On Wednesday, Australia suffered one of the area’s biggest environmental disasters when a cargo ship leaked tons of fuel oil into the ocean.  A massive clean-up is now underway along nearly 40 miles of east coast beach.

Initially the crew reported the spill was only 5,000 – 8,000 gallons, but later corrected their estimate to be ten times more, closer to 60,000 gallons.  The freighter was struggling in rough seas when some cargo came loose and punctured the fuel tanks.  The massive oil spill is bad enough, but the cargo causing the damage is reported to be 31 containers of ammonium nitrate.  It is believed that the 620 tons of chemicals in the containers have sunk to the ocean floor and pose another threat to the wildlife if not recovered soon.

As bad as this spill is, it does not come close to The Worst Major Oil Spills in History.  When are we going to learn?  This is just another example of the costs to our environment associated with the import of foreign oil.

I truly feel bad for the people of Australia and wish them the best in their clean-up.  We all need to seek clean alternative energy and continue to improve our conservation efforts.

On Wednesday, AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) and TRIP (A National Transportation Research Group) jointly released a new report.  The report titled “America’s Top Five Transportation Headaches – and Their Remedies” identifies our transportation problems and their proposed remedies.  The problems are:

1. 25 percent of the major roadways and nation’s bridges are in poor condition
2. Congested roads, highway and transit systems are overburdened
3. An unacceptably high rate of traffic crashes and fatalities
4. Increasing demand is stressing the transportation system
5. Rising costs for both drivers and highway construction

The first problem is clearly a safety issue and definitely needs our attention as evidenced by the Minnesota bridge collapse.  The second problem leads to many economic headaches and impacts our daily quality of life.  Problem three is confirmed with over 41,000 lives lost on our roads in 2007.  Problem four can be seen in a 23 percent population increase since 1990 and a 41 percent rise in vehicle traffic since 1995.  Finally, the fifth problem estimates that drivers are losing $249 billion each year due to traffic while construction costs have spiked 55 percent in the last 5 years.  This report states that we need to double our current national transportation investment to significantly improve transit.

Well that is incredibly scary, but fortunately the report also includes proposed remedies.  The proposed remedies are:

1. Move ahead with ready-to-go transportation construction projects
2. Putting unemployed workers back on the job
3. Demonstrate that the benefits outweigh the cost of improvements
4. Use the most cost-effective construction techniques and materials
5. Follow a long-range transportation investment strategy

The first remedy requires over $75 billion of additional funding for approximately 6,000 transit projects that are in the pipeline.  The second remedy estimates that every $1 billion invested would result in almost 27,000 jobs.  Remedy three simply states that we just need to show how much we will “save” by spending all of this money.  Remedy four recommends if we work smarter with improved materials we will get better return on our investment.  Finally, the fifth remedy is to plan smarter both now and in the future.

Now is it just me or is there really just one remedy in this list?  If we spend more money, we can fix these problems.  I think this report states the obvious and does not offer any real solutions.  So why have I devoted such a long post to this report?  Because it absolutely backs up all the arguments I have been making for Pay4Rides.  My proposed Passenger Energy solution directly addresses each of the 5 problems without massive spending.

Go ahead and look at my previous posts under the Red category and let me know if you agree:

Traffic - we are heading toward unbearable gridlock
Roads - ease burden on troubled bridges and roads
Mass Transit - limited schedules and routes with no flexibility
Cars - lots of cars cost lots of money
Energy - break our oil addiction

After reading this report, I think the biggest headache is in my own head.  Does anyone have some remedies for that?

In our current economic slow down, there is some good news.  People are driving less which means fewer accidents.  In this article from the Los Angeles Times, they quote Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

One of the few benefits of a bad economy is that you don’t kill as many people in motor vehicle crashes.

According to USA Today, Traffic fatalities on the nation’s roads are down nearly 10% over last year.  This is a huge difference and it means that over 3,000 lives were saved.  In addition, car accidents cost us all financially and a reduction in our driving saves us money.

The number of miles driven during spring and summer declined sharply as a result of high fuel prices.  The Department of Transportation announced that drivers in the USA logged nearly 100 billion fewer miles than in the prior 12-month period.  It is hard to calculate the impact of that many miles, but just think of all the variables:

1. Gasoline saved
2. Decrease of imported oil
3. Reduction in CO2 emissions
4. Less maintenance on our vehicles
5. Diminished wear and tear on our roadways and bridges
6. Drop in tolls paid

In a tough economy, we need to save money wherever we can.  The fact that we also can save lives and gain all of these other benefits just proves the positive effect  that Pay4Rides could have every day.  Are you driving less?  Why?

photo credit: sashafatcat

Hey, watch the road!

Distracted driving is a major contributor to daily automobile crashes in the U.S.  Some studies suggest that distracted driving is becoming as serious as speeding and impaired driving in contributing to accidents.  Adverse road, traffic and weather conditions require a driver’s full attention. 

Many drivers are guilty of using a cell phone, eating, reading and grooming while diverting their attention from the road.  Passenger Energy would allow the driver to fully focus on driving while passengers could engage in other activities.

photo credit: astrocoz

Car Accidents – cost all of us

According to AAA, auto accidents cost over $164 billion each year, or over $1,000 per person.  The costs include medical care, emergency and police services, property damage, lost productivity and quality of life.  Nearly 43,000 people die each year on the nations roadways.

photo credit: tedkerwin 

Some people prefer the term “crash” since the term “accident” suggests an unpredictable, unpreventable event.  There have been many advances to reduce the cause of accidents including improved road design and better car safety standards. 

While these and other ideas are very beneficial, simple reducing the number of cars on the road would make Pay4Rides a very smart choice.

We HATE tolls!

Toll collection is the least efficient and most expensive way to fund a road.  Just think of all the associated costs:

• Toll construction
• Toll collectors salary & benefits
• E-Z Pass systems
• Administration

photo credit: HelveticaFanatic

Toll roads are very inefficient:

• Require vehicles to stop or slow down
• Manual toll collection wastes time and raises vehicle operating costs
• Collection costs can absorb up to third of revenues
• Traffic diversion to “free” roads increases congestion on those roads

Besides the actual cost of the toll, they also greatly contribute to traffic and pollution.  They also increase wear and tear on our cars through the need to brake more often.  Finally, tolls unfairly place the burden of paying for the roads on daily commuters.  Toll increases threaten to make it harder for many lower and middle income earners to afford their daily commute.

If Passenger Energy became successful, a percentage of each transaction could go towards road maintenance and construction and maybe eliminate the need for tolls.