In the magazine of the San Francisco AIA, two transportation consultants deconstruct the top ten myths about parking. Worth reading, but here are the top ten myths:

Myth 1: Successful cities have abundant parking.

Myth 2: It’s difficult to find parking in the neighborhood. We need to build more.

Myth 3: Free parking--the 28th Amendment.

Myth 4: All motorists are created equal.

Myth 5: Even in the Bay Area, people don’t like to walk. Parking needs to be right outside the front door.

Myth 6: Having fewer parking spaces means that people will just drive around looking for a space.

Myth 7: Parking ratios can be easily looked up in a manual.

Myth 8: All households, even low-income ones, need parking.

Myth 9: Fewer parking spaces would be fine, if only we had decent transit.

Myth 10: Parking isn’t just unglamorous, it’s unimportant.

Posted by Chris at 02:19 PM in Transportation | Comments (1)

Wired magazine has a good article on the latest thinking in traffic engineering: build roads that seem dangerous and they'll actually be safer. Think of it this way: the less contextual cues and more direct signage and markings you used to direct traffic, the less drivers will think about their choices and actions when they drive. Use less signage and require drivers to slow down just a bit and read the context of the situation and they will drive more intelligently and carefully. Experiments and studies so far have shown this to be true.

Most of the work and implementation in this area has gone on in Europe, but many people in the US are taking notice. Think of how many intersections or situations in the US you have driven through where you have gone into road sign and road marking overload - in many places putting in more signs just adds to the confusion and decreases safety.

Posted by Chris at 10:12 PM in Transportation | Comments (0)

The MTA is proposing a bunch of new rules, including a couple of stupid ones: a ban on photos anywhere in the subway and transit system, and a ban on changing between subway cars while the train is in motion. Go and submit your comments and tell them how dumb these ideas are (MTA wide - MTA wide general - Rules Of Conduct Comment).

Response
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Concerned MTA Customer:

Thank you for providing us with your opinion on the proposed changes to
the New York City Transit and Staten Island Railway Rules of Conduct.

In accordance with the rule-making procedures required under the State
Administrative Procedure Act, public comments on the proposed rules are
accepted during a 45-day period that begins when a notice of proposed
rulemaking is published in the New York State Register - the official
publication of the New York State Department of State.

The official 45 day comment period has commenced as of November 24,
2004. All comments submitted prior to and during the 45 day comment period
will be made part of the record and fully considered before any further
action is taken by the MTA Board.

Again, thank you for sharing your views
Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Customer (Chris Andrichak) - 12/09/2004 07:34 PM
I am against the ban against photos in the subway system and on other
MTA properties.
- I think it is unenforceable
- the New York City subway system is famous and gets millions of
tourists a year, many of which want to take pictures. The subway system
itself is an attraction for people and creating a climate of fear of
punishment will not help this city or the MTA economically or socially
- designating certain types and parts of structures Security sensitive
and enabling employees and police to use their judgment in not allowing
photos would be much more constructive and much more proactive and
enabling for your employees

I am also against the ban on moving between subway cars
- there are often situations where a person could feel uncomfortable
because of someone else, or something else in the car that they are in
and would need to move to another car while the train is in motion
- frequently crowded subway cars make it quite useful to move to
another car
- this rule is also quite unenforceable

Posted by Chris at 02:59 PM in Transportation | Comments (0)

Those inventive folks at Google have come up with another cool application: Google SMS. Query something (pizza 10013) from your cell phone and it returns short appropriate text answers.

They recently came out with Google Scholar and have Google Groups also. I wonder what they will come up with next.

Posted by Chris at 11:22 AM in Computing | Comments (0)

The Register reports on a new European study that having computers at home and at school do not necessarily contribute to kids learning abilities or achievement:

"... Bivariate analyses show a positive correlation between student achievement and the availability of computers both at home and at schools. However, once we control extensively for family background and school characteristics, the relationship gets negative for home computers and insignificant for school computers. Thus, the mere availability of computers at home seems to distract students from effective learning. But measures of computer use for education and communication at home show a positive conditional relationship with student achievement..."

Lesson: Computers are just tools, and really like anything else they can assist or detract from a proper education.

Posted by Chris at 08:27 PM in Computing | Comments (0)

Look! Just in time for the holidays: Wal-Mart Announces Massive Rollback On Employee Wages

Posted by Chris at 12:47 PM in Random | Comments (0)

President Bush has made reform of the Social Security system a priority of his second term. Articles and speculation about legislation and outcomes are starting to appear, even though the president has not yet seen the recommendations of his special committee. Confused about the basic concepts and ideas? This Associated Press article is a really good question-answer, non-partisan explanation of some of the ideas being talked about right now.

Posted by Chris at 04:11 PM in Economy, Politics | Comments (0)

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article on the decline in drivers license registrations among teenagers. This trend also goes beyond the growing popularity in graduated licensing systems that states such as California are starting to adopt.
"As high schools cut driver's education, fewer teens are getting behind the wheel. Nerves and costly private lessons also factor in the trend."

Posted by Chris at 11:48 AM in Transportation | Comments (0)

The perils of being a pedestrian. John Kelly's column in the Washington Post contains quite a good idea: being a pedestrian is definitely not 'pedestrian', how about a name change, something like 'American Heroes' of the crosswalk?

Posted by Chris at 11:11 AM in Transportation | Comments (0)

A fun Negativland re-spin on the Apple Special Edition U2 iPod for sale on eBay. Extra profit above the costs goes to downhill battle.

Posted by Chris at 12:01 PM in Music | Comments (0)