Opinions on Atlanta's Transportation Future in AJC

From the November 3rd Edition of the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Urban planners say traffic congestion can't be eliminated simply by building roads. Atlanta's decades-long love affair with more and bigger highways has proved them correct. Wider highways increase capacity, which encourages sprawl, generating more traffic, and pretty soon those wider highways are clogged with traffic.

The study, Commuting in America III, by the Transportation Research Board comes as state and federal transportation agencies are considering a slate of major new projects intended to alleviate traffic congestion in metro Atlanta, such as expanding I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties. Several scenarios are proposed for the project, some of which include positive elements such as increased use of bus rapid transit and new transit stations to serve these buses.

But one serious failing in the expansion proposal is the lack of rail-based projects. The stability provided by rail infrastructure can fundamentally change metro Atlanta's land-use patterns, allowing the region to proactively guide growth, rather than react to it. As long as Atlanta builds roads rather than rails, we will always be a step, or more, behind our transportation problems.

Even more troubling, however, is that the scenarios call for adding as many as eight lanes to I-75, creating 23-lane-wide portions of concrete —- wider than the length of a football field.


These new lanes will do little or nothing to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. And in a twist that shows just how foolish our transportation planning has become, the new lanes will end at the junction of I-75 and I-285, one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the country, as the commuting study identified. All the vehicles in the new lanes will have to rejoin the existing lanes, making the bottleneck even worse. Further, the proposal also calls for between four and six new lanes elsewhere in the 75/575 project area. None of these additional lanes will solve the congestion problem. They will just relocate it, and probably make it worse.

The public will have a critical opportunity to weigh in on the I-75/ I-575 proposal when the draft environmental study is released this year.

From my ZipCar newsletter...

"We dedicate this portion of the newsletter to honor our Prius Pluto. Given the recent astronomical downgrading from planet to "dwarf planet," we were in a bit of a pickle over what to do about our own dear Pluto. Some thought that he should be downgraded to "go-cart" status. Others have suggested that we bronze him in living memory of the "planet" that never was. However, our little hybrid Prius Pluto has been more of a friend to Earth and Mother Nature than any other planetary name-sake (ahem, Mercury) and for that, we'll just let him be. Please take a moment to salute our pal, Prius Pluto."

Obviously the reason why bike accidents happen...

...is because they haven't seen this!



yes, i just learned how to embed video...sorry

Tufty the Traffic Safety Squirrel

Check out Tufty.



Squirrels may not be sustainable...but they take their safety seriously...take that nhtsa!

Squirrel Cars...they do exist!

You can read about the adventures of Squirrel Car on Dynagirl's website.

no joke.

Multimodal near-tragedy

I'd just gotten off the bus, was walking across the street, in the crosswalk, guided by the white man. There was a movement to my left and I realized that a car from the opposing approach had just slammed on the brakes in the middle of his left turn and was now mouthing, "Oh shit!"

He hadn't seen me.

He should have been paying attention.

Some four hours later, I was biking home from Spakalina and Gnome's after a rousing African-English documentary featuring a few Russians and supplemented with German subtitles. Insanity. But anyway. Suddenly a long, dark, shallow mass is in front of me. I grimace when I see the bushiness of his red tail and my heart clenches with dread as I instinctively swerve to the left.

I hadn't seen him.

My headlight should have been higher. I should have been paying attention.

At least my squirrel was already dead.

Bubba kickin'it Hybrid-Style

President Bubba will soon by cruising in the rear bucket seats of a "Presidential Edition" Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV. Thy president's pimped ride comes with fold-down desks so bubba can take his work on the road - but don't worry, there are also DVD players installed in each seat and a fridge so he can kick-it with some cristal.

FYI the Hybrid SUB gets a whopping 33 mpg. Simply whopping.

Skyscraper Attack!

Oh Loudon County, How Might Ye Grow???

With horses tails, and farms, open-air, or with houses all in-a-row?

With Loudon County, VA's Board of Supervisors shifting back and forth of "PRO GROWTH" and "I LOVE FARMS/HATE SPRAWL/GET OUT OF MY COUNTY" it is interesting that the tally was so close in a vote on a compromise to limit growth in the rural west part of the county. But oh-my!

What exactly was the vote on?

-->Limiting growth to larger lot sizes....5-10 acres

What do bigger lots mean?

-->Less density.

What is a characteristic of less-dense transportation?

-->Not transit friendly.

Are people in Loudon all commuting to DC anyways?

-->Well, maybe at least to Fairfax County.

Well...the whole thing may go to the silt pond yet...90 minutes after the vote was successful, they put a hold on the actions pending a legal assessment.

An observation made by the good ole WP:

-->The law may have been purposefully structured weakly so that they could tell the farm-lovin constituents that "they tried" but that it was the courts fault for overturning it, not theirs...while still getting their campaign contributions from the developers.

Says one developer:

"A taking is occurring here in this county. It's a taking of private property, which is destroying part of the value of our property. It has to be stopped. And we will, by God's grace, we will stop you."

Don't worry, they still want your campaign contributions...something will be done.

Oh Arlington...being rich and influential can be so much fun!

Wasn't BRAC supposed to save the government beaucoup bucks??? Muchos dinero???? lots-o-lira???? Then why are the feds paying a rich county like Arlington, Virginia $900 Million for the pain of losing a few thousand jobs? Isn't the whole reason why they relocated to Ft Belvoir so they could sprawl out on land at the expense of taxpayers paying for the roads and traffic out there? Arlington is not one of the military counties, totally fiscally dependent on their military jobs...what the government leaves, others will swoop in quickly to take its place. Its a cool place - not nowhere, NV where these alignments are really hurting communities. What a waste.

Tunnel tunnelledddd

Yesterday Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) met with the Federal Transit Administration about the Dulles Metrorail Project (the Silver line) that would extend out to the airport.

The troubled project had recently taken a 'turn down another road' when a panel formed by the American Society of Civil Engineers recommended a deep, single-bore tunnel through the Tyson's Corner area of the project - easing traffic woes associated with contruction, and the wide, pedestrian-unfriendly median crossings of VA 7 along Tyson's Corner.

Problems?
->A total of $110 million dollars (at least) had already been spent just engineering the above-ground, non-tunneling option around Tyson's Corner

->Umm...the tunneling was going to cost a lot more than the above-ground option and the whole project could tank should wacky soil be found at that depth (no bores have been done that deep)

->FTA evaluates things based on cost-benefit....the elevated cost would make the C/B skyrocket above any sort of normal FTA project. Why do we care about FTA? They dole out the federal bucks to help through their New Starts program.

Result
-->Gov. Kaine decided to nogo the tunnel after meeting with FTA. Nonetheless, lots of money and time has been wasted with the indecision, especially to end up with the same result...a result that could have been predicted (based on FTA requirements) before the whole project was put in limbo.

Opinion
Would I like a tunnel? Sure - there are numerous benefits to tunnelling through Tyson's Corner...plus who would get off at Tyson's if they actually saw what it looked like before disembarking? Then again...I would rather that the thing get built at all, and the way the FTA is working so tight with their money, it is probably best economically to move forward with the above-ground option. My solution would be to allocate 5% more of the highways budget to transit new starts projects, that would solve tons-o-woes, ay?


Read about it in the Washington Post

Sorry JJ - My Facebook Newsfeed

So the new facebook layout includes a newsfeed of any and all changes made by your "friends"....what I found out about my "friends" today is:

-Three joined an "official petition to facebook" group (on facebook) against the newsfeed
-Three others joined different (although I am sure equally as dedicated) groups in honor of the deceased croc hunter, Steve Irwin:
A tribute to Steve Irwin, The Croc Hunter
Crikey!: A Memorial to the Crocodile Hunter
In Memory of Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin

Also in an odd coincidence - one friend joined the southpark group and added it to his favorite lists of tv shows while one removed it from his groups....I guess today is Wed. already? Crikey, the week is almost over!

BRAC on CRACK - says VA

From the Washington Post:

In reference to the Army's apparant poor transportation planning:

Fairfax Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee) said he was asked at a recent community meeting what the Army was thinking when it formulated plans for Belvoir. "My reply then and now is, 'I don't have evidence that they were thinking.' "

Contentment Without a Car

(from 9/3/06 Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/02/AR2006090200144.html)

The above article discusses a MUST READ book: "How to Live Well Without Owning a Car" by Chris Balish.
" In the three years he's been without a car, Balish said he's saved $36,926.

Here's how he broke it down for me:
· $17,822 in car payments

· $5,054 in car insurance premiums

· $8,400 in gas

· $3,600 in parking (at work and at home)

· $1,800 in repairs

· $250 in car washes and oil changes

The average annual cost to own a car is $8,410, including car payments, insurance, gas, oil, car washes, fees, taxes, parking and repairs, Balish reports. The average American spends 18 cents of every dollar earned on transportation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2003 Consumer Expenditure Survey. "

I really should sell my car! Although.. I hardly drive it so gas cost is minimal, repair costs average a few hundred a year, I wash it once every two years, and my insurance is only a few hundred a year, so.. For now it's easier to hang onto it for those once in awhile trips. I bet if I did the math, I'd be better off renting a car, so at this point it's only laziness that's stopping me from selling...

Puppets no longer 2nd class citizens!

For far too long puppets have been discriminated against, unable to travel freely without fear of being run over or stomped on. No more! One clever Chi'town saint invented a way for puppets to travel via bicycles.


(Unfortunately, the puppets were asleep at the time of picture taking.)

Even the Reeses Pieces man is excited about this one.

Car Sharing Expands in DC Area

Ok, so the picture does not have to do with car sharing so much as car pooling ... but I thought it was funny anyways.

The Washington Post today covered a few tidbits about car sharing in the DC area...the major points:

--> Zip car is profitable in all its markets!

I found it odd that Flex Car was not though.

--> More and more businesses are using shared cars for their commercial needs rather than using personal cars or buying business cars

This is especially great for businesses in the city. Since parking is so scarce, many businesses would like to leave the spots for potential customers if they can.

--> D.C. and the Bay Area are the only two markets that have both Zip and Flex car there

I am surprised Boston is not on this list...although most people avoid driving in that city at all costs.

-->FlexCar this year started a partnership with University of Maryland to allow students under the normal required age of 21 rent cars.

This is an AWESOME idea. How many students actually use their cars all the time in school - most of the time they are parked in a giant parking lot unattended (also leading to more car/radio theft since it could be two weeks before the owner even notices ). Parking is a huge issue on many campuses for students, staff, and facultly alike - often competing for spaces through a whack political process. The increased availability of shared cars may also prompt faculty and staff to ponder taking the metro to work as well.

--> Both companies would like to add more cars in Adams Morgan, but the citizens there protest them taking up "free" parking spots that are for residents with reserved spots for a commercial business.

Point taken. I understand both sides of this argument.

This is just getting to be too much.....sigh...

Up to 80 killed when Iranian jetliner catches fire

preceeded by

A Russian plane has crashed in eastern Ukraine minutes after sending a distress signal, killing all 170 people on board, officials said.

and

Nearly 150 people, including many children, are feared dead after a Russian airliner crashed in Siberia.

not to mention at home

Kentucky plane crash kills 49

and on a different mode

Death toll in Zim train crash rises

and

Egyptian train crash kills 58

Six people killed in Spanish train crash

Although nothing really compares to this number:

Iraq civilian death toll neared 3,500 in July
Number apparently is highest since U.S. invasion;

An average of more than 110 Iraqis were killed each day in July

When the tally for civilian deaths in July is added to the Iraqi government numbers for earlier months obtained by the United Nations, the total indicates that at least 17,776 Iraqi civilians died violently in the first seven months of this year, or an average of 2,539 per month.

and I was complaining about moving in the rain....

Luck'o'da'move

So I am supposed to move within the next week. My lease at my new place starts today. I thought instead of putting everything off I would move over labor day weekend. The only time I could find some extra hands to help me move was tonight (it being a holiday weekend and all). Tonight...right in the peak of Ernesto (or what was Ernesto). My luck:

Flash Flood Watch remains in place... Moderate to heavy rains will increase through early afternoon across the Baltimore and Washington region. Significantly reduced visibility is likely in the heavier rain. Ponding water may develop on area roads. Motorists should use caution if out and about today. Gusty winds up to 45 mph will also develop this afternoon as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto begin to move through Virginia.

And if you are interested at what time, EXACTLY, I will be needing to move my furniture from the truck to my new place? Look no further than the very PEAK of all of these graphs. "Definite Rain. Precipitation 100%. 26 mph winds. Thunderstorms.

grumble grumble. at least there is a mexican restaurant around the corner where i can wallow in tequilla after-the-adventure.