Category Archives: Transportation

Tesla, the Auto Industry, and the Oil Industry, Nov. 2021

Tesla, with a market capitalization of $1.137 Trillion at the close of trading on Friday, November 19, 2021, is worth more than GM, Ford, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Daimler Benz, VW COMBINED. 45% more.

Add in the value of Nisan, Hyundai, and Stellantis, which owns Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and other brands, and Tesla is still worth 25.8 % more than the rest of the major auto companies. See Table 1.

More surprising is that Tesla, is worth 39% more than Exxon Mobil, Shell, Conoco Philips, Chevron Texaco, and BP Amoco combined. See Table 2.

Arguably, Toyota set the stage for energy efficiency with the 1997 launch of the Prius (click here). And Fisker, launched in 2007, could have been Tesla. Coupled with the fact that other car companies are introducing electric vehicles, including the Chevy Bolt, the Ford Mustang Mach-e and the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Fisker Ocean, etc. it is clear that with Tesla, Elon Musk has changed the world.

Continue reading →

London To Create Unbroken Network of Bike Routes

Urban_Cycling

Commuter on Ringstrasse, Vienna, 2005. Image courtesy Wikipedia

Bicycle Commuting, lowers CO2 emissions, and is healthy for the commuter. , transport correspondent for The Guardian, reports on London’s ambitious plans to encourage bicycle use.

An unbroken network of cycle routes with some Dutch-style segregated lanes has been pledged as part of a £913m 10-year plan to make London safer for cyclists – including an east-west superhighway dubbed “Crossrail for the bike”.

Continue reading →

Ferry Sinks in Assam, India

Excerpted from Assam Ferry Sinking on WikiNews:

On 30 April 2012, a ferry capsized in the Brahmaputra River in the Dhubri district of Assam state in north-eastern India.

Incident

According to officials, the incident occurred when a packed steamer carrying over 300 passengers was caught in a storm and subsequently capsized. The incident occurred near the Fakiragram village in the Dhubri district, about 350 km (220 mi) west of Guwahati.  The Superintendent of Police, Pradip Saloi, told The Hindu: “The ferry, originating from Dhubri and going towards Hatsingimari, capsized near Fakirganj. We are not sure about the actual number of passengers. We have been told that there were 250–300 passengers. However, there were reports of many swimming to safety.” Reuters reported that a police officer had said that the ferry had neither lifeboats nor life jackets and was overloaded with people and goods. Most of the passengers were farmers and farm families from the local area. Death toll According to India’s National Disaster Relief Force, bodies of 103 victims, including women and children, were recovered by the NDRF personnel and the Border Security Force near Jaleswar. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the death toll was likely to rise. [3] The dead bodies have been kept at the Dhubri Civil Hospital.

Assam Ferry Sinking

Is Ford Motor Co Sustainable? And is Ford a Value Investment?

Ford Fusion

Ford Fusion, available as a hybrid

Back in October, 2007, I wrote about the Toyota Prius and the GM Hummer in Prius v Hummer, the Battle for the Streets and the Prius v Hummer, the Battle for the Brains. (Spoiler alert – the Prius won). Now I’m thinking about Ford Motor Company. A few years back their tag line was “Ford Has A Better Idea.” That may not be the current tag line, but I think it is the case. I will go further and say that Ford is on the road to being  Sustainable car company, and is a Value Investment.

While Toyota deserves credit for developing the hybrid- the Prius was introduced in 2000 – Ford has an extensive lineup of hybrids and is putting the EcoDrive – which boosts mileage by 20% – on vehicles, from small cars to the F150 truck. And 40% of the F150′s sold today are sold with the EcoDrive engine. Continue reading →

Urban Planning: A brief history of the Minneapolis skyways

Posted in its entirety from Jason Kottke’s blog. We did not know about this system, but think it’s worth considering for a number of reasons: it gets people walking in inclement weather rather than taking their vehicles or not travelling at all; probably stops the weather from entirely shutting down Minneapolis, and, to the extent it’s reducing vehicle and pedestrian traffic, likely reducing accidents, property damage, death and injury. An example of excellent urban transportation planning.

A brief history of the Minneapolis skyways

If you’ve ever been to downtown Minneapolis, you’ve likely used the large network of above-grade covered walkways that now stretches into nearly every corner of the downtown area. I’d always assumed they were built to help downtown workers and residents avoid cold weather during the winter, but that’s not the case.

Rather, the skyway system originally emerged from a twofold desire. First, planners in the 1940s and 50s were very concerned about managing increasingly dense pedestrian flows, and viewed skyways as a way to maximize the use of urban space for both people and automobiles (Byers 1998 154). Second, business owners were interested in maximizing their property values, and saw the skyways an opportunity to double the amount of valuable retail space in their downtown buildings (Byers 1998 159).

I used to work in downtown Minneapolis, and the skyways were great in the winter. To be able to take a walk and get lunch without having to bundle up in coat, hat, mittens, scarf, etc. was almost like living in a warm climate…and that’s no small thing during a long, dark Mpls winter. (via ?than)

via kottke.org – home of fine hypertext products.

We’re aware of the Chicago system of underground streets, the abandoned postal tube systems in the United States and others  (See, e.g. Multilevel streets in Chicago – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). To the extent we’ve failed to exploit these opportunities, or used and abandoned them, they constitute wasted assets. See also Minneapolis Skyway System (Wikipedia entry); Leif Petterson’s Take the Skyway on Vita.MN (The Twin Cities Going-Out Guide).

We’re not sure if this is part of Chicago’s underground street system, now unused, which was used to expedite deliveries and at the same time to reduce traffic congestion on Chicago’s street-level. We believe that underground systems – including pneumatic tube systems – have in some places been prematurely abandoned. They reduce congestion (waiting time and reduced speeds are responsible for a large share of the pollution generated by vehicles), speed delivery, and reduce costs for everyone. Here’s an early photograph of rail-based mail processing in Chicago.

 

Electric Vehicle breaks 1000-miles, setting new distance record

Charis Michelsen, writing on GAS 2.0, reports that the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany) has broken the distance record for electric vehicles:

Electric vehicles records are dropping like flies these days, as more and more vehicles push the boundaries of what’s possible for electric cars, boats, and planes.  The latest to fall:  the record for longest drive ever in a battery-powered vehicle (no recharge) was broken last weekend by a new, experimental electric vehicle called “Schluckspecht” (“heavy drinker” in colloquial German).

Developed at the University of Applied Sciences in Offenburg, the car – which is not pretty – does a solid Energizer bunny routine, going and going and going for 1631.5km (1013.77 miles) without needing to recharge the battery.

The test drive took place in Boxberg at the Bosch corporate test track, where a team of four drivers made the record run alongside a camera-equipped pace car. The 36 hour and 12 minute drive (which didn’t exactly break any EV speed records) was also monitored by European testing agents from TÜV Süd.

This world record follows the team’s successful participation in the South-African Solar Challenge 2010, in which the Schluckspecht drove 626.6km (389.35 miles) on public roads – farther (at the time) than any other electric vehicle.

The Schluckspecht boasts little in the way of creature comforts, a fact which helped reduce overall weight and was no doubt helpful during its record-setting drive. However, the engineering behind its design also played a large part in its success, as the Schluckspecht was built from the ground up specifically to chase battery-powered vehicle records in a lab belonging to Ms. Sunmin Lee from Pforzheim University. The body was shaped with “pure aerodynamics” in mind, and – since the vehicle makes use of two wheel-mounted hub-motors – without the need to accommodate an internal engine or transmission.

Source: Gas 2.0 (http://s.tt/132cX)

 

"Don't Mix Em'" – safety poster by Robert Lachenman

This poster, by Robert Lachenman for the Work Projects Administration Federal Art Project, circa 1937 is impressive, we think, on its own terms – design and effectiveness. But the date – 1937 – was a surprise, and now it’s clear we have much to learn about alcohol-driving and other alcohol-plus risk activity/drug plus risk activity public health campaigns.

"Don't Mix Em,'" by Robert Lachenman for the Work Projects Administration Federal Art Project (1937)

Thanks to Wikimedia Contributor Trialsanderrors and, of course, Wikimedia Commons.

Link to image page on Wikimedia Commons.

The versatile potential of bicycles and trikes: two galleries

These speak for themselves, for the most part. But it might be worth noting that none we’ve noticed have electric assist, either by hybrid electric or solar electric, which are both, we believe, in limited use around the world.

From FrogMob, the mob-sourced section of the FrogDesign Blog ((From the reknowned design firm FrogDesign – where they design everything except frogs)), Work Bikes:

[slideshow id=92]

From the Cool Tools section of Kevin Kelly’s site, kk.org:

The XtraCycle:

XtraCycle - Free Radical - after-market modification/accessory

This is only one of nine variations of the Free Radical Conversion kit. See that – and bicycles with cargo carrying included, at XtraCycle.

Cool Tools also has great suggestions about bicycle repair tools, and other modifications. Check their Autonomous Motion section, their Bikes/Trikes subsection of their Street Use archives for more work bike info, including Velowalla, an archive of bike/trike use for business in India.

Zero Race begins today in Switzerland

The Zero Race, a competition between automobiles powered by sustainable energy sources, begins today in Switzerland. There are, we regret to report, only four teams, none from the United States.  The ZeroTracer is the Swiss entry; the Power Plaza Team is from South Korea; Team Trev is from Adelaide, Australia and the Vectrix Team is from Berlin. Additional details about the race, including route, which is intended to take 80 days, are taken from the Zero-Race website:

The Zero Tracer from Team Orlikon (Switzerland)

The Zero Race will start in Geneva (Switzerland) on 16. August 2010, and continue eastwards for a total distance of about 30 000 km. The event is planned to be completed in 80 days (excluding maritime crossings) across 16 countries with stops in approximately 150 major cities en route.

Zero Race will visit places of all sizes, such as major cities including Bruxelles, Berlin, Vienna, Kiev, Moscow, Astana, Shanghai, Vancouver, San Francisco, Austin and Madrid.

The Zero Race will visit the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun at the end of November and end it will finish in Geneva at the end of January 2011.

In each Zero Race stop along the route, there will be press conferences and events.

Solar Kinetics – Single-Element Stretched- Membrane Dish – at Sandia National Labs

Solar Kinetics’ Single-Element Stretched- Membrane Dish. 7 Meter diameter. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Sollar Kinetics' Single-Element Stretched- Membrane Dish. 7 Meter diameter. Solar Kinetics' Single-Element Stretched- Membrane Dish. 7 Meter diameter. Public domain image via Sandia Nat'l Lab.

Sollar Kinetics' Single-Element Stretched- Membrane Dish. 7 Meter diameter. Solar Kinetics' Single-Element Stretched- Membrane Dish. 7 Meter diameter. Public domain image via Sandia Nat'l Lab.

We’re trying to sort out if this is the same Solar Kinetics firm responsible for the Electric 7 electric  vehicle design. (Images of and explanation of construction process here). Following are some images of a completed Electric 7:

Electric 7 by Solar Kinetics

Electric 7 by Solar Kinetics

More images of the 2008 Electric 7.




Death of Ivankov, Russian mobster, demonstrates difficulty of assessing conspiracies

Michael Schwirtz reported in the The New York Times of 13 October, the death of Vyacheslav K. Ivankov.

Vyacheslav K. Ivankov, a Russian crime boss who survived tangles with the K.G.B., the F.B.I. and other violent criminals in a bloody career that spanned decades, was laid to rest at a Moscow cemetery. Hundreds attended the funeral.

Mr. Ivankov died on Friday in a Moscow hospital from complications stemming from a gunshot wound he received apparently in an assassination attempt in July. He was 69. His death has set off fears of a mob war in Moscow like those that bloodied the streets of major Russian cities in the 1990s.

For a Departed Mobster, Wreaths and Roses but No Tears.

Photo by Andrei Stenin/Reuters. The coffin of Vyacheslav K. Ivankov carried at Vagankovskoe Cemetery in Moscow.

Photo by Andrei Stenin/Reuters. The coffin of Vyacheslav K. Ivankov carried at Vagankovskoe Cemetery in Moscow.

In Russian Mafia in America: Immigration, Culture, and Crime

, James O. Finckenauer and Elin J. Waring hypothesized that “Yaponchick,” while a serious criminal, was not the leader of a large, sophisticated criminal organization – but rather portrayed as such by United States government officials and the press.  (Previous citation to Google Books; excerpt published on PBS/FrontLine website linked here).

Finckenauer and Waring aren’t likely to have been in a position to have known that Ivankov would be extradited to Russia for murder and then been acquitted; one’s general impression of the Russian judicial system is that acquittals don’t generally happen when the government wants a conviction.

If Ivankov was sufficiently well-connected that the Russian government was willing to risk losing face being seen conspiring a weak case in order to extradite and then release him, it seems fair to infer that he was, in fact, fairly high up in Russian criminal-political circles.

NYC – free crosstown bus plan may reflect understanding of transportation system as network

For those unfamiliar with Manhattan geography, Manhattan is much longer on its roughly North-South axis than it is on its East-West axis, although the island is narrower at its southern edge. (And it turns out to be harder to quickly locate a map showing the entire island than one would think).

Map of Manhattan - via Mappery.com

Map of Manhattan - via Mappery.com

The current (and possibly next, or mayor-for-life) Michael Bloomberg has proposed that we make the East-West bus routes free, as they don’t function particularly well, the streets get congested, and – people are then tempted to use taxis – which merely exacerbates the entire situation.

Subways? We’ve only got two streets – 42nd and 11rth – which have subway routes which go directly across.

Every major east-west street clogs regularly. So is this a good idea, or not?

It’s a good idea, no question, viewed in isolation. And, in fact, it’s probably one of the best “wedges” we can use to unclog traffic in Manhattan.

Here’s the problem: while there are certainly people who are not affluent who will avail themselves of this free service, many if not most of these routes also run into the most afluent areas not just of the city, but of the nation, and the world.

The median value of owner-occupied homes for the entire county is $1,000,001 (2008  estimate); the median household income (2007) was $63,704. Link to census data for New York County, New York (Manhattan).

The comparable national values are $119,600 ((The latest national number is for 2000, rather than 2008; we concede that this marginally weakens our argument)) as the value of owner-occupied housing, and the median household income (2007) $50,740. Link to Census Data here.

In other words, we’ve got bottlenecks – and service deficits – elsewhere in our transit – and other – systems. Why start with bus routes which pass the Metropolitan Museum, F.A.A. Schwarz, Bergdorf Goodman, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the railway stations which serve our out-of-city commuters who, at present, pay no commuter’s tax (they use municipal services during the day, but pay no municipal income tax)?

At the least, we can say it’s an odd way to build consensus. Here are links to some of the coverage of this issues:

Bloomberg Calls for Free Crosstown Buses – City Room Blog …(New York Times City Room Blog)

Mayor Proposes Free Crosstown Buses – NYTimes.com

Streetsblog New York City » Bloomberg Tests Free-Transit Waters

WNYC – The Brian Lehrer Show: Free Crosstown BusProposal

Free Crosstown Buses Proposed By Bloomberg

(Huffington Post)

More Manhattan Maps from the brilliant site Mappery.com. Plus – they’ve got more here..

Cross-posted in slightly different form on Caton Avenue

Questions on Sustainability and Human Ecology, Part 2.

Observations on society and civilization

Part 2 in a series.

John Muir once told Edward Harriman that he was “wealthier” because while he had much less money, he knew exactly how much he needed to live comfortably.  Stepping back and looking at society and civilization from the perspective of a John Muir …

Aerial view of Jackie Onasis Resevoir, Central Park, Manhattan

Aerial view of northern Manhattan, showing the Jackie Onasis Resevoir, Central Park, the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side, and southern Harlem.

I commute, on a daily basis, to a job in New York City, some 45 miles north of my home in New Jersey. This commute is accomplished via car and bus, at an average speed of 30 miles per hour. If I was to I leave my home at 6 AM, and travel as Thoreau might suggest, by walking, I could cover the distance in 15 hours, and arrive at 9 PM. This would not be practical, since the purpose is to arrive, work, and go home, not travel, enjoy the sights, and learn. I could make the trip on a bicycle in 3 to 4 hours. While bicycling 6 to 8 hours each day would be terrific cardiovascular exercise, this would not be practical in conjunction with the need to work 8 hours per day.  The cars and buses are heated and air conditioned, so I and other commuters are comfortable year round, despite the air conditioning that is so cold that in the summer that we need sweaters, the heat that is so hot that in the winter we perspire, and the traffic that cuts our average speed from 50 or 60 mph to 30 on a good day.

The Lizzie McGuire Movie video

During my commute I read, sleep, listen to music, write, or work. I can be productive with a laptop computer or hand-held cellphone, email device, or book. Sometimes I non-productively talk to strangers I encounter on the way. Continue reading →

Human-Powered Monorail

This has many of the advantages of bicycles – and several more:

  • resistant to weather –
  • because they’re on a predefined, car-free path, bicycle/vehicle accidents seem highly unlikely (assuming the routes are planned reasonably);
  • the bicycle theft problem which plagues bicycle-friendly cities like Amsterdam seems unlikely to be a problem.

– Via Inhabitat

– and in turn via TreeHugger.

schweeb-ed02

From Jorge Chapa’s post on Inhabitat

What could be more fun than gliding along on an eco-chic bicycle

? How about shooting through the skies in a pedal-powered monorail capsule! A bunch of entrepreneuring New Zealanders has created just such a human-powered monorail system, known as the Shweeb. Their creation does double duty, acting not just as an innovative transportation system, but also an amusement ride. Are our cities the next step?

The technology behind the Shweeb is remarkably simple – the only infrastructure required is a network of interconnected single rails. A number of pods are hung from this these lines, which are powered by the people sitting inside them. In principle, these pods are no different than recumbent bicycles – they can achieve close to 25 mph, are comfortable to use, and can be used by nearly anyone.

Although we don’t expect to see cities connected by pedal-powered monorail systems anytime soon, there are a number of applications where they could be useful. Think of guided tours through natural parks, scenic routes, adventure camps, and developments that require large pieces of land and a reasonable amount of population.

For now the system is in use on Schweeb’s grounds in New Zealand. If you are feeling adventurous, feel free to visit them at Ngongotha, New Zealand.

+ The Schweeb

As noted above, Via Inhabitat – and in turn via TreeHugger.