APTA Study: Mass Transit Could Save D.C.-Area Commuters $9,500 a Year

March 9, 2009 at 6:55 pm

Metro SmarTrip Card(Source: APTA via News Channel 8)

WASHINGTON – Taking public transportation could save D.C.-area residents an average of $9,500 a year, according to a new report. 

The American Public Transportation Association study based its report on the average gas price for March 5, 2009 ($1.93), and unreserved parking space rates from 2008 (an average of $143 per month). 

D.C. ranks 8th in the nation for savings for public transit users, the study found. 

 

“I don’t have a car — I take public transportation everywhere,” said one woman.

“Every day I take the Metro; I take the train; I take the bus — a car around here is really not worth it at all,” said Brandin Dechabert, a commuter.

The savings assumes the household gives up one vehicle, including the cost of insurance. That’s based on an average of 15,000 miles traveled by year.

 

Average Monthly Cost Savings

City

Monthly Savings

Annual Savings

1 Boston

$1,036

$12,428

2 New York

$1,032

$12,390

3 San Francisco

$960

$11,516

4 Chicago

$875

$10,497

5 Philadelphia

$861

$10,333

6 Seattle

$856

$10,274

7 Honolulu

$836

$10,033

8 Washington

$794

$9,530

9 San Diego

$772

$9,268

10 Minneapolis

$766

$9,198

11 Cleveland

$755

$9,064

12 Portland

$749

$8,988

13 Denver

$734

$8,811

14 Baltimore

$720

$8,635

15 Los Angeles

$701

$8,416

16 Miami

$685

$8,222

17 Dallas

$681

$8,169

18 Las Vegas

$675

$8,105

19 Atlanta

$669

$8,033

20 Pittsburgh

$630

$7,556

 

 Table:  Top 20 cities with the highest transit ridership in order of transportation savings based on the purchase of a monthly public transportation pass (not offered on Metro) and factoring in local gas prices and the local monthly unreserved parking rate.

Click here to read the entire article.

Webinar Alert: Transportation for America webinar series to examine transportation’s impact on impacts on our housing and job markets, public health, energy needs, climate, economic competitiveness

March 9, 2009 at 5:51 pm

(Source: Transportation for America)

Do you know how transportation policy affects housing? Oil? Climate? Economic opportunity?

Here is your chance to find out.

Transportation is the second biggest federal discretionary spending category — second only to defense spending. Where and how we choose to invest in transportation will have deep impacts on our housing and job markets, public health, energy needs, climate, economic competitiveness, and nearly every other pressing issue facing our country today.

To better understand and examine these connections Transportation for America will be holding a series of online discussions throughout March, April and May with several of our key partners.   Hear from experts about how reforming federal transportation spending is connected to meeting our urgent national goals of reducing America’s oil dependency, helping the nation compete and thrive in the 21st century, and bringing opportunity to all Americans.

The first four sessions are open now, so visit the webinars page to see the list of sessions and sign up for one today. Open sessions include:

Transportation and Economic Opportunity

Speakers will explore how the transportation sector drives the economy and creates opportunities for American workers. Topics will include the transportation sector’s ability to create jobs and sustain global growth, and the use of transportation as a driver of neighborhood revitalization.

March 19th at 1 PM EST / REGISTER NOW

Transportation and Social Equity

Social equity activists, labor groups, and community development professionals will examine how transportation access and mobility affects basic needs such as healthcare, education, and economic opportunity for millions of Americans.

March 24th at 4 PM ESTREGISTER NOW

Transportation, Climate Change, and Energy Security

Within the United States, transportation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Webinar attendees can learn how various modes of transportation impact the environment and energy security, and how our land-use patterns affect vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and air quality.

April 2 at 2 PM / REGISTER NOW

Transportation, Housing, and Development

Real estate development professionals and affordable housing advocates will explore the linkages between transportation and housing development, the shift in housing and real estate preferences and value, and the creation of affordable mixed-use development near jobs and transit.

April 16 at 4 PM EST / REGISTER NOW

Transportation and Public Health and Safety

Transportation influences the health and safety of communities by affecting physical activity levels, traffic speeds, and air pollution. This session will investigate the needs of paratransit and transit-dependent populations, the success of Complete Streets and non-motorized transportation programs, and the connections between transportation and active living.

Transportation in Rural Areas and Small Towns

Click here to read more

Should the U.S. institute a vehicle scrapping plan?

March 9, 2009 at 3:19 pm

End of the British Motor Industry

 (Source:  Autobloggreen)

Last month, Germany reported a shocking 21 percent improvement in auto sales, and the greatest driver in the uptick was a used vehicle scrapping plan that pays drivers 2,500 euros ($3,150) to remove their old car from the road. With new car sales in most other countries down by at least that much, it was widely speculated that other governments would look closely at Germany’s new system to see if it would be worth adopting in their areas.

An opinion piece at Automotive News (sub. req’d) suggests that it’s time for the United States to implement its own vehicle scrapping program. President Obama’s recently-passed economic stimulus plan does contain provisions that are intended to help spur new vehicle sales, but has nothing as dramatic as what’s been enacted in Germany. 

Click here to read the entire article.

California may drop CO2 waiver request if national standard implemented

March 9, 2009 at 3:07 pm

(Source: Autobloggreen)

California Air Resource Board chairwoman Mary Nichols told an EPA hearing last week that the state would consider withdrawing its request for a waiver allowing it to regulate carbon dioxide. Before that happens though a national standard needs to be put in place. If such a standard were established it would make automakers much happier. Currently, 13 other states have adopted the proposed California mandate. The problem is that the California rule establishes average CO2 emissions requirements for an automaker’s entire fleet, much like CAFE does for fuel economy. 
With CAFE, the entire sales volume for an automaker is averaged across the country. If CO2 is regulated at the state level, even though each state has the same standard, automakers have different sales mixes in different states. An average would have to be calculated for the sales in each state. In states more where a greater number of larger, heavier emitting vehicles are sold, automakers may have difficulty meeting the averages while sales in other states where more smaller cars are sold could not be used to offset those. 

 

Click here to read the entire article.  (Video: Mary Nichols, talking about fuuture of climate regulation)

H2 fuel cells beat the pants off of battery-powered cars – says proponent Sandy Thomas

March 6, 2009 at 8:54 pm

 (Source: Autobloggreen)

At the American Council on Renewable Energy’s RETECH conference and expo last week, I was able to listen to a few presentations on renewables and transportation. It’s always interesting to hear about the auto industry from people on the outside, and the RETECH presentations lived up to expectations. I’ll be writing about a few of them this week. 

The most full-throated defense of hydrogen vehicles I heard was issued by Sandy Thomas, president ofH2Gen Innovations, during the “Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Advanced Engines” panel. H2Gen is mostly interested in stationary hydrogen production stations, but Thomas believes that hydrogen is the one right propulsion system for vehicles, since nothing else will meet America’s greenhouse gas emissions, energy independence, and clean air targets. He had the presentation to prove that H2 cars beat battery vehicles, too, and was willing to share his slides with AutoblogGreen readers. You can read them all in the gallery below (there’s a reason we try to post items like this at the end of the day, when we think you’ll have time to indulge a bit). I’ve also written up some more of what Thomas said after the jump. 

Gallery:RETECH 2009: Hydrogen presentation from Sandy Thomas

Click here to read the entire article.

The 20 Most Traffic-Congested Cities In America – The Google Earth View

March 5, 2009 at 8:22 pm

(Source:  Jalopnik)

Another gem from our brilliant folks at Jalopnik/Gizmodo.  Read the article below and don’t forget to drop your comments at the parent site. 

From New York to San Bernardino, drivers in America’s cities live in their cars. Below we use Google Earth to take an in-depth look at the intersections of the nation’s 20 most traffic-congested cities.

The good news is 2008 saw a major decrease in traffic, with drivers in the 100 largest metropolitan areas dealing with a 29% decrease in congestion on average. The bad news is we’re seeing it because of an increase in gas prices, which led to less driving and more carpooling, and a decrease in jobs, which led to more people sitting on the couch hoping their unemployment doesn’t run out so they can afford to keep their benefits. It’s a vicious circle. Much like the pain we’re seeing in these community-by-community breakdowns of the most congested intersections in these 20 most congested metro areas.

Click the images below to view traffic information on each city up close

 

1. Los Angeles 2. New York 3. Chicago 4. Dallas Fort Worth
5. Washington, D.C. 6. Houston 7. San Francisco 8. Boston
9. Seattle 10. Minneapolis-St. Paul 11. Philadelphia 12. Atlanta
13. Phoenix 14. Miami 15. San Diego 16. Denver
17. Baltimore 18. San Jose 19. Detroit 20. Riverside-San Bernardino

 

Though traffic does correlate to population rank, with the top four metropolitan areas also in the four worst cities for traffic, there are some anomalies. The Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria area is only the eighth most populous region in the country but is the fifth worst when it comes to traffic due to its high capacity of employment in the area and the lack of good housing stock for middle class families within “The Beltway” area.

Click here to read the entire article.  

Related Forbes article.

MIT takes on global transportation challenge

March 4, 2009 at 8:51 pm

New initiative to pioneer 21st century solutions via greater coordination and interdisciplinary collaboration

(Source: MIT News)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology today launchedTransportation@MIT, a coordinated effort to address one of civilization’s most pressing challenges: the environmental impact of the world’s ever-increasing demand for transportation. Building on MIT’s rich tradition of engineering research and interdisciplinary collaboration, the new initiative will knit together the wide-ranging, robust research already under way at the Institute and create new opportunities for education and innovation.

The program’s creation comes as the global movement of people and things becomes increasingly unsustainable — a problem that cannot be pinned on any one mode of transport. Two-thirds of the world’s petroleum consumption is taken up by transportation-related needs. Projections indicate that demand for petroleum, if unchecked, may outstrip supply within a few decades, while carbon dioxide output across the globe could triple by 2050.Modern Gate

“The global transportation challenge is as multi-faceted as a problem could be, and it is hard to think of an institution better equipped to tackle it than MIT,” said Dean of Engineering Subra Suresh. “By coordinating our own efforts and leveraging connections among faculty across our schools — from researchers exploring efficient new fuels to those studying transportation as a system to those rethinking how our cities are organized — we can make important and innovative contributions and encourage the rapid development of new ideas in sustainability, technology, business practices, and public policy related to all modes of transportation.

Click here to read the entire article.