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I don't know where the twitter poster got their numbers but every source I've seen shows that after a short three-month period of decline, Houston's transit numbers are WAY up across the board thanks to the frequent network.

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/...ership/496313/

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrennanW (Post 7659131)

Up just 1% to 2% for buses, much higher for light rails at 16.6%.
I'm not sure more are riding light rail trains because the new bus routes are lousy, or the new bus routes gets the passengers to the trains better?

Quote:

China's famous elevated bus is now just a giant roadblock

After seizing the world's attention over the summer, China's futuristic elevated bus appears to have reached the end of the line.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/19/tech...page_tech_pool

Selfie-taking concept car for Millennials

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/03/tech...car/index.html

Quote:

.....

- Chrysler unveiled its Portal concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, and it has a long list of features based on 20 years of research into exactly what Millennials want from a car, according to Fiat Chrysler.

- Technology is at the center of it all, starting with the Portal's plug-in ports for the mobile devices belonging to every passenger in the car. So the car can take a photo of everyone riding in all six seats -- which is critical for any road trip -- and then send the image to everyone's devices so it can be shared on social media.

- Music is also a big part of the driving experience for these important potential customers, so the Portal lets everyone in the car share songs and videos to create a single playlist for everyone to listen to. Even cooler, the car's stereo has "zoned audio" that lets each passenger listen to different things without using headphones.

- A shared display screen in the van's ceiling allows occupants to put together a combined playlist with tracks from all the occupants' personal devices, according to Fiat Chrysler (FCAU). It can also be used for things like putting together a drive-through dinner order. In fact, the car can even pay for those fries and shakes by securely linking to the payment information.

- The interior is fully customizable, of course. Interior LED accent lighting can be changed to any color -- a feature available on some cars today -- and the seats can be moved back and forth on tracks and even removed entirely to create more storage space.

- With cameras mounted on the outside of the vehicle, the Portal can use facial recognition software to recognize various people approaching the vehicle. That way, the car's interior and entertainment features can be automatically customized to best suit them.

.....

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/a...pt-2-340xa.jpg http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/a...pt-4-340xa.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 7667151)

Selfie-taking concept car for Millennials

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/03/tech...car/index.html

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/a...pt-2-340xa.jpg http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/a...pt-4-340xa.jpg

It's crap like this that makes me ashamed of being a millennial...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busy Bee (Post 7667805)

It's crap like this that makes me ashamed of being a millennial...

Why? it should make marketers and designers ashamed of their failure to understand young people.

Seattle: America’s Next Top Transit City

http://transitcenter.org/2017/01/03/...-transit-city/

Quote:

.....

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Seattle is demonstrating how rail and buses can work in tandem to build a fast, frequent and reliable network that encourages people to use transit. A key factor for this success is city government playing an active role forging transit improvements, not taking a back seat to county and regional transit agencies. Seattle’s experience demonstrates that when agencies create clear transportation priorities, provide thoughtful, goal-oriented planning and deliver good transit service, ridership goes up and a firm foundation of public support can be established.

.....

Video Link

Great video. LA needs to take a page from you guys and Houston, our bus service is performing terribly.

100 Percent of Dutch Trains Now Run on Wind Energy

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/all...on-wind-energy

Quote:

.....

- The Netherlands now runs all of its trains on wind energy, meeting a goal to transition to 100 percent renewable energy a year ahead of schedule. All Dutch trains are electric, and new construction of several wind farms helped meet the country's goal to power all of their locomotives with the renewable energy on Jan. 1, 2017, Dutch news outlet RTL Z reported.

- The Netherlands had been buying renewable energy from neighboring countries in the EU and using gas-powered plants to make up the difference, but the creation of additional wind farms meant it could produce all the energy necessary to power its train system independently.

.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 7673206)

100 Percent of Dutch Trains Now Run on Wind Energy

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/all...on-wind-energy

Baloney! Many Dutch trains use diesel as a fuel.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trai...he_Netherlands

Calgary's entire LRT system is powered by wind energy.

Vienna's path to sustainable transport

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...nalCode=ujst20

Quote:

.....

- Vienna, Austria reduced the car share of trips by a third between 1993 and 2014: from 40% to 27%. The key to Vienna's success has been a coordinated package of mutually reinforcing transport and land-use policies that have made car use slower, less convenient, and more costly, while improving conditions for walking, cycling, and public transport. During 32 in-person interviews in Vienna in May 2015, a wide range of politicians, transport planners, and academics almost unanimously identified the expansion of the U-Bahn (metro) and parking management as the most important policies accounting for the reduction in car mode share since 1993.

- Implementation of sustainable transport policies in Vienna has been a long-term, multi-staged process requiring compromises, political deals, and coalition-building among political parties and groups of stakeholders. This consensual approach to policy development has been time-consuming. Vienna has not been the first city to introduce any particular policy, but it has masterfully adopted successful policies from other cities. The continuity of social democratic governments in Vienna since 1945 has provided a crucial political basis for long-term implementation. The Greens have vigorously pushed for accelerating implementation of sustainable transport policies since becoming part of the ruling coalition government in 2010. The progressive political environment in Vienna has been essential to its increasingly sustainable transport system. Other major cities in Western Europe have also reduced the share of trips by car since 1990. Together with Vienna, they provide useful lessons for other cities throughout the world on how to reduce car dependence.

.....

All Dutch Electric Passenger Trains Now Powered by Wind

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricron (Post 7673279)

Baloney! Many Dutch trains use diesel as a fuel.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trai...he_Netherlands

Here is a link to an article with a more precise headline.

http://inhabitat.com/wind-power-now-...e-netherlands/

LOL

Trump’s First Budget May Zero Out Federal Transit Funding

Quote:

“Phase out” the Federal Transit Administration — $4 billion annually

In Heritage’s worldview, highways are a national concern but transit is not, therefore the federal government should contribute nothing toward transit. The proposal calls for the 20 percent of federal surface transportation spending that currently goes to transit agencies to be eliminated over five years. There would be no real savings, because the money would simply get spent on highways instead.

Heritage says this would give local governments time to come up with replacement funds. In reality, it would plunge transit agency budgets into chaos, disrupt services that tens of millions of Americans rely on, and wreck the economies of major metropolitan areas.

Eliminate major capital investment in transit — $2.2 billion annually

The FTA’s New Starts program is the largest source of capital funding for major transit expansion projects. Heritage notes that it was “used” by the Obama Administration “to advance its ‘smart growth’ (read: anti-driver) agenda.”

If this policy is ever enacted, plans to expand light rail, bus rapid transit, commuter rail, or subways — not to mention critical repairs to the nation’s largest urban rail networks — would be in mortal jeopardy. Huge highway expansions, meanwhile, would continue to receive a federal match covering at least 80 percent of construction costs.

Eliminate funding for Amtrak – $519 million annually

Heritage calls for eliminating operating subsidies to Amtrak immediately, and phasing out capital subsidies over five years. The irony is that Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service turns a profit, while the operating subsidies prop up a lot of service to far-flung, less populated areas. Cutting the subsidized portion of Amtrak operations isn’t actually popular with GOP lawmakers representing those parts of the country.

Eliminate funding for TIGER – $510 million annually

The TIGER program represents a small share of federal transportation spending, distributing about 50 grants per year directly to local governments and transit agencies. TIGER has funded a large number of bike, pedestrian, and transit projects, like the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and the Tampa Riverwalk.

In her confirmation hearing last week, prospective Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said TIGER was popular with representatives and indicated she would look into expanding funding.

But to Heritage, if you can’t drive on it, the feds shouldn’t be funding it. One TIGER project Heritage singles out is a $10.3 million grant for complete streets in Lee County, Florida. Just this month that part of the state was named the most dangerous metro area in the nation for walking. Heritage refers to the project as a “‘Complete Street Initiative’ (read: more congestion).”

Eliminate subsidy for WMATA — $153 million annually

The DC transit agency is already in a budget crisis, and painful service cuts are on the way. WMATA is also in the midst of a major Metro repair and maintenance program to prevent critical safety failures that have recently plagued the system. The sudden loss of federal funding would put the agency in a tailspin and potentially cripple the nation’s capital.

South Korea unveils plan for near-supersonic hyper-tube train

http://inhabitat.com/south-korea-unv...er-tube-train/

Quote:

.....

- Transportation that moves close to the speed of sound could be a reality in South Korea before too long. The country’s government-run Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) is working on their own super-speedy Hyperloop-esque train that could travel as fast as 1,000 kilometers per hour, or around 621 miles per hour, and they say it will be ready in the “not-too-distant future.”

- South Korea’s near-supersonic train could rocket travelers between Seoul and Busan, a trip that currently takes about 50 minutes by plane or over five hours on public transportation, in a snappy half hour. A KRRI spokesperson said, “We hope to create an ultra-fast train, which will travel inside a state-of-the-art low-pressure tube at lighting speeds, in the not-too-distant future. To that end, we will cooperate with associated institutes as well as Hanyang University to check the viability of various related technologies called the hyper-tube format over the next three years.”

.....

http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-conte...ll-340x116.jpg

Dubai to begin flying world's first passenger drone

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/02/14/du...chnology-news/

Quote:

.....

- The arrival of the Ehang 184, dubbed the world's first passenger drone, was announced by the head of Dubai's Roads and Transportation Agency Mattar al-Tayer at the World Government Summit, which is currently underway in the gulf city. --- It can carry one passenger weighing up to 100 kilograms and can stay airborne for 30 minutes on one charge. Once inside, the passenger uses a touchscreen to select a destination, and the drone is then "auto-piloted" by a command centre.

- There is no passenger override function, which means that anyone can travel in the drone without a pilot's licence. However, this also means the user can't take control in an emergency. --- Manufacturer Ehang says the drone is designed so that even if one propeller fails, the vehicle will still be able to complete its flight. It also incorporates the "Ehangen fail-safe system", which means in the event of a malfunction the drone will immediately land in the nearest available area.

.....

https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/20...zeen_936_2.jpg

• Video Link

Drone flyover of the entire Charlotte Lynx light rail line extension under construction:

• Video Link

The path travels north 9.7 miles (15.6 km) from 7th Street station on the north side of downtown up to the UNCC main campus in University City.

1:54 - The large empty lot was the former home of the multi-modal truck/train yard. That has been relocated to the airport and this area will be redeveloped.

4:40 - The road looking area on the left of the tracks is the future alignment of the High(er) Speed Rail line improvements between Charlotte and Raleigh.

8:54 - Flyover into the median of North Tryon which it will follow the rest of the way until it reaches the UNCC campus.

15:00 - Starts getting into University City area.

17:06 - The tunnel under North Tryon onto the UNCC campus.

^ The strength of the structure could probably run freight service.

While I'm always glad to see LRT expansion, this looks like Exhibit A for opportunity missed for full grade separation. I also am not a fan of the American practice of building enormous great wall style embankment flyovers where there are full grade sep's instead of cuts under the roadways. When you look at the material costs of these mammoth flyovers as well as their aesthetic impact, I'm bewildered why cut and cover underpasses are not utilized.

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