A poll conducted by the ever-dependable Fox News Network suggests that 35 percent of Americans will be flying to their travel destinations in 2002, a 3 percent increase over last year's number. The figures go on to state that 50% will be getting there by car (down from 60% last year), 4% by train, 3% by bus, and 3% by boat.

And true to Fox's unwavering dedication to focusing on the important issues, the aforementioned poll also indicates that more Americans would rather go on vacation with Gary Condit than O.J. Simpson.

The Bush administration is calling for big changes in the way Amtrak is to be run, according to Reuters. One of the main reforms involves partially privatizing some of the lines that Amtrak runs completely right now. What this means is that private companies may soon be operating certain Amtrak train lines.

Carnival Cruise Lines have been hit with an $18 million fine for lying about how much their cruise ships have been polluting oceans. Apparently, the engineers on the ships have been flushing clean water past oil content meters, but dumping their filthy, unfiltered water away straght into the ocean. This is not the first time corporations in the cruise industry have been charged with trying to bypass pollution regulations. The Royal Caribbean line was convicted in 1999 of 21 felony violations of federal law for rigging the pipes on its ships to avoid pollution regulations and illegally dumping toxic chemicals into waters near Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Florida.

The caption states, "And I say we're going to get a sewing machine before we get a helicopter!"

This cartoon comes from the October 1944 issue of Esquire Magazine. I might point out the the newspaper in the foreground touting "You After Victory," indicating that after World War II, the American public was going to be on the fast track to having personal flying transportation. Alas, it was not to be.

This image, and many more like it will be on display in April 2003, when the Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library puts on its exhibit, "Visions of the Future of Transportation." I will post more about this when more information becomes available.

The Texas Transportation Institute has just released a report stating that traffic jams waste $68 billion a year in fuel and and time. Interestingly, the study also found that the number of hours in the average rush hour is now 7 hours a day, up from 4.5 hours in 1982. Tim Lomax, one of the paper's authors, commented that alternatives like public transit and telecommuting are not becoming as popular as they should be, given the amount of congestion; instead, more people are jamming the streets. The number of miles motorists are driving has gone up 85 percent since 1982.

[thanks to klickie for the link]

More information regarding Australian scientists' success in teleporting a laser beam.
Original post here.

According to the May issue of Parking Today, Vancouver and Seattle are both trying out a new technology that allows automobile drivers to pay their parking meters with via phone. The system, which was developed by Verrus Mobile Technologies requires that the user provide a credit card to which they will be billed. Apparently, city officials are excited about the technology, which will hopefully reduce 1) the amount of loose change drivers will have to carry, 2) the amount of running around that drivers will have to do, 3) the number of physical meter that will be lying around taking up space in parking garages, and 4) the amount of money cities will have to spend to fix broken meters.

Amtrak President David Gunn says that Amtrak may have to shut down next month unless swift action is taken by Congress to help out the ailing rail line. Gunn has placed the amount of money necessary to keep it going until Oct. 1 (when the new fiscal year begins) at $200 million-- a lot, but considerably less than the $15 billion airline bailout instituted last year. So far, Congress seems to be hesitant about appropriating the money-- not surprising given that Amtrak has been criticized much in the past by legislators as a mismanaged enterprise unable to stand on its own feet, and unworthy of further governmental backing. "We have an enormous credibility problem on (Capitol) Hill," says Gunn. "But I've got to demonstrate by actions, in the way we do our budgets and the information we make public, and by the results, that we aren't a bottomless pit, that we can manage effectively."

The Smoking Gun has 12 pages of amusing letters written by an unamused persons complaining about obscene license plates they saw on the road. Some are understandable complaints (although I personally find them ill-founded), but most of them require a some "reading into" (and familiarity with obscene slang) before the profanities become apparent. On the other hand, some overly sensitive individuals should get a grip.

Tangentially, here is a somewhat amusing list of mostly "clean" vanity license plate explanations.

Starting June 26th, Southwest Airlines will begin charging "larger fliers" (read: big people) more to fly on their planes. The company has stated that they reserve the right to charge patrons for two seats if they do not feel they will comfortably fit in one. Predictably, this decision has sparked a heated controversy, with one side arguing that it is only reasonable for a customer to pay for two seats if they are using enough space for two people, and the other arguing that airlines have "an obligation to make its seat fit the population." Miriam Berg, president of the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, claimed, "The fact is that Americans are getting larger," she said. "This is what the population looks like."
We'll be sure to hear more about this in the near future.

[Link via MetaFilter]

While attending the 3E (Electronic Entertainment Expo) Convention in Los Angeles recently, my girlfriend captured what to some might be an insipid photograph of a door. But here at the Transportation News and Information Weblog, an unparalleled source of class and taste, we savor such photographs-- because, my friends, this door leads to a heliport. Peculiarly (or possibly not), this entryway is located in the snazzy $120/night Millenium Biltmore Hotel, in downtown L.A. Why anyone would need to fly into the the hotel via helicopter is anyone's guess.

As an aside, the presence of this heliport has ensured that I will be staying at this world-class facility whenever possible. Even if I have no reason to be in L.A.

Apparently, the big yellow bus is the safest way for a youngster to get to school. Who would have thought that a blinding 20 ton monstrosity without seat belts would have beaten walking?

I saw a NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) on the way back from work today. It was getting out of a extremely tiny parking spot along a major street. I was thinking, how convenient this car is for an area like the East Bay (near S.F.), where driving around the block for 45 minutes or more in search of a parking spot is not unheard of.

The vehicles, which are part of many automobile manufacturers' efforts to subscribe to federally mandated pollution policies, are about the size of golf carts. Unfortunately, they are about as safe as well. Studys show that the vehicles are not nearly as safe as vehicles operating in heavy traffic areas should be. The risk of death in the incident of even a small crash is unreasonably high in a vehicle such as this. Some legislators are attempting to curb NEV use to areas with 35mph speed limits or less. Ironically (and unfortunately), this restriction would also be a good argument against purchasing such a vehicle, since many people would not feel the need to have such a vehicle if they were only allowed to ride to the mailbox and back.

I received an email earlier today indicating that this website will display any individual's driver's license over the internet. Sadly, mine was not in their database.

(Incidentally, I had already seen this before, in the form of a registry that allegedly had every single birth certificate on file)

Interestingly, some newer car radar detectors have been interfering with airline pilot transmissions, Muzak, and credit-card machines at gas stations.
[link via RobotWisdom]

Teleportation isn't quite ready yet, but Australian scientists seem to be making some headway. I personally can't wait until this technology is perfected, but then, who can? No more commutes! Go anywhere whenever you want! The possibilities, as they say, are endless.
[link via MetaFilter]

The image at left comes from an advertisement in an old issue of LOOK magazine. The picture depicts a mother and her son in a heliport parking lot watching commuter helicopters taking off. Meanwhile the ad touts the "unseen friend" that is nickel. The implication, I suppose, is that the metal will be the crucial force in ushering in a new era of commuter transportation. As we all know now, commuter helicopters never happened. Nevertheless, the image is interesting and mildly amusing. The full image (296K) can be seen here.

The U.S. Supreme court ruled on Monday, July 17, 2002 that police officers can search passengers on public transportation without informing parties of their right to refuse the search.

Welcome to the Transport World Weblog. Here, you will find the latest information on a variety of transportation-related topics. This site is maintained by Rahul Kamath, bibliographer at UC-Berkeley's Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library.