Every year, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has to hire dozens of seasonal workers to drive plows and operate heavy machinery to keep the roads clear once the snow starts flying. This winter, they have a special group of people in mind to fill 60 vacant positions: veterans.
“Veterans often finish their military service with the types of skills we’re looking for,” CDOT deputy executive director Scot Cuthbertson tells CBS Denver in a statement. “We encourage veterans to make appointments and talk to us about our seasonal openings. We think we may have some good matches out there.”
CDOT held three open houses just for veterans to answer questions and make hires — including snowplow drivers, heavy equipment mechanics and communications experts — before Colorado’s heavy snow season hits.
This winter, you may have an extra reason to thank a veteran.
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Tag: Transportation
The Twin Cities Find the Key to a Happy Commute
Waiting at transit stops is hardly enjoyable. Between navigating crowds, dirty platforms and schedule delays, public transportation can be a lot for commuters to endure. But part of that difficulty may be just be perception.
A study from 1993 found that waiting just one minute felt more like 4.4 minutes of traveling — which means if it takes you 20 minutes to get home, it’s likely you’ll feel you should have been there after five minutes of waiting.
While more transit agencies are alleviating the problem by updating stops with real-time schedules, it turns out that the setup of a stop might make the wait a little more bearable.
According to an unpublished working paper from researchers at University of Minnesota, a stop’s amenities — such as benches, shelters or visible schedules — may play more of a role than we think. The study found that riders at a stop with no shelter perceived a five minute wait to feel more like six minutes, whereas commuters at other types of “premium” stops (such as those with shelters or full stations) perceived a five minute wait to be closer to three minutes.
Researchers surveyed 822 bus and train riders in three types of categories: no shelter (a curbside stand), a basic bus shelter (including a bench and weather protection) and premium stations (completely or partially enclosed).
“That’s actually a very good thing, because this amenity shortens people’s estimation of waiting time,” says Professor Yingling Fan, a transport scholar leading the project.
The study also finds that posted schedules are more effective at low-frequency stops while high-traffic stops could benefit from displaying wait times between arrivals.
While the study reaffirms there is a psychological component to good transit planning, the findings are limited based on short waiting times. Shelters seem to make less of a difference after 10 minutes of waiting, however, few participants actually waited for longer than that period of time. Posted schedules caused people to overestimate how long they had been standing at a stop, but after 10 minutes, people at stops with schedules began to underestimate the amount of time they had been waiting. For example, 10 minutes would seem more like eight-and-a-half minutes.
As City Lab points out, human tendency to round up numbers in fives and 10s makes it more difficult to distinguish the difference between eight minutes versus 10 minutes. The study also neglects to probe why covered or enclosed shelters are perceived faster than curbside stops.
But ultimately, the takeaway is that a basic bus shelter (which can cost around $6,000 in the Twin Cities), may be a cheap solution to improving commutes.
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New Buses and Trains Could Put 53,000 Americans to Work
Government contracts have long been awarded to the lowest bidder. But as more American cities invest in updating transit systems and rebuilding infrastructure, local municipalities are allowing a new factor to influence who wins a bid — jobs.
Across this country, U.S. transit agencies are increasingly looking at the long-term economic impacts on city projects rather than simply selecting bids based on the lowest price. Since July alone, three major transit purchases by Amtrak, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Maryland Transit Administration have awarded contracts to companies that include employment incentives.
“Jobs shouldn’t be an afterthought when you’re spending billions of public dollars,” says Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor and a member of the coalition Jobs to Move America.
The coalition, comprised of more than 40 groups, estimates that public transportations agencies could boost 53,000 new American jobs with decent wages through forthcoming transit projects in cities including Houston, New York, Las Vegas, Cleveland, Seattle and Baltimore.
Ramirez, who helped secure a $2 billion project that will see 800 new rail cars added to Chicago’s transit system, is a part of the “Build Chicago” partnership launched with the Chicago Transit Authority. The city announced the partnership in July as part of an effort to ensure that bidders for the new rail fleet project include an outline of the number and type of new jobs they intend on creating alongside the new cars.
“Smarter transit purchasing is happening at the local and regional level,” says Jacquelyne Grimshaw, Vice Chair of the Chicago Transit Authority Board and Vice President of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “As cities transform our approach to transit contracting, we can address this jobs crisis and put our public dollars to their best use.”
Elsewhere, Amtrak outlined a similar request in its bidding process for 28 new high-speed rail cars and the Maryland Transit Administration also included plans to boost job creation in the $400 million purchase of Washington D.C.’s Metro Purple Line. Maryland residents in two counties are developing a plan to create affordable housing and economic growth around the expansion of that line. The Purple Line Compact plan is aimed at keeping people in the neighborhood rather than pricing out lower-income families.
As more transit agencies incorporate stipulations about how contractors plan to hire, pay and create career paths for potential manufacturing jobs, the bidding process will shift to become less about price and more about value.
“Good jobs manufacturing buses and trains are a commonsense way to improve the economy and share prosperity more widely,” says George Wentworth, a senior staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project.
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This Nonprofit Makes Sure Transportation Troubles Don’t Stand in Between Low-Income People and Employment
One of the main barriers to consistent employment for low-income people: Unreliable transportation. If the bus is late or doesn’t serve the area where people live or work, say, or a child’s school or daycare is at a distance from a parent’s workplace, it can lead to missed shifts and a lost job — leaving the family worse off than ever.
This is where Wheels to Work steps in. The nonprofit, which serves a variety of locations throughout the U.S., including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, California and South Dakota, accepts donated vehicles, fixes them up and provides them to struggling families — either for free or for a low price.
Before receiving the keys to a dependable car, participants in the Wheels to Work program sponsored by the Wisconsin Automotive & Truck Education Association (WATEA) must take a course called Money Smart, which teaches them about money management, vehicle maintenance and budgeting. Meanwhile, WATEA enlists the help of students overseen by mechanic mentors to repair the vehicles, teaching them automotive skills that might lead to a career.
Participants in the WATEA program must earn no more than twice the salary of the federal poverty level, possess a driver’s license and a good driving record and either have a job or be actively looking for work.
The program has shown such promise that more communities are introducing it every year. The city of Charlottesville and the Monticello Area Community Action Agency hope to introduce Wheels to Work in Virginia early next year, but first, according to WVIR, they’re seeking help from the community to launch it by looking for partners who will help them repair donated cars.
One recipient of a Wheels to Work vehicle named Charles from Virginia, used to be a drug addict but has turned his life around. He now works as a limousine driver and relishes the freedom that the Wheels to Work car has brought him. “I am able to give people rides now,” he tells Jennifer M. Drummond of CARITAS. “I can visit my grandchildren and it gives me an opportunity to enjoy life more.”
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The Verdict on Protected Bike Lanes
New York City traffic can be brutal, and adding bike lanes had some locals concerned it would only add to the congested Manhattan streets. But the protected bike lanes has actually improved traffic flow, according to a new report from the city.
The city’s Department of Transportation amassed empirical data on the 30 miles of protected bicycle lanes added across the city since 2007, finding that the bike-friendly paths are a boon to both reducing traffic and pedestrian safety.
The report found that some streets with the newfangled lanes are now faster, due in part to a safety feature requiring cars turning left to wait in a pocket. The new design reduces risk of cars hitting pedestrians and also eliminates cars blocking traffic while waiting to turn.
“Having that left turning area, where you’re able to get out of the flow, you can see the cyclist, the cyclist can see the turning vehicle, you can pause and not feel the pressure from behind to make a quick movement,” says Josh Benson, director of bicycle and pedestrian programs for the city’s Department of Transportation. “That’s a major major safety feature of these type of bike lanes. But it also helps the flow.”
Safety is one of the biggest benefits of adding the lanes, as pedestrian injuries have dropped 22 percent while total injuries are down 20 percent. Crashes with injuries have also decreased by 17 percent. One possible reason why: The bike lanes have shortened crosswalks and made them more visible to drivers.
More interestingly, the city points out the bike lanes have been economically beneficial. Local businesses on streets redesigned with the paths saw an uptick in retail sales and have been associated with more jobs and more tourism foot traffic.
For the city’s anti-cyclists, the new report means the bike safety program is here to stay.
“It’s our plan to do five miles of protected bike lanes every year going forward,” Benson tells Fast Company. “That’s actually about 100 city blocks of protected bike lanes, so that’s a huge chunk of city streets every year.”
But as the report reveals, adding bike lanes is beneficial for every type of transportation on New York’s crowded streets. Next time you’re grumbling about passing cyclists, remember, they’re helping you move faster.
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How Our Nation’s Capital is Improving Life for Commuters
On the heels of Apple’s unveiling of the new iPhone 6 and iWatch, Washington D.C.’s transit system Metro announced a new pilot program in line with the next wave of technology.
Metro’s new program will let riders pay transit fares with a smartphone, contactless credit and debit cards and other types of near field communication (NFC) devices like the iWatch. Starting in January, 10 Metrorail stations, six bus routes and two parking facilities will be outfitted with the new technology, but Metro officials plan to begin installing the new fare readers in October, according to the Washington City Paper.
“The main goal of this whole program is to eventually eliminate the need for people to convert their U.S. currency into Metro money,” says Metro spokesman Dan Stessel.
Officials contend the initiative is to make public transportation easier for both D.C. riders as well as tourists.
The nation’s capital is not the first city in the world to march toward contactless payment for public transit network. London’s bus system has already removed cash from its fare system, and the underground Tube is rolling out a new contactless payment program September 16.
But are days numbered for Metro’s old fare gates, vending machines and SmarTrip card program? Not anytime in the “foreseeable future,” according to city officials. If the pilot is met with success, Metro plans to install new fare readers across the entire transit system in 2017.
The city will begin recruiting around 2,000 participants for the pilot project this fall, encouraging residents who commute between the stations or along the bus routes included in the program to sign up. More details of the recruitment process are expected to be announced next month, according to Stessel.
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Why This Bridge Has No Vehicles Driving on It
Portland’s landscape is teeming with bridges — connecting the east and west parts of the Oregon city over the expansive Willamette River, which makes it no surprise that the northwestern city would support building another structure that reaches an up-and-coming area in an industrial neighborhood.
But with more transportation options comes more traffic, which is partly why TriMet, Portland’s local transporation agency, decided to design the Tilikum Crossing without room for cars. Instead, the bridge will cater to buses, light rail trains and street cars, with bike and pedestrian paths flanking it, making it the first multi-modal design of its kind, Fast Company reports.
The new 1,700 foot-long construct will be the nation’s longest carless bridge, and TriMet officials contend it’s a model that can serve elsewhere.
“We need to think multi-modal,” says Dave Unsworth, TriMet’s director of project development and permitting. “Streetcars for central city circulation, buses to connect to neighborhoods, and light rail for regional destinations …and bike and pedestrian connections to the nearby trails.”
Unsworth argues including cars would have been more costly, due to the need to expand the bridge in size to accommodate two lanes of traffic for each direction, plus reducing potential redevelopment on land nearby.
Thanks to a comprehensive public transit system, Unsworth also believes adding a car-centric bridge is unnecessary.
“With so much transit service on both sides of the river — light rail, streetcar, buses, and the Aerial Tram on the west side of the bridge — adding through traffic would have been unsafe and wasn’t necessary given the quality transit access,” he says.
The 7.3-mile stretch of light rail will provide access to a new area of housing as well as a new university campus branch, connecting north Clackamas County, Milwaukie and inner South East Portland to the downtown area and regional MAX System, according to TriMet.
The massive structure will feature lights that illuminate the cables and piers, mimicking actual water flow in the Willamette River below.
And while Portland has no plans to eliminate car transport altogether, city officials are encouraging other urban communities to consider alternative modes.
“Not everyone can use transit, but we need to continue to make it more convenient by doing a great job of connecting to where people want and need to go,” Unsworth adds.
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What Exactly Are JPods and How Can They Improve Commuting?
A New Jersey town is looking to the future to help solve a congestion problem, and they’ve found a solution of which George Jetson would approve.
Seacaucus, N.J., located just outside New York City, is home to one of the busiest train stations in the Garden State. A portion of the New Jersey Turnpike also runs right through town — making it the perfect locale to test out a new hybrid of mass transit called JPods. Billed as a combination of light rail and self-driving cars, JPods hover above roads, akin to a ski lift zipping overhead.
Founded by former West Point Academy graduate and U.S. Army officer Bill James, the private transit system was designed to move small groups of people rather than large masses that descend on public trasportation— such as buses or subways — each day.
“Combining solar and relatively small mass transit modules to get from point A to point B fits in especially well with some of the needs we have here,” Secaucus town administrator David Drumeler tells Fast Company. “With our commercial district relatively close but far enough that you couldn’t walk there, an almost on-demand type of mass transit system is an ideal fit for us.”
Each JPod operates as a personal train and is controlled by an interior touch screen. They travel to more stations and switch points than a commuter train or subway system, personalizing mass transit and helping residents get much closer to their destination.
The idea was not to create futuristic transit akin to the Los Angeles landscape depicted in Spike Jonze’s “Her”, but rather, to create sustainable transportation. The entire system is powered by solar panels positioned above the rails. The goal, according to James, is to make sure the entire system is sustainable regardless of how much it may expand in size. James, who served as a logistics officer in the U.S. Army, wanted to design a system that was self-sustainable and less dependent on foreign oil.
“We’re a bunch of West Point grads that looked at this situation and realized we’ve been fighting oil wars since 1990,” says James. “So we decided to do something about it. Our point of view on this thing as veterans is that we need to be looking ahead at what causes the path to war and act in advance of it.”
James enlisted other West Point alumni to work on JPods, with experts ranging in subject such as energy distribution, power plant design and law.
Each JPod can communicate with one another through an intelligent transport system, meaning that the network doesn’t waste energy with empty pods (like subway cars do) and instead uses an on-demand strategy.
Secaucus will test the “Rescue-Rail” version of JPods before building a more permanent model, according to James. The temporary system will be quick and deployable for large-scale events that generate traffic and congestion such as sporting events or conferences.
But will the concept will crop up elsewhere? As a private transit system, that question remains unanswered. While James hopes to bring the JPod to other urban areas, competition with government-funded public transit may prove to be a bureaucratic challenge.
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Why More Cities Should Desire Streetcars Like Tucson’s
Last month, residents of Tucson welcomed a new form of transportation: Sun Link, a new line of zero-emission streetcars.
The eco-friendly option connects the University of Arizona campus and Medical Center with the 4th Avenue Business District downtown area, as well as the new Mercado community west of the Interstate, according to a Department of Transportation (DOT) release.
These sleek, modern streetcars may be a nod to the country’s transportation past, but the $196.5 million revival is directed at creating an environmental-friendly, seamless public transit experience in addition to other forms like buses. In fact, the Arizona Public Interest Research Group found that Tucson increased its transit ridership by 25 percent (per capita) over the last five years, Government Technology reports. While a population growth and the millennial generation’s proclivity for public transit are contributing factors, it’s important to see Tucson’s urban planners responding with initiatives like Sun Link.
The Downtown Tuscon Partnership estimates the four-mile route has raked in about $1.5 billion in public and private investments, which includes more than 1,500 new units in housing development, restaurants and retail.
“Roughly 100,000 people live within a half-mile of one of the new Sun Link streetcar stations, and that’s great news for everyone looking for an opportunity to leave their car at home and take transit instead,” said FTA Chief Counsel Carter.
That foot traffic alone is enough to sustain a transit system like Sun Link. In fact, on opening day 17,000 residents boarded the green streetcars.
Sun Link was partially funded by the DOT’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, while its Portland-based manufacturer, United Streetcar, is supported by the country’s Buy America program, which ensures at least 60 percent of each vehicle bought with taxpayer money is American-made and assembled in the U.S. That means Sun Link’s economic stimulation extends to Portland as well.
As Government Technology points out, investing in future transit combined with domestic manufacturing incentives is essential to spurring economic development and job growth. Strengthening that concept through the GROW AMERICA Act, which would increase the domestic requirement for transit vehicles to 100 percent by 2019, is one way the more cities can benefit from a system like Sun Link.
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These Solar-Powered Roads Transmit Helpful Information onto Your Windshield
With several interstate highways intersecting in the state, it’s obvious why Indiana has been dubbed the crossroads of America.
The state itself is committed to that role and to further its reputation, Indiana is considering ways to revolutionize transportation.
In a recent Statehouse presentation, Gov. Mike Pence presented ideas outlined by a panel commissioned to prioritize state transportation needs, including everything from building a second beltway around Indianapolis to promoting driverless cars and solar-powered roads.
The panel, helmed by Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann and Langham Logistitcs head Cathy Langham, produced a 73-page report full of recommendations on where the state should focus its resources, such as designating high-occupancy-only lanes for carpooling as well as improvements for air, truck traffic and rail, the Indianapolis Star reports.
The governor intends on sharing the report with state agencies, which may inspire future transportation planning in Indiana.
But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the report is the four pages on innovation. Some suggestions include promoting and allowing driverless cars (once the technology is acceptable) as well as building lanes that charge electric cars while they’re moving. The solar-powered roadbeds would be heated to help melt away snow and the smart roads, or “iWays,” would be able to transmit information to drivers about the road conditions, possible safety hazards or weather conditions by projecting messages on windshields.
These concepts are not out of reach. As the Wall Street Journal reports, big tech companies like General Electric and International Business Machine Corp. (IBM) are already collaborating with city planners to invest in smart infrastructure.
In fact, IBM is testing software that can predict traffic jams up to 45 minutes before they actually clog the roadways by examining current traffic patterns. The software has proven to be about 90 percent accurate in predictions in the central business district of the pilot city Singapore. The data collected is then utilized in coordinating 1,700 sets of traffic lights to help adjust the traffic pattern.
Additionally, in Minneapolis, government officials have made bridge safety a priority since the collapse of the I-35 structure in 2007. A new bridge was designed with more than 300 sensors to track changes in temperature, corrosion and effect of winter weather. Researchers at University of Minnesota are using the data to inform how to build better bridges in the future, according WSJ.
For now, Indiana’s transportation priorities lie with adding lanes to the central highways that pulse through the state, I-65 and I-70, as well as a bridge to connect I-69 over the Ohio River and a new partial beltway to loop around Indianapolis. But as technology continues to influence and advance our infrastructure projects, building solar-power roads may not be too far off.
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