A Powerful Argument for U.S. High-Speed Rail

A Powerful Argument for U.S. High-Speed Rail

Railway stations in China

some personal impressions from my trip to China

China1 en

Ruimte en Mobiliteit Meeting 10 December 2010

Meeting minutes available on BlackBoard blog.

Plane, trains and automobiles

From Yglesias:

Trains, Planes, and Pollution

Fun chart from my colleagues:



What’s more, not only is intercity rail energy efficient compared to other means of transportation but it’s typically electricity which can be produced with much less pollution per unit of energy output. With automobiles, of course, we’re all looking forward to the future of electrification as well. But I’ve never heard anyone outline a remotely credible low-pollution alternative to jet fuel. Now obviously there are also distances across which rail doesn’t work as a credible alternative to air travel. But for shorter distance flights it’s important to understand that air travel is currently benefitting from a major unpriced externality in the form of air pollution. If we started taxing greenhouse gas pollution, then rail starts looking like a much better option on a range of short routes that are currently popular for air travel.
For example, today there seem to be almost 30 flights daily between Seattle and Portland. Clearly a lot of people are making the trip. If you built a high-speed rail connection, a lot of people would take that. But how many would obviously depend heavily on how the price compared to the price of those flights. And that in turn would have a great deal to do with how we price pollution.

Exit RO (Jaap Modder in Deltametropool's Private Pick)

Drs. J.J. (Jaap) Modder

Stadsregio Arnhem Nijmegen, voorzitter

Het regeerakkoord :“Het kabinet komt met voorstellen de ruimtelijke ordening meer over te laten aan provincies en gemeenten”. Was getekend: Rutte, Verhagen en (in gedoogstand) Wilders. Inmiddels blijkt dat VROM al bijna gesloopt is, de website ging een uur na de bordes scène uit de lucht. Het is even wennen, van de ene op de andere dag hebben we geen ministerie van ruimtelijke ordening meer. Het wordt keurig in stukjes gehakt. Wat vroeger Volkshuisvesting heette, de laatste jaren Wonen, Wijken en Integratie, wordt overgeheveld naar Binnenlandse Zaken (BZK). Voor verstedelijkingsbeleid moeten we nu naar Donner. En ook de Rijksgebouwendienst, zo vaak ingezet om ruimtelijk kwaliteitsbeleid mee vorm mee te geven, gaat mee. Rijksbouwmeester van der Pol moet haar bureautje bij VROM ook leegruimen en gaat naar Donner. Een andere grote poot, Milieu, gaat naar Verkeer en Waterstaat, nu Infrastructuur en Milieu. Dan resteert bij VROM nog het directoraat generaal Ruimte dat een zoveelste afslankingskuur gaat doormaken en mag aanschuiven bij Infrastructuur en Milieu. Na een halve eeuw nationaal ruimtelijk beleid en een eigen ministerie verdwijnen beide in de marge van het nieuwe regeringsbeleid.

Link naar rest van artikel "Exit RO".

RUG UVA Workshop

Short report on RUG UVA Workshop here

Is the Digital Age Changing Our Desire to Drive?

More interesting stats from the US and Canada. 2 quotes:

Short commutes and proximity to transit are major factors attracting apartment dwellers to certain properties. When polled by GWLRA and Harris/Decima, 36% of apartment dwellers (owners and renters) selected their building for its short commute and 48% for transit proximity.

In the United States, kilometers driven by 18–34 year olds is declining, and this is likely the case in Canada as well (Neff, 2010). Younger generations seem to have less interest in automotive use, making apartment living in dense, walkable and transit-oriented urban areas a more natural fit for their lifestyles.

 
More here. And here as well (Relevant stuff for the Groningen people!)

Presentation at UvA-RUG workshop (5nov)

A WOW view of Amsterdam

Commercial for Nike with Nalden showing his Amsterdam (check his beautiful blog here). Camera technique is called 'tilt shift'. This shows the world in miniature view...

Transport sector not in Transition