"Sustainability requires maintaining life-supporting natural capital in order for our socioeconomic goals to be met"
This Week's Items of Interest
September 2, 2015
People - Caltrans ITSP Completed

Interregional Transportation Strategic Plan 

The Final 2015 Interregional Transportation Strategic Plan (ITSP) has been completed and submitted to the California Transportation Commission for approval.  The 2015 ITSP is the interregional statewide modal plan that implements the policies of the California Transportation Plan 2040.  It is a Caltrans planning document that provides guidance for the identification and prioritization of interregional transportation projects identified on the State's Interregional Transportation System.

People - Mode Share - Webcast

PLANNING FOR THE 21st CENTURY - EMERGING TRENDS

Learn about what can be done to make bicycling
and walking a more viable transport
option. Topics will include: biking and walking
trends across California; safety and security
considerations and management strategies;
and road-user perspectives. The roles
that master plans can play to support walking
and bicycling will be discussed.

WHEN: September 28, 2015; 1:00pm - 3:00pm
LOCATION: 1120 N Street, Caltrans Boardroom, Sacramento CA 95814


Please submit questions to ucconnect@berkeley.edu before or during the presentation.
People - Mode Share - Workshop

This event will highlight best practices from across the nation and promote a dialogue and action among local elected officials; local, regional and state transportation planners, local land use planners, public works staff, active transportation advocates, public health professionals, businesses representatives and other community leaders.

Keynote Speakers: Malcolm Dougherty, Director of the California Department of Transportation; Mike McKeever, CEO of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments; Vice Mayor David Sander of the City of Rancho Cordova; Michael Heller with Heller Pacific, Inc.; City of Sacramento Councilmember Steve Hansen; and Charles Gandy, President of Livable Communities Incorporated. 

(Check-in & Continental Breakfast 7:30-8:30 AM)

People - Mode Share - Innovation

A trio of state department heads on Tuesday announced a set of contests in which Californians can win up to $25,000 for ideas to improve transportation and sustainable government practices, and help prevent underage drinking. They were joined at the State Capitol by the Los Angeles lawmaker who wrote the bill creating the innovation contests.

People - Mode Share - Smartphone APP
A new smartphone app that tracks and scores your driving behaviour was released today in an advancement that will see insurance companies reward better drivers with cheaper quotes.
Octo U, which can be downloaded for free on iOS and Android smartphones, collects and stores telematics data based on users' driving behaviour - and scores them out of ten.
 
 Read More 
People - Mode Share - Bicyclists

A simple change in the wording of a traffic sign - from "Share the Road" to "Bicycles May Use Full Lane" - could help clarify the rules of the road for bicyclists and motorists, according to an NC State University study.

The study found that survey takers who saw a "Bicycle May Use Full Lane" sign were more likely to respond in ways that recognized bicyclists' right to use the road than those who saw no sign.

Planet - Livability

Safe Cities Index 2015 

T he Safe Cities Index 2015 is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by NEC. The report is based on an index composed of more than 40 quantitative and qualitative indicators. These indicators are split across four thematic categories: digital security; health security; infrastructure safety; and personal safety. Every city in the Index is scored across these four categories.


Planet - Mobility 21 Conference

More Than 1,000 Convene for Mobility 21 Summit to Define Transportation's Role in a More Competitive California

Infrastructure experts joined forces August 28 to seek strategies for a more competitive California by reducing congestion, improving safety and planning for our future. More than 1,000 transportation, business and elected leaders convened at the Disneyland Hotel for the 14th annual Mobility 21 Southern California Transportation Summit, which is the largest one-day transportation event in the state.

Planet - Resiliency

Sustainable Development: Build resilient infrastructure

Infrastructure is the foundation of modern-day civilization. We ultimately rely upon infrastructure to provide us with access to the resources needed to exist at this scale and density on our planet. Yet there exists a stark funding gap  -  there is currently a $1 trillion global shortfall on basic infrastructure investment worldwide as compared to what's needed.

 
Planet - Energy - Batteries

Quiz: What You Don't Know About Batteries

You know how often you need to charge your smartphone, but how much do you really know about the batteries we rely on for energy storage?

Planet - Water

Company aims to ship fresh water from Alaska to drought-plagued California

An Alaska company is planning to be the first to ship massive amounts of fresh water to drought-plagued California, potentially as much as 10 million gallons a month.

"We are prepared to deliver bulk water now, and we are currently working with customers who hope to be able to take delivery by the end of the year," Alaska Bulk Water CEO Terry Trapp said in an email.

 
Planet - Energy - Oil


California is already on the path to lower oil use
California has already started a transition away from oil, and all of its associated economic, environmental, and public health problems. The strategies that are making this possible - better  vehicle efficiency,  advanced low-carbon fuels, and smarter transportation and land-use planning - have contributed to a decline in petroleum use.
Prosperity - Freight 


The prosaic rail freight wagon rarely features in the pages of Rail Engineer. With so many stories about all aspects of railway engineering, this is perhaps not surprising. But rail freight is important. It accounts for 11% of UK rail train revenue and has the potential to take goods off the roads, to save fuel and CO2 emissions.

Yet, in Europe, rail freight has stagnated and accounts for only 10% of freight transport. This concerns the European Commission (EC) which has an objective that 30% of road freight movements over 300km should shift to other modes by 2030.

Prosperity - Aviation

Sustainable, green aviation and the pursuit of fuel alternatives

Sustainability in the aviation industry is a topic that has recently come up. B oth biofuels and electric aircraft are being developed  to try and solve some of the problems caused by a growing need to solve both energy security and environmental risks faced in America and abroad.

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