Transportation Nation

Lamar McKay, Chairman and President of BP America sits in today's House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. (Getty Images)

(Washington, DC -- Todd Zwillich, Transportation Nation) You didn’t really think oil CEO’s were going to get a grilling on gas prices, did you?

(New York, NY - Collin Campbell, Transportation Nation)  Jet Blue Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Maruster has a refreshingly comprehensive view of transportation.  "I may be shooting ourselves in the foot here, with five daily flights from JFK to Boston.  But it just may not make that much sense for an airplane on a 150-mile route to fly over 300 air miles to get there.  Maybe there's a different mode of transportation that may be better to carry those customers from point A to point B," Maruster said today.

He was speaking at a forum on the future of airports and air traffic control.  It was an event filled with charts and maps that drove home how overwhelmed and outdated current air traffic control technology is.  One solution Maruster said was obvious is taking airline passengers off some routes, like New York to Boston. 

Spirit strikes, cancels all flights.  No talks scheduled as of Monday morning.  (Reuters) Video:

Empty seats at World Cup blamed on fans who don't trust public transportation.  (ESPN)

United Auto Workers meets in Detroit.  How does organized labor go forward after near-death of Big Three?  (Reuters)  As president Ron Gettelfinger steps down, he'll say unionizing a basic right.  (Detroit Free Press)

As anniversary of DC Metrorail crash approaches, LaHood quietly pushes for more federal oversight.  (Washington Post)

Spirit Airlines, pilots inch closer to weekend strike.  (AP)

Freight rail, federal DOT working out differences slowing high-speed rail plans.  (Crain's)

West Virginia laments rail expansion project that got no stimulus money, is canceled.  (Herald Dispatch)

California teen trying to become youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe found stranded at sea.  (LA Times)

Most creative use of fondant?  Subway map on a cupcake, natch.  (Huff Po)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and others hoped to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate carbon.  The move failed 47-53 in the Senate today.  "Murkowski might have lost the vote, it looks like she won the war: It's hard to see a strong climate bill getting 60 votes in a Senate where her bill got 47," reports Ezra Klein of the Washington Post.  It's all about the full-blown energy policy debate set for July, as we reported earlier today.  More from the NY Times. -- Todd Zwillich

Friends Mark Hawkins, right, and Sherri Juenemann stopped to check out one of the new Nice Ride bicycle kiosks in Minneapolis. Nice Ride is the largest bike sharing program in the country, and allows riders to pick up, use, and drop off bicycles throughout Minneapolis for a user fee. (MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson)

(Minneapolis, MN - Dan Olson, MPR News) - As of today, residents of the Twin Cities can zip around on two wheels with one of the nation's largest bike share programs.  Seven hundred "Nice Ride" bikes are available for rent at 65 locations.

Nice Ride Minnesota Executive director Bill Dossett says downtown Minneapolis office workers are among his many potential customers.  Dossett said many workers arrive downtown by transit. Instead of going to a nearby meeting by bus or train they can rent a bike for $5 or for a yearly subscription of $60.

"Another group that we've seen in other cities that really use bike share are students. So, you've got all those students at the University [of Minnesota], at Augsburg and other colleges around downtown," Dossett said. "You've got a lot of them use public transportation and having the bike as additional tool they can use with the bus is really a great asset to them.  More.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in January with Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (at left) (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

(Washington, DC - Todd Zwillich, Transportation Nation) -- The much-anticipated Senate debate over energy and climate change legislation is getting an early start.

Lawmakers are set to vote today on a GOP-backed resolution stripping the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate carbon and other ‘greenhouse gasses’. The vote is shaping up as an early test of where lawmakers stand on curbing carbon emissions in advance of a full-blown energy policy debate set for July.

The EPA branded carbon an “endangerment” to human health in December, 2009, clearing the way for the agency to regulate it as a pollutant. That came after a Supreme Court decision ruling the agency had the power to regulate carbon under the Clean Air Act.

But amid mounting global pressure for US action on climate change, the move was widely seen as the Obama Administration’s way to pressure reluctant lawmakers to act on carbon caps or face regulations from the EPA.

Still, Republicans decried EPA’s anti-carbon threatened rule-making as a power-grab.  Today’s vote, if successful and the bill becomes law, would strip EPA of the authority to make new carbon-control rules.

“The EPA intends to take control of climate policy.  Take it away from the Congress,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the resolution’s main sponsor. “This resolution is about protecting the economy and preventing agency overreach. It’s as simple as that,” she said.

Rachel Bents, St. Paul consultant, now bikes to work after to give up her leased car a few weeks ago. (MPR Photo/Dan Olson)

(Minneapolis, MN - Dan Olson, MPR News) - The folks who organize national Bike and Walk to Work Week here are making an effort to address cycling's gender imbalance.  Surveys continue to show that more than two out of three bicyclists in this country are male.

Different cities are taking different approaches to try bring some balance to the equation.  Organizers in Minnesota are sponsoring rides specifically for women, in an effort to introduce and orient new riders on city streets.  Participants will get bright red T-shirts, urging women to wear red to show their commitment to women's health.

Still, a significant determinant in bike commuting - for women or men - is where you choose to live.  More enthusiastic bike commuters say they live where they know they can bike.  More.

South African transportation minister: "the World Cup is not just about sport, it is more about transport."  Says nation is ready for the rush.  (AP)

Judge rules NYC must re-open and restaff subway station booths.  (WNYC)  Meanwhile, BRT-like plan for East Side comes with more transit cops.  (Daily News)

Airlines asked to set international standards for baggage fees.  (WSJ)

Burbank (Bob Hope) Airport to put $18 million into center for passenger trains, shuttles, buses and taxis.  (LA Times)

Ride your bike on some streets in Black Hawk, Colorado, get a $68 ticket. (7 News Denver)

"Capital Bikeshare" it is, rolling toward 100 stations in Washington and 14 in Arlington.  DC's DOT reports that the name beat out George, GoBike, Capital Bixi and ShareCycle.  DC's SmartBike was the first big city bike share pilot, launching with a small number of bikes in 2008.  Capital Bikeshare promises more than 1,000 bikes and hopes to big biggest in the nation.  Launch date still a murky "later this year."

(David Schultz, WAMU) Late last year, Amtrak began running trains daily between Washington D.C. and Virginia's Shenandoah Valley - the locale of cities and towns like Lynchburg, Culpeper and Charlottesville, home to the venerable University of Virginia.

This new train service was meant to be a pilot program, funded by Virginia's Department of Transportation (VDOT). It estimated that - eventually, with a slow and steady growth - ridership might reach levels that could make this service viable.

They were right, except for that "slow and steady" part. Ridership on the Virginia-to-D.C. line has grown exponentially since it began.

VDOT estimated the new rail service would eventually carry 51,000 riders a month. In little more than half a year, monthly ridership has grown to 55,000 per month and it shows no signs of leveling off. This new service has been so successful, Amtrak may actually make a profit off it.

Now plans to expand passenger rail service elsewhere in Virginia are moving forward.

For more on those plans, and to hear from a rider who uses the new train service, check out this story from WAMU in Washington.

(Hat tip to The Hook in Charlottesville)

California Attorney General and democratic candidate for governor Jerry Brown (L) shakes hands with a voter as his campaign manager Steven Glazer looks on this morning in Oakland, California. California. Voters are heading to the polls to vote in the primary elections for governor, U.S. Senate and other statewide and local races. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

(Nathanael Johnson, KALW News) - Californians go to the polls today to pick their party nominees for governor.  It's a tough job -- facing the nation's highest budget deficit, and succeeding the meandering political mantle of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So how do the candidates come down on transportation issues, and the Golden State's crumbling bus systems, rusty rails, ruby red budgets and push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?  The leading pols haven’t said much about transit issues (and did not respond when this reporter asked them directly). Still, we can piece together some idea of how each potential governor would alter California’s transportation environment.

Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner are racing for the Republican nomination. Jerry Brown (barring a last minute scandal) has the Democratic nomination wrapped up. Here’s where they stand:

(Collin Campbell, Transportation Nation) - Before becoming the nation's Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood lived his entire life in Western Illinois.  He was born in Peoria, went to college there, taught school there, and eventually became the Congressman for the state's 18th District.

As U.S. Transportation Secretary Secretary, LaHood is working on high-speed rail projects linking big cities, transit-oriented development and bike lanes.  But how that vision plays out in rural America is a question LaHood must keep his eye on.    He answered that question on a visit to North Dakota, a spread-out state that gets more from the highway trust fund than it puts in with gas tax.  LaHood held a town hall meeting there with Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the all-powerful Senate Budget Committee, and Earl Pomeroy, the lightly populated state's only Congressman. 

Will Republicans start the bipartisan dealing on energy reform?  Early hints.  (The Takeaway)

WSJ editorial writers take on "the artist formerly known as the climate bill."  Fear one-sided, by any means necessary effort.  (WSJ)

MTV Movie Awards feature host's gesture-filled shot at BP.  (Huffington Post)

LA's plans to spend $230 million on bike lanes are part of worldwide movement by cities to do what national government's won't: (BusinessWeek)

Bus rapid transit plans announced for New York City's clogged First and Second Avenues.  (NYT)

City struggling to key up, pay overtime.  So Omaha man patches potholes in his own street.  (Omaha World-Herald)

Harry Reid says Senate will take up an energy bill in July.  (Fire Dog Lake)

Ugly air delays down.  Hawaiian, Alaska and US Airways top on-time ratings as airlines try to get ahead of new federal penalties.  (USA Today)

3,000 people get letters telling them they will have to move to accommodate new tunnel across Hudson River in Manhattan.  (NY Times)

In first public comments, head of California high-speed rail says he will reconsider some of that project's assumptions.  Funding is first, surprise surprise.  (SF Chronicle)

Caltrain, the commuter rail line linking San Francisco and San Jose, is now officially in a fiscal emergency.  It has a budget gap that amounts to more than a third of its $100 million annual operations.  The unanimous declaration of a fiscal emergency by Caltrain's board last night allows it to move ahead with service cuts and fare hikes.

The San Mateo County Times reports that those cuts could include all weekend service (sending 18,000 riders somewhere else), four midday trains, and/or early and late day trains.  It could also raise fares by 25 cents overall, or 25 cents for each "zone" of travel.  That's not the worst part: "the board also discussed Thursday the possibility of the railroad shutting down in 2012 if they can't resolve its budget problems."  Much of this is not new -- and KALW's Nathaneal Johnson has reported on some of the implications for funding structures, and California's high-speed rail plans.

As a Bay Area native and former full-time Caltrain commuter, this is a sad process to watch.  What's worse, things like the San Francisco Giants' new ballpark, and large swaths of new downtown development were built with CalTrain in mind as a commuting artery.  No weekend service means no easy and car-free fun at this ballpark by the Bay.  The cuts could start as early as October, when the Giants could be in the World Series.  -- Collin Campbell

Is car sharing so hot that it can park an IPO on frigid Wall Street? Hello $75 million bucks.  (The Takeaway)

SF Bay Area Congresswoman: foundering Caltrain commuter rail too important to lose.  So give it the SF-San Jose high-speed rail stimulus money?  (SF Chronicle Op-Ed)

South Carolina voters may see transit tax on the ballot in November.  (The State)

Tabloid-y take on New Yorkers facing transit cuts.  “I broke my foot, I can’t take the subway. Instead of an hour and 10-minute commute, my commute will now be two hours.”  (Metro)

Is Detroit becoming a bike mecca?  Life in Motor City without a drivers license.  (Metro Times)  Bike seat conversations, too.

Woman sues Google over walking directions.  (Search Engine Land)

Australian commuters happy to stand on trains for 45 minutes?  Government document also says passengers need just 40cm x 40cm to ride commuter rail -- not much more than the space of a single Herald Sun page, the paper reports.

(Collin Campbell, Transportation Nation) - The National Household Travel Survey is one of the world's most dazzling collections of data. From who telecommutes in America to whether the amount of crime along a bike route discourages commuters from riding to work, it's the most comprehensive information about long-distance and local travel by the American public.

But there's a glitch.

(United Nations - Collin Campbell, Transportation Nation) - Distracted driving is a top priority at the U.S. Department of Transportation.  Which isn't saying much some days.  Secretary Ray LaHood talks about it a lot.  The department is funding researching into how cops can write more tickets for talking and texting while driving.  LaHood often appears in public with people from Focus Driven, a non-profit that he helped create to raise awareness.

But the secretary's push faces a world moving the other way.  Cell phones have maps and GPS, automakers do things like put Twitter in the dashboard, and minivans are becoming wireless hot spots.  According to LaHood, the world now has 4.6 billion cell phone subscriptions and 600 million cars.  The math adds up to drivers who must resist many distractions.  And, even in the U.S., most cities, states and cops have yet to pass or enforce laws and regulations to back new behavior.