This week BRTdata.org was launched by the Bus Rapid Transit Center of Excellence and EMBARQ. The site acts a clearinghouse for data from BRT systems all over the world. You can see performance indicators by country or city, such as passengers per day, number of corridors, and legth. Check it out and let them know what you think.
This week's TRANSOC Friday Seminar, which is happening today (4/6), features Shomik Mehndiratta from the World Bank. He will present, "Sustainable Low-Carbon City Development in China."
This talk summarizes the key messages of a recently released book that examines, through the specific lens of low-carbon development, the lessons of the World Bank’s activities related to urban development in China. Amid unprecedented levels of urban migration, rapidly increasing incomes, double digit annual growth in motorization and expanding city forms, many Chinese cities are already on a high carbon-emission growth path. With China set to add an estimated 350 million residents to its cities over the next 20 years, the case for urgent action is strong.
On one hand, China's cities are already reacting to ambitious commitments their leaders have made to reduce the carbon and energy intensity of the economy and transition to a low-carbon growth path. The country's current (12th) Five-Year Plan includes, for the first time ever, an explicit target to reduce carbon intensity by 17 percent by the end of 2015. However, the imperative to reduce carbon intensity is only one of many competing priorities for government officials in the midst of unprecedented urbanization, modernization, and economic development.
What are the choices Chinese cities are making? And what are the implications? Achievements and challenges to low-carbon city development in China will be discussed with a particular focus on transport, land-use and urban spatial development.
The seminar will be at 4:00pm in 534 Davis Hall as usual. Don't miss Cookie Hour in the library at 3:30!
The study is concerned with the vehicular interactions that arise when carpool and regular vehicles are segregated in their own lanes. Real data show that reserving a lane for carpools on congested freeways induces a smoothing effect that is characterized by significantly higher bottleneck discharge flows (capacities) in adjacent regular-use lanes.Thanks to this smoothing effect, we find in many cases that the carpool lanes – even when underused themselves – can benefit travelers in the regular lanes.Ironically, the regular-use lanes are often damaging to the carpool-lane travelers. We find that the vehicle speeds in a carpool lane are negatively influenced by both growing use of that lane and diminishing vehicle speeds in the adjacent regular-use lane.The findings do not bode well for a new US regulation stipulating that most classes of Low-Emitting Vehicles (LEVs) are to vacate slow-moving carpool lanes.Analysis shows that relegating some or all of these vehicles to regular-use lanes can significantly add to regular-lane congestion; and that despite the reduced use of the carpool lanes this, in turn, can also reduce the speeds of those vehicles that continue to use the carpool lanes.Constructive ways to amend the new regulation are discussed, as are promising strategies to increase the vehicle speeds in carpool lanes by improving the travel conditions in regular lanes.
The seminar will take place from 4-5 pm in 406 Davis on November 18. Please come to TRANSOC's Cookie Hour preceeding the seminar at 3:30 pm in the library.
This week's TRANSOC Friday Seminar is Mazyar Zeinali from the International Council on Clean Transportation presenting "Commercial Aviation and Climate Change: The Role of Technology."
The environmental impact of aviation has been of concern for several decades including specific concerns such as local air quality, impacts on Earth's protective ozone layer, and aircraft induced cloudiness. However, with the 1999 seminal publication by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) entitled 'Aviation and the Global Atmosphere', significant concern has arisen both in aviation climate change impact and mitigation possibilities. To quantify expected return from future technology implementation (near to mid term), the International Civil Aviation Organizational (ICAO) commissioned and published a study conducted by a panel of independent experts (IEs). The IE technology scenarios included returns under typical/continuation of current business-as-usual practices and also accelerated implementation under added future regulatory pressure. The ICCT was a contributing organization to this ICAO study and Dr. Zeinali will present his findings and interpretations for specific technological packages envisioned by the panel and efficiency gains from implementing technology in tighter aircraft designs, better matching operational norms and patterns.
The seminar will take place October 7 from 4-5 PM in 406 Davis Hall. Cookie Hour will be at 3:30, as usual, in the library.
The impacts of recent changes in Federal light-vehicle fuel economy standards depend crucially on consumers’ response to new vehicles with higher fuel economy and higher prices. Previous studies have primarily relied on stated preference experiments since there was little independent variation in vehicle price, fuel economy, and performance. The recent introduction of hybrid-electric vehicles has provided some independent variation in these key vehicle attributes, so we use data from the 2009 NHTS data to estimate willingness to pay for light vehicle fuel economy. We also estimate the “rebound effect” of purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles. Finally we will comment on the impact of measurement errors and partial observability on previous studies.
The seminar will take place Friday, September 16, 2011 from 4-5 PM in 406 Davis Hall. Don't forget about Cookie Hour preceding it in the library at 3:30 PM. See you there!
With almost half of the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan involving fuel convoys, the Department of Defense has found that employing alternative fuels can save lives and avoid injuries. As Sierra magazine reported, soldiers on the ground have found that portable solar generators and battery packs not only reduced the number of dangerous convoys needed, but they also provided quieter, cooler energy and reduced the loads carried in the field. A RAND report earlier this year, however, questioned the benefits to the military of adopting alternative fuels. Next month the Army will open an Energy Initiatives Office Task Force to promote partnerships with the private sector to develop large-scale renewable energy projects on Army land.
And today, these outstanding companies are committing to doing a lot more. The companies here today have endorsed our plan to continue increasing the mileage on their cars and trucks over the next 15 years. We’ve set an aggressive target, and the companies here are stepping up to the plate.
By 2025, the average fuel economy of their vehicles will nearly double to almost 55 miles per gallon. (Applause.) So this is an incredible commitment that they’ve made. And these are some pretty tough business guys. They know their stuff. And they wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t think that it was ultimately going to be good business and good for America.
...
Using less oil also means our cars will produce fewer emissions. So when your kids are biking around the neighborhood, they’ll be breathing less pollution and fewer toxins. It means we’re doing more to protect our air and water. And it means we’re reducing the carbon pollution that threatens our climate.
The President took time to thank California for leading the charge for better fuel efficiency in vehicles. You may remember when the state sued the EPA in 2008 over emissions rules where Federal standards did not meet the aggressive targets of AB 32.
