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Monthly archive for July, 2010
The Week in High Speed Rail: China Has HSR, But At What Cost?
Friday, July 30th, 2010
A news segment on improving the rail service from New York to Montreal. • China needs around $118 billion to complete the 3,700 miles of HSR projects it has planned by 2012. Last year alone, the country used 20 million Read more ›
Now at JFK: A Virtual Smarter City
Friday, July 30th, 2010
Headed through JFK? You can now stop on your way to the pre-boarding Starbucks and spend some time learning about the Smart Cities project. IBM has come up with an interesting new way to get people involved with their smart-energy/building/transportation Read more ›
The Morning Dig: A Very Funny Stephen Colbert Segment on Trains
Friday, July 30th, 2010
The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Is It Possible to Go Truly ‘Off the Grid’? A Guest Post
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Scott Huler is the author of “On the Grid: A Plot of Land, an Average Neighborhood, and the Systems That Make Our World Work.” First, let me explain how I roughed up the Amish. When I discuss On the Grid, Read more ›
Finding Alternatives to the Gas Tax: The Pundits Discuss
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com Just what are we going to do about the seeming-immovable gas tax and the increasingly-bankrupt Highway Trust Fund? Infrastructurist editor Melissa Lafsky hit the Fox Business studio to make the case for finding creative Read more ›
Driverless Cars Make Maiden Voyage Across Asia
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
It’s an idea that’s emerged from the depths of sci-fi to become a nearly-mainstream reality: the completely driverless car. Computerized, driver-free cars have been popping up at car shows over the last few years, complete with laser sensors that can Read more ›
The Morning Dig: The Story of One Dangerous Georgia Highway
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know. • John Larson has a great video on how many roads are hazards for pedestrians; he focuses on one highway in Georgia. • New York’s MTA may be raising subway fares Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Why China is Investing in Brazil
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
• China is investing billions of dollars in Brazil, partly to gain political influence in Latin America. (WashPost) • 152 people are dead in a plane crash in Pakistan. (AP) • The New Yorker has a great article on Moscow’s Read more ›
The Morning Dig: New Yorkers, Are Your Trains On Time?
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
• Although authorities say 95% of the 3 New York City area commuter rail systems are on time, the New York Times takes a closer look at the data, and talks to actual riders. (NYT) • A new bridge is Read more ›
Should We Scrap the Gas Tax and Simply Have More Tolls?
Monday, July 26th, 2010
For the past 50 years, we’ve been relying on the gas tax to pay for U.S. roads, bridges, tunnels, and more. And as we’ve been reiterating for, well, ever since this blog was launched, that method of payment is no Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Are You Civil on the Subway?
Monday, July 26th, 2010
• In Washington, increasing Metro congestion is leading to anger vented at “seat hogs.” (WashPost) • The Twin Cities and Seattle are working to solve their traffic issues. (USAToday) • U.S. transit systems are facing budget problems that need to Read more ›
The Week in High Speed Rail: The Concorde of the Rail
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
• A sleek new train has been unveiled by British design company Priestmangoode. At 400 meters long, it’s designed to travel at 225 mph. (Business Insider) • Europe is jumping on the bandwagon: Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are all Read more ›
The World’s Sexiest Parking Garage
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Leave it to Miami to build the world’s most extravagant parking garage. Located in Miami Beach, the uber-garage at 1111 Lincoln Road boasts seven stories of open-air floors, an all-glass rooftop restaurant, and a soon-to-be-completed penthouse residence. Bloomberg reports: This Read more ›
The Morning Dig: The Battle Between Freight Rail and High-Speed Rail
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
• America’s freight-rail network could be adversely affected by the adoption of many high-speed rail lines. (Economist) • Some U.S. airports are turning into “multi-modal” transport hubs. (USAToday) • The recession is increasing the number supercommuters, who spend hours in Read more ›
Just How Bad Is the Summer Air Quality in Your City?
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
CLICK TO ENLARGE So far, this year is the hottest year on record, and last month broke records for the warmest June. All of which makes it the perfect time to take a look at the state of our air Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Attaching a ‘Plant Room’ to Your Apartment
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
• A video depicts a radical new idea out of New Zealand — installing a “Plant Room” to the exterior wall of apartment buildings. • The families of the victims of a plane crash have joined together and lobbied to Read more ›
The Hidden (And Massive) Costs of Letting Our Roads Deteriorate
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
We’ve argued that a compelling reason to raise the gas tax (which is still absurdly low) is that it’s actually costing drivers money to keep it so low — more specifically, the damage being done to roads from inadequate maintenance Read more ›
When Will NextGen End Air Travel Delays? A Guest Post
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
This is a guest post by David Melcher, a retired Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and the President of ITT Defense and Information Solutions. This afternoon at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow in London, I had the pleasure of Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Do You Know Where Your Stimulus Is?
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
• Some of the money from the Recovery Act is being used to promote it, mostly in the form of large signs next to many of the fundedprojects. (ABCNews) • Housing activity in the U.S. has reached its lowest point Read more ›
When Transportation and Religion Collide: Muslim Ads on the Bus
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Politics and infrastructure are bound to collide in innumerable ways. On a metaphysical level, the two have nothing in common — one is a body of ideas resting on a set of subjective principles, the other is, well, a set Read more ›
