Kate Hinds

Top stories on TN:
Park Score Rankings: San Francisco Best City for Parks, See How Your City Fares (link)
Houston City Council Approves Plans for International Terminal at Hobby Airport (link)
The New York City Council Praises Sadik-Khan, Instead of Burying Her (link)
Final Montana Yellowstone River Oil Spill Report To Be Released This Summer (link)

SpaceX's Dragon capsule, after being released from the International Space Station (photo courtesy of NASA)

The Beverly Hills school district is suing Los Angeles County over the route of the $5.6-billion Westside subway extension. (Los Angeles Times)

For a second straight day there was still no air conditioning at New York's Penn Station. (Star-Ledger)

Chicago's transportation commissioner talks about the city's goal to "to eliminate all pedestrian, bicycle, and overall traffic crash fatalities within 10 years" on The Takeaway.

Ridership on Boston's transit system is up for the 15th consecutive month, the longest period of growth in the transit system’s history. (AP via WBUR)

The U.S. Transportation Department conducted its largest safety sweep of the motor-coach industry -- and shut down 26 bus companies as imminent safety hazards, closing dozens of routes out of New York’s Chinatown. (Bloomberg)

Red double-decker buses are back on the road in Baghdad. "They disappeared after the occupation, but it's good to see them back," said one passenger. "It makes it feel like Baghdad is like any other capital." (Reuters)

Could drilling for oil become too costly? (Marketplace)

Essex County approved a "Complete Streets" resolution, making it the first county in New Jersey to adopt Complete Streets as part of its broader transportation and road safety policy. (Nutley Sun)

Chicago's transit agency won't raise fares -- for now. (Chicago Tribune)

The New York State Thruway wants to increase tolls on trucks -- but the state says that money won't be used to pay for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement. (AP via Wall Street Journal)

New York Mayor Bloomberg signed into law a bill allowing people to transfer the time left on their Muni Meter receipts. (New York Times)

States can significantly reduce teen fatalities and collision rates by strengthening existing graduated driver licensing laws. (Washington Post)

SpaceX's Dragon capsule is heading back to Earth after spending a week at the International Space Station, and NASA is live streaming it. (NPR)

Streaming live video by Ustream
New York's MTA has reached a settlement with Sikh and Muslim workers in federal court that allows them to wear their turbans freely -- without the MTA corporate logo -- just as they did before the 9/11 attacks. (DNA Info)

ExxonMobil shareholders voted against a resolution asking the company to explicitly protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees from discrimination. (Miami Herald)

Helmet hair no more: a Swedish company has invented an "invisible" bike helmet airbag that looks like a scarf -- until the moment of impact. (New York Daily News)

In Italy, electric buses wirelessly recharge on the road. (New York Times)

Peregrine falcon chicks are living on a perch near New Jersey's Bayonne Bridge. (Jersey Journal)

NY City Council Member James Vacca during a 2011 hearing (photo by William Alatriste via flickr)

Let's go back in time to December 2010. The city's tabloid editorial pages are just beginning to sink their teeth into the transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, for -- among other things -- her avid support of bike lanes and pedestrian plazas. In Brooklyn, well-connected residents are preparing to sue to remove a bike lane.

On December 9, New York's City Council holds a standing-room-only, overflow-room-inducing, five hour-plus hearing on bikes and bike lanes in New York City. Bronx councilman James Vacca, who chairs the council's Transportation Committee, kicks things off first by warning the crowd to be polite, then sets the stage by pointing out "few issues today prompt more heated discussion than bike policy in New York City."

In the hours that followed, he was proven correct: Sadik-Khan was grilled, interrupted, and accused of ignoring the will of the public, prevaricating, and acting by fiat.

And she was put on the defensive, repeatedly exclaiming "That's what we do!" when yet another council member excoriated her for not soliciting sufficient community input.

At one point, Lewis Fidler, a council member from Brooklyn, told Sadik-Khan her answer was "kind of half true. I don't say that to be snooty. I say it because I think maybe you're not aware."

And then he reeled himself him. "This is not like you've got to be for the cars or you've got to be for the bikes or you've got to be for the buses. It's really not...the cowmen and the farmers can be friends."

The mood at this week's Transportation Committee hearing, held in the same hearing room as the 2010 hearing -- and with many of the same players in attendance -- was markedly different.

Now more New Yorkers are biking. More than two-thirds give the city's bike share program, which is launching in July, a thumbs-up. Traffic fatalities are at record lows.

"I want to first off say thank you to the agency," Fidler started, before launching into an encomium. "Quite frankly I don't always get the answer I like from DOT, but we get a lot of answers from DOT. And they're very responsive, your agency, your Brooklyn office continues to be a very responsive one."

He then waxed on about major construction work going on on the Belt Parkway -- a roadway almost entirely in his council district. "I will say for a project of that size to have gone on, without my getting repeated complaints from constituents -- that says something all by itself, and the work that's been completed looks really good."

Back in 2010, Fidler's questioning of Sadik-Khan was one of that hearing's most contentious exchanges, with the two of them repeatedly interrupting each other. Fidler at that time told Sadik-Khan that her answers were "half true;" he later accused the DOT of failing to solicit community input on bike lanes -- a charge Sadik-Khan repeatedly denied.

On Tuesday, Fidler asked Sadik-Khan to look into repairing a bike lane in his district (a lane under the Parks Department jurisdiction since it's on their land. Sadik-Khan said she'd make sure her office reached out to the Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe.)

So maybe the cowmen and the farmers might be friends after all.

(You can listen to the audio from the 12/2010 hearing -- and read the transcript -- here. A video of the 5/29/12 hearing can be found here; the transcript isn't available yet.)

To be fair, Tuesday's hearing was not one in which members of the public could comment (public hearings on the budget will be held next week), and biking wasn't the only topic on the agenda.

But still:

Peter Koo is the Queens councilman who represents Flushing (a neighborhood so heavily trafficked by pedestrians that the DOT said Tuesday that it's slated for a sidewalk expansion project.) At the 2010 hearing, Koo complained that bikes lanes had been implemented at the expense of motorists and pedestrians, and that they were empty. "I hardly see any people using the bike lanes," he said at the time. (Transcript here; Koo's remarks begin on page 39.)

At Tuesday's hearing, Koo had a different complaint. "I find a lot of bicycles chained to the fence, to the trees, light poles, meter poles, everywhere." He wants the NYPD to cut the chains of bikes that are illegally parked. But before that happens, he said, "we have to find a place for them to park."

Letitia James   -- long a bike lane supporter, put the cherry on the Charlotte Russe. "Commissioner, I want to thank you for all the docking stations in my district. I want to thank you for the bike share program. I want to thank you for using my picture, my image, on your website, on the bike -- it's absolutely fabulous. Thank you for the plazas in my district...thank you for all the street renovations...thank you for the bike lanes, thank you for recognizing that we all have to share the space and no one is entitled to a city street."

A few minutes after James spoke, the May 29th hearing ended.

"I do think since that hearing in 2010, many actions my committee has taken, and the legislation that we have passed, has brought New York City DOT to a realization that they could do a better job when it comes to community consultation," Council transportation chair Jimmy Vacca said in a phone interview.  "I think there's been more outreach, there's been more involvement, so I think that the strongly held views that existed in 2010 have somewhat been mitigated by DOT realizing that it's better to work with local neighborhoods where possible and to try to seek areas of consensus."

And is he happy with bike lanes? Yes -- even though he said the ones in his Bronx district weren't heavily used. "I do think in time, though, people will be bicycling more in neighborhoods where they are not bicycling now. And I think the groundwork that we've laid legislatively will make that reality more positive, have a more positive impact on neighborhoods throughout the city."

Vacca said the Bronx bike lanes have been successful in reducing speeding.  "They've had an impact in slowing down vehicular traffic, and that's always a positive thing," he said, adding that that's a persistent issue for his constituents. "In my neighborhood there's not a block party I go to, there's not a civic association I go to, where people are not demanding speed bumps, where they're not demanding police enforcement for ticketing of people who speed in their cars."

Next up for the City Council: reigning in rogue delivery people -- a project they're collaborating with the DOT on. "We cannot have commercial bicyclists driving the wrong way on one-way streets, we cannot have them ignoring red lights, we cannot have them on sidewalks," Vacca said, adding that he's working on legislation to address this. "I think within the next several weeks we should have a consensus bill that will reflect my views as well as the views of the Department of Transportation. We're working together to come up with type of bill, and I think we're making good progress."

 

 

 

Top stories on TN:
No Bike Share on the Upper West Side Until 2013: Sadik-Khan Discusses Biking, Parking — and Bike Parking, in NYC Council Testimony (link)
Snow Greets Travelers: Montana Summer Road Season Kick-off (link)
New York City Parking Rules Now on an Online Map (link)
PHOTOS: Kansas Parade Celebrates Art on Wheels (link)

Montreal's bike share (photo by where is Andrew now? via flickr)

Hong Kong says it needs more land, plans to create 25 new islands and new land for a third runway at the international airport; opponents say the plan is unnecessary, not to mention environmentally unsound. (Guardian)

On today's Brian Lehrer Show: what the possible fare hike will mean for NYC taxi drivers.  (WNYC)

A broken air conditioner sent temperatures in New York's Penn Station into the 90s. (New York Post)

European Union proposals to change the number of hours worked by airline pilots are weaker than current UK regulations and could put passengers at risk, British politicians have warned. (BBC)

The trials and travails of Chinese electric car company BYD. (New York Times)

Bikeshare company BIXI is in financial trouble -- and Montreal has put up millions of dollars to keep operations afloat, while Toronto taxpayers could be on the hook if the company buckles. (National Post)

A former Caltrans official has been named chief executive of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. (Los Angeles Times)

A $122 million deal California officials struck with a company to install electric vehicle charging stations across the state is under legal fire now that a competing firm has sued to block the agreement, claiming it would create a monopoly. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Canadian lawmakers passed legislation forcing an end to a week-long freight rail strike. (Bloomberg)

Drivers love Maryland's new Intercounty Connector, but politicians worry that it's being underused -- and that the money to construct it could have been better spent elsewhere. (Washington Post)

The Democratic Party has lost its nominee in the race for the seat of retiring Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill). (The Hill)

Ferrari is coming out with a hybrid car. Price tag: $850,000. (Marketplace)

Why I drive in NYC: "like prostitution, drugs, and gambling, cars are too useful, too profitable, and too enjoyable to vanish," writes one enthusiast. (New York Magazine)

A Newark (NJ) man survived being electrocuted after falling on the tracks while trying to steal overhead rail wires. (AP via NJ.com)

The wife of Seattle's mayor canceled her subscription to the Seattle Times last year because of a story about her husband's bike being stolen. (Politico)

Indianapolis officials are holding a series of public meetings to improve relations between bicyclists and drivers. (Indianapolis Star)

Sacramento is conducting a three-week experiment with bike corrals. (Sacramento Bee)

A nonprofit group granting wishes to senior citizens fulfilled one African-American woman's dream of dining in a first-class rail car -- something she was denied during Jim Crow. (NPR)

NYC DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, flanked by DOT officials Lori Ardito and Joseph Jarrin (photo by Kate Hinds)

The Upper West Side of Manhattan won't see bike share until June 2013. That's according to New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, in testimony before the New York City Council Tuesday.

The date isn't exactly a surprise -- the city acknowledged at the launch of its Citi Bike program that some neighborhoods won't see bike share until next spring, but the June date puts it at the outer edge of that timeline.

Sadik-Khan also defended the cost of the program, noting that an annual membership in New York gives riders 45 minutes of free riding compared to 30 minutes in London.  And she pointed out that New York's is "a privately operated system" while most other city's bike shares are not.

In other questioning, Queens council member Leroy Comrie wanted to know what Citibank's $47.5 million will be used for.  Sadik-Khan told him "it's going to pay for the purchase of the bikes, the stations, the operator that is going to be servicing the bikes 24/7, rebalancing the bikes, moving them around the city -- so all of that money is going to pay for the operation of that system."  She added that the program will bring about 200 jobs to Brooklyn. "The initial launch site will be in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and then we will be doing the permanent facility (which) will be located at Sunset Park, 53rd and 3rd."

On other subjects, Jimmy Vacca, who chairs the transportation committee, asked the commissioner what was happening with plans to privatize parking meters -- would people be laid off? Would we have dynamic pricing? Sadik-Khan said it's in the very early stages and the city is just putting out feelers by issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ).  "We've agreed to study the possibility of a public/private partnership for our parking program to see if there are opportunities for further improvement," she said, "but I would say that we run the most efficient and effective system in the country; we have  a 99% uptake in terms of operability of our Muni Meters, and so we're thrilled with the performance of our programs to date, but again, we are checking to see...if there are options that could provide other, better service for New Yorkers (but) the benchmark is a high one."

She added that the feedback from the RFQ will determine whether or not the city moves forward with actual procurement. (Side note regarding NYC's parking meter program: 70% of parking meter revenue comes from credit cards.)

Sadik-Khan was also asked about a parking sensor pilot program on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx; she said the city was still in the middle of the pilot and would evaluate it after it was done.

Peter Koo, who represents Flushing, said bikes are chained everywhere in the neighborhood; the commissioner was sympathetic. "We've increased the speed with which we've put bike racks out there," she said. "We have over 13,000 racks out there right now, we continue to do more, but there are some parts of the city where if you stop walking for a second someone is going to chain a bike to you," Sadik-Khan said, saying that she knew the demand for parking was high. "We have to find a place for them to park!" Koo echoed, who added that he'd seen garages offering $8 a day bicycle parking. "It's really expensive! You can take the subway for $5 a day!"

"Well, for $9.95 a day, you can have a bike share bike ," Sadik-Kahn countered.

Following the hearing, reporters asked the commissioner about residential parking permits. Residents of the downtown Brooklyn neighborhood where the Barclays Center is opening this September have been pushing for a residential parking permit program. But it would require state legislation to enact, and Sadik-Khan said even after legislation cleared Albany, it would take nine months to get such a program off the ground.

Sadik-Khan also expressed support for legislation that would hold business owners accountable for delivery cyclists who don't follow traffic laws, and said she's working with the New York City Council to craft it.

 

 

 

 

The Upper West Side of Manhattan won’t get bike share until June 2013. That’s according to New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, in testimony before the New York City Council Tuesday.

 

The Monopoly money car (photo by Julie Caine/KALW)

TN's Julie Caine sent us some photos from last week's Art Tougeau parade, held each year in Lawrence, Kansas, as a celebration of "America's fascination with all things wheeled." (Motto: "if it rides, bring it on.")  Let's hope the chickens enjoyed what the website describes as "good, clean fun on wheels."

Mobile chickens (photo by Julie Caine/KALW)

A bicycle made from old tractor parts (photo by Julie Caine/KALW)

(photo by Craig Patterson via Art Tougeau's Facebook page)

Duck bike helmet (photo by Craig Patterson via Art Tougeau's Facebook page)

You can see more pictures from Art Tougeau's 2012 parade on their Facebook page.

Top stories on TN:
Big Plans for Public Transportation in Virginia. It’s called Super NoVa. (link)
Montana Highway Opening Delayed By Snow and Ice (link)
NY To Get Bigger East River Ferries for Weekend Travel (link)
Crowds Flock to NY’s Penn Station for Memorial Day Weekend Travel (link)

A rail locomotive rendered in sand (photo courtesy of the Virginia Museum of Transportation's Facebook page)

Gas prices fell going into the holiday weekend -- and this summer are likely to remain well below the $4 or $5 per gallon that some had feared. (Wall Street Journal)

Musician David Byrne: NYC's bike share program is a game-changer that will "make New Yorkers rethink their city and rewrite the mental maps we use to decide what is convenient, what is possible." (New York Times)

Today's most valuable real estate can be found in walkable urban locations. (New York Times; opinion) And you can hear Andrea Bernstein talking to Chris Leinberger about this issue in our 2011 documentary:  Back Of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race, and Inequality.

A convoy of self-driven cars completed a 125-mile test drive on a Spanish highway -- the European Commission's first public test of its research project known as SARTE - Safe Road Trains for the Environment. (BBC)

Enacting a new surface transportation bill did not make it onto the list of summer legislative priorities announced last Friday by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. (Transportation Issues Daily)

Although state officials say traffic impacts for the the still-to-be-completed American Dream Meadowlands mall/entertainment center will be "minimal," some New Jerseyans doubt it -- like one local mayor, who calls it "outright misinformation, and an attempt to create a project without having to do the proper infrastructure work.” (The Record)

Sacramento Regional Transit has broken ground on one of its most ambitious projects ever, a $270 million southern rail extension that aims to give commuters an alternative to Highway 99, the most congested freeway in the region. (Sacramento Bee)

The Department of Homeland Security has asked technology companies to come up with a hand-held scanner that could replace the airport pat-down. (Marketplace)

Roanoke's rail history, rendered in sand sculptures. (WSLS)

BYD Co., the Chinese auto maker backed by Warren Buffett, faces a setback after one of its e6 vehicles caught fire in a collision that killed three people in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. (Wall Street Journal)

New York City is unveiling an interactive online map that allows drivers to find up-to-date parking regulations for any given street. (New York Post)

To promote the Leaf's Australian launch, Nissan transformed 37 gas pumps into creative pieces, including a jukebox, a gumball machine, a birdcage, and a fish tank. (PSFK)

Top stories on TN:
Crowding Projected For All Forms of Memorial Day Weekend Travel (link)
Teen Drivers Learn Dangers of Texting Behind the Wheel Through Simulation Exercise (link)
Southwest’s Airport Plan Wins Houston Officials’ Support — Despite United’s Outcry (link)

Detroit's Eastern Market (photo by Roche Photo via Flickr)

NJ Governor Christie wants to take $260 million from the NJ Turnpike Authority to balance the state budget -- then borrow to fund transportation projects. (NJ Spotlight)

SpaceX's Dragon capsule is on track to dock at the International Space Station this morning, and @NASA and @SpaceX are live tweeting updates.

When NYC announces a new transit project, expect delays. (New York Times)

As Detroit shrinks, city officials are trying to nudge remaining residents into a smaller living space by eliminating streetlights in "distressed" areas. (Bloomberg)

Portland's bicycling boom has spawned some interesting business models, including a bar where "people can turn their valuable beer calories into electricity.” (Bloomberg)

Despite vociferous objections and legal threats, Los Angeles County transportation officials approved a plan to tunnel beneath Beverly Hills High School as part of its Westside subway extension. (Los Angeles Times)

The Bronx could become home to the first median bus lanes and bus stops in the city. (New York Daily News)

Russia has signed a deal with Exxon to tap the country's vast oil reserves in the Arctic. (NPR)

The honor system (or proof of payment, depending on your take) is ending on Los Angeles's subway system, as officials voted to begin locking gates at Red Line and Purple Line stations this summer. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)

Long Island Rail Road is putting its taxi stands up for bid, expects to make 75% more revenue. (Newsday; subscription)

A bill requiring the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to hold 10 or more public hearings at least 30 days before future toll or fare hikes is now on Governor Christie's desk. But to have any effect, identical legislation would have to be approved in New York. (The Record)

Ford's non-car market -- Hot Wheels, T-shirts, video games -- earns the company $1.5 billion a year. (Marketplace)

Police in Oakland, California, uncovered a cache of 100+ stolen bicycles. (SFist)

This year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair features a bike rack parking bench. (PSFK)

One woman's video portrait of an East Village intersection recently premiered at the 14th Street Y's LABA festival.

Traffic started backing up on Thursday afternoon along the blocks approaching the entrance to the Holland Tunnel in Manhattan. (Photo by Kate Hinds.)

The American Automobile Association projects 34.8 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend, an increase of 1.2 percent - or 500,000 travelers - from the 34.3 million people who traveled one year ago.  That's despite relatively high gas prices (though they're a bit lower than they were last year at this time.)

In the New York-NJ-PA region, some 3.7 million Americans are expected to drive to their Memorial Day weekend destinations, the AAA says.

NY-NJ Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman says that bi-state authority is "expecting about 5 million people to travel either by air or car thru our facilities, either the crossings over the Hudson River, or through any of our major airports." He said that's about a three percent increase over 2011 numbers.

Travelers will no doubt be fleeing New York by every mechanized means possible. If you live in the New York region, below is a handy guide for planning your escape.

If you're driving, the NYC DOT will show you just how agonizing your trip will be via its live traffic cams.

(While we're at, California readers can check here. )

The NY MTA will be adding extra trains for the Memorial Day weekend. For details, go here.  You can also subscribe to the authority's free email or text message alerts, or use Tripplanner+ (see top right hand column) to plan your ride ahead of time.

New York City Subway

Subway customers are reminded to use the A, C, D or Q instead of the B. They should also take the J instead of the Z.   Passengers can bring bikes on the subway, 24-7.

Metro-North Railroad

Beginning at noon on Friday, Metro-North will offer extra early afternoon departures from Grand Central Terminal on all three lines – Hudson, Harlem and New Haven.  No bikes on trains scheduled to depart Grand Central Terminal between 12 Noon and 8:30 PM on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels

MTA Bridges and Tunnels will suspend all routine maintenance work beginning 1 p.m. on Friday through the end of the morning rush on Tuesday. Reminder: speed up your trip by using E-ZPass.

Long Island Rail Road

The LIRR will be adding extra trains on Friday.  No bikes on many LIRR trains this weekend (regulations here.)  Monday's train operate on a Sunday schedule.

Staten Island Railway

MTA Staten Island Railway will add extra trains on Friday beginning at 2:30 p.m. from the St. George Ferry Terminal. There will be one express train and one local train awaiting every boat until 7:50 p.m.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will be suspending all routine maintenance work on its bridges and tunnels, and all of its toll booths will be at "full staff." Go here to sign up for travel alerts about traffic conditions at Port Authority crossings.

The agency’s airports are expected to carry 1.53 million passengers. New customer service representatives will be deployed at airports to help passengers navigate terminals and find things like rest rooms, bus stops and taxi stands.

Sign up here for Airport Alerts that send info about weather delays, parking lot capacity, and AirTrain service delays. 

The PATH train will run extra trains as necessary on Friday. On Monday, trains will run on a Sunday schedule. Travelers can also text their origin and destination on the PATH system to 266266, and receive up-to-date service information.

New Jersey Transit will suspend all construction on state highways from 6 a.m. Friday until noon Tuesday.

 

Top stories on TN:
Heat From Climate Change Will Kill More Americans This Century: Report (link)
Sen. Boxer Shines Sun on Transportation Bill Talks (link)
Parties Jostle for Bragging Rights on Oil Drilling (link)
Washington Hits Top-Ten Bicycling Ranking — Big Cities Climb on List (link)
Parking Slashed By Half In Plan For Barclays Center In Downtown Brooklyn (link)

(photo courtesy of downtownfrombehind.tumblr.com)

More drivers run red lights on Memorial Day Weekend than any other time of year, says a new study. (USA Today)

Highway and bridge tolls are higher for out-of-towners than locals -- even those using EZPass. (AP via Boston Globe)

And: with Congress unwilling to contemplate an increase in the federal gas tax, many states and communities are raising tolls to pay for infrastructure projects. (AP via Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

What will NYC's bike share mean for rider safety? "There may be some relative safety in numbers." (Atlantic Cities)

Land use rules and "NIMBY thinking" are preventing Silicon Valley's growth. (Slate)

NJ Governor Christie said if his $1.6 billion transportation capital plan isn't passed within 40 days, transportation projects will grind to a halt. (Star Ledger)

SpaceX has flown by the International Space Station. (Los Angeles Times)

The lobbying group for auto dealers is complaining that new emissions standards will lower car sales. (The Hill)

A Boston transit rider used the MBTA's new "See Say" app to snap a picture of a sleeping transit officer. (BostInno; h/t Transit Wire)

Subway workers went on strike in Sao Paolo, Brazil, but ended it five hours later after halting a system used daily by more than 4 million people and snarling the city's already difficult traffic. (AP)

Go ahead, kids, text and drive: Minnesota police set up a driving course on a go-cart racetrack where they encourage teens to text behind the wheel so they can experience distracted driving. (KSAX)

64 high school seniors in Michigan were suspended for biking to school (Grist) -- but unhappy parents convinced the school board to reverse that decision. (WTVB)

One Australian photographer has made a name for herself by shooting people on bicycles -- mostly from the rear. (Global Mail; video below)

(photo by Lori Greig via flickr)

150,000 Americans will die from excessive heat by the end of this century if carbon pollution continues unabated.

That's according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which released a report (pdf) Wednesday projecting future heat-related mortality in the U.S.'s 40 largest cities.

"We think, if anything, (those estimates) are low," said the NRDC's Dan Lashof, explaining during a conference call with reporters that researchers didn't adjust for expected increases in population. But, he said, these stark numbers show "climate change has real life and death consequences -- one of which is that carbon pollution, which is continuing to increase our atmosphere, is going to continue to make climate change worse and increase the number of dangerously hot days each summer."

Thirty seven of the 40 cities studied would see increases in deaths. Larry Kalkstein, a professor of geography and regional studies at the University of Miami and co-author of the research, said they found a "regional coherence" in the heatwave effect. And perhaps counterintuitively, cities in the South appear to be spared the worst.

According to the NRDC, the three cities with the highest number of total estimated heat-related deaths through 2099 are Louisville, Kentucky (19,000 deaths); Detroit (17,900); and Cleveland (16,600).

"The Midwest is particularly hard hit," Kalkstein said, explaining that cities that experience sharp temperature fluctuations are more at risk than those cities with more constant temperatures, even if they're hot.

"Take a typical day in Washington or Philadelphia or New York, where most of the summer days are in the eighties," he said. "And then all of a sudden you get a hot streak, where the temperature goes up to a hundred degrees plus for a week -- and that is what causes the problem. The fact that people are not used to this high variable climate, that all of a sudden you have a 20-degree rise in maximum temperature...for this reason, many less people die of the heat in cities in the deep South."

But just pinning down how many heat-related deaths there are each year is more of an art than a science. "People tend to understate the threat of heat, and the medical examiners tend to under-report the number of people that die from heat," said Kalkstein.

The NRDC praised cities like Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, which it said have upped their game in responding to heat-related emergencies and have adopted strategies like cooling centers, "heatlines", and organized programs where neighbors look in on local at-risk residents. Some cities also won't cut off power to residents who have failed to pay an electric bill during a heat-related emergency.

Case in point: New York City, with its eight million residents, sees an average of 184 heat-related deaths each summer. But just across the Hudson River in Newark, New Jersey -- population 280,000 -- that number is 56.  "New York has one of the most aggressive local health departments in the country," Kalkstein said. "They're one of the few cities in the country where the Health Department calls the heat emergency, rather than the National Weather Service...they are doubling down on every effort to deal with heat."

 

 

Top stories on TN:
Parking Slashed By Half In Plan For Barclays Center In Downtown Brooklyn (link)
New York Senate Votes to Close Drunk Driving Loophole (link)
Transpo Big Slings Life Lessons At New Grads (link)
SpaceX Successfully Launches Historic Flight in Florida (link)
Amnesty for LIRR Workers Who Faked Disabilities (link)
United Fights to Quash Uppity Southwest in Houston (link)
Grueling Commutes Hamper Employment for Thousands in DC Area (link)

The bicycle "parking squid" by artist Susan Robb (photo via Columbus Rides Bikes/Seattle Center)

Montgomery County (MD) unveiled plans for a 160-mile "gold standard" bus rapid transit system. (Greater Greater Washington)

And: a county task force  will recommend raising property taxes to fund the BRT project. (Washington Post)

San Francisco will close or re-route key transit lines for ten days for track work -- and officials are asking people to bike instead. (NBC Bay Area)

A strike at Canadian Pacific has halted its freight rail shipments in that country, but a deal was reached to keep commuter trains running in Ontario. (Toronto Star)

Opponents of a transit tax ballot proposal are getting louder -- and more organized -- in Cobb County, Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

A birds-eye view of some of the most congested traffic corridors in the U.S. (Atlantic Cities)

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivers the keynote address at the NJ Alliance for Action's transportation conference in Trenton this morning. (AP via Star Ledger)

Ford Motor Company got a credit ratings boost; now it can reclaim its blue oval logo and factories that it put up as collateral for a 2006 loan. And: the company no longer as to pay higher junk bond interest rates. (AP, Detroit Free Press)

The history of the Harold Interlocking, the busy rail junction in Queens blamed for everything from LIRR delays to rising East Side Access costs. (New York Times)

Transportation taxes have become a big issue in Washington's gubernatorial race. (Seattle Times)

Transport for London's plan to introduce contactless ticketing (aka "wave and pay") across the whole of its transit network is behind schedule. (The Guardian)

After aiding Egypt's revolution, social media is taking on Cairo's traffic. (Good)

The new Volvo V40 is fitted with the world's first pedestrian airbag. (Car Buyer)

Photos of 25 awesome and unusual bike racks. Our favorite: Seattle's giant squid bike rack (see above). (Flavorwire)

 

Using an ignition interlock device (image courtesy of Minnesota Department of Public Safety video)

The New York Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation that would strengthen a drunk driving penalty routinely flouted by offenders.

Leandra's Law, which became state law in 2009, mandated that all convicted DWI offenders in the state must install and use an ignition interlock in the vehicles they own or operate for at least six months after their conviction. These are breath test devices linked to a vehicle’s ignition system that prevent the car from starting if alcohol is detected in the driver’s breath.

But according to New York State statistics, only 31 percent of the state's convicted DWI offenders actually comply.

According to a press release from State Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (R-Merrick), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, "many drunk drivers try to avoid the ignition interlock requirement by claiming they do not own or operate a vehicle, waiting for the interlock period to run out, and then reapplying for a license without ever having to use the interlock.  Some of these drivers temporarily transfer ownership of the car to a relative or friend, who then allows that person to drive it without an interlock."

The legislation would prohibit convicted DWI offenders from driving any vehicle that doesn't have an ignition interlock. Drivers suspected of avoiding that requirement must instead wear a "transdermal alcohol monitoring device," such as an ankle bracelet.

The Senate voted 58-1 in favor of the legislation, with two absences. The bill now heads to the state Assembly.

Top stories on TN:
Freaky Info-Spewing Avatars Coming To NYC Area Airports (link)
NY Taxi Rates Expected To Rise by Summer’s End (link)
NY to Offer $2000 Award to Witnesses of Assaults on Transit Workers (link)
Staten Island To Get Faster Bus Service (link)
Historian David McCullough on What the Brooklyn Bridge Says About Politics Today (link)

In today's news:
Connecticut officials will break ground today on a half-billion-dollar Hartford-to-New Britain bus-only corridor, the only one in Connecticut. (NECN)

Creating a Long Island Rail Road link to Manhattan's East Side will take six years longer to accomplish than originally expected -- and will cost $2 billion more than the initial estimate. (New York Times)

SpaceX -- a rocket designed and built by a privately-owned company -- launched successfully. (Los Angeles Times)

Negotiations in Congress about a new federal transportation bill are moving into their third week. (The Hill)

The US Chamber of Commerce to Congress on transportation bill: you're doing it wrong. "They’re afraid to face the fundamental issues of where we get the revenue," the Chamber president said. "We haven’t had an increase in the federal fuel tax in 18 years.”(Christian Science Monitor)

California's high-speed rail authority is coming under fire for a new policy that would purge 90-day-old emails--a policy being enacted while the authority is under investigation. (Bay Citizen)

Boston school leaders are will unveil measures intended to avoid the widespread, prolonged bus delays that marred the first months of this school year. (Boston Globe)

The new Barclays Center will unveil its game plan today for how the 18,000-seat Brooklyn Nets arena will handle parking and traffic when it opens this fall. (DNA Info)

Nissan is aiming for 10% of China's luxury car market. (Reuters)

What drivers really think about bikers: the psychology of sharing the road. (Good)

Top stories on TN:

How DC's Transportation Network compares to the world (link)
Failure to Launch for First Privately Owned Space Shuttle (link)
INTERACTIVE MAP: Who Super-Commutes by Plane in the U.S. (link)
Private Rail Company Says Orlando to Miami Service Possible in Two Years (link)
D.C. Subway Doors Open While Train Is in Motion (link)
VIDEO Belgian Organization Tells Teens to Text While Driving (So They Won’t) (link)
Driver In Fatal Bronx Tour Bus Crash Was Briefly A City Bus Driver (link)

San Francisco (photo by Shanestar via flickr)

Bay Area cities and counties are mulling over a proposal that would use "transportation money to help steer growth...into already developed areas, around existing transit hubs, highways and transit lines." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Maryland's Silver Spring Transit Center -- described as a "mini-Union Station" -- is twelve years late and its budget has tripled. "The county has issued news releases to 'celebrate' the start of the center three times in nine years." (Washington Post)

Bicycling in Los Angeles: not just a"renegade subculture" anymore. (New York Times)

A pair of New Jersey commuters make their cross-Hudson trip by kayak (Star-Ledger). (Note: which reminded us of another, similar commute in the Bay Area.)

If voters say yes to the July 31 sales tax referendum, they will trigger the biggest single transportation investment the Atlanta region has seen in generations. But how much will commutes really change? (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Experience and smooth planning means Chicago's transportation system is handling the NATO summit well so far. But some out-of-towners are confused: "I'm kind of lost," one protestor said,  holding his shoes and a sign that read "Obama's drones kill babies" and "Eat the rich." (Chicago Tribune)

Beverly Hills is threatening legal action over Los Angeles's subway expansion plan. (Los Angeles Times)

Investor T. Boone Pickens: "Natural gas has been a disaster...(and) We have no energy plan for the country. It's pitiful; we're using 25 percent of all the oil produced in the world every day." (Marketplace)

WNYC's Anna Sale walked over the Brooklyn Bridge with historian David McCullough. (The Takeaway)

If you see something, text something: Boston's transit system launched an iPhone app to facilitate reporting suspicious activity. (WCVB)

And: all underground portions of Boston's subway will be wired for cell phone service by the end of the year. (Boston Globe)

A Wall Street Journal editorial refers to California's high-speed rail project as the "Kafka Express" and "Jerry Brown's train to nowhere."

A swarm of bees trapped a family in their Volvo at a parking lot on Manhattan's West Side. (DNA Info)

How do you convince drivers not to text while driving? FORCE them to text while driving.

That's the reverse psychology applied by a Belgian organization called Responsible Young Drivers (RYD). The group has produced a video in which an actor, playing a driving instructor, told actual test takers that a new government regulation says they must demonstrate the ability to successfully text while driving to receive a license.

"Plenty of people will crash, I'm telling you!" says one would-be driver. Others scream, curse, swerve wildly and plow into traffic cones while trying to text instructor-dictated messages. (To up the difficulty level, the instructor criticizes their spelling.)

The end of the film provides the message that RYD wants to hammer home -- a frazzled teen saying "I can't do both!"

"Worldwide, vehicle crashes are the biggest cause of mortality of youngsters between 15 and 24 years of age," Axel Druart, RYD's European Project Director, told the BBC. "We have to do something about it."

Watch the video below.

 

 

 

 

 

Top stories on TN:
Another White House Press Release Pushing Oil Drilling (link)
Atlantic Avenue Station in Brooklyn Renamed “Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center” as New Arena Nears Completion (link)
Feds: Airlines Collect $1.4 Billion in Baggage and Reservation Change Fees (link)
New York City Adding On-Street Bike Parking (link)

Capital Bikeshare (photo by afagen via flickr)

San Francisco transit officials have redefined time, fudging their statistics to make it look like buses and trains arrive on schedule. (Bay Citizen)

DC's Capital Bikeshare will get its 2 millionth rider any second now. (WTOP)

The Maryland Transportation Authority ran afoul of open meeting laws. (Baltimore Sun)

A perfect storm of events --including the hockey playoffs and two music festivals -- could make this weekend the busiest in NJ Transit's history. (Star-Ledger)

Residents near the new Tappan Zee Bridge site are worried about construction noise -- but they don't want to vote on sound barriers until they see the design. (Journal News)

A software glitch will briefly derail the launch of Chattanooga's bike share program. (The Chattanoogan)

Are the exurbs dying? Minnesota Public Radio will hash this topic over on their airwaves at 9:06 am.

A bus accident in Vietnam killed 34 people. (AP)

People in Rotterdam are building a pedestrian bridge over a busy highway -- and they're crowdfunding the cost. (Atlantic Cities)

Everyone driving on Interstate 15 in southwest Utah may soon have their license plate scanned by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (Salt Lake Tribune)

To make some hay out of the hockey playoffs, Delta is running a promotion on flights from LaGuardia Airport in Queens to Newark Airport in New Jersey -- a distance of 20 miles. (Yahoo Sports)

How do you know DOT head Ray LaHood has arrived? He's the subject of an Onion story entitled "Secretary Of Transportation Flips Out On Pothole In Baltimore." Come for the title, stay for the photoshopping. (link)

And happy Bike to Work day! Tweet photos of your commute to us at @TransportNation

 

 

Atlantic Avenue gets some new signs (photo taken on 5/17/12 by Kamicia Bass/WNYC)

Opening season for the Brooklyn Nets is four months away, but signs are already going up in the Atlantic Avenue station to reflect its new name: Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center.

The MTA has also updated the subway map on its  website to reflect the change. An MTA spokesman said the new name will appear on printed maps this summer.

Forest City Ratner, the developer of the site the stadium sits on in downtown Brooklyn, is paying the MTA $200,000 for 20 years for the naming rights to the station.

Top stories on TN:
Union Says NY Subway Inspection Fraud Arrests Miss the Mark, Big Perpetrators Are Getting Off (link)
Your Top 12 Abandoned Bike Photos: Saran Wrapped, Crumpled, Stacked Six High and Sad Sad Sad (link)
Washington-DC Area Planning Board Approves Complete Streets Policy (link)
Would-Be Subway Musicians Vie For Right To Be Legit (link)
New York City Settles Stop and Frisk Lawsuit by Livery Cab Passengers (link)

A natural gas processing plant in Parachute, Colorado (photo by Energy Tomorrow via flickr)

The government doesn't really know how much air pollution comes from natural gas production. (NPR)

NYC's revenues from traffic and parking violations could come in under last year’s eight-year low because cops are on track to write nearly 270,000 fewer moving violations. (New York Post)

South Korea unveiled a prototype of its newest bullet train -- which, according to the Wall Street Journal, "resembles a killer whale or a giant bug or, from certain angles, Darth Vader."

Congress is considering legislation that would require every car to have a "black box" -- a device that would record events related to actual collisions. (Marketplace)

Republicans hint they might be willing to part with the Keystone XL pipeline to get the highway bill past the finish line. (The Hill)

Your neighborhood affects how much you walk and bike, confirms a new survey: DC planners say they have the first real-world, neighborhood-level data that show how people travel in different kinds of communities. (Washington Post)

The regional authority overseeing the $6 billion Dulles Metrorail project will not discuss -- or possibly vote on -- a labor provision threatening to derail the second leg of the Silver Line until next month. (Washington Times)

The U.K. will pilot its first "tram-train" service in South Yorkshire, beginning in 2015. These run on street tracks or rail lines, but are "lighter, more energy efficient and have faster acceleration and deceleration than conventional trains." (BBC)

Berlin's new airport -- which was to have opened next month -- now won't open until March 2013. (Reuters)

What's killing the electric car? The price of batteries. (Good)

Meanwhile: the charging and driving habits of EV drivers in Los Angeles are different from the rest of the nation. (Los Angeles Times)

New York's MTA says it's installing a $500,000 air filtration system to solve the dust problem at the Second Avenue Subway construction site. (NY1)

A visiting urban planner says he's found the world's fastest pedestrian signal on a recent visit to Muncie, Indiana. "That light gives you five seconds to cross that six-lane road...This should be in the Guinness Book of World Records. I have never seen in 30 years of working in cities a light that gives you give five seconds." (Star Press)

Jay-Z says old New York City subway signs helped inspire the new Brooklyn Nets logo. (MTV)

A New York City brewery owner warns fracking could affect the city's water -- and his beer. (Grist; video)

 

Each act had five minutes to convince the judges it merited the right to legitimately perform in the subway system under an MTA-approved banner. Help us discover the city's best und...