Metro is previewing the new Model 7000 railcar, and it falls far short of our design concept (above). It’s a Kawasaki. Let the Good Times Roll!
Posts Tagged ‘mass transit’
Preview: New Metrorail Cars
October 8, 2012March 18th: International Bus Driver Appreciation Day
March 18, 2012
Today is International Bus Driver Appreciation Day but there’s no holiday website and the bus drivers’ union doesn’t mention it. The holiday is the idea of Seattle bus rider Hans Gerwitz. Why March 18th? On that date in 1662, city buses premiered in Paris (for the record: they flopped).
The iPod Society
October 28, 2011
Psychologist Dr Ana Tajadura-Jimenez and her University of London colleagues confirm what you commuters already know: a personal music player protects you in the a crowded bus or subway car.
Trains and Brains
May 19, 2011
The classic London Underground Map, created by Harry Beck in 1933, is the granddaddy of all those schematic maps that chart subway systems in a simplified manner, without regard to the true scale of distances between stations. These maps reduce complex systems to comprehensible basics, but a recent NYU study shows that users actually regard the maps as if they were drawn to scale, and act accordingly:
Busload
March 23, 2011
Was your bus ride a bit crowded this morning? It’s not the bus, it’s us. We’re … um, bigger. Heavier. Bus capacity is still measured using our old average weight, 150 lbs., and bus testers pretend we can still cram into 1.5 square feet of standing room. But why do so many bus seats seem to be single-occupancy these days?
The Federal Transit authority thinks the old standards compromise safety. FTA wants to test new buses using a 175-pounds-per-passenger measure and calculate standee area as 1.75 square feet. But don’t get too comfy. All those old buses will be on the road for some years yet. If you want more room, you’ll have to take it off your waistline.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
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Free Cars in DC?
September 22, 2010
Free Cars in DC? Of all the environmentally irresponsible, wasteful, profligate actions, at a time when so many people can’t even afford the gas to . . . .
Oh. Wait.
It’s Car Free Day in Metro DC. September 22, 2010. Everyone is biking, walking, skating, taking Metro rail and bus, and riding the Circulator. Skateboards? Scooters? That’s the spirit. Details here.
Sounds like a good time to join Capital Bikeshare.
And take the Car Free Pledge – it’s just for one day. Free poster from Commuter Connections.
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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
New Subway Map
January 27, 2010
At last, a truly comprehensive subway map that puts everything in perspective. It was created by Harvard’s Samuel Arbesman, who also blogs.
More about the map here. You can download a copy.
h/t: Daily Telegraph.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length. Please stand to the right on Metro escalators and mind the gap.
DC Car Free Day 22 September 2009
September 21, 2009
Break the car habit for one day.
Celebrate World Car Free Day on September 22nd. Commute on foot or by bike, bus or Metrorail. You can even go “Car-Lite” in a car pool.
Last year 5,445 residents of the Washington Metropolitan Area pledged to be car free for the day to improve air quality, save money, and reduce their carbon footprints. Take this year’s Car Free Pledge here.
Car Free Celebrations are scheduled for Tuesday, September 22nd in DC (7th & F Streets NW, 11am – 3pm) and elsewhere.
Learn more about Car Free Day Metro DC here.
Top image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Metro Motivates Commuter Courtesy
May 27, 2009
Observing that mass transit manners have become all too rare, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has launched a 21st century ettiquette initiative, using Second Life commuter clones on YouTube:
Affordable Healthcare and Food Policy
February 28, 2009
It is a truth universally acknowledged that food policy and healthcare are closely interrelated.
Currently, as a medical economy measure, we ourselves are treating swelling and bruising associated with a dislocated shoulder by using bags of frozen vegetables as cold compresses. We hope to maximize medical benefits by using the veggies in a pot of chicken soup (taken by mouth, twice daily) but have yet to find a recipe easily cooked while using just one arm.
Health consumer note: Safeway has two-pound bags of peas and corn kernels on sale, two for $4.
While good food clearly contributes to good health, the relationship between health and mass transit is more problematic. We dislocated that shoulder after slipping on those damn tiles in a DC Metrorail station.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
