Recently in Transportation Category

I saw this today on the Platentizen blog -

A two-seater hybrid between a segway and a traditional car. In reality, think two segways fused together, add seats and a little weather shield.

See more on Segway's website.

Today, I was planning to pick up a friend on South 1st (an arterial route south from downtown) near Barton Springs when he called telling me to "look out for the beached whale on South 1st". Since Austin, much less South 1st, is 200 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico, yet he told me to trust him and I'd understand later.

Capital Metro, the transit agency for Austin, is gearing up for a launch of the first rail-based mass transit solution in near a century at the end of this month. The line, running from the Austin Convention Center to Leander, will save the sanity of folks who normally drive U.S. 183.

I visited the Plaza Satillo station during an open house and it's... nice. There really isn't much to write home to mom about on this one if you've seen any other light rail station. The train itself is nice, room for six bikes, Wi-Fi enabled, a few "VIP" seats that form into a conference table (no, there's no VIP ticket, first-come, first-serve). I do want to take a round-trip on it and see if I can get any work done while using the conference table. It's like a coffee shop, except no coffee.

I hope people who will actually use the line are receptive to it. Living near Congress/Oltorf means I'll never ride the Red Line (except whatever day I choose to kill a morning riding it and back and forth once), but I'm encouraged at this direction for mass transit in Austin.

Green Line (Manor-Elgin), here we come!

I can't post details yet, but UT's corporate greed to control all aspects of everything on campus is incredibly frustrating.

As a follow-up to my near home arrest, I am now trapped at work. Currently, there is a Nike 10K that is being ran by individuals across the world at the same time. In Austin, the running route has MLK, Guadalupe, Red River and Dean Keeton closed in various forms around campus with through traffic, apparently, not being allowed to cross those streets.

Anyone familiar with the campus area will quickly realize that anyone with a car on campus won't be able to get out until the road closures are ended. I'm at work (on campus) now, but not leaving anytime soon.

I was driving home today on Congress, turning right to a side street, when a person on a skateboard rode out in front of me. I honked and him, and he yelled profanely back that he was at a crosswalk.

For those unaware, it is illegal to ride a skateboard on the sidewalk on Congress Ave between the river and the Capitol, on 6th between 700 East 6th and 1200 West 6th, and on Guadalupe between MLK and 29th street.

I probably shouldn't have honked, but he shouldn't yell at me when he's the one actually illegally.

Today I would like to propose another prayer intention, given the news we receive, especially during this period, of numerous road accidents. We must not get used to this sad reality! Human life is too precious and it is too unworthy of man to meet death or become an invalid due to causes that could mostly be avoided. There is certainly a need for a greater sense of responsibility, above all by drivers, as accidents are often caused by excessive speed and imprudent conduct. Driving on public roads calls for moral and civic sense. Indispensable to fostering this is authorities' constant endeavor to prevent, keep watch and restrict. Moreover, as the Church, we feel directly involved at the ethical level: Christians must above all make a personal examination of conscience on their own conduct as drivers; moreover, communities should educate everyone to consider traffic as a field in which life must be protected and love of neighbor concretely exercised.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Sunday, August 17th during his weekly Angelus reflection

My little Versa, named "Vessie" that replaced "Susie", hit the 10,000-mile mark today. The milestone came a bit earlier than it would, but a trip to El Paso or back last weekend help push it closer.

A car, while being just a pile of nuts, bolts, belts and fluids, does take on a personality unlike most objects in our life. I spent more time in my office, using my computer, in my apartment, or standing in the kitchen trying to figure out what to eat for lunch than I do in my car typically. I ride public transit for work more often than not; so I only use the car for errands, appointments and long-distance traveling. That being said, it has a personality more defined than the rest.

My car is a "she". No particular reason for it; I just think of the car in the feminine. I give her a name, Vessie. Does coaxing her to do something help her, in fact, do something. Of course not, but I feel like we're a team trying to achieve a goal.

Perhaps it is the remains of a coachdriver and his horse. The activity and the goal were the same: to travel from point A to point B. Talking to a horse, however, has a much greater probabilty of doing something to enhance performance.

In either case, here's to the first 10% of my car's life (hopefully, at least).

Capital Metro, the public transit authority for the Austin-area, has a blog entry about training the Austin Police Department's DWI unit to drive a new Breath-Alcohol Testing bus donated to the City by CapMetro.

The simulator is pretty sweet; would love to have a chance to see how hard it would be to drive a bus. I'm hoping there's an open house of the bus as well. I suppose they would drive it to a DWI enforcement zone (i.e. South 1st or South Congress around the time bars close) and test folks inside.

The video from Fox News 7 is below.

One thing I check every week is the City of Austin's website to see what road closures will occur due to special events. Living so close to downtown, the Palmer Event Center and Auditorium Shores, it is very common for something to be going on.

One thing I check every week is the City of Austin's Event Closure Page, listing road closures due to special events.

The week's press release, released yesterday, informed me that South 1st Street between Oltorf and Cesar Chavez will be closed between 7 am and 5 pm on Saturday. That's the street I live on and that's a long time for the street to be closed.

I placed a call to the City's 311 line to ask if this was a complete closure or if there will be a lane open. During the marathon, for example, one southbound lane was open, allowing traffic to make it to Oltorf westbound and back to the normal street system.

As the operator was aware, the street will be closed. Period. She transferred me to Special Events, who basically said she knew the same thing. I asked about the way the marathon had it setup and asked if that wasn't in the works. She wasn't sure and said she would do research, getting back to me later in the day. She asked me exactly what street I lived on so she could help figure out a route if South 1st was completely closed. Yes, my friend, I live on South 1st.

This wouldn't be a big deal except Vanessa and I have an appointment at 10 am and with the 10K's 4-mile point being right at our apartment complex, I highly doubt all of the racers would be passed us by the time we would need to leave.

Let's hope for good news.