Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters unveiled a new $270 billion federal project Monday to build special lanes for dangerous and careless drivers on most major U.S. highways. Peters said the Department of Transportation plans to construct some 1,400 of the new lanes over the next four years, all of which will feature a special bowl design to keep cars in the lane while drivers are sleeping, drunk, or applying makeup in the rearview mirror. The Onion 3/12/08
On Monday, a new Bay Area public transit agency came to life, promising to launch a fleet of new ferries and then rally those boats to move commuters across the Bay if and when a major earthquake disables bridges or BART's trans-Bay tube. As an organization, the new Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority will closely resemble the Bay Area's Water Transit Authority that it replaced. On Monday, the board hired WTA Chief Executive Officer Steven Castleberry as its new executive director, who promised to maintain the current management structure. In addition, the agency is empowered to actually operate ferry services. Inside Bay Area 4/1/08
At first, Oakland International Airport officials were skeptical of the new program that promised travelers a quick trip through security checkpoints. On Thursday morning's opening, those same officials were praising the Oakland arrival of Clear, the largest of three private companies that provide what amounts to a fast-track service for airport security. The federal Transportation Security Administration allows airports to award contracts to the companies to provide the service for a fee. Nationwide, Clear has about 124,000 customers, 25,000 of them who signed up at Bay Area airports for the service. Red Orbit 3/28/08
California air regulators on Thursday slashed the number of battery-powered and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that must be sold in the state, a setback for environmentalists and health advocates. The decision is expected to affect 12 other states that had adopted California's target for zero-emission vehicles. The California Air Resources Board voted to lower by 70 percent the number of those vehicles that automakers must sell here and in the states that intended to follow California's get-tough rules for vehicle emissions. CC Times 3/28/08
The Cosco Busan was the only big ship to get under way the morning it sideswiped the Bay Bridge, as at least four other large vessels waited out the heavy fog, the Coast Guard said Thursday. The decision of the Cosco Busan's crew and pilot to get moving despite the weather is a focus of the Coast Guard's investigation into the Nov. 7 collision. SJ Mercury 3/28/08
Longshore worker jobs are extremely tough to land at the Port of Oakland, and it's only going to get tougher with new rules from the Department of Homeland Security, experts predict. Under the 2007-2008 wage scale beginners earn $22.11 an hour while those with 4,000 or more hours of service earn $30.68 an hour, making them very popular jobs. Starting this year The Maritime Security Act requires background checks for any worker who has access to secured areas of regulated ports. Inside Bay Area 3/29/08
The jobs can also be fairly dangerous. Twenty-six workers were killed in 2007 at ports on the West Coast, including California and Washington, including two at the Port of Oakland. Inside Bay Area 3/29/08
Rail tankers with deadly chlorine and ammonia would have to slow down unless they were shipped in more impact-resistant tanks under a new rule proposed Monday by the Federal Railroad Administration. Touted as the "most sweeping and far-reaching" tank car safety regulations proposed in decades, the rules, if enacted after public hearings in Washington in May, would force the shipments of poisonous inhalants to keep to 30 mph. CC Times 4/1/08
Motorists in Los Angeles County could end up paying an extra 9 cents per gallon at the gas pump, or an additional $90 on their vehicle registration, under proposals aimed at getting them to help fight global warming. But opponents already are rallying against the measure, saying it exploits public concern about climate change to tap taxpayers for the MTA's regular services: providing bus and rail lines. LA Times 4/1/08
The High-Speed Rail Commission's environmental impact reports contain some underlying air travel projections that are very difficult to swallow. It would have us believe that air travel demand between Northern and Southern California would nearly double between 2000 and 2010. That flies in the face of actual airport traffic figures and seems to conflict with another commission projection that in the absence of building the bullet train, air travel times would increase only fractionally between 2000 and 2020. The projections are important because assumptions about bullet train passenger business are based, in part, on the notion that airlines can't handle the demand. Dan Walters in Sacramento Bee 3/31/08
The California Air Resources Board, acknowledging that development of air pollution-free vehicle technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells is lagging, moved Thursday to require major automakers to produce more low-emission cars such as plug-in hybrids. SF Chronicle 3/28/08
No comments:
Post a Comment