The 6 Surrenders Of Vukan R. Vuchic

Something the pro-transit environmental movement has been advocating for decades is the idea of the intermodal transit system of trains and buses. Some of us would like to add Personal Rapid Transit to that short list.

Such a system, if pervasive enough, would allow people to travel around cities without driving. And if deployed in conjunction with thoughtful land use planning, redevelopment, and urban growth boundaries, the transit system could assist in correcting decades of sprawl made possible by, and in service of, the automobile -- or as I call it, the Private Travel Appliance.

New NMFS contact policy on orcas compromises good science

The good news is that boaters will now be required to stay at least 200 yards distant from Puget Sound orca whales, under new rules issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

However, NMFS decided to not make the waters west of San Juan Island a no-go area in summer time, bowing to local objections including marine dependent businesses. In other words, not having a no-go was based on commerce, not science.

Fate of Masdar PRT Not Yet Final

©MMXI Get On Board PRT!NewsCenter

We knew it was coming. Last October the news broke that the Masdar City project -- already retreating from ambitious goals of zero-carbon, zero-waste and producing all energy onsite -- had decided against installing Personal Rapid Transit throughout the 2.3 square mile 'eco-city.' The news came just as the inauguration of the pilot section of the PRT system, 'Phase IA,' was imminent.

And so we were not surprised when the wave of news items arrived. Environmental journalists attending January's World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on the one hand wrote in giddy prose of riding the driverless pods, while on the other hand chuckling at the brevity of the 2-station route. It sounds so small when you say the stations are "a mere 800m" apart. That's half a mile to Americans.

Taxing argument

'Dumb criminal' stories tend to litter the pages of the daily newspapers, but on those publications' websites the most popular subject is, I submit to you, the bashing of bicyclists.

Today brought two such letters in the Seattle Times, one typical and one not.

...Automobile registration, and a license to drive one, does not also qualify a person to drive a semi-truck, school bus, motor coach, motorcycle -- or a bicycle -- on public streets. That’s the favorite ploy of freebie bike advocates to suggest that taxes paid for operating a motor vehicle provides a free pass for pedaling around on a motorless vehicle as well... Ride a bike -- ante up! Dean Trier, Redmond

New oil spill bill looks stronger

Representatives Christine Rolfes and Zack Hudgins are the lead sponsors of HB1186, a bill now in the news that would improve preparations to respond to oil spills in Puget Sound.  The roundup:

• Morning News Tribune, Jan. 12
• Joel Connelly, Seattle P-I Jan. 12
• AP video- Presidential panel's report "rekindles push for reform," Jan. 11

If enacted, HB1186 would