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Amnesty for LIRR Workers Who Faked Disabilities
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
(photo by Stephen Nessen/WNYC)
(by the Associated Press/WNYC Newsroom) Long Island Rail Road workers who faked disabilities to get more money would avoid prosecution and be able to keep their pensions if they admit wrongdoing under a deal with the federal government.
In announcing the arrest of 10 retirees Tuesday, federal officials also said they are offering an amnesty program for others to come forward.
In exchange for admitting false claims, and giving up certain disability rights, former workers would be able to keep their pension benefits and won't be prosecuted.
The round-up came five months after an initial batch of 11 arrests targeted railroad retirees who had been granted early retirement because of supposed on-the-job injuries. Authorities said they were later spotted later playing golf and tennis, working out, and even riding in a 400-mile bike race.
The complaint filed in Manhattan court claims former LIRR workers filed for disability before retirement so they would receive extra compensation after retirement. The resulting sum, according to prosecutors, was often more than these workers made while employed.
Those charged include two orthopedists a former union official and two office managers.Three doctors are alleged to be involved in the scheme, one has recently died, and all are said to have reaped millions in under the table hand outs from patients and insurance companies.
Eleven people were charged with conspiracy in October, including two orthopedists and a former union official.
The LIRR's president has said the Railroad Retirement Board acted as a rubber stamp without consulting the railroad. The LIRR has cooperated with authorities.
United Fights to Quash Uppity Southwest in Houston
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
(photo: MichaelB in Houston via flickr/creative commons)
Remember Freddie Laker? Sorry to tell you some of us at Transportation Nation do. At least one of us flew New York to London for something under $100 bucks while in college. But the no-frills airline entrepreneur went belly-up as the big airlines, with deeper pockets, were able to reduce their fares until he gasped for air.
The latest iteration of this struggle is happening in Houston, where Southwest Airlines is trying to get permission to fly international flights to a smaller, closer-in airport -- with United pulling out the big guns to beat back that effort.
Our Gail Delaughter, of KUHF, has the story, on Marketplace.
Grueling Commutes Hamper Employment for Thousands in DC Area
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Renee Scarlett and Marty Schwartz (photo by Armando Trull/WAMU)
(Washington, DC -- Armando Trull, WAMU) It's early morning at Renee Scarlett's red brick row house house in Hyattsville. The single mom has just said goodbye to three-year-old twins Jayden and Amani. Her two other children, Anthony, 8, and Marquis, 10, were packed off to school just a few minutes ago.
Up until recently, this would have been the time that Renee embarked on her 2.5 hour commute to work in Gaithersburg on foot, then on Metro, and finally on a bus.
"Yes, that's how I had to take care of my family," Scarlett says.
There are 195,000 households without a car in D.C.; of those, there are 7,000 for whom that status makes it difficult to get and keep a job, according to a Brookings Institution study published last year. The nonprofit Vehicles for Change is trying to combat this problem — they helped Scarlett get her own vehicle last year — and today they will introduce community leaders to her and other families with similarly daunting transportation challenges.
For Scarlett, the breaking point came when her employer, Peapod, moved 22 miles away to Hanover, Md. It might as well have been to the moon, given Hanover's lack of public transportation options.
"I wouldn't have had any public transportation, and I would have been forced to resign my position," Scarlett says.
Then, she got a helping hand from Vehicles for Change. They helped her purchase a 2000 Chrysler SUV for just $750. It came with a 6-month, 6,000-mile warranty.
"It's all about getting families like Renee's to and from employment," says Marty Schwartz, the president of Vehicles for Change. "We have families in the region who are trying to do the right thing … but without a vehicle you can't even do daily chores, let alone get to and from work, even with good public transportation."
Today's event, called 'Walk in Their Shoes,' is designed to help community leaders better understand the transportation challenges of many in the D.C. area.
Historian David McCullough on What the Brooklyn Bridge Says About Politics Today
Monday, May 21, 2012
Photo: Anna Sale/WNYC
(New York, NY -- Anna Sale, It's a Free Country.Org) “Don’t you think this is a wonderful thing to walk across this bridge!”
Historian David McCullough has had a lot of honors in his career – two Pulitzers, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and just this week a gold medal for biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters – but he still gets that thrill crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.
(To hear David McCullough speak on the bridge, click here.)
On a bustling, bright morning this week, the 78 year-old and I started walking over from Manhattan. He is re-releasing a 40th anniversary edition of his 600-page history, The Great Bridge: the Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Every few minutes, he pauses to command “Look at this!” with a sweeping gesture of his hand.
“I can never get over it,” he said. “How did they do it? I still ask myself, how did they do it?”
Work began on the bridge in 1869, four years after the end of the Civil War, “in a day when every piece of steel, every stone had to be brought to the site by horse and wagon,” McCullough notes. When the bridge opened years later, in 1883. The towers were then the highest structures in New York City. It was the world’s longest suspension bridge, and the first time steel cables were used.
Also new were the underwater caissons – wooden boxes filled with air – that allowed workers to anchor the stone towers deep into the uneven riverbed.
“All new technology, innovating, improvising as they went along.” The sense of awe hasn’t faded. “Who are those guys, in other words, they’re really good!”
McCullough’s book, tells the history of these really good guys. There were the legions of workers from all over the world who built it.
Designer John Roebling, “the suspension bridge genius,” had proven a bridge could hang on steel cables by building a smaller version in Cincinnati. “He wanted this to be two great gateways to two great cities,” McCullough exclaimed at the foot of the first tower.
Roebling died unexpectedly before construction started, leaving his son, Washington Roebling, to take over. But he had a debilitating injury, so his wife Emily supervised day-to-day operations.
The federal government didn’t decide to build the bridge. New York City and Brooklyn did. Manhattan was bursting, and needed to grow across the river. Lining up in support were businesspeople, the press, and politicians — including Boss Tweed, the political boss who was at all the height of his power.
“I’m sure there were doubters, I’m sure there were cheapskates – but no, it was a chance to do it, and the benefits, the profit was so enormous. And it would’ve been sheer ignorance not to have done it.”
When McCullough’s book came out in 1972, just as Nixon’s New Federalism was scaling back the ambitious federal infrastructure programs of the Johnson era.
Forty years ago, McCullough said he viewed the book as history, without any particular resonance to the politics of the day. Now, it’s different.
“The gilded age is about as rotten and greedy and corrupt as conscience-less as one can imagine – does that sound familiar?"
McCullough admits that today, he’d like to go to Washington and “knock their heads together” and tell them to stop being “selfish and stupid.”
Putting off regular infrastructure maintenance particularly sticks in his craw. The massive Transportation Bill which pays for bridges, road and transit, expired three years ago. The Senate and House haven't been able to agree, and instead, have passed short-term extensions nine times.
“It’s a form of indebtedness and we have to stop it because it’s dangerous as can be, he said, adding with an incredulous laugh. “And it’s how we get around. It’s how we function. It’s not theoretical!”
But McCullough stressed, neither novel nor really what endures. Studying history, he said, creates an cynic in the short-term and an optimist in the long-term.
"Even in the most dark or rotten of eras, great things can be done by exceptional people of integrity. That's really the story of this bridge." McCullough said as we reached the the other side in Brooklyn. "What we build, will very often stand down the ages as testimony to who we were, far more clearly and far more powerfully, than the politicians that come and go.”
New York City Settles Stop and Frisk Lawsuit by Livery Cab Passengers
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
a livery cab (photo by Kate Hinds)
(Ailsa Chang -- New York, WNYC) The city has settled a federal lawsuit charging that the New York City police department has been unlawfully detaining, questioning and searching passengers for weapons in livery cabs as part of a city livery cab inspection program.
The two passengers who filed the lawsuit last May, Terrence Battle and Munir Pujara, are both men of color. They alleged they were pulled out of their cabs and searched for weapons even though the officers did not suspect either them of criminal activity.
Neither of them was charged with any offense after their encounters.
As part of the settlement, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has committed to retraining officers and instructing them that passengers riding in livery cars participating in the Taxi/Livery Robbery Inspection Program, or TRIP, can only be removed on certain conditions: if the officer fears for his safety, or if he suspects the passenger is armed or has committed a violent crime.
Kelly issued a new operations order commanding all officers to follow these rules. Although the department issued a similar operations order detailing this policy about a decade ago, criminal justice advocates said too few officers heeded the rules.
"The problem was no one knew about that operations order and there had never been any training on it, so police officers around the city mistakenly believed that they could frisk and search passengers without suspicion," said Chris Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represented both plaintiffs.
Dunn said they interviewed more than a dozen livery car drivers who claimed they were getting stopped routinely and their passengers were getting pulled out without any reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
TRIP is meant to protect livery drivers from crimes perpetrated by passengers, especially robberies. Drivers who voluntarily participate in the program consent to being pulled over by a police officer at any point to check on their safety. Participants display a decal in their windows stating, "This vehicle may be stopped and visually inspected by the police at any time to ensure driver’s safety."
The plaintiffs didn't challenge the actual vehicle stops in their lawsuit -- only the manner in which they were treated after the officers pulled the livery cabs over.
In addition to promising the retraining of officers, the city paid Battle and Pujara $10,000 each.
City lawyers called the TRIP program "entirely constitutional" and noted that the program itself was not challenged in the lawsuit.
“The police department remains committed to ensuring that the program is run correctly and to ensure the continued safety of livery cab drivers and their passengers,” said Mark Zuckerman of the city's Law Department.
Dunn said, as with the the stopping and frisking of pedestrians, TRIP resulted in unwarranted frisks and searches that disproportionate impacted minorities.
"Yellow cabs just aren't available in the outer boroughs, the communities where blacks and Latinos primarily live," said Dunn. "Really the targets -- and the victims -- of this practice wer blacks and Latinos."
Maryland Metro Stop Gets System's First Bike & Ride
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
photo: Armando Trull
(Washington, DC -- Armando Trull, WAMU) You've heard of Kiss and Ride and Park and Ride, but now Metro has opened its first Bike & Ride facility. At least 100 bikes can be stored in a covered, enclosed and secure location.
It's secure because there's steel doors and steel grates. And you can only get in using an electronic card, which is tied to a person's picture ID.
Deputy General Manager Carol Kissle. "It helps us attract riders to our system in a cost-effective and environmentally-sustainable way. That's really important for us, to give riders that flexibility in our system."
By next summer, secured bicycle parking facilities will built at the Vienna and King Street stations. Over the next five years, Bike and Ride will be rolled out in the District as well as more Virginia and Maryland locations.
Rates for Bike & Ride are 5 cents per hour between the hours of 8 a.m. and midnight and 2 cents an hour all other times.
As Cities Compete to Be More Bike-Friendly, List of Bike Towns Grows
Monday, May 14, 2012
Copenhagen bike riders signal for a turn. (Photo CC by Flickr user Mikael Colville-Andersen)
(This post by Andrew Zaleski originally appeared in Grist.org)
GUEST POST: Once was that American cities competed to look more like Detroit, with gleaming lanes of highway stretching as far as the eye could see. Now, it’s a race to imitate Copenhagen, the Danish capital where 36 percent of residents commute to work via bicycle.So it seems, at least, when looking at today’s announcementby the League of American Bicyclists of the latest — and largest — round of official Bicycle Friendly Communities in the U.S.
Clarke says many of the winners are beneficiaries of some sort of cycling crusader or organization pushing hard for reforms, enforcement, and acknowledgment of bikers. “Having a champion like a mayor or city councilperson who set outs measurable targets and goals that you can hold yourself accountable to — that seems to make the biggest difference,” Clarke says.
One sticking point for the league is measuring how well local police enforce laws designed to protect cyclists. A recent study [PDF] conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers found that cyclists in bronze-level certified Baltimore are routinely passed by vehicles traveling within the three-feet buffer mandated by law.
And while the latest round of awards is music to many bikers’ ears, “I will be the first to admit we have a long, long way to go,” says Clarke. Even Portland, Ore., which gets a platinum certification from the league, “would be a pretty crappy Dutch city when it comes to cycling,” Clarke says.
Andrew Zaleski is a a freelance writer and editor, and digital media editor for Urbanite magazine in Baltimore.
Help Us Map the Best Subway Music in New York
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Strumming a guitar on a NYC subway platform can find you a bigger audience than weeks on the road playing bars or even some concert halls. So, it makes sense that there is stiff competition for officially sanctioned spots to busk in New York's transit system.
On Wednesday, musicians will play their best songs in front of a panel of judges in Grand Central terminal's Vanderbilt Hall in the hopes that they will be selected to be part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Music Under New York program.
TN partner WNYC is asking for submissions of your favorite subway musicians. Send in your suggestions here. Results are here.
In Detroit, You Can Wait 3 Hours for a Bus
Saturday, May 05, 2012
Willy Kendricks waits for a bus in Detroit (photo: TheTakeaway.org)
How long would you be prepared to wait for a bus? Ten minutes – maybe twenty. Try three hours. Here in Motor City, for the many thousands of people here who don’t have a car, and that’s about a third, getting from A to B is proving almost impossible.
Some riders say the poor service has cost them their jobs, others are having to drop classes because they can't get where they need to go. Yet, Mayor Dave Bing says he’ll do "whatever it takes" to fix the problem. So far, no dice.
WDET reporter Quinn Kleinfelter talks to The Takeway about getting around the Motor City when you don't own a motor yourself.
City Council Bill to Regulate Car Washes
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Metro Car Wash in Rego Park, Queens (photo by Kate Hinds)
(New York, NY -- Sharyn Jackson, WNYC) New York City City Council members have introduced legislation that would require all car washes register for a license with the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Harlem Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito announced the bill to more than 50 protestors who gathered on the steps of City Hall. She said she was surprised when she learned that car washes didn’t already need licenses.
“This industry, I mean, you're talking about heavy machinery, you're talking about chemicals that are being used, it's not regulated in any way,” she said. “But as a city, we’ve got to step up to the plate, and ensure that they’re doing right by these workers.”
The industry is under fire for allegations of overworking and underpaying employees. According to an investigation by the New York State Department of Labor, almost 80 percent of the city’s car wash owners had wage and hour violations.
“New York City, we love to be stylish here, there's no question,” said Councilman James Sanders, who chaired a council hearing on the bill today. “We love our cars and we love to look good, but we don't want to do it at the expense of anyone.”
But car wash owners have told Transportation Nation they treat their workers fairly and safely.
Young People Are Driving Less and Explaining Why
Monday, April 30, 2012
View Why are Young Americans Driving Less? in a larger map
(New York, NY -- Kristen Meinzer, The Takeaway) A typical story on The Takeaway morning radio program receives up to a dozen listener comments. Stories that strike a particular cord receive closer to two or three dozen responses. But a story we covered this month received nearly seventy five comments from more than twenty states across the country.
The story was about young people driving less. According to a new study, co-authored by Tony Dutzik and Benjamin Davis of the Frontier Group, 16- to 34-year-olds without driver’s licenses rose to 26 percent in 2010 from 21 percent a decade earlier. Younger drivers are driving almost a quarter fewer miles than they used to. At the same time, biking, walking, and other driving alternatives rose among young people in the past decade.
We asked our younger listeners to tell us if they’re driving less and, if so, why.
The top reason was the cost of the gas, as well as the cost of cars.
And a listener from Evans, Georgia texted:
It’s all about the cost. Jobs are scarce or poorly paying and cars, gas, and insurance are expensive.
A listener from Independence, Kansas texted:
Less driving for me means that i don't have to waste as much of my life at underpaying jobs to afford gas, insurance, maintainence, and car payment.
Joseph in Lincoln, Rhode Island wrote:
Gas is more expensive, but have you seen the price of used cars lately? They’ve become way more expensive than they were 10 years ago. I’m currently shopping for a new fuel efficient car.
A listener from Brentwood, New York texted:
I am 24 and I drive less because my car is falling apart and gas is way, way too expensive!
A listener from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma texted:
I sold my car and bought a bike. I haven't bought gas or car insurance in 3 years. That's a big boost to the budget!
Several listeners said their concern for the environment factored in to their decision to drive less.
Nicolas Seguin wrote:
We are more eco-aware than previous generations.
Many said they didn’t enjoy the driving experience or being dependant on a car. Walking, biking and even mass transit, as they see it, are more fun and less stressful.
Jeanette Pierce from Detroit wrote:
I live in Detroit (yes, the Motor City) and I got rid of my car in November because I just wasn't driving it enough (once a month sometimes). I walk to 98% of the things I need/want to. It's great. I don't have to worry about traffic and I don't know what gas costs. it's awesome!
A small handful mentioned health reasons.
David Lagomasino wrote:
Its nice to get the exercise. We sit in traffic, sit at work, sit in traffic on the way home. If we were a little more active we would feel better for so many reasons.
A few said that in the era of the internet, it’s just as easy to watch movies, socialize, and work online.
A listener from Florida wrote:
I drive less because I have become a couch potato. The Internet takes me anywhere I want to go. And services like Netflix provide entertainment at the touch of a button. It’s also a lot more affordable.
And many listeners gave a combination of all of the above reasons, as well as some more philosophical ones.
Samantha Henderson from Denver wrote:
I have two reasons: 1) Damn, gas is expensive, and 2) Greener alternatives: awareness and availability (biking, busing, walking, etc). Also, the motor vehicle is no longer as novel an item as it once was for older generations.
Of course, more than a few people said they were driving as much as ever because they lived in places with limited mass transit, were required to drive long distances for work, or simply enjoyed driving.
A listener from Chicopee, Massachusetts texted:
I find my self driving more and more each year as a small business owner. And I still drive to visit friends or vacation in other states.
And one listener said he had a particular interest in our story, but not because of his own driving habits.
A listener from Mt. Clemens, Michigan texted:
I'm with Chevrolet and we are working extensively on this opportunity. We think its a combination of factors inc. there r few cars that truly meet their needs.
MORE ABOUT THE RESPONSES
WE RECEIVED NEARLY SEVENTY FIVE RESPONSES FROM OVER 20 STATES
Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia.
VOICEMAIL
This is Bob from Brooklyn I have never driven a car. I have never had a driver's license. I take buses and subways and it is a pleasure. I have none of the headaches of owning. I also have 2 bicycles and it's Fun bye.
This is Pete calling from Auburn Tennessee and I find myself driving less now. I only drive out of necessity to get to work and go to the grocery store and stuff like that and the reason is that gasoline is now almost 4 dollars a gallon.
Harry in Key West...(If people drove less) they wouldn't have health problems they wouldn't requires much Medicare and <edicaid so it becomes a cascade of destruction ...
Hi my name is Connie Hanson I listen to The Takeaway on WLRN in Miami, South Florida. Bpth my boyfriend and I have gone completely car free. We soldwith our car and commute roughly 20 miles round trip to the office and back everyday as well as running other errands on bike or on foot. We live in Waccamaw community despite being farther from work and actually love it that makes our time so much more pleasant . We even take the bus .
Hi this is Robert in Miami I'm listening to you you guys when I drive and I'm wondering if you've given any consideration to what the impact of your own medium is gonna be as people drive less and less. I'm guessing most people listening to NPR listen mostly in the car.
Hi this is Cindy calling from New Hampshire and I was calling about the issue and some people not getting driver's licenses. I'm 25 but I'm like a lot of other people my age I have a child and so I find that I could do without a car. I used to live where you could walk to just about anything. If you live in the suburbs you need a car if you have a family if you live in the city not so much.
Hi this is ... Jonathan I'm calling from Cambridge Massachusetts my wife is 7 years younger so she's around 27 and she doesn't drive she never has ... she doesn’t see the point there's not too much in it for her ...Shopping she can do online ... Socializing she can do a lot of that online ... when she drives she can't check the internet or get text messages to do other things it's much easier to do that on the bus and that's true for a lot of my friends who are a little bit on the younger side ... Just about everybody who lives anywhere near Boston isn't gonna be driving if they don't have to because that's time that could be spent on the smart phones.
Hi my name is Charlie Bratton I'm actually calling in transit from Charleston South Carolina to Blacksburg, Virginia. I studied urban planning. Urban planners for a while have tried to encourage mass transportation and I think that our generation growing up with all these (inaudible) that we have been surrounded with have kind of shied away from wanting to use it and ... yeah thanks bye.
Yeah this is Patrick Oklahoma andI want to put my opinion on the whole car thing. Not all of us can do that because we don't live in big city.
THETAKEAWAY.ORG
N Dalton from WV
Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seems we went from a generation of youth in the 70s who worked to be able to buy a modest used car (maybe from a family member), to a generation of youth who expected their parents to buy new cars for them (often seen as right of passage), to a generation's who parents can no longer afford this and where the youth can't even conceive of working & saving to buy their own car. I remember getting a modest used car because I had to go to work in high school. I don't think it's just the economy, but we have a generation who don't have an expectation they need to work. I think they'd rather play with their smartphones (which their parents foot the bill for) and just aren't expected to work for a lot of things - including a car. If they had to pay for their own smartphones, I believe this whole paradigm would change. Learning at a young age how hard I needed to work to pay for things I wanted was a very valuable lesson.
Zach from Pittsburgh, PA (WESA, Essential Public Radio)
I had to "put down" my first car (an old saab) a little over a year ago, and Public Transportation in Pittsburgh isn't great. I bought a used VW, and the financial burden of having a car is rivaled only by my student loans. I do like having the option to drive- that feeling that I can get away, or go wherever I need to at the drop of a hat, but as I'm thinking of moving this summer, getting closer to downtown and I bike more and more. My city is becoming more and more bike friendly- but I still wish the light rail was better.
Jennifer from South Brunswick
We live in Central Jersey and I know that immigrant status has something to do with the lower number of kids, particularly girls, getting their licenses. I know several girls, all but one of them Asian, who didn't want to or weren't allowed/encouraged to get their licenses. I guess the parents didn't see it as a milestone worth achieving, especially for girls? I don't know. I was pretty shocked, to tell you the truth. As the old driving school ad used to say 'You start to live when you learn to drive!" at least that's how we felt at 16.
My daughter drives all the time and I encourage her to do so. Practice makes perfect.
Jeannie from Boston
In our fifties & have been "commuting" upstairs or downstairs for twenty years - I know u want this to be a young thing but... Plus we hv no kids - so carbon footprint pretty small - also lived in cities for our whole lives until recently & now only 15 miles out...& going back soon if American cities ever get live-able (trash, noisy neighbors w no respect for each other) again...Hate to burst your bubble but commuting by transit has been around for a while!
Ten responses
New York
Adam Edwards I would rather live in NYC than the suburbs.
Oklahoma
Derek Roberts I drive an hour to school and work and have an hour or more home (If I get stuck behind school buses). Gas is expensive, so I limit any extraneous driving. Easier to tag along if I need to go someplace.
Denver
Samantha Henderson 2 reasons: 1) Damn, gas is expensive, and 2) Greener alternatives: awareness and availability (biking, busing, walking, etc). Also, the motor vehicle is no longer as novel an item as it once was for older generations.
Location unknown
Nicolas Seguin We are more eco-aware and we are also less rich than previous generations.
Miami
David Lagomasino Safer, cleaner, and HEALTHIER alternatives! Why drive 20 min in traffic when it only takes me 30 mins to bike. Include trying to find parking and walking to the building, its actually faster for me to bike. David Lagomasino In addition, its nice to get the exercise. We sit in traffic, sit at work, sit in traffic on the way home. If we were a little more active we would feel better for so many reasons
Oklahoma
John Wheeler In Oklahoma we drive a lot. Gas prices are not so high compared to other parts of the nation, but are still prohibitive. Plus our infrastructure is different, we have a small bus fleet in town. The reasons I carpool and bike ride is mostly expense, and I know I am helping the environment by limiting my driving.
Arizona
Adam Schenck As a 30-year-old in this economy, I can't afford (and do not want) an oversize house in the distant suburbs. For me, the movement back to more urban areas is more about avoiding those boring "bedroom communities" than it is the cost of gasoline.
Indiana
Carmen Moyers 1. I hate driving
2. It costs money
3. I finally live in a city that has real public tranist (ann arbor)
4. It's bad for the environment
Detroit
Jeanette Pierce I live in Detroit (yes, the Motor City) and I got rid of my car in November because I just wasn't driving it enough (once a month sometimes). I walk to 98% of the things I need/want to. It's great. I don't have to worry about traffic and I don't know what gas costs. it's awesome!
TEXTS
We received over forty text messages from around the country.
Michigan
Its too expensive and life is too demanding to spend so much time in a car.
Briar Park NY
P.o.g. - price of gas.
Denver CO
I don't own a car and work full time. I drove for years but there are alternatives. People should take the time to find other ways and combine trips. Convenience is not worth the consequences.
Fort Collins CO
Because I'm a planeteer. You can be one to.
Miami, FL
Not me.. I live in Miami.. I have to drive.. :-)
Hackensack NJ
I wish I was driving less The gas is too damn high
Enid, OK
Driving less. Gas is $3.689 per gallon!
Michigan
Its too expensive and life is too demanding to spend so much time in a car.
Murfreesboro TN
Cost and traffic
Evans GA
The cost....jobs are scarce or poorly paying and cars, gas, and insurance are expensive.
Florida
Because gas is 4$ a gallon. And commuting by car takes a lot of valuable time from you each day, which can be used to do work if commuting by public transportation. Or exercise if you bike or walk to work.
Independence KS
Less driving for me means that i don't have to waste as much of my life at underpaying jobs to afford gas, insurance, maintainence, and car payment.
Chicopee MA
I find my self driving more and more each year as a small business owner. Yet I still drive to visit friends or vacation in other states
Joseph in Lincoln, RI
Gas is more expensive, but have you seen the price of used cars lately? Theyve become way more expensive than they were 10 years ago. Shopping for a new fuel efficient car.
John in Enid, OK
Gas prices are prohibitively high, reliable cars are unaffordable, and driving creates an isolated feeling from the community.
Abigail from New York
If my kids wanto go somewhere for fun, or to a freind or a ride to school, i will think twice before i jump into the car.
Brooklyn, NY
Gas is much too expensive! In Brooklyn it’s $3.89 per gallon!
Myrtle Beach, SC
I didn't get my license until I was 19 because I had other options for transportation. I drive as little as possible now because I can't afford the gas. I am 25
Detroit, MI
I hate having to drive! We purchased a home near the center of detroit. Everything is less than 10 miles from home. If public transit was better I'd use that! Vehicle ownership and everything that goes along with it is an expense I like to minimize.
Brentwood, NY
I am 24 and I drive less because my car is falling apart and gas is way, way too expensive!
Leonardtown, MD
Are you kidding? The price of gas
Winfield, Kansas
I am 28. Been driving since i was six years old. I drive well over 10,000 miles a month between work and my personal life.
Mt. Clemens, MI
I'm with Chevrolet and we are working extensively on this opportunity. We think its a combination of factors inc. there r few cars that truly meet their needs.
Massachusetts
I'm 40 but having been driving less for several yrs now. 2 reasons: fuel prices - if I can get there by bike I ride my bike which sometimes means more trips during the wk to the grocery store as I can only carry so much. 2nd reason is health: I need to ride my bike in order to assure myself that I get exercise
Eagan, MN
My car has terrible gas mileage
San Jose, CA
I drive less because I love to people-watch on public transportation.
Chris Timmons
Only driving when I absolutely need to, no more joy rides. Gas and insurance are way too freakin expensive.
Boston, MA
Gas is expensive, even w my hybrid. plus we love living locally-walkg in nbrhood seeing folks and stuff.
Aiken SC US
At 58, I'm driving less also. Economic, environmental, technological reasons are influences.
New York, NY
Too dangerous. Too expensive. Rather live in denser area and not have to deal with constant attention a car needs. rather text on train. ;)
Pete from Oklahoma
i drive less because i live close to school, gas costs a lot and i enjoy walking outside- ask me again come August for the summer temperatures in Oklahoma.
Troy, MI
I love to drive but hate to pay for gas. I'm not unwilling to drive, I just choose other options when able first.
Clinton, MA
We travel a lot less. Also clipping coupons. We just got married and had a private wedding and a three day honeymoon locally. We cancelled our summer vacation plans.
Oklahoma City OK US
I sold my car and bought a bike. I haven't bought gas or car insurance in 3 years. That's a big boost to the budget!
Richmond VA US
I am 33 and drive an average of 100 m/day for non profits in rural communities near Pittsburgh.
Florida
Because I have become a couch potato. The Internet takes me anywhere I want to go. And services like netflix provide entertainment at the touch of a button. Its also a lot more affordable.
Buffalo, NY
We have much less income to spend on gas and can't afford to buy a new more fuel efficient vehicle.
Milford, MA
Im 27 and I drive 100 miles a day just to and from work. Ananda, Mass
Las Vegas NV US
I'm not young-but its obvious to me-price of gas? No?
Carlisle, PA
Cost of fuel. Environmentally conscious. Avoiding waste. Saving money.
Clinton, MA
Gas is too expensive
OMG! It's Green! New Yorkers React to New Cab Color
Monday, April 30, 2012
The city's new outer-boro street hails, inspired by the color of Granny Smith apples (photo: Brigid Bergin/WNYC)
(New York, NY -- Brigid Bergin, WNYC) Move over, Granny Smith. Apple green taxis are coming to an outer borough near you.
That's the official color the city selected for the new boro Taxis. Cars this shade of green, a color WNYC reported was on the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s short list, are scheduled to bring taxi service to Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx and northern Manhattan starting this summer.
Taiwo Whetstone, 30, gasped at the green hue. “Oh, my! That's really bright. Bright green. I mean it seems like the Brooklyn version of a taxi cab,” suggested Whetstone who lives in Clinton Hill.
But she liked the idea of it and said it would make her feel better about hailing a cab, “Coming from Brooklyn, you know, that’s kind of nice to have taxi cabs that are that obvious.”
Looking at a picture of the new cab color, Andrew Lis, 38, and his 7-year-old daughter Josie gave it a luke-warm reception.
“It's ok. It doesn't look like a cab,” said Lis as his daughter Josie chimed in, “It looks booger-colored.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined TLC Commissioner David Yassky and other elected officials for the big reveal on Sunday in City Hall Plaza. The mayor called the vibrant shade “attractive” and “distinctive” adding, “It’s easy on the eyes and easy to pick out from a distance in traffic and that's going to help customers.”
“I think that green matches the leafier nature of the boroughs, as opposed the office towers of midtown,” said Yassky.
The TLC plans to issue 18,000 permits that will allow livery vehicles to legally pick up street hails, a practice that is currently illegal and subject to tickets and fines through TLC enforcement agents.
Yassky said the city has a “zero tolerance policy” on illegal street hails with 36,000 tickets issued in fiscal year 2012.
Under the new plan, current livery drivers will be eligible to apply for the $1,500 boro taxi permit on a first-come, first-serve basis starting Tuesday May 29. In June, the city will issue the first 6,000 permits, with two subsequent waves to follow.
A group of yellow cab owners have filed a suit to block the plan. That lawsuit is still pending.
Plans for Merritt Parkway Bike Trail Generate Debate
Friday, April 27, 2012
The Merritt Parkway (Joe Shlabotnik via flickr)
(New York, NY -- Amy Eddings, WNYC)
Bike trail controversy isn't just for New York City residents. That controversy is also brewing north of the city. Some residents living in eight upscale communities along Connecticut's Merritt Parkway are debating the pros and cons of putting a bike lane along the northbound side of the scenic, wooded highway.
The trail would stretch 37.5 miles along the Merritt, the "Queen of Parkways," from the New York state line in old money Greenwich to the Sikorsky Bridge and the Housatonic River in Stratford. Along the way, it would pass through the Fairfield County hamlets of New Canaan, Westport, Fairfield and Trumbull, as well as the busy communities of Stamford and Norwalk.
Outdoor enthusiasts have pressed for a Merritt Parkway bike trail for years. The highway is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It has 69 original bridges, designed by George L. Dunkelberger, which are decorated with grapevines and classic urns, winged wheels and crenellated parapets. No two are alike.
"As you're driving by at expressway speeds, it's very difficult to get an appreciation for the parkway," said William Britnell, a principal engineer at Connecticut's Department of Transportation, who's overseeing the study.
In 2010, the Connecticut Department of Transportation applied for more than $1 million in federal money from the National Scenic Byways Program to fund a bike trail along the Merritt, which was first recommended in 1993.
Britnell said it took that long for transportation officials to decide to stop talking about what a bike trail might look like, and start plotting it out.
But in local papers and blogs, and at several recent public workshops on the proposal, residents along the highway have voiced concerns. They say the Parkway wasn't designed to be a, well, park. People whose properties butt up against the Merritt worry that the removal of trees for the bike path would ruin their privacy and reduce what is now an important noise buffer. There is also concern about who will maintain and clean up the trail.
Britnell said it won't be the state DOT. It doesn't have the money.
"We are struggling just to maintain the roads and facilities that we have now," said Britnell. Typically, towns are proposing these trails and they're the ones who are usually willing to take on the maintenance."
Britnell acknowledged that the towns are also having funding issues and said they will be unable to maintain the trail. “We have to look at alternatives, whether it be public-private partnerships, perhaps even volunteers," he said.
Other issues to consider: where bike enthusiasts would park their cars while they enjoy the trail, and how the trail would navigate across several busy roads, including Lake Avenue and Round Hill Road in Greenwich.
The next public workshop on the feasibility of the bike trail is Tuesday, May 1, in Westport.
You can listen to an interview with WNYC's Amy Eddings and William Britnell, a principal engineer at Connecticut's Department of Transportation, who's overseeing the study, here.
VIDEO: NJ State Troopers Escort Luxury Sports Cars on High Speed Highway Romp, Get Suspended
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
(Nancy Solomon -- New Jersey Public Radio) State troopers reportedly escorted a group of expensive sports cars at 100 m.p.h down the Garden State Parkway last month.
In the video above, two giddy (young?) men narrate the trip, calling out the makes and models of the cars and do a fair job of keeping up with the top-of-the-line caravan, in what they repeatedly refer to as their Evolution 8.
Around 2:30 into the video, one of them declares the auto adventure as "the highlight of my life."
The most incriminating footage comes around 3:30 after going through a toll. You can see a State Trooper in what looks to be the poll position the line of sports cars. The men filming offer mixed praise to the police driver, "You da man, even though we don't like you," one of them yells. And the ride continues.
Two troopers have been suspended.
The incident is raising question about whether New Jersey is sending mixed messages about aggressive driving just a week after Governor Chris Christie signed a bill that increased penalties for the practice.
Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa says the investigation is still ongoing. New Jersey's top state law enforcement officials discussed high-speed police escorts during a meeting Wednesday. State Police Lt. Stephen Jones says there are guidelines, but State Police won't release them. Jones says there aren't applications for police escorts and no central record of them.
For more details on the state response and police investigation, check in on NJPR.
NY/NJ Port Authority Chief Wants Megabus Out
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
(New York, NY -- Tracey Samuelson, WNYC) The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey doesn’t want Megabus to be able to pick up passengers on the sidewalk outside the West-side bus terminal, New York City's main bus station.
The city’s Department of Transportation gave the discount carrier – known for occasional $1 fares – a three-month trial permit to operate on West 41st Street outside the terminal, which expires in early May.
“It’s a danger to people trying crossing that street, whether they’re trying to access Megabus or not,” said Pat Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while speaking at a Crain's New York Business forum Tuesday morning. “We're going to take a vigorous position that that pilot program not be renewed and that Megabus and other operators be moved someplace else.”
A coalition of bus operators including Greyhound Lines, Peter Pan Bus Lines and Adirondack Trailways has already made a similar request of the DOT, arguing it's unfair that they have to pay for the right to operate out of the bus terminal when Megabus can park outside for free.
City DOT spokesman Scott Gastel offered little indication of whtat the city will do. "We continue to inspect the Megabus site, and will consult with both Community Board 4 and the Port Authority next month as the 90-day period ends, taking all feedback into account as we make our evaluation," Gastel said.
NJ Troopers Being Investigated For Escorting Sports Cars at High Speed on State Highways
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
photo icojolea
(New York, NY -- Anne Marie Fertoli, WNYC) New Jersey officials are investigating allegations that state troopers escorted “high-end” sports cars, without permission, along several state highways last month.
The state attorney general’s office says that two officers — Sergeant First Class Nadir Nassry, 47, and Trooper Joseph Ventrella, 28 — have been suspended without pay. The commander at Totowa Station has also been transferred.
Paul Loriquet, with the attorney general’s office, said authorities were tipped off to the escort by motorists who filed complaints and alleged that the caravan was travelling at high-speed. He said those reports haven’t been confirmed, as the investigation is ongoing. The caravan allegedly rode on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and the Atlantic City Expressway.
“Escorts are designed to protect and enhance public safety,” Loriquet said. “In this situation, allegedly, this escort compromised public safety.”
Loriquet could not confirm reports in the Star Ledger newspaper that former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs was part of the caravan. His agent, Justin Schulman, was not immediately available for comment.
“This mission of the state police is to ensure the safety and security of the people of New Jersey, and the overwhelming majority of troopers nobly and responsibly do fulfill that mission,” Loriquet said. “We will not let the acts of a few tarnish the entire force.”
Loriquet added that “those responsible will face serious discipline.”
Space Shuttle Enterprise to New York On Friday
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
(New York, NY -- Soterios Johnson, WNYC) NASA officials are delaying the arrival of the Space Shuttle Enterprise to New York until Friday.
Space Shuttle Enterprise is now scheduled to come to New York on Friday morning on the back of a specially modified NASA 747. That is, if the weather permits.
This just in, from NASA:
NASA managers, in coordination with Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum officials, tentatively are targeting Friday, April 27, for the ferry of space shuttle Enterprise from Washington Dulles International Airport to John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York.
Managers shifted the flight from Wednesday to Friday because of a large region of low pressure dominating the East Coast. The weather is predicted to be more favorable Friday.
NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) with Enterprise mounted atop will fly at a relatively low altitude over various parts of the New York City metropolitan area on Friday. The aircraft is expected to fly near a variety of landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and Intreprid. After the flyover is complete, the SCA will land at JFK.
The Federal Aviation Administration is coordinating the flight, which is scheduled to occur between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. EDT, weather permitting. The exact route and timing depend on weather and operational constraints.
WNYC is collecting photos on Friday: Send in your photos here. (scroll to bottom of post)
See the results here.
A large region of low pressure on the East Coast has made it difficult to predict an acceptable day for the flight. NASA officials will keep a close eye on the weather.
"It's the crosswinds they worry about and gusts. And also rain," said Matt Woods of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where the shuttle will be going on display this summer. "You know it doesn't fly like a typical aircraft when you have this large 160,000-pound object on its back. The aerodynamics are off a little bit. And they just want to make sure they do it right."
If weather conditions permit, the shuttle will be flown to Kennedy Airport on Friday from Washington D.C., where it has been on display at the Smithsonian Institution. The jumbo jet carrying the shuttle will perform a low-altitude flyover of the shuttle's new hometown, perhaps passing by city landmarks including the Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid.
Enterprise was built as a prototype vehicle for the shuttle program to perform test flights and landings. And, even though this shuttle never actually went into space, the Intrepid Museum's Woods says it's an important acquisition.
"We look at the Enterprise as really the test vehicle that made the rest all possible, that made all the space exploration possible with the Space Shuttle program,” he said. “Without Enterprise, without proving that you could do takeoffs and landings with these things, you never would have gotten further with the program."
After it arrives in New York, Enterprise will be transported in early June from JFK Airport to the Intrepid Museum by barge through the New York Harbor and up the Hudson River. It will then be lifted by crane onto the Intrepid's flight deck. The museum plans to have the shuttle exhibit open to the public by July.
"We're going to design an experience around the outside of the shuttle, but we'll be able to walk under ours here," said Woods. "We'll build some ramp systems, where you can see it from different angles, create a nice lightshow and a defined exhibit route with interactive audio-visuals -- create a whole experience."
New York Deal on Regulating Budget Bus Lines
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
photo Alex Goldmark
(New York, NY -- Denise Blostein, WNYC) The Bloomberg administration is on board with proposed legislation that may eliminate the "Wild West" atmosphere of intercity buses that many officials say is wreaking havoc on city streets, especially in Chinatown.
State Senator Daniel Squadron and Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn said new permitting will require bus companies to seek approval for designated pick-up and drop-off locations. The city would consult local community boards as part of this application process.
Currently, the city designates locations for some curbside bus companies, but channeling these requests through the DOT isn’t mandatory. Sadik-Kahn said that nothing prevents bus companies from deciding on their own locations. The new law would also enable the city to take action and fine bus companies that don't comply with the new rules; bus lines would be fined $1,000 for a first offense and $2,500 for subsequent offenses.
George Lence, a spokesman for Megabus, one of the intercity bus companies operating out of Midtown Manhattan said, “We always work closely with the city when selecting workable bus locations for our customers and will continue to do so under this legislation."
City Council member Margaret Chin, who supports the legislation, said she has received complaints about the volume of buses and passengers loading in and out of Chinatown streets for the past two years. Chin noted that after a deadly accident involving a Chinatown bus company last March, “the need for legislation took on more urgency.”
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senator Squadron, who will introduce the bill in the Assembly and the Senate respectively, said that regulation is needed because both capacity issues at the Port Authority terminal and federal regulations requiring that curbside bus lines be allowed operate have turned the streets of New York City into bus depots.
“We’re real glad there’s a whole new low-cost bus industry” Squadron said. “It’s good for riders, it’s good for commerce, it’s good for the country. But an unregulated Wild West atmosphere is bad for everyone.”
Fewer Houstonians Striving To Own 'That House In The Suburbs'
Monday, April 23, 2012
Houston Suburbs (photo flickr cc Nelson Minar)
(Houston, TX -- David Pittman, KUHF) The idea of having a house in the suburbs is rapidly losing its luster among folks in Houston. This year's Houston Area Survey finds a significant increase in the number of people who are sick and tired of burning up their precious money and time on the road.
Thirteen years ago, the Houston Area Survey started asking people who lived in urban areas if they'd prefer to live in the suburbs. It also asked people in the suburbs if they'd like to move into the city one day. Survey founder Stephen Klineberg, a Rice University sociology professor, says the survey has revealed a clear shift in opinion.
"In 1999, twice as many people in the city said 'I want to move to the suburbs,' than people in the suburbs saying 'I want to move to the city.' Those lines have crossed now. And in this year's survey, significantly more people in the suburbs said 'I would be interested in, someday, moving to the city,' than people in the city saying, 'I want to move to the suburbs.'"
The most obvious reason is the rise in gasoline prices. But Klineberg says shifting demographics are also at play.
"You've got empty-nesters. Kids are grown up. You've got young creatives who want the urban life. When all this began, 65% of U.S. households consisted of a husband and wife and two kids. Now, it's less than a third."
And that change in the makeup of households is also reflected in the type of houses people in Houston aspire to own. The percentage of people who say they'd like a traditional house with a yard in the suburbs has dropped from 59% four years ago, to 47% today. While the proportion who would like a smaller home in a more walkable neighborhood has risen dramatically over the same period of time — from about a third, to more than half.
Northern Virginia Commuter Rail Hikes Fares
Monday, April 23, 2012
Virginia Railway Express Train (photo cc flickr sagansapien)
(Washington, DC -- Matt McClesky, WAMU) Fares are going up on Virginia Railway Express. VRE Passengers will soon see a 3 percent fare increase, after the railway's operations board approved a fare hike that will take effect July 1. A minimum one-way ticket will go from $2.90 to $3, and the maximum one-way ticket will rise from $10.30 to $10.65.
The increase is expected to generate about $900,000 in additional revenue next year, according to the Associated Press. That money will be used to pay for rising fuel costs and increased payments to Keolis, VRE's primary contractor, which runs the day-to-day operation of the railway.
VRE carries 16,000 commuters on average each weekday from the Northern Virginia suburbs to Alexandria, Crystal City and downtown Washington along the I-66 and I-95 corridors.
The last time VRE raised fares was in 2009.
