• Of America’s more than 100,000 licensed architects, only 1.7% are black, and only .2% of them are them are black women. What? (Architect Magazine)
• Wisconsin is the 20th state to ban texting while driving, with first offenses carrying fines of $400. It’s hard to quantify a life lost by an irresponsible driver; is this a reasonable amount? (ABC)[SButtonZ button="digg"]
• The total estimated cost for the replacement tunnel for Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct is now at $3.1 billion, adjusted up about $60 million with more accurate projections made possible by design plans now 15% complete. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• New York will experiment with electronic tolling on its Henry Hudson bridge, eliminating gates that force drivers to stop for E-ZPass and automatically mailing toll bills to those who don’t subscribe to the service. (NYTimes)
• A county rep in the Detroit area said that every $1 invested in mass transit produces a $6 return. Detroit leaders are in talks to produces “a true new mass transit system.” (WWJ)
• In each New York subway car, there’s an emergency brake cord that’ll stop the car. But on the “Emergency Instructions,” the first order is “Do not pull the emergency cord.” Hmm… (NYTimes)
• And a hat tip to Aaron Naparstek, who is stepping down as the editor-in-chief of the excellent Streetsblog. He will continue blogging at www.naparstek.com. (SB)
Tags: Driving Safety, Tolls
The cost of the Seattle viaduct-replacement tunnel went up, but the cost of one of the entrances went down, so there was no net change in the cost.
The change proposed at the Henry Hudson bridge is actually quite significant. The merge after paying tolls is especially bad – I know this well since I pass over this bridge every day. However, I am skeptical that they will be able to track down the owner of the cars without EZPass for billing purposes.
I realized my fellow subway travelers were pretty dumb, but I didn’t realize they were that dumb. It’s an “Emergency Brake!” It stops the train!