Public transit saves money in so many ways - Infrastructurist

With gas prices near $3.50 and rising, the American Public Transportation Association took the opportunity to calculate how much Americans can save by switching to public transportation. Based on fuel costs of March 4, 2011, those savings average out to $9,904 a year — or about $825 a month. The biggest potential gains await residents of these ten cities:

The Infrastructurist

Trenton Rally against Koch attack - #uncloakkoch

http://www.moveon.org/wearewi/

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.)"