Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
May is always a good time to talk transportation. Amtrak, the national passenger rail carrier, as of May 1st has offered rail-based passenger service in the 48 contiguous-states region of the U.S. for 46 years. May, apparently, is a good time, too, to bike, the month being designated National Bike Month. Meanwhile, this year National … Read more
There is this old saw: “If it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.” All well and good if it can be determined unequivocally if some “thing” is working properly and therefore is not in need of fixing. To toot my own horn, that’s a pretty good analysis if I do say so myself. This is not … Read more
Background California’s transportation system, which consists of highways and roads totaling more than 175,000 miles, is valued at around $1.5 trillion. The Golden State, moreover, has north of 500 transit agencies, 12 major ports and an 800-mile total high-speed rail system now under construction. There is more to the state transportation network, so much more. … Read more
June 16, 2017 will mark two years since construction on California’s planned total 800-mile high-speed rail system got underway. It could be year 2033 when the entire project is completed or 18 years from start to finish. Progress-wise, in getting to where the program is now, wasn’t easy. High-speed rail finally made it as a … Read more
As with air quality, when it comes to infrastructure, condition matters. So, right now, according to one measure – the one just out Mar. 9, 2017: the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “2017 Infrastructure Report Card,” condition-wise, overall, America’s infrastructure got a D+. A serious situation: make no mistake. So, what is going on here? In … Read more
In case you are not aware, the city of Fresno in California’s interior Central Valley, a metropolis whose residents number a half-million and who breathe some of the poorest quality air in the United States, has four major transportation projects going on simultaneously. These are: The Q: A 15.7-mile bus rapid transit install Midtown Trail: … Read more
Everyone’s entitled to have an opinion. Heaven knows, I have my own – on many issues. However, there is a huge difference between informed opinion and just the spouting off at the mouth type sans having any substance to back up what one opines on. One of my all-time favorites has to do with the … Read more
Ozone exceedances in the San Joaquin Valley in California’s interior, preliminarily speaking, in 2016 numbered 88. This is six exceedances more than the year before. 2015’s numbers are preliminary also. The ozone season in the Valley roughly lasts from March through October. So, why the increase? Keep in mind that a big part of the … Read more
In less than a month the construction activity on the California high-speed railroad project will have been underway exactly one-and-a-half years on Dec. 16, 2016. Four days earlier, yet another milestone will be reached: Amtrak California’s Capitol Corridor service will celebrate 25 years in operation. Capitol Corridor trains began service on Dec. 12, 1991. Trains … Read more
‘When I’m mobile’ … People are locomotive creatures. No, really. There is a sort of restlessness about us in that we are not one, generally, to be sedentary for too long a time. We are mobile beings, admittedly, and this not-always-wanting-to-be-in-one- (or the-same-) spot inclination, (our need or desire) to get out and about has … Read more