Under a budget signed by President Obama, VIPR will be getting an additional 12 teams. In case you haven’t heard of this controversial program, VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) uses heavily armed TSA agents to conduct warrantless searches at transit stations, including Amtrak, ferries, and Greyhound. Oh, and of course: The TSA funding included [...]
Archive for December, 2011
VIPR
Posted in Uncategorized on December 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Car Seat Fallacies
Posted in risk, tagged Nanny-State on December 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The “safety” lobby strikes again. A new California State law goes into effect next week, meaning kids will be stuck with booster seats until age 8: California state law currently requires parents to keep their kids in booster seats until they reach the age of 6 or weigh at least 60 pounds. The new law [...]
China Unveils 500 kph Test Train
Posted in transit, tagged China, high-speed rail on December 27, 2011 | 4 Comments »
From the China Daily: China’s largest train maker, CSR Corp Ltd, launched over the weekend its first test train that can reach speeds of up to 500 km an hour. The six-carriage train with a tapered head is the newest member of the CRH series. It has a maximum drawing power of 22,800 kilowatts, compared [...]
Shocking Video of Seattle Police Mocking Injured Jogger
Posted in organizational behavior on December 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It’s like a bad episode of Reno-911. A jogger clings to life after being hit by a semi — and the police crack jokes: Officer 1 ‘That’s why you drive a car!’ Officer 2 ‘Yeah, don’t try to jog to work, you dumb fuck!’ Click through to komo-news for the video and interview with the [...]
Redevelopment Court Challenge May Backfire
Posted in planning, tagged RDA on December 22, 2011 | 1 Comment »
California’s Supreme Court will be ruling on a court challenge from redevelopment agencies (RDA’s). That lawsuit seeks to block two bills passed to scale back redevelopment agencies. One bill puts in place a new revenue-sharing agreement, and the second bill just kills the RDA’s outright. The RDA’s were seeking to overturn both laws, but it [...]
Non-Zero Energy Buildings
Posted in planning on December 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It is annoying how the architecture profession ignores transportation in its energy calculations. For example, a recent design contest for an infill development in Emeryville: For the purpose of the competition, the ground floor of each building should be reserved for uses such as retail, the library, parking, or open space. For an infill zero-energy [...]
Poetic Justice
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged VTA on December 13, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Poetic justice: The VTA is pushing for the creation of a special district within Caltrans that would focus solely on Santa Clara County. It would set up shop at VTA headquarters on First Street and state engineers would work side by side with local planners. No longer would the VTA and city engineers need to [...]
Loose Cannon
Posted in organizational behavior on December 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A recent ‘Mythbusters’ cannonball experiment nearly resulted in tragedy when an errant cannonball smashed through a suburban neighborhood. The projectile sailed through a bedroom where a couple and their child were sleeping. After exiting the bedroom, it smashed into a minivan that had been parked just 10 minutes earlier. The cannonball blast did not come [...]
William Shatner: Bike Commuter
Posted in bicycling on December 7, 2011 | 2 Comments »
What was William Shatner’s favorite ‘non-Star Trek’ role – TJ Hooker, or maybe Denny Crane? Favorite non-Star Trek roles? Outside of the Star Trek series, you’ve had a large number of regular, one-off and recurring roles. What would be your favorite role prior to the beginnings of Star Trek and after the original ST series [...]
Impact of Medical Marijuana Laws on Traffic Fatalities
Posted in highways on December 4, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Marijuana “legalization” (Medical Marijuana Laws) will lead to an increase in traffic fatalities, right? Not so, says a new study: To date, 16 states have passed medical marijuana laws, yet very little is known about their effects. Using state-level data, we examine the relationship between medical marijuana laws and a variety of outcomes. Legalization of [...]
