Though the Austin Smith Lord design concept looks bizzare, it is moored to a brilliant logic: The main performance feature is a flowing layout that allows buses to enter and exit without ever having to back out of a parking space.

Tags: Bus, Bus Stop, Grimshaw Architects, Transportation and Logistics

New York’s LIRR delivers safety message via the Gap Rap – Look Down, Step Over and Watch The Gap!

Posted by transportgooru on July 19, 2010 in Funny Stuff, Infrastructure, Rail, Society/Social Issues, Transit

The music video, which premiered online Thursday, features LIRR Medical Director John Clarke — an army of fifth graders from Long Beach accompanying him as backup dancers — giving safety tips to railroad riders from Times Square, trains and LIRR station

Tags: Commuter Rail, Gap Rap, LIRR, LIRR Medical Director John Clarke, Long Island Rail Road, New York City, NYC, Times Square, Transit

Argentina Says Ni Hao! China Splashes $10B in Argentina’s Rail and Subway Projects

Posted by transportgooru on July 19, 2010 in Economy, Energy, Finance, Freight, Governance, Infrastructure, Ports, Rail, Transit

Expanding its effort to use infrastructure investments to spread its influence, the Chinese government has agreed to a $10 billion commitment to upgrade a series of intercity rail lines in Argentina and improve urban transit systems in Buenos Aires and Cordoba. Funds come from the China Development Bank and will require a 15% match from the Argentinian government.

Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Subway, Cardobo, China, China Development bank, China invests in Argentina's Rail network, Infrastructure, Latin America, People's Republic of China, Rail, Rail transport, South America, Transit, United States

Join a live chat with leadership for the Obama Administration’s Sustainable Communities Partnership – Thursday July 15, 2010

Posted by transportgooru on July 14, 2010 in Education, Energy, Environment, Events, Governance, Highways, Hybrids, Infrastructure, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Special Events, Transit

[ July 15, 2010; 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. ] On Thursday, July 15, the White House Office of Urban Affairs will host a live chat with the leadership of the Sustainable Communities Partnership, an agreement between HUD, Transportation, and EPA to coordinate federal housing, transportation, and environmental investments. Last month, the Partnership released a joint notice of funding availability — $35 million in TIGER II Planning grants and $40 million in Sustainable Community Challenge grants — for local planning activities that integrate transportation, housing, and economic development. And, HUD also announced $100 million in funding for Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grant program that will support regional planning efforts that integrate housing, land use, economic development, and transportation.

Tags: EPA, Executive Office of the President of the United States, Housing and Urban Development, land use, Obama Administration, Sustainable Communities Partnership., U.S. Department of Transortation, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Urban Planning, USDOT, White House, White House Office of Urban Affairs