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Comments
Gary says, "No parking is provided...""
WRONG:
"The 600-space park-and-ride lot at Tukwila International Boulevard Station was just over half-full by early afternoon."
No light rail system is perfect for EVERYONE under EVERY circumstance.
Just as no ONE vehicle is perfect for EVERYONE under EVERY circumstance.
People will adapt and use it, like they have in virtually every other city in the world which has a light rail system.
Or ... NOT.
Fare box recovery is (in the overwhelming majority of cases) no where NEAR close to covering OPERATING costs. That is probably why most folks REFUSE to even discuss it. You will have an enlightened management if they even DARE to list the fare box recovery dollar amount, let alone the percentages !!! It is even all the more LESS cost effective in that the FED ponies up for again normally a HUGE percentage and volume of the projects... cost. Most if not all projects could not get off the ground except for "matching" Fed funds.
Don't get me wrong I'd be happy to take mass transit for commuting. I'd just like my bill able (per hour) rate for the time I spend in it !! In addition it would be great to get out from under the after tax cost to operate a motor vehicle !!!
A friend of mine says it saves him 30 minutes over taking the bus - and it will prevent the fiasco encountered last winter of buses not running in the snow (but nobody being told, as the public sector doesn't live in the real world).
Seattle Department of Transportation spokesman Rick Sheridan's quote in The Seattle Times ["Would-be rail riders bemoan lack of parking," page one, July 16] is astonishing! He said, "Light rail was meant to be fed by people taking the bus, walking or biking. It was not mean to be fed by cars."
His arrogance has blinded him; light rail is meant to serve the public. It could also serve to reduce freeway congestion. Why on Earth were there not provisions for station parking as part of the plan, other than the typical Seattle "let's do this on the cheap" mentality?
What, no parking?
Sound Transit is unbelievable. It will soon open a 14-mile railroad costing $2.3 billion dollars, about the cost of the more than 50 miles originally sold to taxpayers.
The one thing Sound Transit doesn't offer is parking for people who, because of distance or other concerns, must drive to their stations. For this the city can thank the greenies, including Mayor Greg Nickels, the most self-righteous greenie of them all, to whom cars are anathema.
But perhaps a lack of parking doesn't matter. In a special on the light rail, The Times named the neighborhoods in which stations are located and showed them on a low-detail map but didn't list their addresses or specific locations ["Your guide to light rail," page one, July 12].
Either Sound Transit doesn't want riders -- certainly not those who own cars -- or they expect potential riders to meander about in search of a station.
Parking limitations will only destroy ridership
Only in Seattle would the butt-headed arrogance of city planners be allowed to sabotage a major, regional transit effort. In the words of the Seattle Department of Transportation, "Light rail was meant to be fed by people taking the bus, walking or biking."
The message for those who don't live near a feeder bus line, or are unable to walk or bike due to age, infirmity or just being out of shape, is: "You are out of luck. You can help pay for the light-rail line, but Seattle is going to discourage you from using it."
This attitude will lead to a catastrophic loss of ridership on the rail line and lack of support for future regional transit improvements. How many people would be riding the bus into downtown Seattle without local and regional park-and-ride lots? It is a proven method of getting people to use mass transit.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestvoices/2009491146_light_rail_park- ing_noise_whine.html
And I was not WRONG when I posted the article which stated the 600-car "Park and Ride" station along the Seattle light rail route.
You said "no parking" and THAT'S what was WRONG.
At a cost of about $32 million per mile the mind simply boggles !! Taxpayers fleeced again....but quite a few insiders certainly got rich !
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
But during the weekend Phoenix launched its light rail train in January, 150,000 packed the trains.
Seattle's line is shorter with 12 stops compared to Phoenix's 28. Phoenix built eight park-and-ride lots. Seattle built just one.
Sound Transit expects to have 26,000 daily riders by the end of the years. Phoenix already averages 33,000 daily riders.
Just to keep things in perspective here. With 26,000 paid riders per day Seattle will generate about $52,000 per day. That is about $19,000,000 per year revenue. The interest alone at 4% on $2.3 billion is about $92 million per year. Unless the pilots, mechanics, maintenance, managers etc are all volunteer the revenue generated will not even pay salaries. Not to mention the millions in electricity those things use.
It is not hard to see why cities, states and the Feds are all going broke. Now we may be even further burdened by Cap n Trade. Makes a guy want to move to someplace sane like Costa Rica. No wonder so many US retirees are bailing out of the country.
Not only that, but you can drive across the whole country in about 5 hours. If you want any excitement, you have to drive up by the Nicaraguan border and see how lost you can get. :P
Coming from Kansas:
Another good example of increasing temperatures.
I doubt that. I am a scientist. I work with scientists & engineers on a daily basis and have been for over 20 years. Your observations don't even come close to my observations. Your only interest appears to be demonizing these people.
"I can tell you they spend more time writing their grant papers than doing legitimate research."
Did you shadow this people and keep a log of what they did? I think it is pretty clear you did not like the scientists you ran into while in the arctic. Now you are carrying that into the GCC debate.
"From Stimulus that has done nothing to Healthcare that will drain our empty coffers. "
This comment has nothing to do with GCC or GW. You are clearly stating a political agenda that is best discussed in another blog.
You say you love this country, yet you cannot admit that maybe GCC is a long term threat to this country and the world.
If you are indeed a "scientist" , I think I can see where our problem is !
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
On the contrary. Many would visit our room in the evening as we were one of the few companies with no alcohol policy. I had the best stocked bar on the whole North Slope of Alaska. Scientists and pilots were our most frequent guests. Very enlightening. Most were studying wildlife such as bears and whales. Up until I retired in 2006 I cannot remember more than a few times they even mentioned GW or CC. We entertained the people doing the ice core samples. In fact they stored them in our cold storage building until they shipped them out. NOAA pilots were there a lot in the 1980s & early 1990s. Dozens of students doing research during the summer from all over the USA. The only people that were gungho GW were the bunch from GreenPeace that ended up under arrest for trespassing on BP lease land. I doubt there was a scientist in the pack of them. Just trouble makers. They got no drinks from us.
Did you shadow this people and keep a log of what they did?
No, but when you spend evenings drinking with them you hear their complaints about funding. Though most were paid by BP via different Universities. The Whale watchers that I got to know very well as they returned every year and needed communications, were all paid by grants from Sam. It was the worker bee scientist that were not very complimentary concerning the head scientist that rarely did squat while they were out freezing their butts off. One lived in San Diego and I dated her a few times back in the 1980s. She ended up going to work for SeaWorld at double the salary and no freezing weather.
Coolest July 21 recorded in Nashville as cool wave continues in Tenn.
7:59 AM CDT, July 21, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Cool weather has broken a previous low temperature for July 21 in Nashville that was set when Rutherford B. Hayes was president.
When the temperature at the National Weather Service station dipped to 58 degrees at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, it wiped out the previous record low for the date of 60 degrees, which was set in 1877.
NWS forecaster Bobby Boyd noted it was the third consecutive morning when Nashville either tied or broke a daily low temperature record.
The warmer the water off our coast the better. When that happens we get lots of Ahi coming up our way. And the water gets warm enough to swim in. Most of the summer it is way too cold for me to go in.
No Relief in Sight
Updated 7:15 AM PDT, Wed, Jul 22, 2009
Related Topics: Weather | National Weather Service
Get used to the triple-digit temperatures.
The Southland once again will bake under sizzling temperatures Wednesday, with the region's heat wave showing no clear sign of dissipating. The National Weather Service forecast highs in the low 100s in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, San Gabriel and Pomona valleys and the mountains of Los Angeles County, other than the Santa Monica range.
Because the humidity level -- now at the 20-30 percent level -- is expected to make the heat particularly uncomfortable in the mountains, an excessive heat warning will be in effect for mountain areas until at least 8 p.m.
"The combination of temperature and humidity will create dangerously hot conditions, with heat index values climbing to 100 degrees or more" in mountain regions, according to an NWS advisory.
The heat index is a measure of discomfort based on humidity and heat, which could peak at 105 in mountain areas Wednesday, forecasters said.
The Antelope Valley is expected to experience highs of 108. On Tuesday, the mercury climbed to 107 in Lancaster, setting a record for a July 21, besting the one set in 2006, when the temperature in the city reached 106.
How much longer the heat wave will last was not certain Wednesday morning as meteorologists struggled to forecast the departure of a strong upper-level high-pressure system that has been parked over the West for several days.
One computer model indicates that it will push eastward starting Monday or Tuesday, but another one shows the system staying put, said meteorologist Jamie Meyer in a telephone interview from the NWS office in Oxnard.
In any event, we will not see "a whole lot of change anytime soon," she said.
By the way our normal for yesterday is 91 degrees. It made it to 96 degrees and the record set in 2006 is 111 degrees. So man must be doing something right to drop us from the records set in 2006 by 15 degrees.
It's called a "pattern" which is a word I think you have heard of.
The "pattern" is undeniably on the "warmer" side in the last 30 years.
“As temperatures get warmer, there’s potential for more violent swings of the NAO — the phases becoming even more positive and even more negative,” Hughen added. “If the NAO locks more into these patterns, intense storms will become more intense and droughts will become more severe.”
NAO is North Atlantic Oscillation, not temp, but it's an example of how global warming can swing things back and forth.
Swings In North Atlantic Oscillation Variability Linked To Climate Warming (Science Daily)
This one is related more to temperatures:
Springtime Temperature Swings Attack Northeastern Forests (Science Blog)
Being a good citizen and not wasting is both beneficial to all and a cost saving to the individual. The bottom line is what comfort level we are willing to live with. I am not going to live in a cave so jerks like Al Gore can live like a king.
Even with the temps hovering in the high 90s I rarely turn on the AC. Only when the house gets unbearable at about 83-84 degrees. Then I just cool to 80 and it feels fine.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Now, some officials are confident the treaty can be employed to fight climate change, as well, by reducing the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The move is controversial, as HFCs do not harm ozone and are widely used as a safer substitute for chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs), with the protocol mentioning HFCs as an attractive alternative coolant.
HFC use is already loosely regulated under existing climate-change conventions. Though much less of a contributor to global warming than carbon dioxide, HFCs are known to have a heat-trapping effect thousands of times more powerful than CO2, and their climate impact is expected to grow as developing nations turn to HFCs for air conditioning and refrigeration.
Are we going back to CFCs? All you blue states start digging caves, that is an order from King Barry.
So are you ready for the SAME ratios?
So now you know what markets the Big 4 REALLY are getting ready for.
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2009/07/23/news/local/190425.txt
Big thumbs up for the bill. Save the world and help farmers at the same time. This bill is a slam dunk.
The key point of the study is that horsepower has become excessive in cars. Limiting hp to about 20 pounds/hp would increase mpg, reduce CO2 and still give people reasonable performance. We somehow survived in the 80s without a bazillion hp in our vehicles.
One of the greatest green washing stories of the year is Ford calling the 350 hp engine in the SHO, Eco.
Come to think of it, we also survived driving 55 mph. Driving 55 wouldn't really "gum up everyone's schedule". Think cellphone. :shades:
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/20/study-raising-national-speed-limit-has-result- ed-in-12-500-death/
http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1020822_so-what-will-those-42-mpg-c- ars-actually-look-like-hint-not-golf-carts
Utility bills are already killing US. With the proposed Climate Bill they will go up another 50%. You really don't think the coal fired generator companies will absorb those costs. The cost of electricity raises the price of water and sewer bills in most places. I am already deciding which fruit trees to destroy as we are mandated to use less water. What will that do for CO2 in this country? Not to mention the price of citrus and avocados with 10% reduction in water.
You are looking at this through a very narrow lens. MM/CC is a theory. A theory that has cost US $billions already and will be a big part of the downfall of this country.
I would have started using half as much fuel a decade ago if anything was offered to fill my needs. You can thank the eco terrrorist running EPA and CARB along with protectionist tariffs.
Washington, DC 7/22/2009 09:12 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)
The US Government has spent more than $79 billion of taxpayers’ money since 1989 on policies related to climate change, including science and technology research, administration, propaganda campaigns, foreign aid, and tax breaks. Most of this spending was unnecessary.
Despite the billions wasted, audits of the science are left to unpaid volunteers. A dedicated but largely uncoordinated grassroots movement of scientists has sprung up around the globe to test the integrity of “global warming” theory and to compete with a lavishly-funded, highly-organized climate monopsony. Major errors have been exposed again and again.
Carbon trading worldwide reached $126 billion in 2008. Banks, which profit most, are calling for more. Experts are predicting the carbon market will reach $2 - $10 trillion in the near future. Hot air will soon be the largest single commodity traded on global exchanges.
Meanwhile, in a distracting sideshow, Exxon-Mobil Corp is repeatedly attacked for paying just $23 million to skeptics—less than a thousandth of what the US government spends on alarmists, and less than one five-thousandth of the value of carbon trading in 2008 alone.
The large expenditure designed to prove the non-existent connection between carbon and climate has created a powerful alliance of self-serving vested interests.
Sorry to spill the beans on those that have profited from the scam.
My monthly electric bill in 5 years including lease payment will be about $84. In 10 years, it will be $93. In 15 years, it will be $103.
My total initial cost outlay to install the system? $1,386. One Thousand, Three Hundred, Eighty-Six dollars and a lot of common sense.
So if I ever buy an EV, I can power it myself using my roof.
Ah-Cha...........:)
But the truth is that would take the profit % out of the on going scams.
It is almost getting ludicrous, how things such as: cell phones, 24/7 electrical draw phones, batteries, TV's, computers obsolete the day you literally buy them, sound systems lights, computers to operate things that don't really NEED a computer to operate things, are being labeled "GREEN. "
Very hopeful thought, but I doubt that will be happening anytime in the immediately foreseen future.
Will be nice to have a solar breakthrough like that, but I don't see it on the horizon.
Maybe 10-15-20 years?
If you proceed it will be great if you keep us posted on the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hopefully it will be mostly good and we can get some first hand info.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Will be nice to have a solar breakthrough like that, but I don't see it on the horizon.
Maybe 10-15-20 years? "...
The upshot:
Despite all the bru ha ha, it is not worth anywhere NEAR the COST EFFECTIVENESS to the power companies. It is also nothing NEAR the C02 reduction as they and the environmentalists they are in bed with (so to speak) CLAIM.
Right now despite the so called "shaming" of (for example) The City of Cupertino, CA and the so called precedence it might engender, the cost is still app 30,000 dollars. So at the current usage with a price of .11 cents or so KWH, it will take me 556 months (aka 46.3 years) to B/E and that is being optimistic.
The AP shows an image of a Chevrolet Suburban with a FlexFuel badge and says in the caption that it "idled on the street as he spoke at an event" on July 21. The AP listed several occasions when the mayor's Suburbans, which use E85 ethanol-blend fuel, were left to idle on Manhattan streets while he attended meetings or other events.
Al Gore is guilty also. Recently reported that his limo was parked idling outside a venue he was giving a speech. Man Made Climate Change and or GW is a scam and these guys all know it.
At least NYC can rest easy with the coming ice age will keep the waters from rising. :confuse:
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
444 AM EDT FRI JUL 24 2009
...UNUSUALLY COOL JULY FOR CENTRAL PARK...
FOR SOME PERSPECTIVE...HERE ARE THE TOP TEN COOLEST JULYS ON RECORD
SINCE 1869 FOR CENTRAL PARK IN NEW YORK CITY:
COOLEST
AVG. TEMP. YEAR
70.7 1888
71.9 1884
72.1 1914
72.3 2000/1871
72.4 1891
72.6 1895
72.8 1902/1869
72.9 1956
73.1 1890
73.2 2001
DUE TO THE UNUSUALLY COOL CONDITIONS THUS FAR IN JULY...HERE ARE
SOME INTERESTING FACTS TO NOTE...
WITH AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE OF 71.6...CURRENTLY RUNNING 4.7
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...THIS JULY IS ON TRACK FOR THE 2ND COOLEST
ON RECORD. BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES HAVE OCCURRED ON 21 OUT OF
23 DAYS...WITH THE OTHER TWO DAYS BEING NORMAL. THERE HAVE BEEN
ZERO ABOVE NORMAL DAYS.
I take it the drill is to not let on to them that we are onto what they are onto.
But y'all knew that.
By the time the security unit gets done with it, what with that lift kit, bulletproof windows and extra steel in the body, it'll probably get 8 mpg.
Twice as much as the Suburban in other words.