Driving is a Distraction Period - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

Driving is a Distraction Period - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com: FocusDriven.com: 'An estimated 1.4 million, 23% of motor vehicle crashes, involve drivers using cell phones.'
...The next stage of human civilization could include the development in the United States of an economy beyond oil and cars that goes beyond green and is able to return our nation to a position of real leadership in the world....

Stephen C. Rose

Cars and Classes - Death by Car

  Cars and Classes - Death by Car: "The ruling ideology, distinctly including its academic manifestation, holds that automobiles are freedom machines and social equalizers. Cars-first transportation “unites [Americans] across class, racial, ethnic, and religious lines as few other aspects of our society can,” alleges Rutgers University transportation engineer James A. Dunn.

Of course, this familiar incantation is about as counter-factual as you can possibly get."

Theodore Kheel, 96, labor mediator, dies - RailwayAge Magazine

Theodore Kheel, 96, labor mediator, dies - RailwayAge Magazine: "Longtime labor negotiator Theodore Kheel died Friday at age 96. Kheel was a well-known figure in New York City, even to the general public, for his roles in mediating labor conflicts and/or strikes by the newspaper, teaching, and subway unions throughout much of the latter half of the 20th century, gaining the trust of both labor and management.

In later years, Kheel became an advocate for free public transit within New York, and with the help of transit advocate Charles Koumanoff and others, and funded largely by Kheel himself, advanced a plan for congestion pricing in Manhattan which would fund such a measure. "

Christie Kills Hudson Train Tunnel - NYTimes.com

Christie Kills Hudson Train Tunnel - NYTimes.com: "The largest public transit project in the nation, a commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River to Manhattan, was halted on Thursday by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey because, he said, the state could not afford its share of the project’s rising cost."

Christie is right. Ambitious rail projects should not be superimposed on the current unsustainable autosprawl system. We should use those $billions to make local urban public transit fare-free. Then when we have reaped the tremendous savings from ending the auto mess, we can implement rail projects.

NJ governor puts a halt to major public transit project | Grist

Ambitious rail projects without bus and streetcar support make easy targets for fossil-fuel trolls. We need basic public transit first. Then rail. Fight for free buses.

NJ governor puts a halt to major public transit project | Grist: "ARC (it stands for 'Access to the Region's Core') had been in the works for 20 years and was slated to cost $8.7 billion, a pricetag that was to be split between the federal government, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the state of New Jersey. It would have created a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River -- doubling commuter rail capacity between New Jersey and New York, one of the most heavily traveled and economically vibrant corridors in the nation. It would also have created 6,000 jobs annually. (Here's some audio from the hopeful groundbreaking a year ago.)"

Texting not a problem where youth do not drive

Clive Thompson to Texters: Park the Car, Take the Bus | Magazine: "The answer, of course, is public transit. In many parts of the world where texting has become ingrained in daily life — like Japan and Europe — public transit is so plentiful that there hasn’t been a major texting-while-driving crisis. You don’t endanger anyone’s life while quietly tapping out messages during your train ride to work in Tokyo or Berlin.

Rich Ling, a sociologist who studies the culture of texting, grew up near Denver but now lives in Oslo with his family. He told me that Denmark has so many buses and streetcars that teenagers often don’t bother getting their driver’s license until later in life. “My daughter is 18, and she’s only sort of starting to think about driving,” he says. As a result, texting while driving “isn’t as big a deal.”"

Ridgewood Patch, NJ - New Free Shuttle Project for the Disabled, Seniors to Run From Ridgewood Train Station

Ridgewood Patch, NJ - New Shuttle Project for the Disabled, Seniors to Run From Ridgewood Train Station: "According to the McNerney, the project 'will provide an excellent source of free public transportation for employees and residents of the region linking it here to the Village of Ridgewood train station.'

Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R-39) of Montvale said the corporate sector in the Montvale office complex area have long talked about some way to get the traffic off the road while also bringing County residents to the area."

Global Warming and Heat Waves - National Wildlife Federation

Global Warming and Heat Waves - National Wildlife Federation: "More extremely hot summer days are projected for every part of the country, and 30 large cities are especially vulnerable, detailed in a new report from the National Wildlife Federation and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

'Global warming is bringing more frequent and severe heat waves and the result will be serious for vulnerable populations,' said Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist, National Wildlife Federation."

Global warming good for farming?

NASA - Drought Drives Decade-Long Decline in Plant Growth: "Earth has done an ecological about-face: Global plant productivity that once flourished under warming temperatures and a lengthened growing season is now on the decline, struck by the stress of drought.

NASA-funded researchers Maosheng Zhao and Steven Running, of the University of Montana in Missoula, discovered the global shift during an analysis of NASA satellite data. Compared with a six-percent increase spanning two earlier decades, the recent ten-year decline is slight -- just one percent. The shift, however, could impact food security, biofuels, and the global carbon cycle.

'We see this as a bit of a surprise, and potentially significant on a policy level because previous interpretations suggested that global warming might actually help plant growth around the world,' Running said."

Rowan, Rutgers study says N.J. is running out of open space, renews urban sprawl debate | NJ.com

Rowan, Rutgers study says N.J. is running out of open space, renews urban sprawl debate | NJ.com: "For the first time, New Jersey’s landscape is covered more by housing and shopping malls rather than forests, the real consequence of the 'two most sprawling decades' ever, a report being released today concludes."

4-H fair more accessible thanks to Cape May Fare Free Transportation

4-H fair kicks off July 15 | Cape May County Regional: "Public hours for the fair are noon to 9 p.m. each day. General admission to the fair is free, as is public parking and shuttle service to the 4-H fairgrounds, provided by Cape May County Fare Free Transportation."

Beloved coach and mentor killed in traffic

How many more loved ones have to die before we realize that there is another way?

Authorities say that Bob Barth, 59, of Winslow Township, a longtime high-school teacher who coached baseball and basketball for decades in South Jersey, was traveling north on Route 42 in Bellmawr, Camden County, around 6:30 a.m. when his Mercury Mariner struck an abandoned vehicle near the Creek Road exit.

New Jersey State Police said that Barth was ejected from the vehicle, which flipped over when he struck the car, and that he was not wearing a seatbelt.

He was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Cooper University Hospital. PhilaDailyNews

Planting seeds to fight high transit fares in NJ

My name is Emily, and I am an ordinary resident of New Jersey. NJ Transit is a big part of my life. I use it regularly to commute to work. My reasons for using mass transit are both on practical grounds (rather sit in the train than in my car) and philosophical grounds (good for the environment and the roads). Despite its shortcomings, NJ Transit is one of the things I really appreciate about life in New Jersey.

So when I learned about the proposed fare hikes on NJ Transit, I got angry. I already commit a big chunk of my paycheck for mass transit, and the thought of paying any more (especially in a single-income household) is just unbearable. So with the help of my tech savvy husband, we created the site http://stopnjtransitfarehike.org. Thanks to you all for taking part.

This morning on my way to work, I decided to hand out mini-flyers about the propsed fare hikes to fellow commuters. It was a very encouraging experience. About 9 out of 10 people accepted the flyer, and about 6 out of 10 even thanked me for it. Of course, I genuinely thanked them in return. Read more ...

Public transportation should be free - debate

Funding free transport for those people who commute for example would help to keep cities free of smog, and make them safer places to be. If you take for example the number of cars which travel towards the downtown area of major metropolitan areas on any given day with only one occupant, the wastage of fuel and the pollution this causes tells us that it is common sense to fight waste by investment in something worthwhile...Helium

Stop NJ Transit Fare Hike

Increasing fares is bad public policy that creates severe hardship for millions of people in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Fare hikes will raise already high costs of living for thousands of transit riders and discourage people from using mass transit altogether. Fare hikes are likely to congest our roads, pollute our environment, and make New Jersey a considerably less desirable place to live and work. stopnjtransitfarehike

Banks get bailed out -- NJ Transit riders get fare hikes and service cuts

 cbs

...More than 100 people packed a public hearing Thursday night and more waited downstairs, all protesting fare hikes and service cuts proposed to help cut a $300 million budget gap.
"Why make a bad situation worse by cutting train and bus service?" said John Pritchard of Plainfield. ... wcbstv