Interesting transportation things

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by dubu

the military have a lot of money, we know theres some bad parts of the military. it made me wonder, i dont comment if i dont know anything though.

I'm not talking about people critical of our obscene defense budget, heaven knows I'm one of them. I'm talking about the bunker nut people who suffer from paranoid delusions that their own government is planning some secret attack against them or that the world economy is way more volatile than what in reality it actually is. The shtf crowd is a sad bunch and they are well represented on youtube since that's where they spend so much time getting themselves so bent out of shape.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by mhays

This is a pretty big deal in Seattle's history.

Much of the city funnels through a corridor less than a half mile wide from I-5 on the east (hugging First Hill) to the waterfront. Even as a militant alt-transportation advocate I wanted this tunnel because unlike Portland, Vancouver, and San Francisco our downtown isn't isolated or a dead end, but is the heart of the funnel. While transit is also being added at a high rate, the "no freeway" alternative added a lot of pass-through traffic on Downtown avenues. The tunnel isn't for anyone heading TO downtown, only through it...it's nearly two miles with no exits. (They wouldn't have even been possible really...the tunnel is extremely deep to get under other tunnels and buildings.)

Downtown succeeds because of tunnels: The mined heavy-rail tunnel (with freight, Amtrak, and commuter rail) built a century ago, the transit tunnel built in the late 80s (next month the buses leave and it'll be all light rail), and even I-5 itself which is lidded in a couple sections. The new tunnel replaces a six-block segment of old tunnel for Highway 99 in addition to the viaduct on the waterfront. In the next decade we'll start another transit tunnel for more light rail lines.

I've heard that 100,000 signed up to walk through the new tunnel, the old tunnel, and/or the viaduct via free tickets. Some are mourning the viaduct, which despite being rickety and ugly was also loved for its views (including by drivers, go figure) and for being a fast driving route.

Now we have additional years of construction to get rid of the viaduct and rebuild Alaskan Way along the waterfront. We also need to build a major new street where the viaduct climbed the hill, up to Western and Elliott Avenues. That's a big part of the street connections to replace the local-access aspect of the viaduct. Actually not just local but for any car heading to the northwest sections of town.

I'm also celebrating because a decade ago it looked like we might end up with a rebuilt viaduct, which would have had to be taller and wider than the current one just due to safety.

What is the plan for that other tunnel which seems to be part of the old viduct used. I think its called battery tunnel?

[mhays]

It'll be filled. There's not much transportation point, and it's in the way -- a challenge for utilities, extra cost for any new neighboring building, etc.

Also the two entrances would be a problem...one is in the middle of a future street (three blocks of Aurora just outside the north portal will be rebuilt as a surface street, which will have high traffic), and the south portal is on a block slated to become a park.

Some have suggested interesting ideas like a bike trail and stream in an open chasm, but a bunch of obvious flaws seem to be in the way, like access to the adjoining buildings and alleys, and the fairly high use of the street itself, including traffic leading to Aurora northbound.

[SpongeG]

ok thanks for the info. Someone posted videos from the saturday walk in that old tunnel and it looked to be in pretty rough shape.

[202_Cyclist]

Boeing steps up supersonic jet investment, sweeping aside Lockheed Martin partnership

By Aaron Gregg
February 6, 2019
Washington Post


Supersonic business jet start-up Aerion announced Feb. 5 that it has accepted a sizable investment from Boeing, giving the Chicago-based aerospace giant two seats on its board. (Aerion) (Aerion Corporation)

"Boeing has made a “significant investment” to help Aerion develop and commercialize a sleek, pointy-nosed supersonic business jet it is calling the AS2, the companies announced Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Nevada-based start-up said that Boeing will gain two board seats as part of the investment, suggesting that the Chicago-based aerospace giant is spending significant time and resources to acquire a long-term stake in the company. The precise terms of the investment were not disclosed.

The announcement came days after a contract between Aerion and Lockheed Martin had expired, a Lockheed Martin spokeswoman said..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.2c1d53fce234

[texcolo]

They opened the El Paso historic streetcar line late last year. This is my first ride on it. It circulates downtown, and has a line going up north to the UTEP campus.

[SpongeG]

this is fascinating

• Video Link

[M II A II R II K]

The CTA planned to demolish the Loop and replace it with two subway lines

[M II A II R II K]

[muppet]

London airports stats just in 2018

London Heathrow 80.1 million +2.7%
London Gatwick 46.1 million +1.1% (due to drone closures)
London Stansted 28 million +8.1%
London Luton 16.6 million +5%
London City 4.9 million +6.4%
London Southend 1.5 million +35.6%

total: 177 million

[M II A II R II K]

Mexico’s ‘Mayan Train’ Is Bound for Controversy

https://www.citylab.com/environment/...opment/583405/

.....

- Running more than 900 miles from the beach resorts of Cancún to the Mayan archeological site at Palenque, the $6.5 billion rail project would link towns, cities, and tourist attractions in five southern states. Planners expect a ridership of 8,000 passengers a day, evenly split between locals and tourists.

- López Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City elected in 2018 as the first left-wing president in modern Mexico, emphasized how the train would serve as a critical investment in Mexico’s economically depressed southeastern states. “This is an act of justice, because this region has been the most abandoned,” said López Obrador, who made Mexico’s stark income inequality a centerpiece of his campaign. “The moment of the southeast has arrived, and it’s just in time. That’s why [the train] is a very important public works project.”

- Some see it as a promising new tourism and economic development tool. And as the most ambitious new passenger rail line to be built in Mexico in decades, there are hopes that the Mayan Train might even usher in a new golden age of Mexican train travel. But others fear it’s destined to become another of Mexico’s notorious white elephant projects—and an ecological disaster in one of the world’s most environmentally and archeologically sensitive places.

.....

[M II A II R II K]

The Cheaper, Greener Future of France's High-Speed Trains

https://www.citylab.com/transportati...ticket/583624/

.....

- While high-speed trains are struggling to gain a foothold in some parts of the world, France’s superfast rail services are looking at a very active, more competitive future. Just this month, national carrier SNCF launched the prototype for a brand new TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) model, which will be cheaper and require less energy than existing engines. Due to start service in 2023, these new trains will ultimately form part of an entirely new 100-train fleet.

- That will give France the most modern high-speed fleet in the world, and the trains will arrive during a critical period for the country’s rail systems. In 2021, France will be trying something completely new with its high-speed services. For the first time, rival companies will be allowed to vie with SNCF, competing with the national provider on major routes. SNCF’s new trains should help it meet the challenge posed by new competitors. Simply called the TGV 2020, these trains offer some clear improvements.

.....

• Video Link

[SpongeG]

• Video Link

New 'Beluga' Airplane Might Be The Cutest Plane Ever
Because the world always needs more belugas ������

BY SARAH V SCHWEIG
PUBLISHED ON 02/27/2019



A new kind of airplane is designed to look like a cartoonish beluga whale — the intelligent marine mammal with the uniquely bulbous head — and it's understandably turning a lot of heads.

But it wasn't just a whim to make the Airbus Beluga XL a tribute to beluga whales — a poll of Airbus employees gave them a chance to decide between several options. The beluga whale option won with 40 percent of the vote.



The Beluga XL first took to the skies over France last year in its first test flight. Now the plane is undergoing some last tests before being officially released into the blue.



But the Beluga XL won't be for riding — it's actually a cargo plane, and its unique design allows it to carry more cargo.

...

https://www.thedodo.com/in-the-wild/...JJeJW48YJssrMI

[M II A II R II K]

Berlin Will Spend €2 Billion Per Year to Improve Public Transit

https://www.citylab.com/transportati...r-plan/583747/

.....

- This week, the city announced its transit masterplan for 2019 to 2023 (with a period of focus that actually extends to 2035), and a major overhaul of the city’s transit networks is in the cards. The funds allocated are generous, to say the least: Berlin is committing a remarkable €28.1 billion, or just under $32 billion, to transportation projects. — So what does $32 billion buy you in Berlin? A fair bit, it seems. The headline item from the masterplan is a massive expansion of the city’s streetcar network. For years now, Berlin’s trams have been spreading out from East Berlin.

- There will also be significant extensions to the S-Bahn—the city rail network that, while running somewhat more commonly above ground and being somewhat more suburban in reach than the U-bahn, is actually quite difficult to tell apart from the subway in both function and frequency. Berlin’s new S-Bahn lines will be concentrated in the north and run mainly on a north-south axis. In a spirit of pragmatism, they won’t be newly constructed, but mainly consist of former railway lines that have been left unused in the past few decades.

- Bus services will likewise get a complete overhaul. The plan calls for every bus in the city to be electric by 2030, while more lines will have their timetables packed to ensure a bus at least every 10 minutes. For far-flung parts of the bus network where stops and passengers are few, the city will also experiment with a hail-a-bus service, by which passengers in less-frequented areas can summon a mini-bus (hopefully within a short waiting time) by letting the depot know they’re there.

.....

[M II A II R II K]

Piccadilly tube station map of 1928

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Berlin Will Spend €2 Billion Per Year to Improve Public Transit

Fantastisch !

[mousquet]

^ Yep, that's good news.
I'm just taking a look at their municipal land area, being sure that it's significantly larger than any Fr municipality...
Whoa!

Berlin: 891.7 km2 (344.3 sq mi)

Uh yeah, that is large, likely to demand a lot of money for upgrades.
For example:

Central Paris + 3 inner départements: 762 km2 (294.2 sq mi)

So Berlin is a real behemoth by land area, that must be hard to manage.
Their population and density are lower than ours, however.
So their needs might not exactly meet ours.

It sounds like good ambition anyway. And it won't fail over there.

[M II A II R II K]

Goodyear Aero - A two-in-one tire for the autonomous, flying cars of the future


• Video Link

[M II A II R II K]

A sky full of driverless flying cars in just a decade

https://www.axios.com/driverless-fly...021581e20.html

.....

- Carmakers are in a frantic race to own the driverless road. But a little-noticed parallel contest is under way in the world of autonomous vehicles a competition for who will dominate a shift of motor traffic from the road to the air. The competition to control the air could more profoundly impact how we live and work, with the potential to change the face of cities, how we measure time, and what we regard as our activity space.

- In January, Boeing flew a prototype of its small pilotless vehicle. In the early part of the next decade, Muilenburg said he expects to deploy such vehicles commercially in rural areas along fixed routes. And then, in just a decade, he said, the skies in U.S. cities will be filled with electric, autonomous flying vehicles, ferrying people to their destination and averting roads that today are often impossibly congested.

- There is no telling whether this future will materialize like Muilenburg and others forecast. For one thing, no one knows whether masses of people want to fly in taxis, or whether a multitude of logistical and regulatory hurdles can be crossed. But if it does happen as predicted, cities will utterly change, requiring ways to charge, direct and facilitate such transportation. Housing will adapt to accommodate flying taxis.

- Boeing, Airbus and Uber are among the largest players in this evolving new industry. There are also numerous small startups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. One nascent sport is guessing who will be swallowed up first by the big plane-makers. What's surprising is how fast these vehicles seem likely to become commonplace. Muilenburg said it's all happening now because of a convergence of technological breakthroughs.

.....

]

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

Goodyear Aero - A two-in-one tire for the autonomous, flying cars of the future


• Video Link

I love that clip in there where a traffic alert comes up in the screen, and she selects "fly" for an ETA if 15 min vs. an hour. Should be useful when taking the Schuylkill Expressway...

Looks like it will combine autonomous with drone technology. I've seen this topic discussed for at least a year or so now.