A CBS Radio news report highlighted Armstrong’s new Detroit Office in Milford, MI.
September 26, 2011, 7:45 am
CBS Detroit Radio mentions Armstrong Forensic Engineers
By Garrick Infanger
September 22, 2011, 9:50 am
Traffic Camera Scams?
By Garrick Infanger
A
A Yahoo.com report looks into scams related to traffic cameras.
The scam is simple. A no-good type picks your phone number at random and, once you answer, tells you that you have an overdue red light camera fine. The only way to avoid a significant late fee, a court case, or even jail time is to pay the bill right then and there over the phone. If you don’t pay up, you’re threatened with a warrant for your arrest.
Of course, there was no camera, no photograph, and no overdue bill. The scammer really has no ability to arrest you, fine you, or take you to court.
September 21, 2011, 5:11 am
Saudi Arabia’s bid for Tallest Building in the World
By Garrick Infanger
Fast Company looks at Saudi Arabia’s bid for tallest building in the world.
Saudi Arabia is set to shatter the record for the tallest building in the world, with a slender, asymmetrical spire that rises at least 3,280 feet in the air — more than twice the size of the Willis Tower, the tallest building in the United States, and 568 feet higher than the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
The $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower will be built in north Jeddah, the major urban center of western Saudi and an historic gateway to Mecca just off the shores of the Red Sea. The building, by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (Smith also designed the Burj Khalifa while at SOM), pairs new developments in skyscraper technology with a sleek, “three-petal” form inspired by the folded fronts of young desert plant growth. “The way the fronds sprout upward from the ground as a single form, then start separating from each other at the top, is an analogy of new growth fused with technology,” Gill says.
The tower’s got a slick, aerodynamic shape with tapering wings that’ll help slash structural loading caused by the wind. A high-performance facade is expected to reduce energy consumption, and notches in each of the skyscraper’s three “petals” will create pockets of shade, shielding occupants from the harsh desert sun and providing outdoor terraces with views of Jeddah and the Red Sea.
Photo credit: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
September 20, 2011, 11:34 am
South Carolina’s Operation Rolling Thunder
By Garrick Infanger
South Carolina is cracking down on drug trafficking in Spartanburg County.
A week-long crackdown on Spartanburg County interstates is over. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright announced Friday that the 6th annual Operation Rolling Thunder ended with more than 1600 traffic stops on I-85 and I-26.
The traffic enforcement operation brought together 72 law enforcement officers from 22 different agencies in North and South Carolina. They seized more than $215,000 in cash, 11 pounds of cocaine, and eight pounds of marijuana.
“The numbers are a bit lower than in the past, I’m proud of that, meaning they are staying out of Spartanburg County, which that is our desire,” said Sheriff Wright. “I try to tell everybody that every piece of drug paraphernalia or drug you can find and get off the street, that’s one more somebody’s son or daughter that’s not having to deal with that.”
September 9, 2011, 3:09 pm
The Science of Intoxication
By Garrick Infanger
The Wall Street Journal and Melinda Beck look at the effects of alcohol on individuals.
Many people figure a few beers at a ballgame or a couple of glasses of wine with dinner won’t put them over the legal limit for driving. But how alcohol affects people is highly individual, with a number of factors in the mix.
Quick shots of liquor hit the bloodstream faster than slow sips of wine. Drinking on an empty stomach impairs reflexes more than consuming alcohol with food. And women and older drinkers generally hit legal intoxication levels sooner than men and younger people.
Carbonated beverages raise alcohol levels faster, because the gas irritates the stomach lining, causing alcohol to be absorbed faster. (Sweet or caffeinated alcoholic drinks aren’t absorbed any faster, it just seems that way because people often consume more of them than they realize.)
September 8, 2011, 11:53 am
Utah’s New Public Transportation Expansion
By Garrick Infanger
The Transport Politic profiles the progress of public transport in Utah.
Much thanks to federal spending, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area practically doubled the size of its TRAX light rail network this weekend, adding two extensions a year early and 20% under budget. Though estimates predict relatively modest ridership on the new lines, the routes provide the city and its suburbs one of the most comprehensive transit systems in the country, with frequent bus and rail corridors spread out in a grid across the immediate urban core…
In addition to the pre-existing 15.8-mile route from downtown Salt Lake to Sandy (which opened in 1999) and the 3.8-mile corridor to the University of Utah (which began operations in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics there), the 10.6-mile, $535 million Mid-Jordan route extends southwest from Fashion Place to a major development at Daybreak and the 5.1-mile, $370 million West Valley line runs from Central Pointe to West Valley Central Station. The 3.5-mile extension south from Sandy to Draper (receiving a 60% commitment from Washington), the 6-mile link to the airport, and the 44-mile FrontRunner South commuter rail route to Provo (getting 80% of its funding from the feds) are other parts of the program and are under construction, ready to be open by 2013 and 2014.
The region, with about 1.2 million inhabitants, now has as much light rail — 35 miles of it — as far larger metropolitan areas like Denver. Total TRAX ridership is expected to reach 58,000 a day by the end of this year, up from 43,000 today; ridership could exceed 100,000 daily by 2030.
Utah’s transit system is also, arguably, built efficiently.
Compared to light rail projects around the country, the $50.5 million and $72.5 million per mile spent on the Mid-Jordan and West Valley lines, respectively, is limited. They are on the low end compared to similar projects currently under construction in Portland ($204 million/mile), Houston ($145 million/mile), and the Twin Cities($87 million/mile). But Salt Lake had the advantage of building its rail lines along existing corridors, limiting right-of-way purchase costs. In addition, it has constructed most of its projects in the midst of a recession that has hit the construction industry particularly hard, making it possible to contract out the building of the tracks and stations at comparatively low prices.
H/T Streetsblog.net
September 7, 2011, 10:07 am
Poverty from Yellow to Blue
By Garrick Infanger
National Geographic maps out the poverty levels of our world’s seven billion inhabitants.
September 6, 2011, 6:18 am
Discussing Vehicle Weight and Crash Fatalities
By Garrick Infanger
A new paper looks at the effects of external costs of vehicle weight. An extra 1,000 pounds increases crash fatalities by 47%.
Here’s the abstract from Pounds that Kill: The External Costs of Vehicle Weight:
Heavier vehicles are safer for their own occupants but more hazardous for the occupants of other vehicles. In this paper we estimate the increased probability of fatalities from being hit by a heavier vehicle in a collision. We show that, controlling for own-vehicle weight, being hit by a vehicle that is 1,000 pounds heavier results in a 47% increase in the baseline fatality probability. Estimation results further suggest that the fatality risk is even higher if the striking vehicle is a light truck (SUV, pickup truck, or minivan). We calculate that the value of the external risk generated by the gain in fleet weight since 1989 is approximately 27 cents per gallon of gasoline. We further calculate that the total fatality externality is roughly equivalent to a gas tax of $1.08 per gallon. We consider two policy options for internalizing this external cost: a gas tax and an optimal weight varying mileage tax. Comparing these options, we find that the cost is similar for most vehicles.
H/T: Freakonomics
September 1, 2011, 3:24 pm
Nigeria’s Anti-One-Way Squad
By Garrick Infanger
The Wall Street Journal takes at look at Nigeria cracking down on people driving the wrong way on one-way streets.
Seeking to stem an epidemic of wrong-way driving, Lagos authorities have ratcheted up the standard $160 fine. Scofflaws now also face psychiatric evaluations. Contesting the charge can jack up the fine to $1,600—and you still get sent to a shrink.
The legal logic is simple, says Sina Thorpe, spokesman for the Lagos state ministry of transportation: If you violate one-way rules, “you should have your head examined.”
Threatening errant drivers with psychiatric exams, which locals deem more bureaucratic than medical, is a twist in the rough road of Nigerian traffic. Lagos bigwigs have long paid on-duty local cops to speed them through jams by riding shotgun with machine guns and menacing other drivers with bullwhips. Cut-price motorcycle taxis use thunderous horns that sound like 18-wheelers to frighten others out of the way.
And ordinary Lagosians routinely bribe security guards to let them cut across parking lots and construction sites.
Traffic, long a scourge of the rich and privileged, is now globally inescapable. China last year suffered a 60-mile-long jam that lasted for days. Across Africa, urban driving can take some unusual turns.
August 29, 2011, 7:47 am
Private Railroad Cars for the 21st Century
By Garrick Infanger
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 cars, theater cars, gym cars and—bringing up the rear—a private “office car.” They date to streamliner days when the freight lines still hauled passengers. Now they haul executives.
The railroads don’t brag about these trains. “It might be seen as a luxury,” says an official at one. A Norfolk Southern spokesman: “We’re not interested in making it public.” Tom Lange, spokesman for the Union Pacific: “It’s not mysterious—just not accessible.”
Which made it all the more incredible to Jim O’Connor that he was in one. He was seated on the green plush couch of the Feather River, a Union Pacific private office car—one of eight the railroad owns—at the end of this special express heading west past Dexter, Mo., and on toward Poplar Bluff.
August 25, 2011, 9:07 am
Discussing ‘Drugged Driving’
By Garrick Infanger
USA Today examines the issues surrounding drugged driving and decriminalizing illicit drugs.
Drivers who die in crashes test positive for drugs 25% of the time, a new study finds.
Researchers examined data on more than 44,000 drivers in single-vehicle crashes who died between 1999 and 2009. They found that 24.9% tested positive for drugs and 37% had blood-alcohol levels in excess of 0.08, the legal limit. Fifty-eight percent had no alcohol in their systems; 5% had less than 0.08. The data were from a government database on traffic fatalities.
Study co-authors Eduardo Romano and Robert Voas of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Calverton, Md., say their study is one of the first to show the prevalence of drug use among fatally injured drivers. Among drivers who tested positive for drugs, 22% were positive for marijuana, 22% for stimulants and 9% for narcotics.
Photo credit: Matt Rourke
August 23, 2011, 7:27 am
The Future of Comfort in Air Travel?
By Garrick Infanger
The Wall Street Journal discusses the future of air travel as the airlines would have us believe:
A new generation of planes—including jets from Airbus and Bombardier Inc. and led by BoeingCo.’s 787 Dreamliner, which is slated to enter service with Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co. sometime this summer—promises to offer passengers a less taxing environment. “Physically, people will feel better when they leave our 787,” says Kent Craver, regional director for passenger satisfaction and revenue at Boeing.
The plane is built largely with high-tech, carbon-fiber composite material in place of metals. The material allows air pressure to be set at the equivalent of a lower altitude than on current planes and the humidity to be set higher, making passengers more comfortable. Today’s commercial jets typically simulate an altitude of about 8,000 feet in the cabin. The Dreamliner, Boeing says, can bring that down to as low as 2,000 feet.
The Dreamliner’s windows are another feature designed to give passengers a more pleasant ride. The windows will be the largest on any commercial jet, allowing more natural light to enter the cabin. But they also will allow individual passengers greater control over how much outside light enters their area. The traditional pull-down shades have been replaced by a passenger-controlled button at the base of each window that darkens or lightens the window. Flight attendants will be able to take control of all windows in situations where they want everyone to have a clear view, such as landings and emergencies.
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