I can relate to almost everything in this nice blog post. I enjoyed a fair share of the experiences described by the author, who fondly recollects her memories riding a bus during her college days (in the 1990s) in the Southern India city of Chennai (formerly known as Madras)! For those not in the know, Chennai is one of the top four cities in India – in terms of population, investment, etc and has a relatively good transportation network that is affordable for the masses.
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!
Those days all the Chennai Metro buses where painted with green and off-white stripes. When a large rectangular mass of green and off-white stripes appears on the horizon, everyone in the bus stop perks up and strains to see the number on the white board over the large windshield. The ones with better vision are lucky, because after seeing the number, they get 30 seconds more to decide where to position themselves to improve their chances of boarding the bus. My vision was terrible and hence my strategy was as good as a coin toss.
On a few lucky days, I am the first at the entrance. Drones of people embark and disembark the bus through the two entrances in no particular order. The goal is to get in and out of the bus before the conductor blows the godforsaken whistle and the bus begins to move. People still continue to board the moving bus.
Inside the bus, I manage to pull out my free bus pass and the conductor punches a hole to mark my free government permitted ride to school for the day. It is almost impossible to explain how crowded the bus gets. The closest analogy I can give is, it feels like sardines packed in a can. I am swept into the bus and get jammed in the middle. I am suspended in that space. My body is in physical contact with several bodies at various points inside that tight packed space. It is like I have been mapped in the cosmos.
The Chennai Metro bus is a social space; one that is similar to a school, hospital, church, sports club, gym or dance studio. There are certain set of unwritten rules for engagement and obligations to fulfill. By default there are more assigned seats for men than women, generally women sit in the right side of the bus and men on the left. When the bus is crowded a man has to vacate a designated woman’s seat but the converse is not true.
If a woman or a really old man is getting on a moving bus, then more than a few concerned citizens will bang on the steel bus and it will screech to a halt to allow them to get in. If it is just a bunch of guys they would just have to hang for dear life on the windows bars and somehow swing and get their feet on the steps of the bus or just cling to the bus. They still have to pay their fare for the bus ride, as it is gets them to their destination faster than if they run or walk.
If a man is hanging outside, then it is your duty as a passenger who is secure inside the bus to grab their belongings – backpack, lunch bag, etc and keep it secure. If you get off the bus before the guy does, pass it on to someone else for safekeeping. A woman, no matter how agile or skilled is not supposed to hang onto the window or stand on the steps of a moving bus. For some weird reason a disabled or incapacitated woman is more of a societal liability than a handicapped man. Therefore, again the dutiful citizens in the bus tell the woman to get to safety.
Car-sharing programs have been gaining a lot of popularity and building up momentum over the years, especially in urban environments such as Washington, DC, NYC, etc. The Economist has done a good coverage of the growing trend and here are some of the interesting nuggets that caught my attention:
One rental car can take the place of 15 owned vehicles
By 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users
Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market.
A car owner doing 12,000 miles (19,000km) a year can save $1,834 by shifting to a car-sharing service
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.
Frost & Sullivan, a market-research firm, estimates that by 2016 the market will be worth $6 billion a year, half of that in America, with a total of some 10m users. Outside America, most of the growth is in Britain and other north European countries such as Germany. The market leader is a company called Zipcar, founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is now headed for a public listing. Zipcar already has 400,000 members, mostly in America where it is thought to have 80% of the market. It recently bought Streetcar, the market leader in London, though competition authorities are still scrutinising that deal.
The sharing trend is now seeping into another prominent area of transportation – the bicycles. Many cities around the world, including London and Washington, DC, are beginning to install innovative bike-sharing programs that offer a great advantage for those who prefer to check the city by biking than by driving. Looks like the “sharing” trend is only going to intensity in the years ahead given the state of our poor economies and shrinking wallets! the societal, ecological and environmental benefits resulting from such sharing schemes are definitely a big plus for many more cities to consider implementing such schemes for car as well as bikes. After all didn’t we already know the saying ”Sharing is Caring”.
Posted by transportgooru on September 6, 2010 in Uncategorized
I’m glad the U.S. does not have such ceremonial positions that feed off the tax payer $$$.. The Royal Train, introduced by Queen Victoria in 1842, has attracted controversy in recent years because of its £800,000-a-year cost, leading to calls for it to be scrapped by some MPs.
Clarence House said the cost of food, accommodation and travel on the train for this week’s tour will amount to £50,000, but pointed out that the Prince will hold numerous meetings on board in between stops.
I wonder what is it that this guy (as well as the entire Royal family) accomplishes every year for the citizenry that the Government of U.K. cannot accomplish?
Perhaps surprisingly, given the Prince’s love of all things classical, the
train’s interior décor proved to be closer to a Travelodge than a palace on
wheels.
In the 12-seater dining car, monogrammed crystalware and china bearing The
Prince of Wales’s feathers contrasts with modern, functional furniture,
while pictures of Highgrove and late Queen Elizabeth add a much-needed touch
of homeliness to the Prince’s otherwise bland personal study.
The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall are the only members of the Royal
family other than the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh permitted to use the
Royal Train.
The Prince has his own sleeping car and saloon, built and decorated in the
early 1980s, which are swapped with the Queen’s private carriages depending
on who is using the train.
The Prince allowed the media onto the train as it travelled to Glasgow, where
he boarded it for the first leg of a week-long tour of the UK.
Gov 2.0 advocates have printed a run of QR (2D barcode) stickers they will stick at bus stops all over Washington DC today, allowing mobile phone users to quickly get up-to-the moment bus progress reports, post traffic status updates, and more. This augmentation of the physical world with real-time data from the ether strikes me as accessible and useful. The project was one of many ideas discussed at DCWeek this June and is being implemented by the Research and Development group in Office of the CTO, DC Government (on Twitter: OCTOLabs).
O’Reilly’s Gov 2.0 correspondent Alex Howard shared a link to this photo on Twitter this morning. Smart phone users will use QR reading apps to snap a picture of the codes, then their phones will be shown relevant real-time information corresponding to the bus stop they are at. (That makes more sense to me than NYC’s new QR codes on the back of garbage trucks, but hey – they point is, these things are growing more mainstream in the US.)
Why doesn’t these things NEVER happen in my flights? Hmmm.. I am happy for these folks who had a bit of entertainment to cheer up during their long flight and a story to tell when they land. After battling the hassles of baggage check-ins and security checks, these folks probably appreciated this nice musical treat..
Note: Silly me can’t help but think aloud about these questions: what would the reaction be if these guys were a bunch of middle-eastern musicians wearing traditional robes – how would the airline staff react to such a spontaneous request to play music? Thank god, KLM staff were not so uptight about letting some musicians to get off their seats and play their gear..
GEWI Traffic Technologies Tour Topic – Connected Vehicles /Infrastructure.
The purpose of the tour is to exchange information about advanced traffic technologies being used around the world to solve a variety of transportation-related problems. This includes updates on European vehicle/infrastructure projects, similar to the US IntelliDrive initiative, TPEG, data collection and harmonization, interoperability, variable speed signs, and dealing with emerging data types. GEWI also wants to hear your current transportation data challenges. This information exchange is just one of the many ways GEWI ensures that TIC software continues to be the global leader for the processing of transportation data.
For more information about hosting or attending this free event, contact jim.oneill@gewi.com
AVIATION
1) FAA Issues Advisory Circular for Bird-Tracking Radar
There seems to be an intermittent problem with Google Groups in which some of you, some of the time, receive multiple copies of the TCN. This problem appears to be on Google’s end and is not because you are on the list more than once or because I’m sending the newsletter more than once. My apologies for the problem and I hope it will be corrected soon.
The Research and Innovation Technology Administration (RITA) is looking for a highly talented Transportation Specialist with a passion for transportation data and analysis to join the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) as the IntelliDrive Data and Weather Program Manager. This is an opportunity to work on one of the most exciting multimodal programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). Located at the U.S. DOT headquarters in Washington, DC, the ITS-JPO manages, coordinates and supports research programs focused on applying advanced technologies to transform the performance of our Nation’s surface transportation system.
The vacancy announcement closes on Tuesday, September 13, 2010.
The USDOT is seeking a talented transportation leader who can work with all levels of the ITS-JPO staff, high-ranking officials, and others outside the agency to explore the innovative methods of data collection and use of advanced data applications in the transportation environment. A self-starter with expert knowledge of data capture and proven program management principles is a must. Strong coordination and leadership capabilities are needed to be successful in this important role. A mix of strong creativity combined with institutional and technical knowledge is a must. Ability to identify strategic program needs and develop objectives based on Administration and U.S. DOT policy, Congressional direction, and knowledge gained through the national ITS program planning process is required.
The ITS-JPO IntelliDrive Data and Weather Program Manager will manage multimodal programs such as congestion relief, road weather management, and data capture and data management applications to provide technical leadership for state-of-practice and state-of-the-art data collection methods for continuous improvement of our nation’s surface transportation system.
If you know someone interested in this Washington, DC based position that has the experience and proven results in the above requested areas, please encourage them to apply under the attached vacancy announcement. The USDOT is looking for a diverse pool of qualified candidates.
Please keep in mind that the new hiring reforms recently announced by President Obama will shorten the hiring timeline and will eliminate essay-style questions during the initial application submission. Therefore please spread the word about this exciting opportunity and encourage anyone interested to apply quickly.
The Research and Innovation Technology Administration (RITA) is looking for a highly talented Transportation Specialist with a passion for transportation data and analysis to join the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) as the IntelliDrive Data and Weather Program Manager. This is an opportunity to work on one of the most exciting multimodal programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). Located at the U.S. DOT headquarters in Washington, DC, the ITS-JPO manages, coordinates and supports research programs focused on applying advanced technologies to transform the performance of our Nation’s surface transportation system.
