Various Traffic News Items

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Seen on the headstone of an atheist:
"Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go".

Traffic News

ULTra builds track in Cardiff

ULTra in United Kingdom reported in August 2000 that they have:

Completed a prototype vehicle, thanks to a grant from the UK DTI (Dept of Trade and Industry) under their Foresight Vehicle Program
Received a major contract for design manufacture and test of the full prototype system under the Innovative Transport Program of the UK DETR (Dept of Environment Transport and Regions).

ULTra has since then built a pilot track in Cardiff, Wales. Cardiff has been funding detail studies about the use of ULTra as a core element of their future transport strategy.

APM and AESOP Conferences

The APM conferences were started by ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) in 1985. They have served as major professional focal points of APM interests.

The 8:th APM conference (APM01) was held in San Francisco, USA in July 2001. The full set of papers that were presented can be obtained, on a searchable CD, from ASCE.

The 9:th ASCE APM conference (APM03) was held at Singapore, September 2-5, 2003. Contact ASCE for the papers.

Association of European Schools of Planning

An AESOP-conference is being planned for July 1-4, 2004, at Grenoble, France. It is organized by Grenoble University.

The 10:th ASCE APM conference (APM05) will take place in Orlando, Florida in 2005. Contact Lawrence Fabian for further particulars.
You can also visit "Conferences, Advocacy Organizations, Newsletters".

List of Technology Evaluation Criteria

A listing of alternative technology evaluation criteria developed by the Elevated Transportation Company in Seattle (and by Craig Norsen) can be found at: Innovative Transportation Technologies, where it was posted in September, 2001. These criteria are very good for dealing with emerging, innovative transit technologies.

Pilot project with PRT - Some critical issues.

In December 1998, the Office of Regional Planning and Urban Transportation, Stockholm County Council, Sweden, produced a report about the feasibility of a PRT-system in the Stockholm area.

Standardized Interfaces for APM

Standards for APM have been developed by a committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers, under the chairmanship of Tom McGean. These standards concern the interfaces between the ingoing parts in a APM-system. The standards are consensual, and should have a major impact on all future automated people-mover systems for public use in the USA. Two publications are available from ASCE with more to come. Ordering information is available at the ASCE web site.

Roadbuilding increases congestion!

US Government's Bureau of Transportation Statistics have a page that summarizes the reports of a meeting on traffic congestion. The texts examine how road-building actually increases traffic congestion, and there is a huge amount of relevant material on the site in the hundred or so other sections, almost all of it supporting bicycling and alternative transportation modalities and exposing the ineffectiveness of current transportation practices.

Not nearly enough roads!

According to Los Angeles Times, there is a drive to ban smoking while driving in Poland. Mentioned incidentally in the article is the growing congestion afflicting Polish cities and the Polish government's estimate that "1,600 miles of new roads" are needed since congestion already exceeds the projections for the year 2010!

Report on Innovative Transit Systems

Doctor of Technology Ingmar Andreasson at the Center of Logistics at Chalmer's Institute of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden has produced a report on "Innovative Transit Systems".

This report, from March 2001, is available for downloading as a 3 MB PDF-file. The report is a knowledge survey of 8 present innovative transport systems for automatic transport of people and goods, aiming at highlighting ideas and solutions.

EU Summit agrees on 62 billion euro investment plan

In short:
The European Council on 12 December agreed to back the Commission's initiative for a 'European Action for Growth' by funding 56 priority transport and research projects.

Background:
EU leaders have given their backing to a three-year 62 billion euro investment plan. The decision, taken on 12 December 2003, was based on the Commissions 'European Action for Growth' proposal which aims to boost the EU's sluggish economies (see EurActiv 12 November 2003). The funding will go to priority projects in the area of trans-European network infrastructure (TENs) including transport, telecommunications and energy, and innovation and R&D. The money will come from a combination of EU and national budgets, as well as loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the private sector. The Ecofin Council had on 25 November agreed that the EU funding ceiling should increase from 10 to a maximum of 20 per cent (see EurActiv 27 November 2003). The Commission had suggested a 'Quick Start' programme of 56 projects, which are ready to start immediately, have a strong cross-border impact and are expected to yield positive results in terms of growth, jobs and protection of the environment.

The priority projects are to include rail tunnels through the Alps, high-speed railways, cross-border gas and electricity interconnectors and innovative research projects for hydrogen and laser technologies. However, the Commission said that its list was not exhaustive and that more projects could be added.

Call for Presentations
Satellite Event of AC21 International Forum 22 July 2004

We invite you to submit a proposal for a presentation to "Sustainable Transport in Sustainable Cities", a forum being held on 22 July 2004.

The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering located within the Engineering Faculty at Sydney University is organising a satellite forum for the AC21 International Forum, which is taking place in Sydney in July 2004. It is anticipated that this event will be a full day of presentations and panel sessions involving Australia's best Academic and Industry Speakers plus international academics. The Warren Centre initiated and hosted the project and subsequent report "Sustainable Transport in Sustainable Cities" which was published in 2002.

The Academic Consortium 21 (AC21) was established on June 24, 2002 at the International Forum at Nagoya University, Japan, with the purpose of constructing an international network in order to encourage the further advancement of global co-operation to the benefit of higher education and to contribute to world and regional society. AC21 International Forums are held every two years.

Membership of AC21 is open to universities and research institutions that have signed an academic agreement with Nagoya University at inter-university level, as well as enterprises, regional and international organisations such as NPOs, NGOs, administrative organs, public institutions, etc.

Topics

Land Use and Transport Planning
Institutional Structure, Strategic Planning
New Transport Technologies
Financing Transport (Treat Money as a Resource Not Just Something to Spend) & Pricing.

Key Deadlines

Half Page Synopsis Deadline: 19 March 2004
Notification of Inclusion in Program: 16 April 2004
Electronic Copy of Paper to The Warren Centre: 8 July 2004
Presentation Slides/Video to The Warren Centre: 15 July 2004.

Contact

Fiona Hearne
Events Manager
The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering
Engineering Building J13
Sydney University NSW 2006.

News about MAIT

"Modular Automated Individual Transport", (MAIT) held a meeting in England on 6:th March 2001. Among the proposals were:

Joerg Schweizer proposed a comprehensive software package as PRT/AGV Development Platform. He outlined an architecture which has a kernel that controlled various simulation modules via standardised data and command protocols. He proposed that this development platform should be open source and that users should be encouraged to write there own modules and share them with other academic users.
More publicity for PRT/AGV generally. It has been felt that the critical mass of engineers/scientists and transport experts has not been reached. The organization of a PRT/AGV session at a transport-related conference has been proposed in order to improve this situation.
To investigate whether there is a sufficient need for a PRT/AGV development platform and if existing software can be used for parts of it.
Collaborative projects, for example to look at how specific PRT systems could be adapted to take MAIT cabins.
Make a funding R&D application in framework V for which the deadline is 16th June. The development of a fail-safe one-second headway control system would be an achievable goal. Alternatively there would be the SME scheme, if at least 3 small and medium-size companies from at least two different EU (or associated) countries would be interested.
A FIT (Future Integrated Transport) proposal will be submitted, involving MAIT and the Nottingham University School of the built environment, deadline in September. This would be a socio-economic case study for a PRT/AGV system for which MAIT simulation software would be used.

Monorail Engineer: Seattle Monorail Project Design Flawed

By Rick Anderson on the Seattle Weekly, May 2004.
The engineering firm of "Magnusson Klemencic Associates" of Seattle has resigned from one of the Seattle Monorail Project’s construction teams and has scheduled a news conference for Thursday, May 20, 2004, to detail what it calls “serious flaws” in the monorail’s design that could prevent it from ever being built.
The firm, formerly Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire, whose work includes the New York World Trade Center, said in a press release that its “motivation is simple, from an engineering standpoint: The monorail project is in danger of becoming our generation’s Alaskan Way Viaduct; one that will have to be torn down by our children.”
Magnusson Klemencic Associates cites “at lease four major `big picture’ design flaws in the current SMP proposal,” adding that “over the past year, MKA has become increasingly concerned about the project and its shortcomings,” which the firm said it would explain at the news conference.
The firm was a member of Team Monorail, one of two teams that are to bid on the project next month. Team Monorail, led by Bombardier Transit Corp. The other, Cascadia, is headed by Hitachi.
Magnusson Klemencic Associates wouldn’t be the first partner to bow out. Recently, builders Peter Kiewit Sons and Granite Construction also quit Bombardier’s team as major contractors. But the engineering firm would be the first to publicly criticize the project plan, and at a crucial time. Both Cascadia and Team Monorail are expected to submit bids by June 15 to build the 13.7-mile Green Line from Crown Hill north of Ballard, through downtown, to West Seattle.
Magnusson Klemencic Associates spokeswoman Julie Jackson said: “It certainly will survive. But we did what we did because of personal convictions.” She said Jon Magnusson, the firm’s chairman, will present maps, pictures, and models at the media session to explain the monorail plan deficiencies.
On another front of bad publicity, Monorail Recall, an organization hoping to kill the project narrowly approved by voters in 2002, got a petition drive off to a heady launch last week in hopes of putting the monorail before the voters again.
Organizers claim they delivered 500 petitions to a dozen locations for distribution; within a few hours, 1,500 more had to be printed.
Does this worry proponents of the $1.6 billion project, on the eve of the construction bids? Some Seattle Monorail Project officials think the petition’s aim, to disallow use of city rights of way, might be legally flawed. But pro-monorailers who chat on Yahoo.com see progress slipping away. Wrote one: “We are at risk of losing the monorail project that we worked so hard to build.” Monorail officials are “doing a piss poor job of educating people. Rise Above It All is doing nothing. Friends of the Monorail are doing nothing. The City Council and the mayor certainly aren’t helping much.”
Meanwhile, “Henry Aronson and "On Track" are up to the same-old shenanigans that they were back during the election. Tim Wulf and MonorailRecall.com just use outright lies and scare tactics to win people over. They only need 18,000 signatures on this petition. They may just get that in the anti-monorail areas of the city pretty easily. Then we really will have a political (and legal) fight on our hands.”

News clips and info

Larry Fabian is a wellknown expert in the field of automated peoplemovers. He regularly publishes up-to-date information about what goes on in this field.

Trans.21 is an independent clearinghouse of planning information on automated peoplemovers. It operates on the principle that appropriate technology and sound public policies can create better urban centers and benefit all humankind.

Trans.21 provides objective, up-to-date information of high professional quality through our publications, databases, graphics, lectures and workshops.

The off-the-shelf products are:

TransitPulse - bimonthly mailed newsletter
TP Plus - biweekly faxed news
Planner's Guide to APMs -- 112-page resourcebook
Smart Airport Links -- a survey of airport plans
2001 APM Datapack - with info from the Fall of 2000.
Table of active APM projects (fall of 2000).
Research & Development in Advanced Transit 74-page report of PRT.

In addition, Larry Fabian has a fairly extensive collection of photos, videos and other graphics. He also delivers lectures, organize seminars, and conduct workshops. If a brief research task can be defined, he will prepare reports under short-term contracts.

For full news, call +1 617 825 2318.

Snailpost: P.O. Box 249, Fields Corner Stn, Boston MA 02122, USA

For more up-to-date news in this field, check out Monorail News and
Innovative Transportation Technologies.
Feel free to copy or quote this page.
Last Updated: 2007-01-17
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