Headline News
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An investigation findss apparent conflicts of interest involving some of the experts asked to conduct a technical review of thetower foundation for the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge....Democratic Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, chairman of the Transportation and Housing Committee, says he is 'distressed' to learn about the ties between the new panelists, the agency and Bay Bridge contractors.
AP/Oakland Tribune -
California's bullet train agency is facing a series of new regulatory and political problems that could jeopardize its July construction kickoff, which already has been delayed more than six months. The new challenges are coming from a private railroad that controls a key right of way, a legislative committee delving into contracting issues and a powerful federal agency asserting authority over the project.
LA Times -
A six-passenger spaceship owned by an offshoot of Virgin Group fired its rocket engine in flight for the first time on Monday, a key step toward the start of commercial service in about a year, Virgin owner Richard Branson said. The powered test flight over California's Mojave Desert lasted 16 seconds and broke the sound barrier.
Reuters -
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have developed a unique integrated motor drive and battery charger for electric vehicles. Compared to today's electric vehicle chargers, they have managed to shorten the charging time from eight to two hours, and to reduce the cost by around $2,000.
Science Daily -
U.S. power company NRG Energy Inc said a technology it developed with the University of Delaware has sold power from electric vehicles to the power grid for the first time. The University and NRG said in a statement that they began work on the so-called eV2g program in September 2011 to provide a two-way interface between electric vehicles and the power grid that enables vehicle owners to sell electricity back to the grid while they are charging their cars.
Reuters -
Industrialized nations' greenhouse gas emissions dipped 0.7 percent in 2011, helped by a U.S. shift from high-polluting coal in power plants and by Europe's economic slowdown, data compiled by Reuters showed... (F)igures based on submissions by 42 industrialized nations this month used to judge compliance with U.N treaties underscore how continued worldwide growth in emissions is increasingly led by China and other emerging economies.
Reuters -
Another study has found a connection between childhood asthma rates and traffic pollution. The latest study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, looked at asthma levels in 10 European cities and found that people living near high-traffic roads accounted for 14 percent of all asthma cases.
Fresno Bee -
...There were so many options for getting from Point A to Point B, I was often paralyzed before I stepped out the door. Do I use a car-share or a ride-share? Should I order a cab, a pedicab, or a sedan? Car2Go or Zipcar? How about a scooter or a bike-share? What about plain-old public transportation? By the time I've checked the dozen apps on my phone, compared prices, wait times, and travel times, I probably could have made it to my destination by walking. It took my wife and I (sic) over an hour to weigh all the different options of getting her to the airport. (We eventually decided on a Zipcar.)
Atlantic Cities -
Since our partners at the New Cities Foundation first announced the 2013 AppMyCity! prize, they've received close to 100 qualified applications from developers all over the world. Today they've announced the list of ten semi-finalists still in the running, who hail from six countries and five continents.
Atlantic Cities -
President Obama on Monday nominated Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx (D) as his next transportation secretary, underscoring Obama’s desire both to increase diversity in his Cabinet and increase public investment in roads, bridges and other projects...“When Anthony became mayor in 2009, Charlotte, like the rest of the country, was going through a bruising economic crisis. But the city has managed to turn things around,” Obama said. “The economy is growing. There are more jobs, more opportunity. And if you ask Anthony how that happened, he’ll tell you that one of the reasons is that Charlotte made one of the largest investments in transportation in the city’s history.”
Washington Post