Senate passes energy bill, boosting mileage standards – CNN.com

I don’t particularly agree with the ethanol side of the bill, but the improved gas mileage is nothing to sneeze at, since it applies to the worse offenders (SUVs and trucks). I hope that the ethanol requirements lead to some momentum toward better sources than field corn, which is energy-hungry to produce and incredibly hard on the land.

The bill’s provisions require half of the new cars be capable of running on 85 percent ethanol or biodiesel fuels by 2015. It’ll be interesting to see if this precipitates a major shift by manufacturers toward diesel engines running biodiesel as a quicker & easier way to conform to the standards. A majority of European cars use diesel engines, and increasingly efficient engines, thanks to ever-stronger standards there. I know of a German family who just sold their ~6 year-old VW van because the emissions fee for it was increasing 8x for next year. It seems natural that VW and others will take the lead on this in the US market. Despite the big push for ethanol, diesel engines already have the edge on efficiency the only real knock is the particulate emissions. With this sort of incentive though, the soot emissions problem with diesels is sure to get some quick attention.

Metro Transit – Commuter Challenge

Metro Transit has a new challenge going to encourage people to take the bus or train, carpool, bike or walk. Ok, it’s a pretty good thing to encourage people to try transit options other than driving their car. And it’s nice that there are prizes to encourage people to give it a try. But what are they saying with these prizes? Let’s take a look:

iPods (4)
Bicycles (6)
6 megapixel digital cameras (2)

Listen to music, ride your bike, take pictures. Good stuff. Next?

Salon gift certificates (3)
Mall of America gift cards (3)
31-day transit pass

Reward your effort with a little pampering, bike or take the train to the Sprawl next time. OK. Next?

$75 in gas
Grand Prize A flat-screen TV (an $800 value)

That trip on the bus sure was an experience, eh? Now go burn some gas. And go back to sitting on the couch.

Six bikes is a good thing, and iPods and cameras make fine prizes. But perhaps more of the prizes could encourage further alternate transit use. How about making some of the bikes folding bikes, and promote that they can be taken along on the train? Make the grand prize a nice Breezer Uptown 8. How about 6 months free bike locker rental? Even non-bike related, how about sports tickets to venues on train & bus lines? Restaurant gift certificates for places on transitways. Something. Sheesh, already.

I LIKE that the trains are using wind and solar power, and that the busses are using some biodiesel. I’m really looking forward to having a train line nearby. But let’s get the message straight, eh?

Ken Livingston, current Mayor of London who has a plan to make London the greenest city in Europe, recently had this to say about SUV drivers there: “Buying a gas-guzzing 4×4 vehicle is an individual choice, but it creates carbon emissions that contribute to global warming and harm everyone. It should be no more socially acceptable than to claim the right to dump rubbish in the street.”

One large part of the London plan to reduce traffic and pollution is the congestion charge that is applied to people who want to drive within the downtown area. A proposed revision to that charge would create an additional higher charge to drivers of larger vehicles (SUVs). Here’s a link to the complete plan on the city of London website.

I don’t think such a congestion charge would work well here simply because of the sprawling geography, but it’s an interesting idea. We do have something of that beginning with the for-pay express lanes on 394, but that only applies to single-vehicle occupants, and i don’t know how many people buy passes for that toll lane.

Another option, of course, is to change the major highways into toll roads such as in Chicago. Again though, Mpls-St. Paul is too sprawling a city to manage that, and likely a good chunk of traffic would divert to major city streets instead, just moving the problem to everyone’s front yard and creating still more sprawl from those trying to escape the mess.

Taxing the roads is the wrong approach though, and i think London is on the right track; they’re making it part of an overall plan to reduce carbon emissions in an effort to fight the source of global warming. As part of this effort, it makes sense to go after the low-hanging fruit of SUVs and other sources of energy waste. Since a congestion charge is impractical, how about changing the structure of the vehicle tax to base it on the efficiency rather than the selling price of the car? Use the money to pay for programs such as low-cost loans for homeowners to properly insulate older homes.

Here’s another nice idea: post weight limits on residential streets.

Summary: a very sad story of a cyclist killed by a distracted teenage driver. The cyclist was on the edge of the road, yet was hit with the *driver’s* side of the car while the driver downloaded cell phone ringtones. This was the driver’s third offense for poor driving habits. Both the judge and victim’s family expressed regret that the law didn’t provide for more serious sentencing.

One idea posted in the subsequent comments suggested that the sentence include riding a bicycle for a period of time. While I strongly disagree with the idea that cycling should ever be made into a punishment, there is some serious merit with the idea of requiring an offender to cycle a mile in the victim’s shoes.

Cyclists are in a good position to get an objective view of the full range of driving habits, moreso than even pedestrians because cyclists are not just crossing traffic, they’re part of the main flow. It doesn’t take very many days of cycling in the city to start thinking that a great many of common poor driving habits would be eliminated if everyone would just spend a week cycling (or walking even) everywhere they needed to go. I’d even allow for bike/bus or bike/train usage, as long as the bike was the primary vehicle.

It’s not just the enhanced perspective, it’s the overall relaxation and slower life pace that would make this a valuable exercise. When people only drive a car, and do it every day, they get desensitized to their environment and their speed. With car windows up and stereo on there’s little input from their surroundings, so other cars and pedestrians become obstacles to the driver’s errands.

Since riding my bike the vast majority of my work and household commutes for the past 3 years, i’ve found that when I do drive around town i drive like the proverbial old man, and i’m glad for it. It’s not just getting older or having kids, i really think it’s that 1) i’m not as comfortable driving fast, and 2) i’m much more aware that i’m driving with a stream of people, not a stream of faceless cars.

I actually look at the people driving near me more now, especially at intersections. It’s interesting to see not just what people are doing in addition to driving, but to see their expressions, their mood. It also seems to freak a lot of people out, like i’m invading their home or something. People don’t like to think their in public when they’re driving their car, but here’s the thing: they are.

An interesting take on bike/car relations. A yellow magnetic card with this text on it:

“This magnet was tossed onto your car by a cyclist who felt that you might have been driving in a way that could have endangered their life.

They chose to toss this magnetic note because it can neither damage your automobile, nor affix itself to rubber or glass and will therefore not affect your driving. It serves to warn you.

With thoughtful contemplation and reverence for humanity, we can adjust our behavior to allow for all people to live life.

This is a yellow card, let’s please not let things get to Red.”

How would the driver feel? What are the odds they would spend any time thinking about it?

An interesting report and analysis of bicycling deaths in the Seattle area. I point to it also because it supports some of my own feelings on bike safety; ride predictably, wear a helmet and be visible.

Stay safe out there.