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The Morning Dig: The Secrets of the “No-Fly” List

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Airport Security• Just how is the U.S. “No-Fly” list (which has nearly doubled in size since Christmas) created? The AP investigates. (AP)

• In other airline news, the TSA’s new fines for keeping passengers on the runway for more than three hours have brought about a classic unintended consequence: Continental is saying it will cancel flights rather than risk the fines, meaning even more problems for travelers. (AP)

• Israel and Syria finally agree on something: Both countries decidedly want their own nuclear power. (JTA)

• Slate wants you! Show off your brilliant ideas for creating a cheaper, more energy-efficient human existence by participating in “The Efficient Life” contest. (Slate)

• Seattle’s Community Transit, which serves most of the city’s northern suburbs, is shutting down completely on Sundays, after a vote by the Community Transit Board. So what will happen to people who need to get to work that day? (Seattle Transit Blog)

• High speed rail promotes social cohesion? A European study on locations with accessibility may offer key insights  into the American HSR network’s likelihood of success. (Brookings Institute)

• Nord Stream engineers hit a treasure trove of European History: A 1,000 year old Viking vessel is found, but there are no plans to raise it, as well as a number of other ships. (Der Spiegel)

• The growing pains of Spain’s solar industry are exemplified in the town of Puertollano. (New York Times)

• Communities around the country are pulling out all the stops to land Google’s fiber optic network.  In particular, Greenville, South Carolina is feeling lucky. (LA Times)

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The Morning Dig: Will Nuclear Weapons Power Our Homes?

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

TVA is expecting a new power source. • Old nuclear weapons are heading south — to South Carolina, to be exact — for retirement.  And the plutonium within these weapons could potentially power Tennessee — assuming we process it successfully. (Newsweek)

• The policies that created urban sprawl must end: A look at anti-city bias and its impact on development. (Boston Globe)

• A Miami architect is working with a building materials manufacturer to design and provide prefabricated, hurricane-resistant homes for displaced Haitians. (New Urban News)

• Remember that shiny new metro system in Dubai? The city is on track to increase their mass transit population from 6% last year to 30% in 2020. (Trade Arabia)

• Ten top European companies unveiled their plan for a $46 billion super grid for the soon-to-be-tapped-out North Sea.  Wind will play a vital role in powering the U.K., Germany and Norway. (UPI)

• Plenty of sunshine, but how to harness it? Africa has the potential to power itself with an energy resource out of the reach of foreign interests. The only problem is (Global Geopolitics)

• A new bill seeks to address the unending housing mess in the U.S. More than five million homes are still in danger of foreclosure. (New York Times)

• Fan-favorite Tesla makes a Wall Street Journal top ten list. A clutch of SoCal solar companies also get a nod in the paper’s first ever survey of Clean Tech companies. (Wall Street Journal)

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The Morning Dig: Full Body Scanners Cause International Incident

Monday, March 8th, 2010
In need of an overhaul

In need of an overhaul

• Today’s metaphor for America’s decline: The U.S. as LAX.  Thomas Friedman makes a salient point. (Fresno Bee)

• An international incident over full body scanners: A parliamentary delegation of Pakistani officials refused to go through scanners at Washington’s Dulles Airport, instead electing to return to Pakistan. (Press TV)

• The U.S. DOT shut down Tierra Santa Inc., the bus company involved in a crash that killed six people in Arizona last week. The company had a number of shady dealings, including a poor safety record and improper authorization to transport passengers over state lines. (LATimes)

• The fits and starts of Philly’s urban regeneration (Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Time for New Deal 2.0?  American mayors want a remake of the FDR-inspired plan to tackle unemployment and infrastructure problems. (Wall Street Journal)

• A random act of kindness is recognized by a Boston commuter. (Christian Science Monitor)

• If sustainable design wins out, tourists could enjoy a Central Asian Switzerland. (Eurasianet)

• While many in Africa go hungry, foreign countries are increasing their hold on the continent’s arable land for the benefit of their own populations. (Guardian UK)

• Kudos to Bloomington High School South for their “Calories to Kilowatts” program.  The Panthers have a gym that’s absolutely electric. (AP)

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The Morning Dig: HSR Gets Pushed in the Sunshine State

Friday, March 5th, 2010

• Check out the slides from U.S. PIRG Transportation Advocate John Krieger’s presentation at the High Speed Rail 2010 conference in Orlando yesterday. Other guests include Governor Charlie Crist and representatives from Spain and Japan. (USHSR)

• Time has an amazing slideshow of urban destruction (through natural disasters or war) and subsequent rebuilding, including cities from Lisbon to Antigua to San Francisco. (Time)

• Another day, another “American Infrastructure Is Going to Hell” rant. (Atlantic Online)

• American waterworks could benefit from a potential jobs bill. The Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act will use incentives to start water projects and encourage hiring. (MarketWatch)

• Telsa is rolling out a partnership with Tag Heuer in Geneva — though EV-charging infrastructure is still needed to make the cars run like a Swiss watch. (Allcarelectric)

• In often overlooked agricultural news, a thriving organic farm is being recognized for expansion and innovation.  Can such a model be a possible alternative to the industrial farm complex? (Agrinews)

• Members of the Taliban have been uprooted from the tribal region of Bajaur. Journalists can now inspect the war infrastructure that has been left behind. (BBC)

• A Brooklyn meeting about potential (read: inevitable) service cuts in the MTA got out of hand. The meeting turned rowdy, eventually leading to four arrests. (1010wins)

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The Morning Dig: See That Light Rail, Breezing Past the Traffic

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

• Streetfilms goes inside Seattle’s new 13-station Link Light Rail, which opened in mid-2009. (StreetFilms)

• California transportation activist Ken Gosting has drowned in an apparent suicide. A former transportation and emergency services adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown in the mid-1970s, Gosting then successfully lobbied for seat belts in buses. (AP)

• The time has come to rebuild in Haiti. One company is looking to recycle the ruins of Port-au-Prince and replace them with buildings — and this time, they’ll be up to seismic code. (Inhabitat)

• Does this mean the end of dreadful airport lines? Mobile boarding pass sage increased by 1200% in 2009. (Mobilecrunch)

• Caltrans is set to face major lay-offs. Sacramento officials want to cut 1,500 jobs from the “overstaffed” agency. (Sacramento Bee)

• Twelve members of Congress are heading to China, with infrastructure on the agenda. But is it serious business, or spring break? (Washington Post)

• A Dallas native laments the state of the city’s main transportation artery. If only infrastructure could incite the same political passion as illegal immigration. (Dallas News)

• Low cost carriers best the recession: Ryanair and Easyjet have profited during the economic downturn by catering to frugal travelers. (Daily Mail)

• The Department of Energy has enlisted techies to solve America’s energy problems. Here are ten tech companies looking to redesign the country’s energy infrastructure. (Wired)

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The Morning Dig: A Total Ban on Japanese Cars?

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Obama plans for nuclear energy • Mad Cow redux? Republican Senator Mike Johanns from Nebraska has suggested that the U.S. ban Japanese cars entirely until the country’s government guarantees that the vehicles have no defects. (USA Today)

• The green community is incensed at the Obama administration’s claim that nuclear equals clean energy.  Author Ron Pernick labels the revival of nuclear under the clean energy banner as “madness.” (Clean Edge)

• Vice President Biden pitches for Amtrak. Is his direct endorsement of the company walking a fine line of propriety? (Mediaite)

• Bulgaria seeks to build a new nuclear power plant in the border town of Belene — using European Union funds.  Russia has already offered $2 billion, but E.U. energy commissioner Günter Öttinger says the project will find financing from Brussels.  (Sofia Echo)

• Nabucco update:  The E.U. pipeline intended to break Russia’s monopoly on Europe’s natural gas supplies may be less costly due to sinking steel prices.  The project envisions Middle Eastern, Caspian, and Central Asian gas imports flowing into European markets. (Businessweek)

• A bridge to reconciliation?  Turkey and Armenia to rebuild bridge connecting the two countries in a move to reopen relations, which were severed in 1993.  (Hurriyet)

• India looks to court Saudi Arabia to invest in infrastructure.  The Indian energy sector gets top billing in this budding relationship. (Times of India)

• The New Jersey DOT commissioner has proposed placing a toll on Interstate 80.  Public outrage is guaranteed to follow. (NorthJersey.com)

• And New York’s MTA is going through with a heavy round of service cuts, despite vociferous protests. Just what a recession-embattled city needs — cuts in public transit! (NYTimes)

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The Morning Dig: Will San Diego Become an Extension of Vegas?

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

las-vegas-strip• Stay classy San Diego: A group of “big thinkers” in the city are saying it should become part of a mega-region stretching from Southern California to Las Vegas. (Sign on San Diego)

• The biggest private-public partnership in Australia’s history is set to bring more water Down Under. But not everyone is happy about the plans for the proposed desalinization plant — some water experts are calling it a massive waste. (BBC)

• Bad news for employees of the Transportation Department: The agency has announced around 2,000 layoffs, as well as the temporarily halting of construction projects, reimbursements to state governments and highway safety programs. (BusinessWeek)

• Amtrak has kept its promise to install Wi-fi on trains. The catch? It’s only on the Acela, as well as in stations along the Northeast Corridor. (AP)

• Pipeline politics between France and Russia: GDF Suez and Gazprom are hashing out a partnership for gas via the Nord Stream pipeline. (The Moscow Times)

• The U.S. is losing the alternative energy war to China :Plans for renewable sources like wind and solar are far superior in the Middle Kingdom to anything we have here. (Forbes)

• Transport infrastructure for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa looks to be on track — thus far, most of the country’s infrastructure has been overhauled for the event. (Goal.com)

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The Evening Dig: Caterpillar Kicked Out of the Persian Gulf

Monday, March 1st, 2010

vancouver-olympics• With the Olympics over, eyes now turn to the Herculean construction tasks needed to turn the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi Russia into a success. (Kyiv Post)

• Banned in Iran! Caterpillar, one of the leading building equipment companies in the U.S., has ended operations in the Islamic Republic due to political pressure. (WSJ)

• EV carmaker Tesla is now offering leases for its Roadster and Roadster Sport models — $12, 453 up front followed by $1,658 monthly payments is the cost of putting an end to your days of filling up at the pump. (Wall Street Journal)

• A beginner’s guide to Clean Tech in Time magazine, with a focus on the venture capitalists of Silicon Valley. (Time)

• With Greece’s financial infrastructure tumbling, will Hellas drag down the Euro? And what would that mean for European exports? (New York Times)

• Google’s green energy czar (yes, they too have czars) hails progress in new solar technology. The company has developed a mirror technology that could cut solar costs in half. (Reuters)

• The running count of flights grounded in the Northeast due to inclement weather stands at about 2,344. Aaand more snowstorms are on the way. (Bloomberg)

• The quest for the finest Brooklyn arugula? This and more urban farming will be on display in a new film entitled “Truck Farm.” (Grist.org)

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The Morning Dig: What Do You Do When Your City Is Sinking?

Friday, February 26th, 2010

jakarta-palace• Jakarta is sinking: By 2025, the sea level could rise high enough to hit the Presidential Palace in the city center (pictured). So what’s the solution? Time for a new capital city: “If we have a good plan … we can build a city from scratch, like Brasilia in Brazil,” says an expert. (AFP via Yahoo)

• A new documentary will air in Canada tomorrow focusing on the cultural, architectural, and social roles malls have played in North American culture. The title is, appropriately, Malls R Us. (CBC)

• Many (mostly poor) cities across the world are not equipped to withstand a powerful earthquake. It is possible–even likely–that Haiti’s tragedy will be surpassed this century in one of many vulnerable places like Karachi, Tehran, Katmandu, and Lima. (NYTimes)

• Helmut Jahn, the architect who did the O’Hare’s “L” station and its United terminal, as well as Bangkok’s airport and Berlin’s Sony Center, has a mock-up of what a high-speed rail terminal could look like in Chicago. (Tribune)

• A study indicates that high-speed rail in California would reduce the number of passengers at the three Bay Area airports by about six million. (Mercury News)

• And Canada has declared an allergy to cats a disability, which might mean that there will be no more cats on planes. (680News)

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The Morning Dig: Toyota Will Drive You to Work Edition

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

800px-eurostar_at_st_pancras_railway_stationA Eurostar train in London.

• Magnanimity or folly? Toyota will provide free transportation to everyone in the world whose vehicle is involved in the recent recall. In the U.S., that means 2.3 million free rides! (Detroit News)

• Be warned about “appalling conditions” should your Eurostar train encounter trouble, because the company has “no plan” in place to deal with broken down trains. (EU Infrastructure)

• D.C. racked up its worst commute since 9/11 a few weeks ago, but its transportation chief is unfazed: He’s moving to get people out of cars, initiating a pilot bike-sharing program with 1,000 bicycles and 100 stations. (WaPo)

• Envisioning a “healthy” Detroit metro region, a columnist says the city needs to get its act together. Fortunately, it has the support of developers, academics and the Obama administration. (Detroit Free Press)

• Ridership is down more than 15% on Dallas’s DART buses and almost 10% on its Railway Express commuter service. One rider says the buses are “always late” and carry too many “hoodlums.” (Dallas News)

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The Morning Dig: Building a ‘City With a Soul’

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

amman• This morning, the Rudin Center at NYU Wagner and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Councilare hosting a public symposium entitled “Catching the Next Ride: The Potential for Regional Bus Rapid Transit Systems.” The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, New York, NY. (Wagner)

• Amman, Jordan (pictured) is making huge strides towards livability by building functional sidewalks along its hilly streets. The city’s master plan has a great slogan: “A livable city is an organized city, with a soul.” (NYTimes)

• “Unless they go forward on a step-by-step basis, there is a risk the federal HSR money will not be well spent,” says an expert about California’s high-speed rail money. This much is obvious. The real issue is where the rest of that $40 billion is going to come from. (CNN)

• The decline in driving seen in the U.S. over the last two years appears to be over. Traffic congestion is not nearly what it was at its peak in 2007, but is expected to rise again as the economy recovers. (The City Fix)

• Go figure: There is a strong correlation between a city’s population size and its rank on a list of the most congested metro areas. And no city has it as bad as L.A.–only New York comes remotely close. (USA Today)

• Philly’s city controller thinks that by limiting the times at which students can use their free passes on SEPTA will curb insubordination, despite the fact that juvenile crime is down 50% since the passes were introduced. (Philly.com)

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The Morning Dig: “Kickin’ A$$ for the Working Class” Edition

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

74786013Senator Harry Reid stumping for AFGE.

• The American Federation of Government Employees thinks the 40,000 American transportation security officers should have collective bargaining rights. This is politically tricky, as the withdrawal by TSA nominee Errol Southers recently demonstrated. (WaPo)

• In New York, 1,000 MTA workers will lose their jobs as the agency scrambles to make up for budget shortfalls. Says a union rep, “riders are going to pay a heavy price for this philosophy in the case of an emergency.” (Herald Sun)

• In response to 14% unemployment–as high as 35-40% in some trades–Mayor Villaraigosa wants to crunch all of the Measure R transit projects into a ten-year timeline. They were originally scheduled to be completed over the next 30 years. (HuffPo)

• The WSJ calls infrastracture spending in India “a necessary pre-condition for improved productivity.” Necessary transportation and logistics spending are estimated to be around $187 billion, but without making that sacrifice, India will not be able to satisfy its “growth ambitions.” (WSJ)

• Mayor Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan, if approved, will spend $8.5 billion to create or preserve 165,000 affordable homes by 2014, and ensure that they stay affordable for 30 years. (NYTimes)

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The Morning Dig: Government’s Spending Plan on HSR Is a Mistake, Expert Claims

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

government-spending• Is the Obama administration mis-allocating all this money spent on high speed rail? One expert certainly thinks so. (StreetsBlog)

• California’s Gov. Schwarzenegger certainly puts on a good show for high speed rail. But the real question, of course, is whether or not his successor will do the same. (CHSRB)

• How much do variables like human capital, the strength of a creative class, and unemployment rates affect the happiness of cities? (Atlantic)

• When it comes to determining our arrival at peak oil, we may be focusing on the wrong symptoms. (O&G)

• And Philadelphia is moving forward with its waterfront light rail project — though just how useful it will be remains to be seen, particularly when the city is packed with so many other urgent infrastructure needs. (Philly.com)

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The Evening Dig: Three Tesla Executives Killed in Plane Crash

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

O Tejo from Abilio Vieira on Vimeo.

• Who says bike lanes aren’t a good space for innovation? Rather than the typical arrows, this lane in Lisboa displays a poem by renowned Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa. (Via HuffPo)

• A small plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in Palo Alto today, killing three executives at Tesla, the innovative electric car-maker. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was not on board. (Jalopnik)

• On the one-year-anniversary of the stimulus bill, the Wall Street Journal assesses the coming shift to infrastructure spending, and what it will mean for the economy, and job creation. (WSJ)

• What are journalists saying about Obama’s recent shot in the arm for nuclear energy? The Atlantic does a sum-up. (ATL)

• The DOT and FAA have proposed fining American Eagle $2.9 million for operating more than 1,000 flights using planes that had shoddy repairs on landing gear doors. (SeattlePI)

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The Morning Dig: Nevada, Home of Sin City and Radioactive Waste?

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

449px-tour_group_entering_north_portal_of_yucca_mountain• South Carolina’s Governor is preparing to file a lawsuit in an attempt to force President Obama to open a disposal facility for radioactive waste in Nevada, the plans for which were just canned. (Miami Herald)

• Hezbollah’s leader has threatened to bomb Israeli airports and refineries if Israel attacked Lebanon. “The only language Israel understands is that of threats,” he said. (Jordan Times)

• HSR will only work in Florida if it has a more efficient bus system, safe sidewalks, lighted streets, and more bike lanes. (Creative Loafing)

• Central Japan Railway, maker of the Shinkansen, hopes to team up with G.E. to build high-speed rail in Florida. Why not export to China? “They would steal our technology and they would not respect it,” said the company’s chief. (WSJ - Google headline for full article)

• According to one prediction, Vancouver will gain from the Olympics some great green buildings, a rapid-rail line to the airport, and a streetcar service (which is just temporary for now). We’ll see how it holds up…. (Fast Company)

• Unsurprisingly, Greece’s national debt is taking a toll on its infrastructure spending. It can’t claim matching E.U. funds for development without putting up some of its own, while other E.U. nations are trying to draw the line on its spending. (Reuters)

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The Evening Dig: Behold, the Monster Train

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010


• Union Pacific has quietly been setting records, running a “monster” freight train from Dallas to Long Beach. And monster it was: The train’s length was a solid 3.5 miles. (PopMech)

• A car you can take on the train? Custom car-maker Rinspeed has announced the development of the  Urban Commuter, is a custom built electric car that is “designed to be easily loaded on special rail transport cars for long trips.” (CNET)

• Add to the list of massive TSA fails: A developmentally-delayed four-year-old was on his way to Orlando with his parents, to celebrate his birthday at Disney World. To correct his malformed legs, he wears metal braces — a fact that airport security objected to, and demanded he remove the braces and walk on his own through the metal detectors. (Philly Inquirer)

• New life for nuclear? Obama announced today that the federal government has approved a $8.3 billion loan guarantee for construction of two new nuclear reactors in Georgia — though don’t expect construction to start soon, since the reactors are still in the design stage. (NYTimes)

• Score one for New York City’s planned Moynihan Station — the project has received $83 million in federal grant money from the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. (Streetsblog)

• Here’s a classic unintended consequence of the new rule fining airlines for leaving passengers on the tarmac: Airlines simply canceling flights rather than risk having to pay. (Seattle PI)

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The Morning Dig: Sunshine State Blues Edition

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

3tier_wh_solar_irradiance• Gallup-Healthways’ Well-Being Index, which ranks metro areas according to poll responses about physical and emotional health, work environment, and life evaluation, packs a few surprises. Florida has three cities in the bottom ten! (Gallup)

• Amidst talk of a transportation crisis, Texans don’t seem that scared. As compared to education or to health care for the poor, Texans say they’d much rather cut highway funds to trim their state budget deficit. (Dallas Morning News)

• Detroit’s Mayor Dave Bing said at a conference on the city’s future that “Without a doubt, we’ve got to downsize the city,” and market its strengths, such as casinos and the Detroit River. (Detroit News)

• There is renewed hope for Kansas City’s streetcar and commuter rail lines. Its projects look much more competitive through the new federal lens, which takes into account livability and job creation as issues related to transportation. (Kansas City)

• A company that produces “prospecting tools” for alternative energy released one map detailing where solar can best be harvested in the hemisphere and another of global wind energy potential. (GOOD - pic via 3TIER)

• UK Transportation Secretary Lord Adonis rejected the plan to connect Heathrow directly to the country’s planned HSR lines. Conservatives are not having it; check out this graphic to see the difference in plans. (Times Online)

• And “[i]t would be tragic,” writes Bob Herbert, if “the absolutely essential modernizing of the American infrastructure” did not take place — particularly when so many of our bridges are approaching crisis levels. (NYTimes)

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The Daily Dig: Which Country Will Be the Next to Get High Speed Rail?

Monday, February 15th, 2010

train-snowplow• Looks like the answer is…Bulgaria, according to Transport Minister Alexander Tsvetkov, who announced that the country will have HSR in the next three years. (Focus)

• What to do with 31 inches of snow? In Pennsylvania, a steam-powered tourist train came to the rescue. (Hat tip to dplubic) (RYPN)

• Get ready for the electric car invasion! In San Francisco, building codes will soon be changed to require that new structures be wired for car chargers. Could Portland be next? (NYTimes)

• A demolition  boom? Houston currently has 9,000 structures that need demolishing — though lengthy bureaucratic hurdles may by them all some extended life. (Demolition News)

• L.A. is about to open its first new skyscraper in 20 years next week — a 54-story mixed-use skyscraper, which is located adjacent to the STAPLES Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center. (Contract Mag)

• Could eliminating a highway lane and substituting sidewalks or bike lanes help curb obesity in the U.S.? Yes, says Dan Burden, executive director of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute: “When roads slim down, so do people.” (Newsweek)

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The Morning Dig: The Future Is Now! Welcome to Urban Small Vehicles

Friday, February 12th, 2010

jetsons• Forget the SUV: The future lies in the USV (Urban Small Vehicle)! They’ll practically drive themselves, and will help cities generate all their own energy. (American Prospect)

• Houston’s new mayor wants to revamp the city’s transit system to make it more affordable and easier to use. Walkability and the preservation of open space are among the sprawling city’s new priorities. (Houston Chronicle)

• Bombardier may build 406 new train cars for the CTA, which is looking to update its fleet with more energy- and cost-efficient vehicles. (Tribune)

• IBM’s A Smarter Planet blog discusses its implementation of “smart water meters” and the two big contracts the company scored to streamline California’s sewage system. (A Smarter Planet)

• And in Arizona, high school students in one district have Wi-fi access on their bus. This seemed kind of inevitable, didn’t it? (NYTimes)

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The Evening Dig: Rebuilding in Haiti and the Price of Snowmageddon

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

ca-hsr• Rebuilding efforts in Haiti has officially begun — though the news isn’t good: About 20% of the buildings in Port-au-Prince were destroyed, while many of those left standing are so unsafe they may have to be torn down. (WaPo)

• What price, Snowpocalypse? The Virginia Department of Transportation has blown through its $79 million snow-removal budget, as well as an additional $25 million, to keep state trucks and plows on the road. (LA Times)

• Train tracks can be notoriously dangerous for cyclists. But now Seattle’s DOT has found a solution, in the form of signs and street lines that will save even the most inexperienced biker from wiping out. (StreetFilms via Treehugger)

• In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg announced today that the pedestrian malls in Times Square and Herald Square will become part of the permanent landscape. Somewhere, Jane Jacobs may be smiling. (CrainsNY)

• And finally, Gov. Schwarzenegger wasn’t kidding about his support for high speed rail! When there are Twitpics, you know it’s serious. (Twitter)

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