Amtrak issues RFP for new single-level railcars

Amtrak wants to replace its ancient Amfleet cars:

Amtrak has released a Request for Proposals today, for a new fleet of single-level passenger rail vehicles to replace Amfleet I cars, providing new equipment with contemporary rail amenities to better serve Amtrak customers. Amfleet I cars are used primarily on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and adjacent State Corridor routes. The new trainsets will replace Amtrak’s fleet of 470 Amfleet I and ex-Metroliner railcars. Amfleet I railcars are over 40 years of age, while Amtrak’s fleet of ex-Metroliner equipment entered service 50 years ago

The new railcars and trainsets will include all necessary equipment for Positive Train Control technology and meet recently updated federal Tier I safety standards for equipment operating at speeds of up to 125 MPH.

Now that the FRA has modernized regulations to permit the use of light-weight, off-the-shelf designs — will Amtrak take advantage of the new rules? Or will it turn into another procurement fiasco?

Read Full Post »

How London clamps down on fare cheats

In all seriousness, this is a real problem with faregates. They can cause injury, especially to young kids who may not know when to proceed through gate. My son’s first visit to BART ended badly when a faregate smashed him in the head.

Read Full Post »

Japan traffic deaths fall to all time low

Traffic fatalities are going up in the US, while they keep going down in Japan:

The number of traffic deaths nationwide in 2018 fell by 162, or 4.4 percent, from the previous year to 3,532, hitting the lowest level since data became available in 1948, the National Police Agency said Friday.

The decrease reflected police efforts to step up traffic safety education programs and crack down on traffic offenses, the agency said.

On per-capita basis, Japan traffic deaths in 2018 was 2.79 per 100,000 population. By comparison, it is around 11.40 in the US (as of 2017). If the US were to achieve the same level of road safety as Japan, 28,000 lives would be saved per year.

 

Read Full Post »

The aparkment building

The good news is that more infill development is going up near BART. The bad news: it is extremely auto-centric:

Fremont has approved a plan to build 275 market-rate apartments on a vacant plot at the corner of Walnut Avenue and Liberty Street, a move meant to boost the city’s longtime effort to develop the area into a bustling downtown.

The apartment complex at 3515 Walnut Ave. will feature 2,245 square feet of ground floor retail and a six-story parking garage, according to a city staff report.

The Los Gatos arm of national developer Fore Property Co. is behind the project, which will include 59 studios, 125 one-bedroom units and 91 two-bedroom units ranging in size from 556 to 1,429 square-feet, wrapped around the parking garage on a 2.84-acre lot.

A 6-story parking garage for just 275 housing units. If you are wondering what that looks like, it will be similar to this ‘aparkment’ next door:

Garage parking spaces require 160-200 sq-ft. Those 556 sq-ft studios could have been designed as 700+ sq-ft one-bedrooms — if not for the mandated parking. Here is the surrounding neighborhood, which hardly lacks parking:

 

Read Full Post »