Alex Goldmark

These planes have not been waiting three hours. (Photo (cc) by Flickr user CHAAANEL!)

The Department of Transportation has issued the first penalty to an airline for a long tarmac delay since implementing a three-hour rule for domestic flights 20 months ago. American Eagle Airlines has to pay $900,000 for 15 flights arriving in Chicago on May 29 that waited on the runway more than three hours. Though this is the first fine, the policy has almost entirely ended long waits on the runways for passengers, but it may not be making travel times shorter: cancellations are up.

In April 2009, the DOT instituted a rule that after three hours a domestic flight waiting on the runway must return to the terminal, or the airline must provide a safe way for passengers wishing to leave to exit the plane. Airlines face a fine of up to $27,500 per passenger if they don't comply. The threat of stiff fines worked.

In the year before the rule took effect there were 693 tarmac delays of more than three hours, and 105 longer than four hours.  In the year after the rule was implemented, there were just 20 three-hour delays, and none were more than four hours. In August 2011 the provision was expanded to international flights, with a tarmac wait limit capped at four hours.

But one way  airlines have eliminated those uncomfortable waits is to just cancel flights. That has happened more frequently as a result of the three-hour rule according to a September study by the Government Accountability Office. "While [the rule] has reduced the hardship of long on-board delays for some passengers, GAO analysis suggests the rule is also correlated with a greater likelihood of flight cancellations." The study points out that overall travel time can be higher as a result.

The fine system was prompted after a few high profile tarmac horror stories offended the nation and introduced a new nightmare scenario for air travel. The most prominent was the JetBlue fiasco of Valentine's Day 2007 where numerous planes sat waiting on icy runways for more than 10 hours at New York's JFK airport, stranding passengers within sight of the terminal while craving food, water and an explanation. The day was such a disaster for JetBlue, and air travel generally, it has become a Harvard case study and fast tracked existing demands for a passenger's bill of rights. Later the same month, when the next winter storm confronted JetBlue the airline responded by canceling more planes rather than risk having them stranded.

Monday's first fine to American Eagle for violating the rule is a reaffirmation that the Department of Transportation is serious about preventing a creep back above the three-hour threshold for acceptable waits, even if it means additional cancellations. The fine will be heard as a warning to other airlines just before the busy holiday travel season arrives.

American Eagle has to pay $650,000 within 30 days, and up to $250,000 can be credited for refunds, vouchers, and frequent flyer mile awards provided to the passengers on of the delayed flights or passengers on future flights that experience lengthy tarmac delays of less than three hours.

American Eagle blamed the delays on weather-caused airport congestion and issued travel vouchers or frequent flyer program mileage credit to affected passengers.

"We take our responsibility to comply with all of the department's requirements very seriously and have already put in place processes to avoid such an occurrence in the future," American Eagle President and CEO Dan Garton said in a statement to the AP.

On his first day on the job, new chief of Metropolitan Transportation Authority Joe Lhota met with members of the agency's board as he set out to streamline the nation's largest transit agency.

For your weekend enjoyment here's a variation on the crosswalk countdown timer from Guadalajara, Mexico, a more festive, kinder, gentler prod to pick up the pace.

This is what a crosswalk signal would look like if MC Hammer were the DOT commissioner.

Streetfilms Shortie - Crosswalk Running Man (Guadalajara) from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Captured by Streetfilms. (h/t Greater City Providence)

The Senate Environment and Public Works committee passed a two-year highway bill -- and now the wrangling begins. To get a comprehensive transportation bill, three other Senate committees must also pass companion legislation -- Banking, which covers transit; Commerce, which covers rail; and Finance, which figures out how to pay for it all.

After that, Senate leadership has to move the bill to the full Senate floor, and then a conference committee with the House of Representatives.

"The bill before us is completely bipartisan, and therefore nobody will think it is perfect," EPW Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said in her opening remarks. A bitter fight had ensued resulting in the final decision to strip a requirement that states spend a specific percent of federal money on non-car transportation projects. Instead, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) got his wish that states can choose what portion goes to bike or pedestrian projects. His opening statement explained the compromises:

"The bill reduces the number of programs by 2/3, eliminating or consolidating those that are duplicative or don’t serve a national transportation goal. One of the areas of greatest contention was transportation enhancements, or TE. This was a pot of money in the last three highway bills that could only be used for bike paths, walking trails, highway beautification, museums, and a number of other activities that I believe do not reduce congestion or improve the condition of our crumbling infrastructure.  I would have preferred to eliminate this funding altogether, but Senator Boxer believes strongly in TE funding and activities."

The long road ahead spells uncertainty for transportation funding. The current Senate version differs from the House version in key ways -- the EPW bill is two years, while the House version is six for instance -- so the conference committee will be contentious if the Senate does pass a full transportation bill this term.

The prospect of having no bill at all may be why reaction from infrastructure advocates is measured -- and contradictory.

Building America's Future hailed the passage as a "significant step forward in addressing our nation’s vast transportation infrastructure needs."  The group's president, Marcia Hale, said:

"The bill includes many of the critical reforms that Building America’s Future has long supported including consolidating or eliminating programs; taking steps to ensure that projects can be completed faster such as expanding innovative contracting methods and encouraging early coordination between relevant reviewing agencies; increasing Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) authorization; including greater accountability; and recognizing the importance of reliable goods movement by establishing a new Freight Network Program."

She also called for a longer term authorization bill that gives states greater flexibility to toll their interstates.

Meanwhile, U.S. PIRG -- usually in the same camp -- said the "Senate transportation bill misses opportunity for historic change."

Phineas Baxandall, the group's senior transportation analyst, said:

"The Senate bill falls far short of the kind of decisive progress that America’s transportation system needs... It contains some half measures and a few meaningful fixes, as well as real missteps that we hope will be addressed."

While he praised "initial steps" toward accountability for states to maintain roads in good repair, his reaction was largely negative.

“One cause for concern is the elimination of three programs that have been important for bike and pedestrian transportation and for integrating larger transportation assets into public streetscapes."... Another disappointment in the Senate bill is that it appears to only maintain the currently inadequate portion of transportation funds directed to public transit. America needs to invest in more and better public transportation to meet the rising demand for ridership and reduce our nation’s dependence on oil. Public transit spending will be the jurisdiction of the Banking Committee, but the Environment and Public Works Committee has not made financial room for greater transit investment.

Transportation For America offered moderated praise, calling the passage a "significant opportunity" and gently pressuring to include non-car funding, a key sticking point between Democrats and Republicans on the committee:

"We will work with Chairman Boxer and Ranking Member Inhofe and the rest of the Committee to ensure that there is dedicated funding that prioritizes bicycle and pedestrian projects, strong workforce development provisions and smart transportation planning reforms."

It's unclear how -- and when -- the House and Senate will reach a compromise.

 

1949 Chevy Speedometer (from Annyas.com)

Christian Annyas has collected Chevrolet's speedometer designs from 1941 to the present.

A scan through the ages reveals a bevy of fonts evolving with contemporary style. Speed ambitions vary by make and change with the times, and the designs vary from rounded shapes to flat lines.

What's most surprising is the speed these gauges cover: you might expect the Corvette to top out at 160 m.p.h., but it's the 2008 Chevy Cruze that that maxes out the speedometer at 220 m.p.h.

See the photo set here at Annyas.com. (h/t PSFK)

(Photo: Natasja Sheriff)

The cost of commuting by transit is set to rise in 2012 for 2.7 million Americans. The Commuter Tax Benefit program that allows workers to use up to $230 in pre-tax dollars each month for mass transit costs will expire if Congress doesn't renew it by the end of the year. The parallel benefit for car commuters will stay in place.

N.Y. Senator Chuck Schumer says that's wrong. "We need to be encouraging people to take mass transit. That's what this benefit does. If we let it expire, we're sending out a message: better for you to drive than take the train," he told reporters and curious commuters a press conference this  morning staged in front of the iconic Grand Central Terminal information booth.

While the transit tax benefit has been set to expire before, stand-offs in Congress over deficit reduction and other major pieces of legislation may make coming to an accord on the transit tax benefit that much more difficult.

Using fighting language, Schumer announced he is launching a campaign to preserve the transit benefit saying, "I will do everything in my power to get this benefit renewed." He promoted the advocacy efforts of TransitCenter, a company that administers transit benefits like TransitChek, including a new website defending the tax benefit.

Commuters who use the program's full benefits save over $1,000 a year in taxes. Until 2009, the benefit offered for car commuting costs was almost double what was available for rail and bus commuting costs. A one-year bill passed in 2009 bringing benefit parity and was extended at the 11th hour last year. Schumer plans to introduce an extender for the transit tax benefit and vowed to push for it to be made permanent.

The New Lake Champlain Bridge (Photo (cc) by Flickr user Nicholas Erwin)

Crown Point, New York is once again connected to Addison, Vermont. It's been two years since a trip between the two towns on either side of Lake Champlain leapt from a few-minutes drive to a few hours. In October 2009, inspectors from the New York State department of transportation declared the old Lake Champlain Bridge unsafe and shut the span immediately. The 3,000 or so drivers who crossed the bridge daily were forced to make a long loop around the lake. Eventually a free ferry service was offered. The closure shocked local residents and cast doubt on the states' ability to manage aging infrastructure. The completion of the new bridge, the Governors of both states hope, removes those doubts.

"When the bridge was closed and demolished in 2009, it was estimated to take eight years to rebuild," N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement today. "I am pleased to announce that thanks to the hard work and dedication of our federal, state, and local partners, the bridge is opening far earlier than planned."

(Collin Campbell)

The old bridge, built in 1929, was scheduled for replacement in 2012 anyway, but state agencies were caught off guard by the 2009 diagnosis and the suddenness of the closure made replacement a higher priority. Residents and local business activity was curtailed by the lack of a convenient detour. Local dairy farmer Tim Kayhart saw his frequent business trips to a partner farm across the lake go from four miles each way, to 150. Ferry service helped, but was no substitute for certain types of trips.

The old bridge was demolished in December 2009 (see our past reporting on that here). The $76 million construction of the new span started in June of 2010.

"It's a critical link for west-central Vermont and New York State, and vital to Vermont's economic strength, as well as for the people who rely upon that bridge for work and recreation. The structure that is opening today recreates the iconic previous Champlain Bridge, and I'm enormously proud of the design and the execution of this state-of-the-art engineering accomplishment," said Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin who attended a ribbon cutting today along with NY Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy.

Local sign at the Chimney Point State Historic Site, shared on the Bridge's Facebook page.

According to government officials, the new network tied arch bridge is a steel structure with a projected 75-year service life. Certain components of the bridge are designed to be replaceable, which reduces maintenance costs.

One reason the construction was faster than predicted was the location of construction, on land. The central arch was built in nearby Port Henry, N.Y. Then the eight-story, 402-foot long, 1.8 million pound structure was floated down the lake and lifted into place. Watch a time lapse video of the August arch lifting below.

NY Gov. Cuomo's office says the lanes and shoulders are wider than average to accomodate farm vehicles and bicycles. There are pedestrian sidewalks on both sides of the bridge.

A Detroit bus stop. (By Flickr user JSmith Photo)

About 100 Detroit city bus drivers refused to work this morning to demand safer working conditions after a driver was beaten by a group of teens on Thursday afternoon at the city's main transit terminal.

Riders were stranded across the city until after lunch--more than 100,000 people use the transit system daily. Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who has been criticized for not paying enough attention to transit, reacted quickly by promising new measures to improve safety for drivers and riders alike. Buses were rolling again by 1:30pm, according to Mayor Bing.

WDET reporter Quinn Klinefelter tells Transportation Nation the strike comes after months of mounting frustration. For the past six months the city and the union representing bus mechanics have been sparring, resulting in what the city calls a slowdown. "So there should be 300 or so buses on the road but there have been only 200 buses," Klinefelter says. That's led to hour-long delays and an increasingly dissatisfied ridership, some of whom have been taking it out on drivers.

Kleinfelter says that on Thursday, "a driver got off and got beaten up by teenagers" at the Rosa Parks Transit Station in downtown Detroit. The number of teens and exact circumstances are still unclear. The Detroit Free Press reports the teenagers were angered that the driver refused to wait for their friend. It took police 30 minutes to arrive even though headquarters is only blocks away.

In response to the attack and slow police response, this morning 100 drivers showed up to work but refused to get on the buses and drive, saying they didn't feel safe behind the wheel.

Mayor Bing, finding himself confronted by a second transit union, scrambled to react and get buses rolling again. He told a press gathering this afternoon that he had met with drivers, DDOT officials and Detroit Police about driver safety today. He said they reached "an understanding."

"The city is committed to providing security to both bus drivers and passengers alike," Bing said. "There will be zero tolerance for unacceptable behavior toward our bus drivers." He said the Detroit Police Department will institute random stops of buses to inspect them for safety and additional officers will be stationed at the Rosa Parks Transit Station. He also announced a $1,000 reward for tips leading to arrests of the attackers.

WDET's Klinefelter said Henry Gaffney, the head of Amalgamated Transit Workers' Union Local 26 representing the drivers, told WDET the city has agreed to put in bullet proof partitions around drivers. The city, however, denied any knowledge of the promise to Klinefelter.

Speaking to WDET earlier in the day, Megan Owens, the Executive Director of Transportation Riders United, explained why this strike was a long time coming. "For a lot of DDOT drivers [the attack] was the straw that broke the camel's back. They've been bearing the brunt of the bus problems for a long time with passengers verbally assaulting drivers pretty frequently, and they say if they can't feel safe going out on the roads, they're not going to drive."

The full conversation with WDET covers systemic needs and root causes behind today's strike in more detail. She argues the full DDOT system has been ignored and underfunded for years and calls for a regional transit authority to be created.

For a sense of the inconvenience the unannounced work action caused, see this video by the Detroit Free Press with stranded riders from earlier this morning.

Coalition Builder Image of the Lobbying Activity on Transportation Legislation via First Street Research Group)

As Congress contemplates deficit reduction plans and job creation strategies, transportation and infrastructure spending has become a divisive topic and a political battleground. Using a new tool from Congressional Quarterly CQ Press and the campaign finance database from the Center for Responsive Politics, here's a peek at who is funding the campaigns of the top congressmen when it comes to transportation policy.

If you want to see your lobbying in visual form, CQ Press (formerly a part of Congressional Quarterly) has launched a research arm, First Street Research Group which offers a tool to create an influence map (login required) of the power brokers of transportation policy, and how they are connected through funding sources and staffing relationships.

There are two major House committees with oversight over transportation policy. The top members of each from both parties all take money from the industries affected by their legislation. Here's a sampling of some campaign financing data, and a peek at who the people they're connected to.

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) Chair of the House Transportation Committee

Industry associations are Mica's bread and butter, and mostly in transportation. Berkshire-Hathaway was also a large contributor.

John Mica (R-Fla.) campaign donations 2011-2012 by industry. (Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org)

DONATIONS 2011-2012 Session --

(For a detailed list, go here.) The top five industries by amount given are:

1) Sea Transport / Cruises

2) Railroads

3) Trucking

4) Transportation Unions

5) Air Transport / Airlines

LOBBYIST CONNECTIONS -- First Street points out: "Three former prominent members of his staff have gone on to lobby transportation issues for their clients, one of which donated to Rep. Mica and lobbied on bills he introduced." Those staffers represent the cruise and airline industry as well as local municipalities seeking Transportation and Housing and Urban Development appropriations.

 

Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.V.), ranking member of the House Transportation Committee

Rahall's largest donors by far come from unions, including the Air Traffic Controllers Association, and unions representing mine workers, truck drivers, transit workers, pilots and others. Berkshire Hathaway is the fourth largest individual contributor.

Nick Rahall (D-W.V) campaign donations 2011-2012 by industry. (Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org)

DONATIONS 2011-2012 Session --

(For a detailed list, go here.) The top five industries by amount given are:

1) Transportation Unions

2) Railroads

3) Air Transport / Airlines

4) Industrial Unions

5) Lobbyists

LOBBYIST CONNECTIONS -- One former staffer works for a lobbying firm that represents the United Motorcoach Association as well as several airline clients. See list here.

 

Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) Chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

Berkshire-Hathaway is the largest campaign contributor to Latham by far, at $17,500 for the 2011-2012 session. The number two contributor, Reynolds American, the tobacco company, donated $11,000. First Street notes, "In 2009, he tried unsuccessfully to reduce by $3 billion a $4 billion boost in high-speed rail funding Democrats inserted into the spending bill. But in that same measure he helped get millions of dollars for local infrastructure projects."

 

Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) campaign donations 2011-2012 by industry. (Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org)

DONATIONS -- (For a detailed list, go here.) The top five industries by amount given are:

1) Leadership PACs

2) Lobbyists

3) Health Professionals

4) Electric Utilities

5) Pharmaceuticals

LOBBYIST CONNECTIONS --  One former staffer is now a lobbyist, who lobbied Latham on non-transportation legislation.

 

Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.) Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

Olver is set to retire at the end of the term and has thus raised considerably less money than his counterparts. First Street finds that he "doesn't have any big name companies with transportation interests donating large amounts to his campaign, [though] some of the bigger unions have donated to his Political Action Committee."

 

John Olver (D-Mass.) campaign donations 2011-2012 by industry. (Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org)

DONATIONS -- (For a detailed list, go here.) The top five industries by amount given are:

1) Transportation Unions

2) Real Estate

3) Building Trade Unions

4) Lawyers and Law Firms

5) Retired Individuals

LOBBYIST CONNECTIONS -- Two former staffers currently lobby on transportation issues, representing airports, a limousine association and a infrastructure construction firm.

WNYC Engineer Alan Black thought the muni-meters around New York looked kind of like a people (see below for comparison). So he figured that meant they'd be a dandy Halloween costume.

The muni-meters are getting a little more attention recently as the city did away with the old fashioned single space parking meters in Manhattan last month with plans to replace all the coin operated single-spaces meters in the city by the end of 2012. The new editions meters are solar powered, hence the slanted hat Black wears. He fashioned the faux solar panel out of wood and fabric.

Like the real muni-meters made by Parkeon, Black's costume accepts credit cards--what exactly his costume does with them then, we don't know.

Do you have any transportation related costume pics? Send them our way transponation@gmail dot com

A real muni-meter for comparison:

(Photo (cc) by Flickr user Lucious Kwok)

UPDATED 4:20 p.m. ET. Here's another transportation costume sent to us via twitter. Edward Russel is a roundabout in his Halloween costume for urban planners.

 

Almost 20 years after the North American Free Trade Agreement promised an open flow of goods across the continent, the first Mexican truck was permitted to enter the U.S. inland under the agreement this week.

The AP reports the first rig to cross the Rio Grande heading north was a Freightliner truck hauling a steel drilling structure. The driver, Josue Cruz, "waved from the cab, flashed a thumbs-up and thundered toward the bridge" to Laredo, Texas.

The provision to permit hauling U.S.-bound goods in Mexican-inspected trucks was blocked from being fully implemented because of fears that rigs inspected and registered in Mexico would compromise the safety of American roads.

The cross border trucking issue has been a sticking point between the nations since shortly after the 1994 agreement was signed. Originally, Mexican trucks were supposed to have access to border areas by 1995, and the U.S. highway system by 2000. That never happened. There was considerable opposition from labor groups to all of NAFTA, including this provision which, opponents say, would eliminate U.S. trucking jobs. But the official concern was always stated as safety.

While Canadian trucks have free access to U.S. roads, Mexican trucks were viewed as a potential hazard because the inspection, maintenance and driver certification processes was  seen as too lax. Mexican trucks have been crossing the border into a buffer zone where they unload their haul into an American truck.

There was a short lived pilot program in 2007 that allowed some Mexican trucks across, but President Obama canceled it in 2009, sparking retaliatory tariff increases from Mexico permitted under NAFTA.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says this new plan is a pilot program as well. According to their website, only one company has been granted, permission for two drivers and one vehicle. Eleven companies are applying for certification. Mexico-based companies that pass will granted three years of access to the wide open American road. American trucks will be given reciprocal access south of the border.

As we reported last week, car makers are warming to car sharing. Daimler is leading the pack by actively making a business out of it.  The European auto giant is aggressively expanding car2go, its car sharing subsidiary that uses exclusively one make of vehicle, Daimler's Smart cars.

Until very recently, car2go has remained small and stable in just four cities -- one each in the U.S. and Canada, and two in Europe. Daimler now says it plans to expand to 40 to 50 cities in Europe and several new U.S. locations based on the successful Austin, Texas pilot program.

Car2go will launch in San Diego next week, and just a few days ago, Daimler announced a a partnership with a European car rental car company to reach 40 to 50 cities. The companies did not set a timeline for the expansion in the release.

The one-way car sharing company works a little differently than its more well known rivals like ZipCar. Created in 2008, Daimler it has 1,100 vehicles in the four programs nationwide. By comparison, ZipCar has 2,100 vehicles just in the New York City area alone.

Under the U.S. plan in Austin, drivers can pick up and leave a car anywhere within the downtown area, not just the spot they started from. This, Daimler says, allows the cars to supplement public transportation. Drivers are charged by the minute or the mile, and can reserve a car by the phone or locate one using a map on the company's website.

The San Diego car2go will be a fleet of 300 all-electric cars at launch on November 2.

The European expansion will be the bulk of the company's growth. Daimler is launching a joint venture with rental company Europecar to facilitate expansion.  Car2go is currently in Ulm and Hamburg, Germany. The next cities will be Lyons, France and Amsterdam. Earlier this year, BMW made a similar partnership with Sixt, a rental car company, to start a car sharing business in Berlin and Munich.

Amtrak carried 30 million passengers in the past 12 months, the most the railroad has carried since its creation in 1971.  But despite its success in attracting riders this year, the railroad has come under political attack.

Amtrak has broken ridership records for eight of the last nine years (see chart above). Joseph Boardman, the CEO of the railroad, said in a statement that “Amtrak is fulfilling its national mission and is part of the solution to meet America’s growing transportation and energy needs.”

A decade ago, Amtrak carried 21 million passengers a year.

The railroad attributes the growth to increases in business travel, high gasoline prices, and expansion of Wi-Fi on more services. Total ticket revenue for Amtrak was just under $1.9 billion -- up 8 percent over the previous year, despite significant weather-related service disruptions.

The Northeast Corridor, which carries almost 11 million each year, had a five percent growth in riders and a seven percent revenue bump in revenue, even as discount buses expanded heavily along the same route.

The short routes in the Washington, D.C. area did particularly well in 2011. Washington-Lynchburg ridership jumped almost 30 percent, and Washington-Newport News climbed 16 percent. Long distance trains, used more for leisure travel, had their highest ridership in 16 years. Very few routes lost riders. You can see ridership information for all lines here (pdf).

Meanwhile, in the past twelve months governors in Florida and Wisconsin have killed high-speed rail projects in their states, and House Republicans have called for privatizing it and are proposing spending cuts. At a hearing in May, John Mica, the head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that Amtrak has "one of the most dismal records on earth for any rail service" and called for privatizing the Northeast Corridor.

And in June, a Republican Congressman from New Jersey called for diverting federal money -- already allocated to Amtrak for electrical upgrades on the Northeast Corridor -- to flood victims in the Midwest. After months of political wrangling, Amtrak eventually got that money.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation fined online travel agent Orbitz for violating price advertising rules. The $60,000 penalty punishes for Orbitz for failing to include taxes and fees in prices listed on the site's homepage during a period of time in early 2011 and for advertising best fares found by other customers that were no longer available because they had not been updated in the last 24 hours.

The DOT announcement described the violations:

Consumers clicking on an advertisement were not notified of the additional charges until after they arrived at the following page and scrolled down to the bottom of the page, where information in fine print about the taxes and fees could be found. Also, consumers selecting discounted fares advertised by Orbitz found that these fares were no longer available, and they were instead taken to a page where a different fare was displayed.

“Consumers have a right to know the full price they will be paying for air fares,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in the announcement. “We established airline price advertising rules to protect the consumer and will take enforcement action when these rules are violated.”

According to dockets posted on Regulation.gov, there have been about 17 price advertising violation fines issued by the DOT this year. "We've been finding violations from time to time. And we do take enforcement actions when that happens," Bill Mosley of the DOT tells Transportation Nation. Most are for failing to disclose fees or taxes, or for web practices that revealed a different price after a "book now" button, or an ad for a lower fare.

Expedia was fined $29,000 in March for not disclosing taxes and fees. In that case the site advertised a fare and had a link with a plus sign next to the fare that took customers to a page outlining the fees. The DOT said that was insufficient because there was no text indicating there were additional fees and information about them at the link.

Virgin America, Continental,  JetBlue, Air Canada and several other airlines have all been fined this year, usually around $30,000 to $60,000.

"These are negotiated civil penalties. They are arrived at after negotiations with the DOT and the company," Mosley explained. "We base it on the severity of the offense and if the company has any prior infractions."

Currently and through the end of the January of next year, fare listings must include taxes and fees, or prominently declare that there are additional taxes and fees with a link to details. In print ads, an asterisks can point readers to a footer section at the bottom of the page. The only exception permitted by the DOT are government-imposed fees charged on a per-passenger basis, like airport facility charges. Those too must be disclosed prior to purchase, though. For online listings, the rules state that taxes and fees may be disclosed through a "prominent link" next to the fare. A "reasonable" number of seats must also be available at the advertised fare.

In April, the DOT adopted a new rule expanding these  consumer protections. When it takes effect in January 2012, advertised prices must include taxes and fees. The term "plus taxes and fees" will become a thing of the past on air travel websites, and that price grid above from Orbitz, will display just one price per box. That's the intention of the DOT rule change anyway.

 

(Photo (cc) by Flickr user moon_child)

Listen to an alternate version of this story from Marketplace:

New Yorkers are taking to car sharing. New York's two smaller car share companies report double and triple digit membership growth in the past year. Several companies have expanded into Harlem in recent months, and plan further offerings in New Jersey and the outer boroughs. Car sharing companies have traditionally focused on Manhattan below 96th Street and parts of Brooklyn closer to Manhattan.

Hertz's hourly rental offering, Hertz On Demand now has 30,000 members in the New York area, a three fold increase over last September, according to the company, which launched car sharing in December 2008.

Mint Cars-On-Demand, a local company targeting small businesses, reports growth has accelerated 50 percent over last year's pace. They have about 125 cars and 10,000 members with hourly rentals starting at $7 per hour.

New York is Zipcar's largest market with 2,100 cars in the area. The newly public company declined to share growth statistics by press time, though it has launched an extensive subway advertising campaign.

As the practice of renting out cars by the hour catches on in New York and nationwide, car makers are planning on new ways to capitalize on the trend. The reason, is younger drivers.

"They represent about 40 percent of car buyers and they drive a lot less than the generation that preceded them," says Carroll Lachnit of Edmunds.com. She says car makers need new ways to reach Millenials who are less likely to rush to the dealership on their 16th birthday, and after that, far less likely to become loyal to a brand for life. Lachnit says that first purchase comes later now, so car makers need to do more than just offer a test drive and a low interest loan. Car sharing can fill that void and be the first -- and second, third, fourth -- exposure to a vehicle for a young driver who is  a future driver.

That's one explanation for why Ford offered up thousands of cars to ZipCar for university car share programs. And why GM is using its OnStar technology to facilitate peer-to-peer car sharing through RelayRides. As we reported last week, GM also gets a cut of the rental profits, but more than that, GM's Bob Tiderington explained to TN, car sharing is like hassle free test drive. In many ways, it's better than a test drive. Drivers get more time in a car, can test a car out at night, and try out a single car over and over in different conditions over time before it comes time to make a decision.

The premise is that car sharers will grow up to be car owners.

That's assuming that car sharing is convenient, but for now, it's still a tiny fraction of drivers.

Nationwide there are about two dozen car sharing companies with more than 500,000 members in total, according to Susan Shaheen of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at U.C. Berkeley. She says it's way too soon to know if the car companies' plan will work. But some initial research does indicate that there is some brand loyalty developed.

For more on car sharing as the new test drive, including what one skeptical car dealer has to say about it, listen to this story on Marketplace Money.

Additional reporting for this article by Casey Miner.

(Image courtesy of GM)

In a signal that GM sees a growing future in building cars for the urban driver, America's largest automaker announced a new electric car Wednesday. Beginning in 2013, Chevrolet will offer an all-electric mini-car, the Spark EV.

(Unfortunately for GM, the announcement coincided with a PR snafu where the automaker had to apologize for an advertisement dissing cyclists.  That story is here.)

“The Spark EV offers customers living in urban areas who have predictable driving patterns or short commutes an all-electric option,” said Jim Federico, global vehicle chief engineer for electric vehicles at Chevrolet.

A few inches shorter than the Mini Cooper, the Spark EV will be sold around the world and in select U.S. markets. This is not the first time Chevrolet has offered an all electric vehicle, the maker of the plug-in hybrid, Volt originally offered the EV1 in the 1990s, until laws requiring the sale of electric cars ended in 2003.

CNN reported last month that 4,000 Volts have been sold since the car launched late last year, in part because they were not available in all states and dealerships. Nissan upped its production of the all-electric leaf a few months ago, and has sold more than 7,000 since late last year.

 

This time last year, 33 miners who had been trapped underground for 68 days in Chile were finally rescued. People in Chile and around the world watched as their rescue played out on televisions, radio and the internet. The whole event raised many questions, about what it means to be Chilean, what it's like to be trapped in a mine, and where the miners would go from here.

CrashStat map of crashes since 1995

The most dangerous intersection in New York City--for those not in cars--is Park Avenue and East 33rd Street. That's right where a bypass tunnel lets cars back above ground after several blocks of rare traffic signal-free midtown travel.

It's not an easy intersection to cross with the tunnel entrance blocking half of the intersection. There have been 163 crashes injuring pedestrians and cyclists there since 1995. That's almost a dozen each year. The transit advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has updated their their CrashStat.org website to map the most dangerous intersections in the city, in an effort to raise awareness about danger spots, and contributing factors.

The web site plots every crash recorded by the N.Y. State Department of Transportation since 1995 that involved a pedestrian or a bicyclist. Blue dots are pedestrian crashes, red are bicycle crashes, and the black stars--intentionally bold and eye catching-- mark fatalities.

A quick click on the city's most dangerous intersection reveals how many crashes have happened by year, by type of car, age of person hit, contributing factor and more. It also lets you see that crossing the street is getting safer in New York.

Park Ave and 33rd Street, Pedestrian Crashes 1995-2009

Most of the crashes at that ignobly distinguished intersection occurred before 2003.

The most fatal intersection, is Utica Avenue and Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, with six deaths and 141 crashes since 1995. Other dangerous intersections are Webster Avenue and East Fordham Road in the Bronx with 123 crashes; and Union Street and Northern Boulevard in Queens which had 92 crashes from 1995-2009

The data for the mapping project only takes us up to 2009, and for some intersection not even that. But a trend is clear, and consistent with City data, that traffic calming measures and shared streets design upgrades over the past five years have reduced pedestrian injuries.

The NYPD was ordered by a court to begin releasing crash data each month starting in June. That data was supposed to be by intersection along with traffic summons data, which they are releasing.

On this map, you can see crash statistics by neighborhood, community board, City Council district, NYPD precinct and many more geographic and political boundaries. You can also filter the crashes  by contributing factors like age of pedestrian, or type of vehicle, of if speeding was involved.

Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steeley White says, "By
revealing where and why motor vehicle crashes occur, CrashStat gives all New Yorkers the information they need to demand better enforcement of our traffic laws." He says, that speeding and failing to yield are the top most dangerous traffic behaviors of motorists, so that's where he'd like to see enforcement focused.

According to citation data released, police issue more tickets for tinted windows and cell phones than for speeding. Speeding however, requires additional equipment such as radars to enforce. That, and for many parts of the city, there's just too much traffic to speed.

 

 

A potential rental car. (Photo (CC) by Flickr user Carol Browne)

America's largest automaker is embracing carsharing. GM has signed a deal with peer-to-peer car sharing company RelayRides to make it easier for drivers to rent out their cars by the hour to neighbors, the companies announced Wednesday.

"We could stand on the sidelines and watch or we could choose to participate and try to make it into a favorable business model, which in this particular case we have," GM's Bob Tiderington tells TN.

GM will adapt its OnStar anti-theft technology to facilitate car rentals, making it cheaper and simpler to sign up with RelayRides as a car-lender. In exchange, GM gets a percentage of every rental of an OnStar equipped car. OnStar enables remote locking and unlocking of a car. So, an owner who wants to rent out their car no longer has to install a separate device to let neighbors open the door and get the key, they will be able to use a mobile phone app instead.

When the plan launches in early 2012, all GM vehicles built after 2010 with OnStar service and current subscription will be "carsharing ready," says Tiderington, who is the head of new business development initiatives at GM. That's 1.7 million cars that could be turned into peer-to-peer rental cars right off the bat, in theory. "Our intent over the next four to five months is to also include [model years] going back to 2005," which boosts the figure to 6 million, Tiderington points out. Right now, RelayRides only operates in San Francisco and Boston, so nothing close to that will actually come on the rental market. According to Innovative Mobility Research, car sharing in North America has grown from 400,000 users in 2009 to 640,000 in July 2011. Consultants Frost & Sullivan predict car sharing users will reach 4.4 million by 2016. That's for company-owned fleets, RelayRides is one of the first and largest efforts to date of for private car owners to rent out their vehicles when they aren't in use.

There hasn't been a study yet on how demand and supply for peer-to-peer car sharing has functioned so far.

"We're still a small company, we're 18 months old," said Andrew Haddad, CEO of RelayRides. "I think [the OnStar partnership] will significantly spread car sharing to people who weren't considering it before, because it's easy. If its hard it won't spread." RelayRides pays about $500 in all to equip each participating car with the add-on device that lets a renter open the vehicle with a membership card. That's cumbersome for the owners, Haddad says. But OnStar cars will just need to turn the service on.

The other reason he's optimistic about partnering with a major carmaker is outreach to all those millions of GM owners. “We do plan to go out and reach out to these folks, both the current subscribers and people that are not active,'” GM's Tiderington says.

This partnership is notable, says Susan Shaheen, Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at University of California at Berkeley. "Mobility services represent a new approach that can complement the core business model of automakers,vehicle sales, as well as the introduction of new technologies to consumers--such as alternative fuel vehicles and safety, real-time traffic, and parking assist devices."

2011 has been a year substantial growth for car sharing partnerships. Ford teamed up with Zipcar--which issued an IPO in April--for a pilot program on university campuses. BMW paired with Sixt on a one-way car rental program. Daimler is planning to expand it's car share company Car2Go, which only uses Daimler's Smart cars. The Austin-based one-way car sharing company is expected to set up shop in San Diego next.

The spread of RelayRides and other P2P companies, such as Getaround and Wheelz, is still unclear," Shaheen says. "I have not seen data yet to validate "matches" of demand and supply and overall consumer response." She plans to study the spread.

This just in from the U.S. Department of Transportation, there is an ARC tunnel settlement. The federal government had maintained that New Jersey owed $271 million for money spent on the now-cancelled Access to the Region's Core Tunnel project that would have expanded rail access between New Jersey and New York's Penn Station. As recently as this morning, the feds had said that NJ owed an additional $2.6 million in interest on that money.

We'll have reactions and analysis coming in a bit. Here are the official statements.

Statement of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today that he has signed an agreement with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the state to reimburse the federal government $95 million for money that was supposed to be spent building the ARC Tunnel. New Jersey terminated the project and the Department has been seeking repayment of $271 million in federal dollars spent by the state on the project.

The $95 million settlement will permit DOT to recover all of the $51 million in New Starts money provided to New Jersey for the ARC Project, so that those funds can be made available to other communities for public transit projects.  This amount also recovers approximately 50 percent of the funds provided to New Jersey under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and this money will be returned to the United States Treasury.  In addition to the cash payment amount, New Jersey will be required under the terms of the settlement agreement to spend more than $128 million in CMAQ program funds on transit-related projects that have been reviewed and approved by DOT.

“We appreciate the support and encouragement of Senators Lautenberg and Menendez in reaching an agreement that is good for the taxpayers of New Jersey, but also helps to improve infrastructure in the state,” Secretary LaHood said. “I thank the governor and his legal team for reaching this agreement.”

 

Here's the statement from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie:

“I am pleased to announce that we have negotiated a good-faith settlement with the Federal Transportation Administration that puts the interests of New Jersey taxpayers first by substantially reducing the federal government’s original demand. The 5-year payment schedule on a $95 million settlement – which contains not one additional dollar of New Jersey taxpayer money – would be offset by more than $100 million in insurance premium refunds. This represents a fraction of the federal government’s initial claim and won’t cost New Jerseyans any additional money, which would otherwise go to infrastructure improvements. I want to thank U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and his staff for their good-faith efforts in working with us and putting the interest of New Jersey taxpayers ahead of politics. I also want to thank New Jersey Transit and Executive Director Jim Weinstein for their commitment to working toward this settlement.”

 

NJ's Senate delegation has also weighed in. A joint statement reads:

Today's agreement builds on a deal reached in December between DOT and Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) that New Jersey would not have to ultimately pay back $128 million of the total $271 million debt. Of the remaining $143 million, thanks to pressure from Senators Lautenberg and Menendez - as well as members of the state's House delegation, New Jersey's liability will be reduced to $95 million under this deal.

"I thank Transportation Secretary LaHood for honoring our initial agreement to reduce New Jersey's liability by $128 million off the bat. The further reduction in the state's liability will take pressure off New Jersey taxpayers as well," Lautenberg said. "The Governor's decision to kill the ARC tunnel project will hurt New Jersey in the long-term, but we were happy to work with the Department of Transportation to help reduce the costs of this mistake."

"While I remain disappointed that the state abandoned this job-creating project for which we fought so hard to fund, I'm thankful to Secretary LaHood for working to resolve this dispute in a way that best protects our taxpayers," Menendez said.