Tuesday, 27 November 2007

Public Transit Makes Me Say : Bah Humbug!

All last week I looked forward to a big turkey dinner, spending time with family and friends, and just taking a few days off from thinking about the nation’s failing infrastructure – it didn’t happen quite as planned. As I left ASCE’s Washington office last Wednesday at 3 PM, I couldn’t help but be in a great mood: early closing; warm, sunny weather; and not a care in the world! At roughly 3:05 PM, that good mood ended when I walked into the nearby metro station.

 

AAA estimates that a record 38.7 million Americans traveled at least 50 miles this holiday season. In what seems like an improbable turn of events, but I assure you is true, all 38.7 million of them (and their luggage) were riding the Washington, DC Metro at the very same time I was. When I finally forced my way out of the holiday crowd and emerged from my metro station in Virginia, (a distance of only 6 miles according to Google Maps) it was 4:30 PM and already dark – Happy Thanksgiving to me!

 

As I stepped with trepidation back onto the train this morning, I hoped rather than believed that it would be a better ride. While the holiday madness seemed to have died down, my commute was just as bad as it always is: over-crowding, train stoppages, garden variety crazy people. Every time I’m 20 minutes late for work or jammed up next to some big, sweaty guy, I can’t help but wonder why it never seems to get better.

 

My experiences here in Washington are not unique. In an article chronicling the condition of the nation’s public transit from the AP,  riders seem to be facing the same woes all over the country. In New York, over crowding, antiquated equipment, and mismanagement have severely threatened the subway system. "Most riders think the subway's run by an angry, indifferent god," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign, a transit advocacy group. "On some lines, I can't believe how many people are crammed in. It's like a Picasso painting - arms here, legs and shoes there." Even more worrisome, 150 people were injured last summer when a Chicago El train ran off its ancient tracks.

 

ASCE graded transit at a D + in the 2005 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure  and estimates that over $31 billion must be invested per year to improve the quality of the nation’s transit systems. Currently, Federal and state total expenditures only reach about $13 billion. This year’s Transportation Appropriations bill only offers $9.65 billion for transit and faces a likely veto by the President. Our Failing Infrastructure will keep its readers up to date with any new developments.

 

If you or someone you loves depends on public transit, you can do something to ensure you spend time with your family and friends this holiday season. Please take the time to let your legislators and the President know that you would like the gift that keeps on giving this year: adequate federal transit spending! It might not be at the top of your wish list, but it’s on mine!

Posted by Allison D at 5:10 PM in transportation/
Comments (1)

Friday, 16 November 2007

Senate Committee Nears Historic Vote on Climate Change

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee  is nearing a historic vote on legislation that would make major changes in the way the United States produces and consumes energy from hydrocarbon resources like coal and petroleum.

 

Sometime in early December the committee is likely to take up S. 2191, America’s Climate Security Act, a bill that would establish a nationwide cap on the release of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases over the 38-year period from 2012 to 2050.

 

The bill sponsored jointly by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-CT, and Sen. John Warner, R-VA,  is the most consequential environmental legislation to come before the committee since the Clean Air Act was amended nearly 18 years ago to establish the cap-and-trade program for sulfur dioxide.

 

The Lieberman-Warner plan caps emissions of the six primary greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, and perfluorocarbons. For each of those gases, the bill proposes a common unit of measurement, called a "CO2 equivalent." A CO2 equivalent is the quantity of a greenhouse gas that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determines makes the same contribution to global warming as one metric ton of CO2.

 

Additionally, the bill would regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the electric power sector, the industrial sector, and the transportation sector.

 

ASCE believes Congress must address the problem of climate change as soon as possible. ASCE Policy Statement 360, Impacts of Global Climate Change, and ASCE Policy Statement 488, Greenhouse Gases, support enactment of the major greenhouse gas abatement programs contained in the Lieberman-Warner bill.

 

The policies followed lengthy debates among members. The discussions were informed by ASCE research going back nearly 20 years. In 1990, for example, the Society’s Journal of Cold Regions Engineering reported that "the current trend of global warming is expected to produce some of its most significant changes in Arctic ocean and coastal areas. As the average air and sea temperatures increase, sea level will rise and the polar ice pack [will] shrink. Wave action may increase and the coastal permafrost, degrade, resulting in widespread inundation and flooding of low-lying areas."

 

In 2006, ASCE’s Journal of Infrastructure Systems found that motor vehicles contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. "The transportation sector accounts for a significant percentage of United States energy consumption (27.4 percent) in 2003. It is responsible for 32.3 percent of the total United States emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) 46.6 percent of nitrogen oxides (NOx) (a [principal] precursor of smog, 65.7 percent of carbon monoxide (CO), and 1.4 percent of emissions of particulate matter smaller than 10 µm (PM10)," the authors reported.

Posted by Mike C at 4:11 PM in Civil Engineering/
Comments (0)