The Wall Street Journal looks at the debate regarding traffic cameras.
Nationwide, red-light traffic cameras have surged in popularity. More than 550 localities—including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago—have installed them since the early 1990s, according to a spokesman the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The cameras have resulted in millions .Read more...
The United States Department of Transportation proposed to eliminate a mandate for replacing traffic signs based on the potential costs related to ‘menu costs‘.
The Washington Post reports:
Although the order came from Washington, the burden of paying for hundreds of thousands of new signs — at costs ranging from $30 to .Read more...
The Wall Street Journal looks into private railroad cars (or ‘office car’) making a comeback with private kitchens, dining rooms, and sleeping areas.
If corporate jets are your idea of sky’s-the-limit business travel, try riding a corporate train.
Every big American railroad has one for its bosses: a string of sleepers, dining .Read more...
Now that ‘Carmageddon’ is over in Southern California, how bad was the traffic? Freakonomics blogger Eric A. Morris weighs in on the results.
In fact, Carmageddon saw stunningly low traffic levels, with many who did venture out reporting they had never driven at such speeds in LA in their lifetimes. Moreover, .Read more...
The St. Pete Times reports on Tampa, Florida’s red-light camera system.
What sets off a red-light camera?
A laser sensor about the size of a hockey puck is embedded in the middle of each lane behind the white “stop bar” line, which signifies the beginning of a signalized intersection.
If a car crosses .Read more...
Walt Disney expected monorails to be the public transportation of the future. Or are they a relic of the past?
The Wall Street Journal looks at monorails.
Although monorails have been around since the 19th century, they have mainly been short-line systems, limited to moving visitors around amusement parks or between airport .Read more...
The New York Times looks at the extensive highway work project expected to cause major disruptions this week.
You would think that Los Angeles, of all places, would know how to handle a catastrophe. But in just over a week, 11 miles of Interstate 405 — the north-south spine of the .Read more...
Daniel Machalaba looks at the developments in train technology in the Wall Street Journal:
Major railroads are installing digital communications, global positioning receivers, sensors and computerized controls on their trains and tracks. New systems can gather intelligence on locations, size and speeds of trains and make automated decisions about when the .Read more...
USA Today discusses the growing trend towards flashing yellow left turn signals to improve safety and keep traffic moving.
The Federal Highway Administration estimates that the signals — which allow drivers to make a left turn after yielding, even when the light is red for traffic going straight and cross traffic has .Read more...
Tom Vanderbilt writes at length about merging philosophy in his book, Traffic. It seems that the Illinois Department of Transportation is now experimenting with some new ideas in merging.
The Quad-City Times writes about the new Illinois DOT signage:
There’s a new sign in town, and it may just change everything.
The Illinois .Read more...
William Yardley and the New York Times examines the common themes of politics, development, city planning, the environment, traffic, and how to move forward. The issue at hand: the Alaskan Way Viaduct:
For a decade, since a 2001 earthquake exposed the viaduct’s vulnerability, this ambitious but frequently indecisive city has been .Read more...
Patrick Smith at Salon.com examines that treacherous trek from your seat on the plane to where you want to be.
In a way, choosing a favorite airport is akin to choosing a favorite hospital: Conveniences and accouterments aside, nobody really wants to be there in the first place, and the easier and faster .Read more...
