A Cry for Help » Transportation

Strolling the interstate

Bil — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:52:57 +0000

Usually the sight of hundreds of people ambling down an interstate in a big city is a bad thing. Think 12 Monkeys or Hurricane Katrina. But yesterday in Providence there was a more benign reason to see the citizenry take to I-195 - the DOT bused us up there. The new highway bridge in Providence is opening up soon, and we got a chance to what kind of bridge you can get for 0 million these days.

Pretty cool.

Steel City WiFi

Bil — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:24:28 +0000

So I'm sitting at gate A15 of the Pittsburgh airport, enjoying the uncommonly free wireless internet access during my three hour layover, and I want to hug whoever's idea it was to not rape their customers by partnering with a life- and wallet-sucking evil cell phone company to provide wifi. Damn you T-Mobile, for charging me an hour to check my email and post to aC4H. Hm, I don't have much more than that to say. Oh wait, here's a fun fact: "WiFi" isn't actually short for anything (many believe it's an abbreviation of "wireless fidelity", but it's not). It's just a catchy phrase made up by some brand management folks so the tech-savvy among us could add another piece of jargon to the alphabet soup world of USB and PCMCIA we inhabit. End fun fact, RI here I come.

Step Out Of The Car Please

Nightwing — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 05:32:06 +0000

I have randomly heard a bunch of people describe situations where they recently saw someone literally drinking and driving (I'm talking about something like a can of coors on I-95 type thing here). Well yesterday I encountered it too. I'm on bald hill road and this guy cruises past me drinking a bottle of Bud. He wasn't even at a light. Worse yet, he wasn't watching his carbs. Well now I'm reminded of that experience yet, again. I live on a very busy road in Warwick. Right now, right in front of my porch a young woman is getting busted for DWI. As 3 cops showed up (is that really needed for one drunk college girl?) I got to watch as they took her though the whole deal. Walking the line. Touching her finger to her nose. Standing on one leg. Touching her toes. Even looked like they pulled backwards ABCs on her. She couldn't have done so well, unless the normal prize is handcuffs and a ride in the backseat. I gotta ask it. Why the fuck do so many people think drinking and driving is ok? I'm not even trying to drive at some kind of message here, I just dont get it.

The Last SUV Holdout

Bil — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:53:37 +0000

By my unofficial survey, Saab is the only vehicle maker without an SUV model. Even Porche has one. Early next year, Saab will no longer have that distinction. The Saab 9⁷ SUV will be available next spring. You can get one with a gigantic 5.3L V8 and crash it into a Volvo SUV as fast as you can! Go check out the pictures on the website. At least they put the key in the right place, unlike the otherwise worthy 9². I'd always been snottily pleased by the fact that Saab didn't have a gas guzzling model, but unfortunately now I'll have to take my smug pleasure and stick it in my hatchback. I guess I'll have to wait til I give up my car altogether before I can get my holier-than-thou 'tude back. Yeah, I said 'tude.

All Aboard!

Bil — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:52:57 +0000

Pretty cool.

Steel City WiFi

Bil — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:24:28 +0000

Step Out Of The Car Please

Nightwing — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 05:32:06 +0000

The Last SUV Holdout

Bil — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:53:37 +0000

All Aboard!

Bil — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:52:57 +0000

Pretty cool.

A Cry for Help » Transportation

Bil — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:52:57 +0000

Pretty cool.

Steel City WiFi

Bil — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:24:28 +0000

Step Out Of The Car Please

Nightwing — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 05:32:06 +0000

The Last SUV Holdout

Bil — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:53:37 +0000

All Aboard!

Bil — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:24:28 +0000

So I'm sitting at gate A15 of the Pittsburgh airport, enjoying the uncommonly free wireless internet access during my three hour layover, and I want to hug whoever's idea it was to not rape their customers by partnering with a life- and wallet-sucking evil cell phone company to provide wifi. Damn you T-Mobile, for charging me $7 an hour to check my email and post to aC4H. Hm, I don't have much more than that to say. Oh wait, here's a fun fact: "WiFi" isn't actually short for anything (many believe it's an abbreviation of "wireless fidelity", but it's not). It's just a catchy phrase made up by some brand management folks so the tech-savvy among us could add another piece of jargon to the alphabet soup world of USB and PCMCIA we inhabit. End fun fact, RI here I come.

A Cry for Help » Transportation

Bil — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:52:57 +0000

Pretty cool.

Steel City WiFi

Bil — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:24:28 +0000

Step Out Of The Car Please

Nightwing — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 05:32:06 +0000

The Last SUV Holdout

Bil — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:53:37 +0000

All Aboard!

Nightwing — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 05:32:06 +0000

A Cry for Help » Transportation

Bil — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:52:57 +0000

Pretty cool.

Steel City WiFi

Bil — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:24:28 +0000

Step Out Of The Car Please

Nightwing — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 05:32:06 +0000

The Last SUV Holdout

Bil — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:53:37 +0000

All Aboard!

Bil — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:53:37 +0000

A Cry for Help » Transportation

Bil — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:52:57 +0000

Pretty cool.

Steel City WiFi

Bil — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:24:28 +0000

Step Out Of The Car Please

Nightwing — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 05:32:06 +0000

The Last SUV Holdout

Bil — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:53:37 +0000

All Aboard!

Bil — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 01:50:25 +0000

Since Gabe is extolling the virtues of public transit (I knew I let him post here for a reason...), I figure this is a good time to link an OpEd in the paper the other day about train travel in America. The reason it stuck out to me was because it was written by Max Sawicky, who I recognized first as an economist/blogger linked by a lot of the best liberal blogs. Just thought it was cool, and it's worth a read, too. The column originally appeared in the Providence Journal, but if you haven't registered to view their online content just click "Continue Reading..." below for the whole thing.

Max B. Sawicky: Bush budget folly -- Skimping on trains is bad for everyone

01:00 AM EST on Friday, February 27, 2004 WASHINGTON THE TIME I spend trying to get home from work is an agonizing part of my day. That's why I hate the budget proposed by President Bush. Policies being cemented into place now will force me to waste more of the next 20 years in my car. The budget invests too little in transportation and neglects mass transit. Particularly egregious is its drubbing of Amtrak, the passenger-rail system so vital to the Northeast Corridor. The latest Census data available put my region third in the nation in average travel time to work. Somebody is always going to be above average, but it should be possible to push the average down, it is hoped with my area leading the way. Where I live, Amtrak is pretty important for longer trips. Right now it takes me about four hours to drive from Maryland to New Jersey to visit my mother. Without Amtrak and with more cars on the road, I'm sure it would take much longer. Where you live, highways may be more important than rail. None of us are well served by this budget. We are told that enormous deficits appearing since 2001 result from over-spending. Under the rule of a Republican president and Congress, it is true that spending has increased. The bulk of the increase is attributable to defense and homeland security, but all of the increase has been unfunded -- unmatched by tax revenues. The federal government gave some people back some of their money, but at the same time it ran up debt in all the people's name. We the people will be picking up the tab. Whatever favor spending has enjoyed, little will be going to mass transit or rail. The Bush administration proposes to cut funding for urban mass transit by 8 percent in 2005. Grants to the states for transportation will just keep up with inflation, which means that any extra cost will have to come from state and local taxes, and tolls. Funding for the Department of Transportation rises a little in 2005, but then sinks for the succeeding four years. After accounting for inflation, transportation funding declines over the next five years in the Bush budget. Amtrak is particularly ill served in the budget. What Amtrak needs badly is new capital investment -- trains and track to bring our rail system up to the standards of other nations. The developing nation of China is planning a high-tech, high-speed rail system. France and Japan already have them. Europe's rail system precludes the need for a lot of automobile travel. The Bush budget provides no resources for investment, just barely enough for Amtrak to hang on. The result is inferior service, leading people to say the system is troubled and its budget should be cut -- just the opposite of a real solution. State budgets have yet to recover from the recession of 2001, making the states unlikely candidates to pick up more of the financing load for transportation. Only the national government can ensure an expanding transportation system that keeps pace with our growing economy. Rail transportation has some key benefits we are failing to realize, especially in light of prevailing terrorist threats. A healthy rail system would provide a back-up option if our air travel were suddenly to shut down again. As a routine matter, rail uses oil and gas more economically than automobiles. This means less pollution, less reliance on imported oil, and a bit less vulnerability to uncertainties in the Middle East. Better alternatives to driving mean less congestion on our highways and quicker travel times. If my steering wheel had a keyboard, I could have written this last night. Max B. Sawicky is an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a economic research institute.