|
This Week's Items of Interest
September 9, 2015
|
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.
Sheraton Grand, Hotel Sacramento 1230 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
(Check-in & Continental Breakfast 7:30-8:30 AM)
|
|
|
|
People - Mode Share - Mass Trans
Proterra Catalyst Bus Travels 258 Miles on a Single Charge
Proterra
announced Sept. 4 that the company's 40-foot Catalyst XR bus drove 258 miles on a single charge under test conditions at Michelin's esteemed Laurens Proving Grounds (LPG).
According to available General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data, typical urban and rural bus routes in the U.S. run less than 200 miles a day, bringing most routes within reach of Proterra's current technology.
|
|
People - Mode Share - Bike
From Amsterdam to Beijing: The Global Evolution of Bike Share
In 1965, Amsterdam implemented what is now considered the first bike share system in history. Known as Witte Fietsen ("White Bikes" in English), the program collected bicycles, painted them white, and simply placed them on the streets for public use.
It was only in the 2000s, and particularly within the last decade, that bike share would catch on. The transport mode grew from just 13 in 2004 to 855 in 2014-an increase of 6,477 percent. Today, the number of bicycles available through sharing programs is estimated at 946,000 bikes, most of which (750,000) are in China.
|
|
People - Mode Share - High Speed Rail
Dr. Alasdair Rae recently mapped the commuter flows throughout the Bay Area and found it was a hotbed of long-distance commuters, no surprise given this size. While driving is all well and good for some commuting, the resulting traffic means freeways are ineffective at moving large numbers of people long distances at rush hour. Moderate to high-speed rail is the only solution that can provide a reliable and fast commute to stitch the region into a unified whole.
|
|
People - Mode Share - Smartphone APP
EV Charge Hub - Electric vehicle & Tesla car charging station locations map
Search & find nearest public electric car charger (EV plug, Tesla Supercharger, CHAdeMO, SAE combo DC fast), plan your trip & get driving directions to charge your EV!
|
|
People - Mode Share - Non-Auto
In his new book, "
Ways to the West: How Getting Out of Our Cars Is Reclaiming America's Frontier", urban planner Tim Sullivan undertakes a trip of the West via alternative transportation.
"The West has always been about mobility, adventure and freedom," Sullivan said. "But we've got to find a way to do those things together."
From American's dependence on the automobile to cities that are leading the way in self-sufficiency and sustainability, Sullivan analyzes the different aspects and uses his professional expertise to suggest ways to adapt to a changing environment.
|
|
Planet - Livability - Air
Big Data Company Tracks How Cities Live and Breathe
"Quality of life and human health don't get the attention they deserve in the conversation around sustainability and the environment," says Davida Herzl, Aclima's
CEO
and co-founder of the environmental sensor firm, "especially for being such a central part of who we are. We need a more integrated view of the two if we're going to thrive as a species on this planet."
|
|
Planet - Mobility - Quiz
Can We Green Our Transportation? Take the Quiz!
Whether it's being able to hop on your bike, stroll to the store, or take a subway or bus to work, there are many different versions of green transportation. There are even ways to make our existing transportation infrastructure more eco-friendly. Take our quiz and learn about different ways to get around that are easy on the planet.
|
|
|
|
Planet - Resiliency - Conference
First International Conference on Surface Transportation System Resilience to Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events
The conference will provide transportation professionals with information on emerging best practices and state of the art research results on how to adapt surface transportation networks to the potential impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. The conference will examine cost-effective and resilient decision making by State DOTs, MPOs, transit and other transportation agencies in planning and programming, capital improvements, and maintenance and operations.
September 16-18, 2015
|
|
Planet - Water
Bottled Water Costs Consumers and the Environment
Many water bottle companies maintain an image of "straight from the source," "natural," and "organic" water quality. Quite to the contrary, recent Consumer Report studies have shown that up to 49% of U.S. bottled water is just purified tap water.
Playing into the problem is the notion that, as long as water bottles are recycled after they are consumed, the environment goes unaffected. The truth is, even if 100 percent of water bottles were recovered, massive resources would still be required to collect, transport, process and manufacture recycled materials - burning up natural resources and emitting greenhouse gases.
|
 |
When the
Roadmap to Shared Prosperity was released earlier this year, the Summit network of business, environmental, and nonprofit leaders hailed the five-year plan as a way to
"amplify their collective impact"and focus state economic policy on the triple bottom line-promoting ideas that simultaneously advance economic growth, environmental quality, and increase opportunity for all.
The Roadmap outlines a broad agenda, and by necessity. From lingering poverty to the specter of climate change, the Summit's prosperity strategy not only reflects the priorities of the state's diverse regions, it also acknowledges that taking on any of California's biggest challenges requires taking on all of them at the same time.
|
|
Prosperity - Population Shift
Roughly 5 million people left California in the last decade. See where they went.
An unprecedented number of Californians left for other states during the last decade, according to new tax return data from the Internal Revenue Service.
About 5 million Californians left between 2004 and 2013. Roughly 3.9 million people came here from other states during that period, for a net population loss of more than 1 million people.
The trend resulted in a net loss of about $26 billion in annual income.
|
|
