Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
Today’s thread is a follow-on to “Why moving dedicated HSR funds to California rail ‘bookends’ projects is a bad idea.” Interest in creating a Bakersfield-to-Merced commuter-rail service in the San Joaquin Valley, was budding long before California Proposition 1A (the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century) was voted on and … Read more
Fortunately, the news is mostly good: Greenhouse gas emissions in California fell. Transportation is one trouble spot, however – the main one. Speaking directly to this, on Aug. 12, 2019, the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (ARB) released its California Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2000 to 2017: Trends of Emissions and Other Indicators … Read more
Information below is from the “Record-High Share of Californians Concerned About Global Warming Making Wildfires More Severe,” Jul. 29, 2019 Public Policy Institute of California press release. The entire press release can be read here. In the wake of devastating wildfires over the past few years, seven in ten Californians (71%) say they are very … Read more
There’s a proposal floating suggesting taking away dedicated monies from high-speed rail in California’s San Joaquin Valley and rededicating those for passenger rail improvement purposes both in the north and south state. The monies would be used for improving existing Metrolink service between Anaheim and Burbank in southern California and Caltrain in the San Francisco … Read more
Transportation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions could be well on its way to becoming less air-polluting. This could be the greatest thing since sliced bread. An effort dubbed “Our Transportation Future” (OTF), the organizing enterprise showing its support, issued a multi-agency signed letter dated July 29, 2019, addressed to the governors of 12 East … Read more
As it has to do with mobility, there has been much in the media in recent days and with good reason. Here in America, not only is the number of miles traveled up, but so too is the trend: it appears to be non-stop. Effectively, the more people the more aggregate miles there are, whether … Read more
The below Jul. 24, 2019 press release from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. US cities are ramping up their clean energy efforts, notably with stricter energy-saving rules for buildings, but only a few cities appear on track to meet their community-wide climate goals, according to the 2019 City Clean Energy Scorecard, released today … Read more
In many communities contemplating improving local transit service, for them the mode choice is clear: Bus rapid transit or BRT. I have heard BRT described as “light rail transit on the cheap.” Any of these communities would do well to look to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. BRT there was so well patronized – too well patronized … Read more
In the United States, where transportation and land use are concerned, it seems like we’ve come such a long way. But, have we really? While it is true that there have been tremendous advancements made in the transportation field – call these leaps-and-bounds gains, in the area of land use, while there has been much … Read more
Today there’s automobility. What’s next (on the land-transportation-operations horizon), full autonomobility, that is, driverless control? On the surface, that notion sounds quite oxymoronic. At any rate, we’ll just have to wait and see. When the Hawaii Area Rapid Transit’s HART light rail system comes online, that time projected to be a little more than a … Read more