I’m now back on campus after a thoroughly relaxing winter break. Highlights included spending time in the Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino National Forests, surfing and enjoying bonfires at the beach, and riding the new Silver Line and Gold Line Eastside Extension.
Time lapse video of fog rolling into the Tule River Valley (Windows Media Player required, go to full post, right click video, and select Play/Pause to start):
For my E90 senior engineering design project, I will be working on pollution reduction at the local school bus yard. I enjoyed my first visit to the bus yard, and it was great to learn about some of the particulate filtration systems already in use.
Gothamist reports that a Fung Wah bus was involved in a fatal crash this morning. A garbage truck leaving the Manhattan Bridge hit the bus near its loading zone. The bus then crashed into a bank, killing a pedestrian. Cars and trucks definitely speed off the Manhattan Bridge (though it’s hard to tell in the picture below because of the construction).
Here’s a picture from the same spot, looking the other way. The buses load at the curb in the picture below. I can see how a large truck rounding the corner into a departing bus could cause some major problems. The bank that was hit is just around the corner on the right.
I think it’s a great idea. SEPTA would get increased ridership, and it would be more convenient to get to Chesco from Swat. And most importantly, R3 service to Wawa would be restored!
I think it has some pretty realistic and helpful suggestions for transit in Southern California. And, anecdotes like the following:
Hector Barbosa, 41, whom I encountered twice during the week as he traveled to and from his home in Pacific Palisades and his job in Beverly Hills, said local bus lines take some getting used to.
“The problems are especially huge when it comes to the homeless and the mentally ill,” he said. “Sometimes you see people getting violent, sometimes defecating.”
Or in my case, there was the elderly gentleman who sang what sounded like pirate chanteys for about 15 minutes.
For the past couple of weeks, Red Line trains have been ordered to slow to a crawl while crossing the Charles River, due to concerns over railroad tie deterioration on the bridge. I’m a bit nervous about this, especially since the T has decided to make emergency repairs (without calling them that).
Pesaturo said the ties were scheduled to be replaced during the rehabilitation of the Longfellow Bridge, “but MBTA staff has decided to accelerate the schedule.”
I’ve seen how slowly the trains have been running from the Harvard Bridge (Mass Ave), but hadn’t actually ridden one until yesterday. They really are crawling. The “accelerated schedule” means the Red Line will be shut down on June 14-15 and 21-22.
I’d better watch out now that I’m a pedestrian in Massachusetts. Drivers here scored only a 75% on the National Drivers Test (compared with 77% for California and Pennsylvania). Well, at least it’s not New Jersey, which came in last place with a D+.
New York actually looks up to part of LA’s public transit system? Way to go, Metro Rapid. From the NY Times:
After watching New York City bus speeds struggle to the point where some Manhattan buses crawl at 4 miles per hour — only slightly faster than the average human walks — transportation planners now think that if they can make buses move even 10 percent faster, they can revolutionize travel in the five boroughs.
That’s right, just 10 percent.
In early May, a group of New York planners will visit Los Angeles to observe a program that has sped up buses there by 22 to 25 percent. The changes include designated bus lanes, straighter routes, easy-to-board low-floor buses, specially marked stations, far fewer stops, the elimination of schedules, and computerized signaling that gives buses priority at intersections.
The proposed 1,000 foot Hub tower doesn’t go over very well with the FAA.
From the Boston Globe:
The Federal Aviation Administration has told Boston officials that, at 1,000 feet, the skyscraper might be an obstruction, possibly in the flight path of a plane aborting a landing at Logan and unexpectedly veering off over downtown Boston at low altitude, according to people involved in the development.
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