Buses more loved than baseball?

What urbanites like about the cities where they live - Worldwide, respondents cited the following when asked what they like most about the city where they live: Public transportation systems (36 percent), sports and cultural activities (35 percent), economic and cultural dynamism (30 and 29 percent, respectively), entertainment possibilities (26 percent), and diversity (23 percent).

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Environmental group violates the gag order!

Things are happening too fast for the U.S. carbon-auto industry. They have lost control of global crude oil prices. They can't keep gasoline prices down and people are turning to public transportation. They have loosed their dogs of disinformation, saying that high fuel prices means that public transit must cut service and raise fares. At the same time their friends in the "environmentalist" movement are pushing for "better" cars and unplugging the waffle iron!

But now they are in danger of losing the environmentalists. Bill McKibben came out in favor of free transit and the Kheel plan. The PIRG's started pushing transit. Now, the New England Conservation Law Foundation is putting public transportation at the top of their solutions list!

End the era of highway expansion and shift to a new paradigm in which the region invests at least 75 percent of transportation funds on public transportation and compact, transit-oriented development.

Invest $1 billion in new energy efficiency resources, drawing on multiple sources of revenue, including emerging carbon auctions and new markets and incentives for energy efficiency.

Build 2,000 megawatts of new wind power, including at least two major offshore wind projects and multiple inland wind farms in New England.

Shut down at least two regional coal-fired power plants or convert them to cleaner fuels.

Pass legislation in every New England state to mandate meaningful emissions reductions and require consideration of climate impacts in all state permitting and infrastructure decisions.

SouthCoastToday

Cost of autosprawl

Who will pay for free public transit? That is a frequent question. The answer is simple. Stop the subsidies to the carbon-auto industry. The carbon-auto industry profits from a system that emits excessive cabon dioxide into the atmosphere. The result is climate disruption. The taxpayer pays the cost of the effects this disruption. These costs are not accounted-for in the balance sheets of the carbon and auto industries. That constitutes a subsidy. If someone burned a tree in your yard against your will and made a profit in the process, would you expect them to pay for it? Just a small reduction in this subsidy would easily pay for free public transit. Here is another of the many examples:

With active wildfires in 10 states this weekend burning a total of nearly 687,000 acres — an area larger than the state of Rhode Island — the escalating cost of fighting fires is a rising concern....
All told, 2008 has seen nearly 3.5 million acres burned, or an area the size of Connecticut....
The cost to federal taxpayers has gone up dramatically,...
.... scientists tell us that global warming is producing conditions that make the West more susceptible to fire: Less mountain snow produces less runoff; higher temperatures increase evaporation; and more frequent and intense storms produce more lightning that sparks new flames. - the daily green

Malthusian Economics

number of earths needed to support humanity

For a live map of carbon emissions and population numbers: breathing earth

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What swells must contract. Growth will end. Will humans manage this end? Will it be humane?

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"...13 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance." SkyNews

Wilmington, NC - Day of Free Public Transit

Saturday, everyone will be encouraged to ride public transportation to see many attractions in the area and enjoy a Wilmington Sharks baseball game.
In addition to waiving fares for the day, Wave Transit has joined with the Wilmington Sharks Baseball Club and Independence Mall to assist in sponsoring Alternative Transportation Night. WECT6

Wales - Cheap transport call to help poor

Free and cheaper public transport should be more widely available in Welsh rural areas to combat poverty, says a report by assembly members. -BBC

Zipcar - National Low-Car Diet

Each zipcar replaces 15 private autos

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Zipcar, the world's largest provider of cars on demand by the hour or day, launched the first-ever national Low-Car Diet. Beginning today, more than 300 participants will hand over the keys to their personal cars and commit to living one month without the use of their vehicle. Instead, they will utilize public transportation, increase walking and biking, and be given a Zipcar membership to access the vehicles when necessary. prnewswire

Environmentalist discovers public transit!

Bill McKibben, noted environmentalist, writer, and founder of the Step-it-Up campaign against global climate disruption, has stumbled upon public transportation and embraced the Kheel Plan. Welcome aboard, Bill!

In Kheel’s report, the city would raise taxi fares by 25 percent, with all extra money going to support public transit. With less congested streets, the analysis calculates, the average cabbie would make 37 runs a shift instead of 31. Transaction-free bus rides could result in a 20 percent reduction of route time, leading to an effective 25 percent growth of each fleet because drivers could make more runs per shift. The city would also triple the price of streetside parking in Manhattan south of 96th Street, making it about the same as the private parking garages. “There are parts of the city where a quarter or more of drivers are simply looking for a parking spot,” says Komanoff. [from Bill's article in Plenty magazine.]

Gas taxes don't cover road costs

According to a new report by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), not a single road in Texas “pays for itself” with the current taxation system. “For example,” says the report, “in Houston, the 15 miles of SH 99 from I-10 to US 290 will cost $1 billion to build and maintain over its lifetime, while only generating $162 million in state and federal gas taxes. That gives a tax gap ratio of .16, which means that the real gas tax rate people would need to pay on this segment of road to completely pay for it would be $2.22 per gallon.” gulfcoastinstitute.org

Reykjavík, Iceland - Mayor Wants Free Buses

“I hold the opinion that we should investigate the benefits of making buses free for everyone. The change in attitude involved in increasing the number of passengers on buses and thereby decreasing the number of cars on the streets of the city is invaluable,” Magnússon told 24 Stundir.