Kate Hinds

Tesla's IPO takes off; the company is the first American automotive manufacturer to go public since Ford.  It's electric! (New York Times)

Paris mayor wants to close or slow some expressways on the Seine.   (New York Times)

Ice cream trucks grow up:  gourmet purveyors are on the rise on New York's streets.  Can I get a scoop of salted caramel, please?  (WNYC)

JFK's longest runway reopens; repaving cost $348 million and took four months.   Next on the airport's construction wish list: a satellite-based air traffic control system.   (Business Week)

Chicago takes tentative steps towards a bike sharing program  (Streetsblog).  Meanwhile, is there an upside to Detroit's population drain?  Wide open, empty streets are a "bicyclist's paradise."

Yellow light, shades of gray: new research decodes how drivers decide to speed up or slow down.  (Washington Post)

Virginia legislators to enjoy a "real commuting experience" today when they ride the Metro's Orange Line during rush hours  (WAMU).  Meanwhile, Alexandria raises the cost of its parking meters -- and considers eliminating free parking for the disabled.  New policy is called "All May Park, All Must Pay."

Nature--and New Yorkers--abhor a vacuum.  Today's Brian Lehrer Show talks about the private vans cropping up to replace subway and bus cuts.

One of the main reasons WNYC decided to monitor the renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge is that we thought following this $508-million project would provide a good test case for governm...

Guilty plea expected in JFK Airport bomb plot case (New York Times).

The Guardian asks:  If the BP oil spill causes Americans to reconsider driving, how will they do that when many states are slashing public transportation? (The Guardian)

Shuttering two subway lines wasn't enough: New York's MTA plans to sell $600 million in bonds to close $800 million spending gap. (Business Week)

And in Atlanta, the MARTA board votes to kill 40 bus lines, 29 station bathrooms, and shuttles to Braves games. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Kalamazoo ponders why bus ridership is down for the 5th consecutive month. (Grand Rapids Press)

Oh, if only: one Berlin subway station (helped by Volkswagen) offered its commuters a choice: walk down a flight of stairs -- or slide down. (The Infrastructurist, video)

Once hot, now not: the last Chrysler PT Cruiser will roll off the line in July. (Detroit Free Press)

Domestic planes are now prohibited from languishing on runways. So when a Virgin Atlantic flight recently sat for four hours on the tarmac--without working air conditioning--it wasn't breaking any rules. Legislation including foreign carriers is in the works. (New York Times)

A new advisory committee aims to help the Federal Transit Administration in developing national safety standards for rail. The movement to "federalize safety oversight of rail transit" was spurred by last year's DC Metro crash. (Washington Post)

But how much to tie up to the hitching post? Plans for free shuttles and parking at Kentucky's upcoming World Equestrian Games have been ditched. Now parking will be at least $20 a car--and could be as much as $100. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

A bike-pedestrian option for NH's Memorial Bridge is looking less likely; equally unlikely is the bridge's replacement with a bus transit system. What looks likely: car traffic. (Portsmouth Herald)

Goodbye, X13: Staten Islanders gird themselves for a commute with less express bus service and more confusion. (Staten Island Advance)

Paris tried bike sharing. Now, the city is aiming to start a similar program of a more four-wheeled kind. Bienvenue, electric car sharing! (New York Times)

First, they came for the FDR Drive: The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy's exhibition, Our Cities, Ourselves, opens today in New York. But will the Highline play in Guangzhou? (WNYC)

Denver passes new zoning rules; first overhaul since 1956  (Denver Post)

Judge blocks moratorium on deep water drilling; Obama administration to appeal (The Takeaway)

The Maryland Transit Administration apologizes to passengers stranded on sweltering train, opens probe (WAMU)

Massachusetts lawmakers agree to ban texting while driving (Boston Globe)

Jump-starting new technology: car companies form partnerships to deal with high costs of new energy technology (Detroit News)

The US Department of Transportation backs off from plan to ban peanuts on airlines; Georgia's peanut industry exhales (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

LA subway got 50% bump in ridership from Lakers parade yesterday.  (LA Daily News)

Mmmm! Only 50% of New York's subway cars are rated clean. Just so you know, "clean" means "light dirt." (WNYC)

Meanwhile, across the river, New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund will run out of money in a year. (Star Ledger)

Arizona will reopen 5 rest areas shut during budget cuts. Drivers rejoice, begin ingesting fluids again. (Arizona Daily Star)

They didn't pave paradise: Forty years later, one MN wetland is still roadless. (Minnesota Public Radio)

Wilmington, NC, is experiencing a bicycle infrastructure boom. No mean feat during a recession. (Star News)

England to sell its first high-speed rail line to raise money. (BBC)

If you buy food from street vendors, you may have noticed a lot more food trucks on the streets. New York City Councilmember Jessica Lappin has -- and now she wants truck operators who get multiple parking tickets to lose their permits.

Lappin, who represents the ...

How do you translate "rumble strip?" Colorado nonprofit teaches English-language road skills to refugees. (Greeley Tribune)

Prepare for takeoff: Spirit Airlines, pilots reach agreement, flights to start tomorrow. (Miami Herald)

If you teach them, they will share the road: Boise police try education, not ticket writing, in an effort to make roads safer for cyclists. (Idaho Statesman)

Light rail versus bus rapid transit: it's a wedge issue in Maryland's gubernatorial race. (Baltimore Sun)

The 2010 census could cost Green Bay Metro roughly $1 million in federal funding . Which doesn't sound like a lot -- except the transit agency's total annual budget is $8 million. (Green Bay Press Gazette)

And how will you be celebrating the fifth annual "Dump the Pump" day? Advocates hope you'll do it on public transit.

Cast your mind back to when Oakland's Madison Square Park was a thriving neighborhood. And then BART came. (KALW)

Yes, you too can solve transportation problems: Slate asks its readers to help create Nimble Cities. (Slate)

Rats! Lower Manhattan subway lines are infested! (WNYC)

Hartford considers repealing skateboard ban -- and maybe even establishing an official skate park. (Hartford Courant)

President Obama, in his first use of the Oval Office to speak to the nation, calls for a new energy policy (New York Times). Meanwhile, new government estimates say BP's blown well in the Gulf of Mexico may be spitting out 60,000 barrels of oil every day. (NPR)

Upturn in the economy, downturn in supplies: road crews grapple with nationwide paint shortage. (WAMU)

Can't we all just get along?  "To say we all can't fit on the road together is ridiculous," says one recently ticketed Black Hawk bicyclist.  (Denver Post)

Rethinking Wichita: city unveils 20-year master plan, idea is to park once and be able to get from one end to the other on transit. (Wichita Eagle)

What's keeping the Cleveland transit authority solvent? Parking lots in suburban areas--and bus bicycle racks. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

You know what would improve your daily commute? A view. Bring on the gondolas! (Transport Politic)

Senator Boxer: LA must build 30 years worth of transit in ten years. (Huffington Post)

Alabamans wonder: would boycotting local BP stations hurt the oil company--or local mom-and-pop stores? (Anniston Star)

Um, remember how World Cup organizers weren't worried about transportation? Scratch that. (Sport 24, South Africa) But will drivers stuck in traffic jams honk vuvuzelas?

For the fourth time in a year, a hole appears on a Tulsa bridge. Officials say the deck is in fair condition -- but the structure itself is "functionally obsolete." Drivers try not to think of Swiss cheese while crossing it. (Tulsa World)

Feed New Yorkers, not the meters? NYC Council mulling over a bill to get food trucks to stop idling and refilling parking meters. (NY Post)

Who says Americans don't have long memories?  Gas prices are holding steady -- so sales of SUVs are up.  (The Takeaway)

Full-body scans about to become routine at BWI Airport.  (WAMU)

Who should finance transportation: Washington, or local states?  Making the case for a "General Fund."  (The Transport Politic)

Back to square one for the Circle plan:  Indianapolis backs off plan to close iconic central plaza to traffic.  (Indianapolis Star)

Twin Cities community groups get money to study health impacts of light-rail line. (MPR)

Army Corps of Engineers says no to new toll booth in Maine; praises local opposition to toll plaza. (Portsmouth Herald)

Everything old is new again: Texas rep wants to restore--and use--35-year old streetcars. (El Paso Times)

Montana to provide free bus rides today to encourage primary voting.  (Great Falls Tribune).

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) From 1996 to 2001, the New York City Department of Transportation employed about 40 bridge painters; none were female.  In 2007, the United States District Attorney filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city, stating that "the DOT has never hired, extended an offer to hire, or employed a single woman as a Bridge Painter."  In May a Manhattan federal judge found that the City of New York and the Department of Transportation were guilty of, in the judge’s words, “unvarnished sex discrimination...the net result was to exclude qualified and impressive women from pursuing the careers they desired with the City of New York.”  The city says it disagrees with the judge's opinion, it continues to oppose his view.

At issue now is whether four of the women named as plaintiffs will receive back pay; whether three of them will be offered positions as city bridge painters (one woman has said she would not accept it if offered), and what the new procedures governing the hiring of bridge painters should be. The court held a conference on June 1st to discuss these issues.  While no decisions were made and further discussion was scheduled for June 18th, the city contended that the women should not now be appointed to the positions they sought because they haven’t been employed as bridge painters for five of the last ten years.  A rough transcript of the June 1st conference is below.

You can read the judge's decision here.  (PDF)

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6/1/2010 conference at US District Court, Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, part 11D

From 1996 to 2001, the New York City Department of Transportation employed about 40 bridge painters; none were female.  In 2007, the United States District Attorney filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city, stating that "the DOT has never hired, extended an offer to hire, or employed a single woman as a Bridge Painter."  In May a Manhattan federal judge found that the City of New York and the Department of Transportation were guilty of, in the judge’s words, “unvarnished sex discrimination...the net result was to exclude qualified and impressive women from pursuing the careers they desired with the City of New York.” 

(Kate Hinds, WNYC) Earlier this week we wrote about Brooklyn Bridge contractor Skanska and how, at one point in the bidding process, their bid did not meet the city’s 14% disadvantaged business enterprise goal. The city expressed concern—but wound up awarding them the contract anyway.

Yesterday we got to ask NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan about the number of minority and women-owned businesses being employed on the job as subcontractors. You can listen to it here and read the transcript below.

Reporter: How is DBE compliance going to be made public?

JSK: I believe that it will be included on the tracking information that’s out there.

Reporter: It’s not now. (Crosstalk)

Earlier this week we wrote about Brooklyn Bridge contractor Skanska and how, at one point in the bidding process, their bid did not meet the city’s 14% disadvantaged business enterprise goal. The city expressed concern—but wound up awarding them the contract anyway.

 

VP Biden visits Brooklyn Bridge rehab, touts job creation--but good luck putting a number to it.  (WNYC)

Ridership on CalTrain, the San Francisco-area's commuter rail, is at an all-time high.  So it must be a good time for a budget cut, right?   (The Takeaway)

Get ready for your closeup: Bradley International Airport prepares to deploy new  "passive millimeter wave technology" to screen passengers.  (Hartford Courant)

Georgia governor signs legislation that could create massive transportation change in that state.  But a lot can happen between now and 2012, when the law goes into effect. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Ohio police don't need to rely solely on radar guns:  State's Supreme Court rules that "visual estimate" of speed is enough to make a speeding ticket stick.  (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Just don't talk while you're pedaling: Nokia unveils bicycle-powered cell phone charger. (CNET)

Cosmonauts locked inside ship for 520-day Mars mission--in a warehouse in a Moscow suburb.  (BBC)

Vice President Joe Biden is gifted the Brooklyn Bridge (Kate Hinds/WNYC)

(Kate Hinds, WNYC) Wednesday's official groundbreaking of the Brooklyn Bridge rehab brought out some big political names--Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Congressman Jerrold Nadler. What it did not bring was clarity on the job creation issue.

Because New York received federal stimulus dollars to complete the bridge work ($30 million of the $508 total comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with a $192 million in additional federal funding and $286 in the city’s own capital funds going to complete the work), the city must follow certain reporting guidelines, like the amount of money spent, the progress of the work and the expected number of jobs that the project will generate, although pinning down actual job creation numbers is notoriously difficult. (Last December, the Obama administration changed the job reporting requirement to evaluate “full-time equivalent” positions paid for out of stimulus funding--regardless of whether the job was newly created or existing.)

New York City’s stimulus website estimates that the Brooklyn Bridge rehab will create and/or retain 834 full-time equivalent positions--although New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said after the press conference that calculating the number was difficult. “There are all different ways to cut a job,” she said. “There’s the direct job number, then there’s the indirect job number--I think that’s 2,594 or something, it’s not an exact science.” Earlier in press conference, the vice president said that the federal stimulus dollars would create 150 jobs.

But as of March 31--the most recent stimulus reporting deadline--New York City’s own data said the bridge work had created 0.13 positions. Recovery.gov’s data registered zero jobs created, even though Skanska Koch, the contractor, officially began work in January. According to the commissioner, the .13 figure is outdated and a more accurate number will be reflected in the next reporting period, which ends June 30. “I think we have 44 people on-site right now, and we expect that number to grow as the project ramps up,” she said. WNYC was unable to find any public job postings for the Brooklyn Bridge work on either the New York State Department of Labor website or recovery.gov.

The commissioner added that the work on the bridge is “on schedule and on budget” despite its complexity--and the fact that it’s reported as being six months late on the city’s stimulus tracker. “This is not a typical infrastructure job in that this is the Brooklyn Bridge. This is a half-billion dollar project...this is not a project where you're stapling two pieces of paper together. This is a project where you are engaging a wide swath of the construction and engineering community,” she said.

But back to the Brooklyn Bridge and job creation. “Yes, these are jobs, these are real jobs,” Vice President Biden said. “But I want to point out--when people say well, this is because the economy’s in such trouble. What we’re doing here, what the mayor and the city and state are doing here on the Brooklyn Bridge--and what we’re doing on those other bridges across the country--they are worthwhile in and of themselves. (Even if) this economy were clipping along at an 8 percent growth rate and we had zero percent unemployment, this is a necessary, worthwhile investment.”

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Learn more about WNYC’s Brooklyn Bridge coverage--and to sign up to help the station watch the work here.

Wednesday's official groundbreaking of the Brooklyn Bridge rehab brought out some big political names--Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Congressman Jerrold Nadler.  What it did not bring was clarity on the job creation issue.

Vice President Biden comes to New York Wednesday to tout the success of the stimulus program. With Biden set to visit the Brooklyn Bridge, a project using $30 million in stimulus fund...