Kate Hinds

Top stories on TN:
Florida Allows Texting While Driving, Local Dad Fights to Change That (link)
DC Metro Wants Smarter Fare Card, Including FarePhones (link)
Montana Considers Legal Limit for Marijuana In DUI Laws (link)
Freakonomics Radio: Parking Is Hell (link)

(Photo CC by Flickr user Stephen Rees)

President Obama wants to divert $2 billion in revenue from federal oil and gas royalties over the next decade to pay for research on advanced vehicles. “The only way to really break this cycle of spiking gas prices, the only way to break that cycle for good, is to shift our cars entirely — our cars and trucks — off oil.” (New York Times)

Fayette County officials want no part of a mass transit plan for the Atlanta region. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Since New York's MTA killed the flashing blue lights on its Select Bus Service, there have been longer boarding lines and slower buses. (Capital NY)

A proposed high-speed rail link between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles exurbs is beset by political minefields. (Las Vegas Sun)

Ferry service between Oakland and South San Francisco - launched just nine months ago at a cost to taxpayers of more than $42 million - is only carrying a third of projected riders. (SF Chronicle)

Forbes columnist: now is the time to buy stock in railroad companies. (Link)

A New Jersey State Assembly committee voted to extend its subpoena power over the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (The Record)

Want to attract development to your city? Don't require parking minimums, because they're "an automatic turn-off." (New Haven Independent)

Have a suggestion for Moving Stories? Tweet it to us @TransportNation.

San Francisco will roll out a $7 million bike share pilot program this August. (SF Chronicle)

Not only is Chrysler recalling the 2013 Dodge Challenger, the company is telling owners of the V-6 model to not even drive the car. (Detroit Free Press)

Hours before the Los Angeles Marathon happened, the Wolfpack Hustle -- the largest urban-underground bike race in the world -- took place. (Los Angeles Times)

Column: the Chicago Transit Authority soon will launch a new fare-payment system that affects almost every CTA and Pace rider, although transit officials have yet to fully explain how it will work. (Chicago Tribune)

A NYC artist/cabby secretly recorded passenger conversations and turned the highlights into an audio collage. (New York Times)

A Greyhound bus from New York to Atlantic City turned out to be infested with roaches. (CNN)

Not enough for you? 26 mostly depressing -- but occasionally awesome -- things you could see on public transit. (Buzzfeed)

Hey, 'Breaking Bad' fans: Jesse Pinkman's red Toyota Tercel wagon is for sale. (Jalopnik)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Top stories on TN:
U.N.: Over 1 Million Die In Traffic Crashes Each Year – and Many Are in Poor Countries (link)
DC Metro Says Fare Increase & Loss of Tax Benefit Caused 2012 Ridership Dip (link)
Object Lesson: How Sequestration Could Affect Small Airports (link)

During Sandy a small section of the Atlantic City boardwalk collapsed. (Scott Gurian/WNYC)

The lawyer who handled Chrysler's restructuring has been appointed the emergency financial manager for Detroit. (Free Press)

Rebuild or retreat: while Governor Christie is giving New Jersey coastal homeowners cash to stay put and rebuild, Governor Cuomo is giving New Yorkers generous incentives to walk away. (The Record)

Ship happens: another Carnival cruise vessel is experiencing problems. (NPR)

NJ Transit is getting $144.4 million in disaster relief aid. (Star-Ledger)

Pope transit update: photo of the now Pope Francis on a bus full of cardinals on the same day as his election. (Actualidad y Analisis)

First King Richard, now the plague graves: Archeologists have discovered a lost burial ground during excavations for a massive new rail project in London which might hold the bodies of some 50,000 people who were killed by the "Black Death" plague more than 650 years ago. (Reuters)

The fate of a proposal to build a high-speed rail line connecting Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston may rest on whether North Texas leaders can agree on where to put a station. (Star-Telegram)

Denver's bike share program is expanding. (Denver Business Journal)

Why Phoenix might not survive climate change: "Phoenix is an air-conditioned city. If the power goes out, people fry." (Tom's Dispatch via Salon)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

The World Health Organization says 1.24 million people die each year as a result of traffic crashes, which are the leading cause of death for people between 15 and 29.

The Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, released Thursday, also estimates crashes injure between 20 and 50 million people each year.

Worldwide, the report says pedestrians and cyclists constitute 27% of all road deaths. But "in some countries this figure is higher than 75%, demonstrating decades of neglect of the needs of these road users in current transport policies, in favour of motorized transport."

(The above video, which has hair-raising footage of schoolchildren crossing roads in developing countries, provides ample visual evidence of this.)

There's also a strong link between income and road deaths. While wealthier countries have made progress, the toll is rising elsewhere. "91% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately half of the world's vehicles."

(Read TN's report on the link between income and pedestrian fatalities in Newark, NJ)

from the "Global Status Report on Road Safety"

Africa has the highest death rate per 100,000 residents — 24.1, compared with 16.1 in North and South America. The European Region has the highest inequalities in road traffic fatality rates, with low-income countries having rates nearly three times higher than high-income countries (18.6 per 100 000 population compared to 6.3 per 100 000). The Western Pacific and South East Asia regions have the highest proportion of motorcyclist deaths.

The report says the first step to reducing traffic mortality is a group of laws aimed at drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. Currently, only 28 percent of countries -- covering 7 percent of the world's population -- have laws addressing all of these factors.

Other steps are making road infrastructure safer, ensuring vehicles meet international crash testing standards, and improving post-crash care.

The report was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable arm of Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City.

Read the entire report below.

Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013

Top stories on TN:
The New Pope Rides Public Transit, So Will He Ditch These Old Popemobiles (link)
DC’s Metro Takes Silver Line Plans to the People (link)
NJ Transit Wants $1.2 Billion in Fed Funds for Sandy Recovery, Future Storms (link)
Manhattan Buses Will Have Real-Time Status Updates … A Bit Later than Planned (link)
Private Contractors May Not Be the Answer to Public Transportation Cuts (link)
The Golden Gate Bridge Says Goodbye to Toll-Takers (link)

Montreal subway (photo by Alex Krasavtsev via flickr)

A messy, behind-the-scenes battle is underway in Minnesota over the way the electric car and its gas-powered adversaries are sold. "We’re opposed to electric vehicles not being sold by a franchised dealer, because if manufacturers run the market, it will be far less competitive for customers,” says an auto dealer association president. (Star-Tribune)

Houston's Metro is rolling out smaller size buses on its less-traveled routes. (KUHF)

Pope Francis rode the subway in Buenos Aires. (New York Daily News)

TSA Administrator John Pistole defended the agency's decision to allow knives on planes, saying screeners needed to focus on the threat from explosives. (The Hill)

A software crash shut down Montreal's entire subway system at noon on Wednesday. (Montreal Gazette)

According to census data, more than 1 in 3 U.S. counties are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere. (AP via Businessweek)

Volkswagen has said it wants to be the biggest auto company in the world, but to do that, it must first figure out the U.S. market. (Marketplace)

Ohio's Senate voted to raise the speed limit to 70 mph from 65 mph on rural stretches of interstate. (Plain Dealer)

A bike helmet with turn signals embedded in it. (TreeHugger)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Hoboken Terminal, post-Sandy (photo by NJ Transit via flickr)

New Jersey Transit is putting together a more than $1.2 billion request for federal aid to help it recover from Sandy and prepare for future storms.

Earlier this week, the agency's post-Sandy project list was approved by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, a regional authority that has to sign off on federal funding requests. Of that $1.2 billion request, $450 million is direct cost from Sandy damage. (See photos of the damage here). The remainder would help the agency resist damage from future storms.

The largest chunk of money, $565 million, would go to resiliency funding devoted to upgrading its rail facilities and creating two new storage yards in Linden and New Brunswick. Agency spokesman John Durso Jr. said those yards would be built to withstand a storm at least as strong as Sandy.

The agency doesn't want a repeat of  last year's flooding at storage yards in the Meadowlands and Hoboken, which surprised the agency and damaged nearly a quarter of its rail fleet. According to the NJTPA document, those facilities "will require evacuation in future impending storms."

Speaking Wednesday at a NJ Transit board meeting, executive director James Weinstein said if the Linden yard clears a vetting process, the agency hopes to have it in place as the default safe haven in time for this year's hurricane season.

But that's not all NJ Transit has to do. Included in the project list:

• $194 million to replace wooden catenary poles with steel ones along the Gladstone Line, constructing sea walls along the North Jersey Coast Line, elevate flood-prone substations, and raise signal bungalows
• $150 million to upgrade the Meadowlands Maintenance Complex in Kearny, including building flood walls
• $150 million for flood mitigation at its facilities in Hoboken and Secaucus and to provide crew quarters "to ensure the availability of crews post-storms"
• $26.6 million to improve the resiliency of the Hudson-Bergen light rail and the Newark city subway.

"If you think about it," said Weinstein, "what Sandy has created (is) a billion dollar-plus capital program overnight, basically. And that billion dollar-plus capital program has to be evaluated, implemented, executed and completed, under some very strict guidelines that were enacted by Congress."

Should NJ Transit receive funding from the federal government, work would have to be completed within two years from the date of funding notification.

These are "hard core infrastructure projects," said Weinstein.

But he added that it may not be enough: "whether you can prevent boats from washing up on your bridge, I don't know of an engineering principle that would do that. But what we're trying to do is make sure that the structural integrity of this infrastructure doesn't get undermined in the future."

Top stories on TN:
Video Tribute to Fung Wah: “I’ll Think of You Always with Nostalgia and Fear” (link)
Anti-Islam Ads Return to Muni (link)
Want to Drive a Semi in Montana? Be Prepared to Wait (link)
NY City Council to Albany: We Need Speed Cameras to Keep New Yorkers Safe (link)
Car Sharing, Transit and Bike Access Could Render D.C.’s Parking Minimums Moot (link)

(Photo CC by Flickr user Stephen Rees)

The FAA approved Boeing's plan to fix the Dreamliner's batteries. (AP)

A "technical glitch" caused caused D.C.'s Metro to charge peak fares for an additional hour on Monday morning, affecting about 23,000 riders throughout the rail system. (Washington Post)

A planned streetcar line in New Orleans will run on a shared line - which becomes streetcar-only during "peak" traffic. (Gambit)

Utah wants to get its infamous smog problem under control, but some suburban areas are resisting stricter emissions checks. (Wall Street Journal)

Select Bus Service, New York City's version of "bus rapid transit," falls short of the new standards for fast bus service, according to a transportation think tank. (Capital NY)

How a handful of Detroit drivers are protesting the threat of an emergency manager: by intentionally causing traffic jams. (Jalopnik)

The FAA's sequester-imposed hiring freeze threatens to disrupt the pipeline of new air traffic controllers needed to replace the thousands of workers eligible for retirement. (Politico)

Google acknowledged to state officials that it had violated people’s privacy during its Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users. (New York Times)

Slideshow: after nearly eight decades of dreaming and several years of digging, California's transportation department announced the Highway 1 bypass at Devil’s Slide will open March 25. (Mercury News)

During last month's massive snowstorm, Connecticut's governor tweeted incorrect transit info -- earning a snappy retort from a Metro-North spokesperson. (AP via WSJ)

What lies beneath the Tappan Zee Bridge: a 100-year old shipwrecked coal barge. (Journal News)

Two Boston cab companies have filed a lawsuit against Uber's smartphone service. (WBUR)

BART is expected to begin its second experiment with allowing bikes aboard trains during peak commute times. (SF Examiner)

Please don't pee on an MTA elevator, people. (NY Daily News)

A snowstorm brought travel havoc to England, France and Belgium. (Guardian)

A protestor has been living in a treetop since January to try to block construction of a California highway. (KQED)

Even New York City district attorneys get ticketed. (Capital NY)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Was your heartbeat racing, as fast as your wheels?/ When you flipped over on the Mass Pike, like a clown on a peel (...of a banana)

It was just such fears that led the federal government to shutter Chinatown bus operator Fung Wah earlier this month.

Now, Marc Phillipe Eskenazi has composed a mournful musical tribute to the end of $15 bus service between New York and Boston.

The song, a parody of Bob Dylan's "Farewell Angelina," is filled with gems like:

I'll think of you always with nostalgia and fear / Ian Grossman from the Department of Transportation wants to watch you disappear

But in the back alleys of my mind you've never been so dear / farewell, Fung Wah, your engines may be crazy, but they still got me here.

(via The New Yorker.)

NY City Council members James Vacca, Christine Quinn, and Jimmy Van Bremer (photo by Kate Hinds)

In the wake of several high-profile traffic deaths, key members of the New York City Council are throwing their support behind state legislation that would bring speed cameras to the city.

Speed camera legislation has languished in Albany for years, due in part to the steadfast opposition of Rochester democrat David Gantt, who chairs the Assembly's transportation committee. Most recently, in 2012, the state legislature failed to bring a speed camera bill to the floor for a vote, earning the ire of New York's mayor.

But advocates say it looks like there's more hope this time around: the Assembly bill has over 30 co-sponsors,  it's got strong support in the City Council -- which council speaker (and mayoral candidate) Christine Quinn says stands ready to deliver a home rule message to Albany -- and, perhaps most tellingly, the state assembly has included the pilot program in its 2013-2014 budget proposal.

"Speeding is, tragically, the number-one cause of fatal crashes in New York City," said Quinn. "This is a really significant problem. Anywhere in America, but (especially) in the biggest most congested city in the world, where we have such a pedestrian city -- to lack this type of enforcement...puts people at risk."

"We just need these cameras to help keep New Yorkers safe," she said.

According to city data, in 2011 70 deaths and 4,700 injuries were attributable to speed-related crashes. The New York City Department of Transportation has not released 2012 data yet.

Quinn was joined at a City Hall press conference by fellow council members James Vacca, Jimmy Van Bramer, Steve Levin and Gale Brewer.

The bill is co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Deborah Glick. Under the terms of the legislation, up to 40 speed cameras would be placed at high-risk intersections in New York for a five-year pilot program. Council members said the cameras would not photograph drivers, fines would not exceed $100, and insurance companies would not be notified of violations.

Those provisions may be necessary to sweeten the deal for opponents who say speed cameras are privacy-invading revenue generators. Because for New York City to get the cameras, the capital has to sign off -- and so far it hasn't proven eager to do so.

"This is a classic example where we are in the hands of Albany," said Jimmy Vacca. "I wish this was something we could do at a city level. If we could, we would." He added: "This is not something I view as a revenue-raiser. This is something I view as a lifesaver."

(Side note: New York City does have red light traffic cameras, although they are currently being litigated.)

The bill could also be riding a tide of renewed energy to combat traffic deaths. Recently, the New York Police Department announced it was reforming how it investigates traffic crashes -- which it now refers to as collisions, not accidents.  NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly told a City Council budget hearing Tuesday that the department will add up to 10 new investigators to its collision squad. "One of the challenges we had in setting up this squad is handling the number of accidents that can be handled by the number of people that we have," said Kelly.

That squad currently has 19 investigators.

Previously on TN:
Post-Sandy Repairs To NYC Subway Will Cause Years Of Disruption (link)
With the A Train Gone, Traveling to the Rockaways Becomes Much Harder (link)
After Spate of Traffic Deaths, NYPD Surfaces Long Sought Reforms (link)
NYC Subway Ridership At 62 Year High, Despite Sandy Disruptions (link)

Happy Women's History month: According to New York's MTA, these are the first 12 women hired as toll booth operators at the Queens Midtown Tunnel in 1943. (Photo via New York MTA)

Bike share is coming to Pittsburgh in 2014. (Post-Gazette)

Will Chicago's new fare system unfairly burden the poor? (Chicago Tribune)

Here's a list of the 238 air traffic control towers that could close on April 7 as the FAA imposes budget cuts. (FAA)

House Republicans want the Obama administration to reject a $5.5 billion loan being sought by a private Nevada company to build a high-speed rail link to Las Vegas. (AP via Miami Herald)

The U.S. government sold off nearly half a billion dollars in General Motors stock in February. (Detroit Free Press)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Mega-commuter number crunching dashes some perceptions: "Typically, commuting lengths have been very, very stable in terms of time for the better part of a century." (Marketplace)

Top stories on TN:
How Gender Matters on American Roads (link)
Toll Lanes Touted as Congestion Fix for Central Florida’s I-4 (link)
Old South Ferry Station, Replaced At a Cost of $530 Million, Pressed Back Into Service (link)
FTC Sticks Up for Taxi Apps in Colorado (link)

Public transit ridership is up. (Photo of PATH WTC station by Kate Hinds)

The NYPD is now investigating traffic crashes that result in severe injury, not just death, and they're doing it with a newly renamed unit: it's now the "Collision Investigation Squad," not the "Accident Investigation Squad." (New York Times)
To read about the previous policy, go here.

Mass transit usage rose nationwide in 2012 to the highest numbers since 2008-- despite the massive loss of trips due to Sandy. (USA Today)

Speaking of Sandy: the commute time between the Rockaways has virtually doubled since the storm took out the A train. (WNYC)

Transit crime is down in New York City. (New York Daily News)

Parsing the reasons behind BART delays: aging equipment, police investigations, medical emergencies. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Running buses along the shoulders of highways has proven successful in the Chicago area. (Chicago Tribune)

Thousands of speeding convictions in the U.K. could be overturned because the font used to display the numbers on some variable speed limit signs may not have complied with traffic regulations. (BBC)

NY Senator Charles Schumer wants the TSA to reverse its decision relaxing a ban on small knives on planes. (CNN)

Dubai is building more pedestrian bridges to combat road deaths. (Emirates 24/7)

Worried about climate change? Land Rover's solution: buy an SUV. (Quartz)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Top stories on TN:
NYC Taxi E-Hail Program Delayed (link)
BART Fares and Parking Fees Set to Rise (link)
Bicyclists in D.C. Lobby for Safety (link)
Old Diesel Equipment Still Spewing Soot Into Pittsburgh’s Air (link)

Golden Gate Bridge toll booths (photo by chrisinphilly5448 via flickr)

Manhattan's old South Ferry subway station will be pressed back into service the first week of April. (AP via Wall Street Journal)

Setting clocks back one hour this weekend will generate a 300 million-hour national sleep debt. "In transportation, this lost sleep kills, injures, and costs billions of dollars." (NTSB blog)

Los Angeles harbor commissioners approved a $500-million rail yard that could dramatically boost business but also drive more noise and dirty air into schools, parks and low-income neighborhoods. (Los Angeles Times)

Legal sticky wicket of the day: if a driverless car crashes, who's liable? (NPR)

All-electronic tolling will begin March 27 on the Golden Gate Bridge. (SF Examiner)

The shuttering of Chinatown bus Fung Wah has thrown some long-distance relationships for a loop. (DNA Info)

How much more Williamsburg development can the L train take? "As it turns out, quite a bit." (Observer)

Halting the EE!eeEEE!ee!EEEE!!! train: how to make NYC subway trains quieter. (Narratively)

New York Post opinion: NYC needs to enforce its own traffic laws. "The NYPD gave out 6,458 summons for illegal trucks last year — 29 percent fewer than the 9,098 in 2011." (Link)

Radio alert: tune into WAMU's Metro Connection today at 1pm (eastern) to hear @MartinDiCaro talk about DC's big parking debate.

Plans to develop a new commuter rail line in Texas were dealt a serious blow when the Fort Worth City Council rejected a resolution supporting the project. (Star-Telegram)

Flight attendants aren't happy about the TSA's new knife rules. (Marketplace)

Onion story of the day: the TSA is relaxing some security protocols and allowing small terrorists on planes. “After reviewing our longstanding policies, we have decided to ease our boarding requirements to allow any terrorist 5 feet tall or shorter to enter the airplane cabin."

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

(photo by bluepix52 via flickr)

A pilot program allowing New Yorkers to hail taxis via smartphone will not begin Friday after all.

On Thursday afternoon, New York State Supreme Court Justice Carol Huff issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the city from implementing its e-hail app program while she considers the case. She is expected to make a decision on March 19.

Livery car companies sued the city last month, saying the e-hail program violated the law. They got a boost Wednesday when two New York City council members filed amicus briefs in support of the suit.

A representative for two of the groups suing the city -- the Black Car Assistance Corporation and the Livery Roundtable -- issued a statement saying the groups were "relieved," adding: "This is the first step in sending a clear message that no one is above the law. We now look forward to presenting our case in court."

NYC Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky said in a statement that "passengers can wait ten days to enjoy the latest technology.” Michael Woloz of the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, a coalition of fleet owners siding with the city, said e-hail technology will "potentially make hailing yellow taxis more modern and more efficient." He also dismissed the livery car companies' argument as "pure nonsense."

Updated 8:28pm

For more, read this.

Top stories on TN:
Sequestration Means Less $$$ To Harden Northeast Transit Against Future Storms (link)
CHART: January a Deadly Month for NYC Pedestrians (link)
DOT Head Questioned Over Support of MWAA Leadership (link)
Meet the Feline Station Master of the Wakayama Electric Railroad (link)
California is Least Improved in Highway Conditions (link)

Cycling in London (photo by Tejvan Pettinger via flickr)

On this morning's Brian Lehrer Show: WNYC investigative reporter Robert Lewis discusses a government-approved $776 million effort to rebuild in flood-prone areas. (WNYC)

The mayor of London laid out a £913m 10-year plan to make London safer for cyclists... (Guardian)

...and London's Assembly criticized it as "not ambitious enough" and called for Boris Johnson to double its budget (ITV).

Ray LaHood needs more convincing that Boeing's proposed fixes to its Dreamliner battery are adequate. "I am going to ask a lot of questions" before a final decision is made, he said. (Wall Street Journal)

Texas prosecutors are using social media to help them go after people who provide alcohol to drunk drivers. "Because we know that if people are out there drinking, they're taking pictures of themselves with alcoholic beverages and also the people who are serving them." (KUHF)

Chicago's Transit Authority is expanding its employment program for people exiting prison. (WBEZ)

Freight railroad company BNSF is switching from diesel to natural gas. (Marketplace)

Bike sharing is coming to Tampa this fall. (WTSP)

After a year of underground work preparing the way, crews began laying street car tracks in Downtown Atlanta for the first time in decades. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Houston's new parking rules are more flexible. (KUHF)

Traffic police officers who are short, obese or abusive are being removed from the streets of Vietnam's capital. (BBC)

Why people give up on transit. (Forbes)

Kansas City bus advocates are pleading with a City Council committee to increase funding for the Area Transportation Authority, saying the proposed budget violates a promise to voters. (Kansas City Star)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Here's another way to attract people to transit -- put a cat in charge of the local train station.

In 2007, Japan's financially beleaguered Wakayama Railroad was on the verge of closing its Kishi Station. But after a railroad executive adopted a local stray, Tama the calico cat became something of a local celebrity. Responsibility soon followed, and she was officially appointed station master. Her job, when she's not napping, is to greet passengers. (According to Wikipedia, "in lieu of a salary, the railway provides Tama with free cat food.")

Mitsunobu Kojima, the CEO of Wakayama Railroad, Kojima credits her with reviving the moribund railroad ("single-pawedly," according to the above Animal Planet segment.) Tama was credited with pumping as much as 1.1 billion yen (10.44 million dollars) into the local economy in 2007 alone.

Now, Tama has a Facebook page, Wakayama Railroad is chugging along, the trains have been redecorated, and the town is so cat-crazy it's possible to ride in a taxi cab festooned with 880 cats.

The cat train of the Wakayama Electric Railroad. (Photo by Douglass Sprott via flickr)

Top stories on TN:
Florida Space Advocates Talk Up Drones to State Lawmakers (link)
Beyond the School Bus: How Children Around the World Get to School (link)
LaHood: The Next Secretary Won’t Stand on the Table At Bike Confab (link)
D.C. Considering Lifting Mandatory Parking Minimums (link)

#Snowquester! (Photo by Wayan Vota via flickr)

The FAA will close 173 air traffic control towers at small- and medium-size airports on April 7 because of the sequester. (CNN)

Go ahead, bring that small knife on an airplane: starting next month, the TSA is relaxing some carry-on provisions for air travel. (AP) Want to eyeball how long the blade can be? Check a visualization out here.

The D.C. region is curtailing transit and warning drivers off of roads in advance of a coming winter storm. Hashtag: #Snowquester. (Washington Post)

And: it's already snowing in DC: check out @MichaelBolden's Vine video here.

Pencil this in: According to @WAMU885News, The Official Dupont Circle Snow Ball Fight is penned in for 4pm this afternoon, conditions permitting.

Yesterday's snowstorm caused 215 vehicle crashes across Minnesota. (KSTP)

A Washington state lawmaker has apologized for saying cyclist's heavy breathing is a pollutant. (Seattle Times)

The City of New York is prepping for a 27-inch water level rise by 2050. (The Real Deal)

And: a new map developed by Rutgers University shows the impact of a range of rising sea levels down to the street level in New Jersey. "The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is directing homeowners rebuilding after Sandy to consult with FEMA's flood maps—which don't account for sea-level rise—not the Rutgers map." (Wall Street Journal)

Mexico-based tour buses are skirting U.S. safety laws. (Los Angeles Times)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Private contractors in California are struggling to deliver bus service. (Bay Citizen)

The MBTA says transit riders in the Boston area could face fare increases of up to 33 percent or dramatic reductions in service unless the state provides additional funding for the financially strapped system. (AP via WBUR)

The poorest 10% of car-owning households in the UK are spending more than a quarter of their disposable income on buying and running a vehicle, research suggests. (BBC)

Was that a drone spotted flying in airspace near JFK Airport? (New York Magazine)

As construction picks up, U.S. truck manufacturers are racing to put out new versions of their pickup trucks. (NPR)

Why are the 2013 NYC mayoral candidates treating congestion pricing like the third rail? (Capital NY)

Don't hold your breath for the F express in Brooklyn. (New York Daily News)

NYC fare evaders: beware the MTA's Eagle Team. (MTA)

Harley Davidson has pulled the plug on music on the factory floor. (Marketplace)

A Lego spill closed down one lane of a highway in West Virginia, "no doubt giving drivers traumatic flashbacks to the last time they stepped on a Lego brick in bare feet." (CNet)

Volvo is revamping its pedestrian detection system to automatically brake for cyclists. (Engadget; video)

For thousands of children worldwide, the toughest part of getting an education is getting to school.

Walking to school in Calcutta  (photo by Alfred Yaghobzadeh/SIPA)

A new exhibit now on display at the United Nations chronicles those sojourns.  Journeys to School follows the routes of children in 13 different countries take as they walk, ride donkeys, snowmobile, ride the subway, and even canoe to school. Many of them must navigate dangerous roadways -- an issue that was thrown into sharp relief in New York City last week, where a 6-year old boy was struck by a truck just blocks from his school.  All the photos underscore the link between transportation and education. Getting to school in a safe -- not to mention timely -- fashion is as important as the condition of the classroom.

(Photo by Kate Hinds)

Children going to school via somlot, a motorcycle rickshaw in Mae Sot, Thailand. The driver is also the children's teacher. "If I can't get the kids only 50% would attend class," he said. (Photo by Nicolas Axelrod/SIPA)

According to UN statistics, 1,000 people under the age of 25 are killed in traffic crashes each day.

Six-year-old Elizabeth Atenio walks two hours every day to attend classes at the Kibera School for Girls in Nairobi. (Photo by Nichole Sobecki/SIPA)

While much of the exhibit was devoted to countries in the developing world, some children are in major cities -- including New York.

14-year-old Far Rockaway resident Santiago Munoz, who commutes over two hours each way to school in the Bronx (photo by Kate Hinds)

Santiago Munoz lives in Far Rockaway, Queens -- a New York City neighborhood devastated by Sandy. Before the storm, Santiago's commute to the Bronx High School of Science was already daunting.

"I used to walk six blocks to the nearest A train station," he said, "and from there I would ride it for around, I would say 50 minutes, then transfer to the 4 train for 40 minutes." Tack on a ten minute walk from the station to the school, and his commute -- on an average day -- was one hour and 40 minutes.

But then Sandy washed out a key segment of the A train, and he now takes two buses to get to the subway. "And now it takes me two hours and a half to get to Bronx Science." He says he uses his commute time to do homework or catch up on sleep.

Munoz said the exhibit gave him perspective. While he acknowledges his commute appears tough to the average New Yorker, "compared to these kids -- not at all. They're very inspiring."

Ruth McDowall, standing in front of her photographs of schoolchildren in Nigeria (photo by Kate Hinds)

Photographer Ruth McDowall talked about the average school day for children of the nomadic Fulani minority in Kulumin Jeji, Nigeria.  "They have to wake up at 5:00 in the morning," said McDowall, "to do chores like collecting firewood, getting water -- sometimes it can take an hour or more in dry season." The kids start walking to school by 6:30 am. "They get to school by eight, do about three hours of school, and then do another hour and a half walk home." Because the walk is long and hot, many children become dehydrated on the way to school, where they often find it difficult to concentrate. When they get back home, the rest of the day is devoted to herding responsibilities.

(photo by Kate Hinds)

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (photo by Kate Hinds)

The exhibit is on display in the United Nations Visitors Center until April 26, 2013.  It's organized by UNESCO, public transportation company Veolia Transdev and photo agency SIPA Press.

Top stories on TN:
NY MTA Says Charging $1 For A New Metrocard Is Not, As One Rider Claims, “Ridiculous!” (link)
Harlem Has History of Child Pedestrian Danger (link)
SF Program Free Muni for Youth Gives 40,000 Students a Free Ride (link)

(photo by alist via flickr)

Wait times at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints at major U.S. airports have already nearly doubled since sequestration was implemented, says Janet Napolitano. (The Hill)

NJ Transit approved up to $19 million in parts and emergency repairs for trains waterlogged during Hurricane Sandy, plus up to another $1 million for repairs to Hoboken Terminal. (Star-Ledger)

Gateway tunnel update: to get Amtrak trains through Manhattan's Hudson Yards development, a "tunnel box" has to be built. (Star-Ledger)

MARTA directors and union workers want the Georgia State Senate to reject proposed changes to state law that would mandate privatizing certain functions of Atlanta's transit authority. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

More trouble looming for Maryland's Silver Spring Transit Center: an engineering report is four months late because consultants have identified problems beyond previously disclosed issues with the thickness and strength of concrete in some areas of the bus-and-train hub. (Washington Post)

Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and state Democrats are proposing to raise taxes on gasoline by $2 billion over five years to pay for highways, transit and other transportation projects. (Baltimore Sun)

For third time in less than a week, a DC Metro operator was able to stop a train before hitting someone on the track. (Washington Post)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

A big challenge for Google's self-driving car: how to handle snow. "When snow is on the road, the cars often have a tough time 'seeing' the lane markers and other cues that they use to stay correctly positioned on the road." (Business Insider)

The Obama administration is not expected to decide whether to approve the controversial Keystone pipeline until this summer, but a new report gives clues about the White House's pipeline strategy. (Marketplace)

Following the hit-and-run deaths of a young Brooklyn couple and their unborn child, two local officials have announced new legislation to allow prosecutors to assume hit and run drivers were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the offense -- and charge them accordingly. (Voz Is Neias?)

The Staten Island Ferry -- which is free to riders -- costs taxpayers $4.86 per passenger, each way. (Staten Island Advance)

Do you travel at least 90 minutes and 50 miles to work every day? The U.S. Census Bureau calls you a "mega-commuter" — and you're not alone. (WNYC)

Bicyclists are polluters, too: a Washington State lawmaker doesn't think bicycling is environmentally friendly because cyclists have “an increased heart rate and respiration" -- meaning CO2 emissions. (Seattle Bike Blog)

Previously on TN:
NY MTA Raises Fares For Fourth Time In Five Years — What You Need to Know (link)
A Deadly Mix: Students, Trucks, and a Missing Crossing Guard in Harlem (link)
Feds Shut Down Fung Wah (link)
Christie Gets to Whiz Thru the Lincoln Tunnel. And He Wants You to Know It. (link)
Report: For Short Trips, Passengers Flock to Rail (link)
City of Alexandria Joins Homeowner Battle Against Location of I-95 Ramp (link)

Sign in Amtrak's quiet car (photo by Kate Hinds)

Two D.C. Metro train operators–in separate incidents– managed to stop their trains without hitting two people who tried to commit suicide on the rail tracks this weekend. (Washington Post)

Reminder: higher fares are now in effect on New York MTA subways, buses, trains, bridges and tunnels. (TN)

Tweet from @MikePick in response to above subject: "Hey guys the price of a bike commute goes up today by 0%."

Quiet cars are turning some passengers into vigilantes. Example: "two passengers mistakenly got on an express train at Newark, N.J., instead of the local—and then stood in the quiet car as they discussed their dilemma. A stranger on the train told them to shush. A shoving match ensued. Police were called in. The train was delayed on its route for 30 minutes." (Wall Street Journal)

A recently released California Department of Transportation investigation shows that four state engineers misrepresented or ignored data or other "consequential" information on four freeway structures. The kicker: two still work for Caltrans.(Sacramento Bee)

China is likely to dismantle its sprawling, scandal-plagued Railways Ministry into operations and commercial arms that will be supervised by different agencies. (Reuters)

A NJ rail advocacy group will receive an update on the Gateway Tunnel today. (Star-Ledger)

Will rat birth control deal with the NYC subway rat problem? (DNA Info)

Like TN Moving stories? Send this email to a friend so they can sign up too. Or follow TN on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.

A pair of newlyweds expecting a baby were killed in a car crash in Brooklyn; the baby was delivered prematurely. (New York Times)

New York Times editorial: NYC must be able to have more traffic cameras to catch speeding cars and drivers who blow red lights.

Separate but equal? Israel launched two Palestinians-only bus lines in the West Bank, a step an Israeli rights group described as racist and which the Transport Ministry called an improvement in service. (Jerusalem Post)

Oil was discovered in the Turkana region of northwest Kenya one year ago. Now local people fear they will be displaced and won't get a fair share of any future oil profits. (Marketplace)

The city of Raleigh hopes to recoup about $350,000 a year in unpaid parking tickets by getting the state Division of Motor Vehicles to block car registrations for parking scofflaws. (News Observer)

After the A/C broken down on a local Qantas flight, the cabin temperature reached 104 degrees -- and two passengers had to be taken to the hospital. (BBC)

The old South Ferry #1 subway station is looking pretty good -- could it be almost ready to be put back into service? (h/t @SecondAveSagas)

Governor Christie gets to speed through traffic, and he wants you to know.  Earlier this week, Christie's press office sent out a clip of the Governor, joking with second graders.  Kind of the warm and accessible and funny image Christie's team likes to project.

Speaking Wednesday at a meeting in Montville,  an 8-year old named Audrey asked the Governor what his favorite thing to do is.  There's a "fun" answer to that, Christie said, and it's "going to New York City."  (There's a serious answer to, having to do with making people's lives better.  But back to our story.)

How do you get to NYC? the Governor asked Audrey.

The reply: "Usually I drive to the train station and then we use the train to get to the city."  But not Christie.  "Some people," he said, "in fact a lot of people -- don't take the train. When you're governor, they close the Lincoln Tunnel for you. And you get to drive right through! No traffic! It's the best!"

Wait a minute. The Lincoln Tunnel gets closed when the governor drives through it?

We at TN wondered about that practice, so we asked around.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns and operates the tunnel, would not answer questions about whether this is common practice for the governor -- or anyone else. Neither would they say how often they close the tunnels for this reason. "For the record," said a spokesman, "the Port Authority does not comment on security issues."

Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Governor Christie, said his office wouldn’t discuss security protocols that are determined by the Port Authority and the governor's executive protection unit.

But two sources familiar with the Port Authority cast doubt on that. "It would take an hour, at least, to close the tunnel," said one source.  "They probably just create some room for him to whisk through. "I’ve never heard of the Port Authority closing the Lincoln Tunnel for a governor before,” said another source.

This was echoed by Veronica Vanterpool, the head of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. “I’ve never heard of the Lincoln Tunnel being closed for a governor," she said. "In fact, I can’t remember it being closed for anything other than a calamity.”

Vanterpool's group, and others, are still steaming about Christie's decision a few years back to halt construction of the ARC transit tunnel under the Hudson River.    That would have mean, planners have said, less traffic for everyone in the Lincoln Tunnel.

Transcript:

Christie:  Here's my favorite thing about being governor, on the fun side. Going to New York City. Let me tell you. Have you ever gone to New York City?

Audrey:  Yeah.

Governor: Okay. How did you get there?

Audrey:  Usually I drive to the train station and then we use the train to get to the city.

Governor:  Okay. Some people -- in fact a lot of people -- don't take the train. And a lot of people drive. And maybe when you're on the train and you see the people in all the traffic, trying to get to the Lincoln Tunnel? When you're governor, they close the Lincoln Tunnel for you. And you get to drive right through! No traffic! It's the best! I love going to New York now! I used to hate it because I'd sit in the traffic! Now, no traffic! I love it! That's the most fun thing, on the fun side, about being governor, is going to New York City. In fact, Mary Pat, who -- you know there's lots of things about this job that she doesn't like -- we were going into New York about three weeks ago, and they stopped the traffic. And you go all these odd ways and you go the wrong way on a one-way, it's just great. And all of a sudden there it is, there's the tube and it's completely open and you're flying through. She looked at me and she goes "this never gets old." It might be the major reason she wants me to get re-elected. I'm not sure.

 

Top stories on TN:
A Year After the Trayvon Martin Shooting, Florida City Examines Urban Design (link)
Anatomy of a Water Main Break (link)

A Metro station (photo by Kate Hinds)

DC's Metro cars are going only 46,274 miles between breakdowns, far short of the agency's target of 60,000 miles. (Washington Examiner)

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by five California cities to block that state's high-speed rail project from using a certain route. (Mercury News)

Chrysler will hire 1,250 new workers and spend $374 million to upgrade transmission plants in central Indiana. (Detroit Free Press)

Starting today, PATH train weekend service to and from the World Trade Center will be up and running. (New York Daily News)

Oklahoma blocked a bill that would ban texting while driving. (AP via New York Times)

Houston's Metro is launching an education campaign in advance of the three light rail lines that are opening next year, because it wants to avoid the kinds of problems it had when the first rail line opened nearly a decade ago. (KUHF)

How you know the Harlem Shake has jumped the shark: the FAA is looking into a mid-flight dance video. (CNN)

Chicago's transit authority and a local newspaper are embroiled in a public battle about transit crime data. (WBEZ)

How finding a baby on the subway led to becoming adoptive parents: one couple's story. (New York Times)

"Unless arranged in single-file line, at no time shall a party of more than two walk together." Pedestrian penalty cards. BRING IT.