Category: Transportation Operations

  • I Learned a New Acronym Today

    On Friday, I had the chance (because of my TPAC alumni status) to sit in on a class given for local transportation managers. The new acronym I learned was TSM&O (pronounce that “tismo”). It stands for Transportation Systems Management and Operations. The general idea is to take a more integrated look at the transportation system,…

  • Hey, it Could Have Been Worse

    I got a kick out of the article in yesterday’s O about a spat between the parking folks at PDOT and the vendor who manages all those paystations downtown. Apparently some (percentage TBD) of the machines accepted money on Monday, which was a holiday with no parking enforcement. While I quite agree that the City…

  • Bikes Play Key Role in New York Transit Strike Response

    Vancouver bike advocate Todd Boulanger passes along some notes on how bikes are playing a role in getting commuters in and out of New York City this week. While the official transit strike information site offers little in the way of info for cyclists, Transportation Alternatives (NY’s answer to the BTA?) has a comprehensive information…

  • Maximizing the Value of Carsharing

    Yesterday’s Willamette Week features an article about the cities (including Portland) and state agencies converting the motorpools to use carsharing companies like Flexcar. Clearly this is a good deal for the governments, they are saving real dollars on the vehicle costs. And presumably it’s good business for Flexcar. But why is it good for transportation…

  • It all started on the bus

    When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man 50 years ago, her courage gave face to a movement that would forever change our society and institutions. Her heroic act on Dec. 1, 1955 sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and for 381 days blacks, who made up the majority of…