Photo by Howard Pulling (hpulling on flickr).
This shot was taken in Brighton on UK’s Southern Railway.
Author Archives: admin
Lobbying is Part of Problem Number 2
The Drunk Engineer over at Systemic Failure reports on AAA’s bewildering opposition to any bill related to bicycles. I guess it isn’t that bewildering, but their lobbying in this manner is just another case-in-point toward Problem #2.
Air Traffic Contol
The Wall Street Journal’s Middle Seat Terminal gives a look inside DFW’s tower. A nice glimpse of a controllers job. I’ve been in IND’s tower a handful of times and have always admired the guys doing this job.
UAE Railroad Close to Breaking Ground
Etihad Rail is moving right along here in the UAE. They’ve executed a contract for the supply of the concrete ties (sleepers) for the upcoming construction.
DXB $7.8 Billion Expansion
Dubai International Airport (DXB) is shooting for 90 million passengers by 2018. They are on course to hit 50 million passengers this year. Aviation is one of the few sustainable growth industries in the UAE.
Hybrid Aircraft Development
This is some cool stuff from Siemens, Diamond Aircraft, and EADS. A 70kW electric motor powered by a small wankel engine. The engine runs much slower since it is simply powering a generator to provide current to the motor. A great idea.
More on Ending Ehthanol Subsidies
From The Economist, Fiscal Sobriety:
Taking everything into account, ethanol releases almost as much carbon dioxide as petrol does. As Michael Greenstone, the director of the Hamilton Project, a liberal research group, puts it, “Ethanol is largely farm support policy, not environmental policy.”
This is a good first step in addressing Problem #2 and revealing the true costs of our transportation system.
Third Runway at HKG
Cathay Pacific is pushing for a third runway at Hong Kong International (HKG). Why don’t they just step forward and offer to build it themselves in exchange for exclusive use of the new third runway? Looking at their financials I think they could pull it off.
Think outside the box here. Heck, if they didn’t need the full capacity of the third runway they could even lease it out for HKG to use.
Stranded on The Apron
I’d love to know what causes this problem.
Does air traffic control just get too backed up? Or is it the airline? Are they being greedy and putting people on the plan and deplaning so as to reduce gate fees? Curious.
Amtrak Growth
Overall, there has been a 36 percent increase in Amtrak ridership nationwide since 2000. Ridership records were set in seven of the past eight fiscal years, including more than 28.7 million passengers in 2010, Amtrak says.