Gentleman Agitator

THE ATMOSPHERIC GREMLINS STRIKE AGAIN: Clear Air Turbulence Strikes Air Canada A319

    As reported by the Toronto Globe and Mail,on January 11, 2008, an Air Canada, Airbus A319 from Victoria, British Columbia to Toronto, Ontario had to make an unscheduled stop in Calgary, Alberta, the previous day, due to a few moments where it encountered a pocket of undetectable turbulence in flight. Ten people were taken to the hospital, but none with life threatening injuries. Here is a Canadian video report. This incident is what is known as "Clear Air Turbulence".
    NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, at Edwards Air Force Base in California has been one of the leading research institutions looking into these phenomena along with NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. They describe it this way:
“Atmospheric turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries experienced by the flying public, and can result in death in extreme situations.
    Turbulence is often associated with visible storm systems. In these situations, the turbulent conditions can be observed by radar and the aircraft can avoid the dangerous region. Not so with clear-air turbulence, a condition occurring at cruise altitudes that has few if any visible warning signs for even the most conscientious pilots.
    Clear air turbulence is often found on the outskirts of thunderstorms, up to 50 miles away from the actual storm activity. It also occurs near the boundaries of high altitude air currents called jet streams and in the vicinity of mountain ranges and surface weather fronts. There are currently no effective systems to warn flight crews that they are approaching clear air turbulence. One of the only ways that commercial or other aircraft can avoid encounters is to heed recent pilot reports of turbulence and if possible, avoid the hazardous region of the atmosphere.
    Additional work in the turbulence research program is under way to improve understanding of the clear air turbulence phenomena and thereby improve the quality of turbulence forecasting.”
    For almost ten years, NASA has been working to devise a system by which aircraft can detect these atmospheric gremlins before they send passengers tumbling around the cabin like the recent Air Canada incident. Working with various test beds that have included a 1960’s era Lockheed Electra prop-jet, a DC-8 jetliner and a Boeing 757 jetliner, NASA researchers and others from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado have looked at a couple of different methods involving hardware, software and laser pulses to detect the rough air pockets. (Animation of how the laser system works)
    Size of the hardware and cost of the system are still factors that might hinder airlines from adopting it. It would not be the first time the airlines passed on a NASA developed device that could increase air safety. NASA Dryden helped to devise a system that could fly a plane by engine thrust only in the mid-1990s using an MD-11 aircraft as a test bed. This would allow a plane that loses use of the wings, rudder or flaps, such as the famous United Flight 232 in 1989, the ability to land safely. While not great in size the airlines claimed the cost of installation was too great for their large fleets and the likelihood of another such incident was minimal. What is the cost of safety though? Air travel is incredibly safe, but why not make it safer?
    Until the airlines decide whether to buy into being able to avoid the turbulence gremlins, I suggest you keep your seat belt fasten. Bashing your head into the light and air vent panel above you could lead to serious injury. Look for hand holds below the overhead bins to hang onto, if you have to walk about the cabin. If you are walking about the cabin, more than likely, you are on the way to the lavatory. There is usually one handle in the lavatory near the door. However, in there, a big bump could cause a nasty case of blue butt, even if you hang on. If you have ever looked into one of those toilet bowls, you will know what I mean.

For more information on NASA’s research in the area of Clear Air Turbulence, go to:

NASA (ACLAIM) PROJECT RESEARCH

TIMELY WARNINGS OF TURBULENCE AHEAD

A Status Report on Turbulence Warning Technology

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Put the “Keep Delta, My Delta” Buttons Away

There is a new threat to Delta Air Lines, "Pardus Capital Management, LLC. I am sure if you are an airline industry watcher like I am, a Delta Air Lines supporter like I am or that you are an air traveler, that you have heard that pot stirring coming from a letter from Pardus to Delta executives. Pardus declaring how “imperative” it is that Delta merge with another carrier and that United would be the “most attractive and practical combination.” Uh, that would be the most attractive and practical? That shows how much Pardus know about the airline industry. Perhaps they just mean attractive and practical for them.
    It was only last year that Delta was fighting off a marriage proposal of an unwanted suitor in US Airways. That rumpled suit with wilting flowers showed up at the door trying to create a low cost Frankenairline of a carrier that would have kept the name Delta. I wrote two articles on that subject last year, DELTAFLOT: BLUEPRINT FOR A FRANKENAIRLINE: Part 1 and Part 2.
    Now, we have an outside matchmaker trying to scare Delta to merge with United. Who exactly is Pardus to tell Delta and United what to do? Pardus has a puny 2.6 and 4.8 percent of stake in each company. Who is Pardus anyway?
    Pardus is a hedge fund group. A hedge fund is defined by a CNN online article on understanding financial terms as: A private investment fund that uses high risk techniques such as short selling and derivatives to achieve a higher return. Maligned in some quarters because of the perception that some hedge funds have so much leverage their activities can be detrimental to the global financial system.
    In doing a little research about Pardus, read of them being or having been connected to the Lear Corporation. Lear is one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive interior systems and components. More importantly, I saw that the majority stakeholder in the Lear Corporation is none other than a name that strikes revulsion and fear in the hearts of many former and present airline employees. It is none other than that notorious destroyer of airlines in the 1980s, Carl Icahn. If Pardus and Icahn have any connections, look out Delta and United. I have no evidence of this, I just found it interesting that they were both hedge fund movers with investments in a sector with Lear and another auto parts company Visteon. 
    Icahn is also mentioned in a February 2006 article at Business Week.com. entitled: “Attack Of The Hungry Hedge Funds.” I used to think that hedge funds were helping to prop up ailing American companies, but now… The article reads, “To hike stock prices, they're banding together to force changes on companies. Activist hedge funds had a banner day on Feb. 7. Before the stock market opened, General Motors Corp. (GM ) finally succumbed to months of pressure from billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and his Tracinda Corp. investment fund by slashing its dividend, cutting executive pay, and naming a Kerkorian adviser to the board. In the afternoon, an adviser to billionaire hedge fund manager Carl Icahn issued a 343-page paper detailing how to break up Time Warner Inc. (TWX ) and release about $40 billion in shareholder value.  Boosting share prices rather than taking over underperforming companies is the name of the game, and any strategy to achieve that seems fair play…
…In fact, the new strategies mean that such corporate battles are now year-round affairs. At any moment, an activist fund can take a position in a target company and quickly start agitating for change. The first move is often a salty open letter to management. When Icahn, who manages various Icahn Partners funds, wrote to Time Warner shareholders on Oct. 11, he let fly. "Unless this legacy of poor decision-making is fully recognized and the board is held accountable, the dismal record of mistakes and inaction will continue to the detriment of shareholders," he wrote. It was the official opening salvo in the war for the future of the company…” Gee, where have I heard of this scenario in the last couple of days?
    So, it is back to the 1980s eh? Cue Gordon Gecko, “Greed is good.” Some speculation is that moves like this are in fear of a Democrat in the White House and a new administration not as amenable to big mergers. So, get while the gettin’ is good, is that it?  You just scare investors, management, employees and travelers of airlines into consolidation and pick up a quick buck.  Oh, that cry of consolidation. One symptom of a lot of the run away capitalism we have in this world is by those that unless companies merge in an industry that it will all collapse. That and the absurd notion that some have that consolidation of the airline industry would bring more competition. No, it would only bring monopolies. That is not a free market economy.
    For now we will just have to believe the statements of Delta and United reported in the New York Times:    
    “We appreciate receiving Pardus’s views on the best course for Delta’s future,” Mr. Anderson (Delta’s CEO Richard H. Anderson) said in the statement. “We have been consistent in our public statements that Delta believes that the right consolidation transaction could generate significant value for our shareholders and employees.”
    United’s spokeswoman, Jean Medina, said: "We do not respond to wholly inaccurate statements made by people who claim to have knowledge when they clearly do not."
    Just in case, as a loyal customer of Delta and supporter of the company and its employees I will keep my “Keep Delta, My Delta” button at the ready. I will be ready to brandish it again and agitate for a free and independent Delta Air Lines.    

Alternative Transportation and Greenways Plan, Bloomington, Indiana, SAC Member Report

    Recently, I had the pleasure of being a member of a city committee here in Bloomington, Indiana that is looking at updating our Alternative Transportation and Greenways Plan. Here is my report on the work of the committee:

ATGSP SAC Member Report, by Tim Miller

    The city of Bloomington has done a good job in providing its citizens with opportunities for alternate transportation and recreational travel via the Alternative Transportation and Greenways Plan. While the original ATGSP was a good starting point, using it as a living document that changes and grows over time is essential in meeting the needs of the community. While I am a member of B-TOP, the positions I am taking in this report represent only my opinions on the ATGSP.
    As a member of the committee, I was asked to come up with short, mid and long-term priorities concerning the ATGSP. I would have preferred that we were asked priorities in terms of low, medium and high. It was also difficult for me to have time to cover every proposal in the list of recommendations for review, even in my own area of the city.
Instead, I offer a report that looks at the whole of the city and my interpretation of how the ATGSP should be laid out in its next iteration. 
Choosing transportation other than the automobile can be a risky choice in any urban area today and Bloomington is no exception. As a member of the ATGSP In trying to lie out ATGSP goals in the method asked for, I would put them this way:
    Short-term goals in general should include making sure all present sidewalks, paths and trails for the pedestrian where one part is missing a connection to another part are completed. In addition, wherever a connection crosses a street with motor vehicle traffic, there must be adequate safety street markings and signage. This is true close to where I live at the Clear Creek trail head on Country Club near Walnut. The bridge and side path on the north side are great, but it is a game of chicken with cars at times to cross the road to access the trail again or try to approach it from east or west on the south side. There are also no signs that it is a trail crossing and no pedestrian crossing lines on the road. Given the high traffic usage of this road I would make this a short-term, high priority goal. With the added improvements, this location would make this spot a great example of the ATGSP plan at its best. The bridge and side path on the north side is great. I am all for improving pedestrian options whether by sidewalk, connector path, sidepath, or multi-use trail across the city, I especially like sidepaths and would encourage their implement in the recommendations. These seem to be the most cost-effective in development and being wider than an ordinary sidewalk off the widest possible use.
    Mid-term goals should continue improvement in options for cyclists and pedestrians.
As this community has many cyclists, it is important to create alternatives for their improved access and safety. The use of sharrows in the downtown area is a step forward for cyclist’s accessibility issues. I recommend short-term into mid-term the further use of sharrows around the city on main thoroughfares. In addition, in the mid-term, I would recommend the further extension and improvement of bike routes. I feel that signage for bike routes both on the road and standing placards are somewhat difficult to read. In addition, further development of the bike boulevard concept is needed. While there may be some difficulty in east-west connections for this, I still think this is a worthy initiative. Any program which improves bike accessibility while making it safer for cyclists, especially novices, as boulevards do, would be good.
    Long-term goals should include nurturing all the before mentioned, whilst continuing to improve, mass transit options for the public.  Bloomington is fortunate to have a system as capable as Bloomington Transit (BT) bus service already a mature entity. This year, BT expects record ridership for the second year running.
BT must be integrated into the long-term transportation plans of the city. They should be encouraged to allow their new downtown terminal to be used as an inter-modal fixture including bike racks, rental bikes and placement near enough for easy access to the B-Line trail.
Also light rail in some form seems to have a future in southern Indiana. Since B-line trail right of way still has the possibility of re-use as rail and trail, consideration of this should be in the ATGSP long-term goals. There is a study currently being done by state government for a commuter rail system between Muncie, Indianapolis and Bloomington.
     Choosing transportation other than the automobile can be a risky choice in any urban area today and Bloomington is no exception. One only has to see a mother pushing a baby carriage across the third street overpass of State Highway 37, to understand this. I reiterate that the number one goal of good alternative transportation should be the safety of the citizens in using it.
    I have been glad to be apart of this committee and thank Scott Robinson and the city for inviting me. I hope that has helped in the development process of the ATGSP that is very important to our community.

Hoosier Mass Transit Bills Moving Along the Track

Indiana's statehouse is continuing on track for Mass Transit studies. One bill from State Representative, Terri Austin, House Bill 1659 is to direct the Indiana Department of Transportation to conduct a study of mass transit options state wide. The other bill, Senate Bill 105 from State Senator Tim Lanane would direct a study for a light rail line from Muncie to Indianapolis and then to Bloomington.

In a April 10, 2007 press release Rep. Austin states,

"For those of us who believe that mass transit must be a crucial element in our state's economic development efforts, the actions in both the Indiana House and Senate are very positive," Austin said after House members approved Senate Bill 105, which creates a joint legislation study committee on mass transit and transportation issues, and requires a series of studies throughout the state on mass transit.

"These provisions are part of both Senate Bill 105 (authored by State Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson) and House Bill 1659, legislation I authored that already has made its way through the Indiana Senate," Austin said. "It is our intention to have both measures continue through the process and sent to the governor to emphasize the importance of the concepts contained within them. They have received strong bipartisan support in both chambers...

"Both Sen. Lanane and I believe that these studies will give us the first realistic chance to consider development of high-speed rail and other modern forms of mass transit as way to move large numbers of people across Indiana," Austin said. "There is substantial evidence to indicate that switching to mass transit has helped many metropolitan areas in this country relieve traffic congestion and save both time and energy costs...

"I feel that mass transit offers unlimited potential in helping our state continue to expand its economic development efforts," Austin said. "These measures give us the chance to make that possibility become a reality."

Bravo, Representative Austin and Senator Lanane! Both these proposals passed and are now on their way to Governor Daniels office. If the Governor wants to stand by his PR catch phrase for transportation efforts, "Major Moves," he will sign it. Mass Transit options for a state that progresses often at the speed of a glacier, it would be a major move. For more on the proposal, visit Representative Austin's website.

What is transportation for? Notes on a Speech by Dr. Norman Garrick

On March 5th, I had the pleasure of attending a speech by Norman Garrick, Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Garrick specializes in Urban Streets and Highway Design, Urban Planning, and Sustainable Transportation Systems.  He has taught at UConn for 20 years, and consulted extensively
on facility, design, urban planning and transportation systems. His speech entitled, Smart Transportation
It’s All About Building the Communities We Desire. It was given in Bloomington, Indiana’s city hall and sponsored by the civic organization, Bloomington Transportation Options for People (BTOP), which I am a member of.

Here are some of my notes on the speech:

Dr. Garrick set the tone by referencing a March 1st article in the USA Today entitled, Cities afraid of death by congestion, by Larry Copeland. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-28-freeway-inside_x.htm

The first paragraph is an oxymoronic indeed, quote, “A plan to widen part of Interstate 10 in metropolitan Phoenix from 14 lanes to 24 is the USA's latest giant superhighway proposal designed to ease the kind of gridlock that some planners say could stunt economic growth.”

Why is this oxymoronic? It is because time and again cities increase road dimensions in response to growth and to ease congestion only to make it inviting for...more growth, more cars and more car dependency! Then, people are in a traffic jam again banging on their steering wheels, keeping the cycle going. It is a paradigm our culture seems trapped in.

Dr. Garrick stated that Phoenix and Atlanta have the most freeway miles in the nation, but also are the most congested. Makes you wonder why one would want to move to the so-called “sunbelt.” I can tell you, not me. It does once again prove one of my personal maxim, “Humans love it when they find paradise, which they promptly move to and ruin.”

Sunbelt cities are not the only trouble areas. Every major metropolitan area in America has issues with their roads and the many cars that use them. Few even have any decent alternative to the car and the daily commute. Garrick pointed out that the nearest metro to Bloomington, Indianapolis has 91% of commuters using a car and Bloomington a mini-metro we could say, has 76%. Garrick declared the present system of building of roads in response to growth, “...a sixty year failed experiment.”

When looking at the big picture, Dr. Garrick likes to reference the late American historian of technology and science, Lewis Mumford. Garrick asks in his presentation, “What is transportation for?” He quotes Mumford, “A good transportation system minimizes unnecessary transportation.”

Garrick’s translation to that is, “A good transportation system provides more access with less mobility.” Smart transportation planning is what the he wants us to think about. Good planning for him includes:

1.      Use broadly defined goals embracing economic, social and environmental outcomes
2.      Plan for desired outcomes, not continuation of past trends
3.      Develop solutions maximizing access, not mobility
4.      Always give priority treatment to the cheaper, cleaner, more efficient mode of travel
5.     Support a diversity of modes to meet different needs and context

Dr. Garrick went onto look at four examples in America of cities that actually have broken out of the old paradigm in transportation planning. Portland, OR, Arlington, VA, Cambridge, MA and Davis, CA. are the cities he reported on.

The professor challenged my way of thinking about streets. He said a street should be considered a sense of place, not just a conduit. The street network serves as the bones of the city. They are the framework on which everything else depends. A framework and place is a concept that I try to wrap my head around. I would say then that the street is at any given point a part of the environment around it as it is part of the overall framework of the greater whole.

This declaration of Dr. Garrick’s on streets also stood out to me, “Today there is nobody professionally charged with determining what the street network should look like. We have abandoned this important task to the happenstance of where the highways are routed and the whim of individual developers.” This reminded me a bit of the story of Seattle’s original street layout by bitter civic rivals Doc Maynard and Arthur Denny. One man wanted streets laid out in a grid pattern, the other wanted them follow the water line of nearby Elliot Bay. If you have ever been around Seattle’s Pioneer Square, you have dealt with this clash of angles first hand and wondered as I did, “What the heck is this all about?!” Then there is the story of lifting the streets in Seattle up; I think it was 12’ so it looked like a waffle. That is another story for another time, a funny and interesting one. Dr. Garrick showed in his presentation an aerial shot of a humongous housing development that looked to be in the shape of a crop circle. Could aliens have designed it to undermine Earth’s civilization? Hmmm...

Garrick believes that there should be different streets for different reasons. They should serve the city. Streets in an urban area were once upon a time often laid out for specific reasons, only stretching within a shopping area for instance and then stopping, not going on and on and on.

He also talked about traffic speed on streets. Traffic accident speed and fatalities rise together. He noted that in Davis, California they have I think he said a 20 or 25 mile an hour area that everyone adhered to and was especially safe of cyclists. He thought that was a good model. Oh yes it is. However, it is naïve if you think the rest of America in its never ending need to get somewhere faster and faster will adhere reasonably to speed limits out of civic awareness. Bloomington certainly is not. Bloomington drivers can be very illiterate for a college town when reading speed limit signs and especially that funny, red, octagonal sign emblazoned with the letters, STOP.

Garrick ended his talk with the refrain, “The starting place for smart transportation planning is always the same, understanding the implication of the question… What is transportation for?”

It was a thought provoking question and a thought provoking speech. For more insight into Dr. Garrick’s presentation I have a link for you to download the speech (PDF) as he gave it last fall in Carmel, Indiana, almost identical to the one he gave to us here in Bloomington.

Smart Transportation
It’s All About Building the Communities We Desire: Download

Getting the Jet Blues

Have you ever gone to the airport, gazed at a giant electronic sign of departures and arrivals and wondered how an airline keeps track of all that? Most passengers probably do not. You just scan for your flight number and destination and then make a beeline for the correct gate. What is behind those shuffling flight numbers and city names is a constant juggling act being preformed day in and day out by airline operations teams around the world. Each airline’s operations team has to move planes, crews and passengers around their cities. Factors like weather and mechanical failure can at anytime throw off the smooth flow of getting planes in the air and back on the ground. The airline industry’s number one rule is that planes only make money while in the air.

However, if the operations team cannot get passengers from one point to another efficiently as possible, cannot get the right aircraft in place to get those passengers, or cannot get the crew to the plane to fly those passengers, this can cause a cascade effect across an airline’s system, may lead to system failure. System failure leads to excessive inconvenience passengers and a lot of lost revenue for the company. Keeping these balls in the air is not easy.

Last week the airline, JetBlue could not keep all the balls in the air. They are still paying for it this week and the financial impact may hurt them for some time to come.

A winter storm that had marched across the United States, by Wednesday was on its way to impact the highly traveled American northeast. Many air carrier’s operations teams responded to the advancing weather by delaying or canceling flights outright. Weather forecasts are pretty accurate these days. Airlines are pretty accurate at knowing when to cancel and when not to because of weather. You can hedge your bet about the weather and delays, but you have a lot to lose. By canceling and adjusting schedules a little ahead of the weather disruption, airlines can usually mitigate the inconvenience for passengers to hours or a couple of days at most. This also helps the airline’s bottom line as planes can get back in the air in a more orderly manner when the weather is considered acceptable to fly again. Someone at JetBlue put all his or her chips on the weather not being that bad, staying more rainy than icy. According to airline analyst, Daryl Jenkins, who spoke on National Public Radio this morning, JetBlue has a policy of never canceling flights. So, the pressure was on to hedge the weather bet just to keep planes in the air. Only today, do they have their system running back at 100 percent! They have a lot of peeode passengers and they are bleeding money.

New York Times reporter Jeff Bailey writes yesterday that JetBlue founder and CEO David Neeleman is “humiliated and mortified,” by what has happened. Neeleman should be humiliated. JetBlue had a lot going for it since taking to the skies in 1999. As low cost carriers go, they seem to have been able to offer an attractive service package to go with the low fares. They seemed like a very hip and professional 21st century airline.

I am not an airline employee. I am an average airline traveler. However, I am an airline enthusiast. I have studied this industry since I was a teenager, some <cough> thirty years ago. I feel I know a professional airline when I see it. After reading the New York Times article and other reports, I question if JetBlue lacks professional leadership acumen. I can say also that they were bit by what bites many start up airlines and even established carriers in the last thirty years and that is growing too fast.

The NYT article quotes Neeleman, “...“We had so many people in the company who wanted to help who weren’t trained to help,” he said. “We had an emergency control center full of people who didn’t know what to do. I had flight attendants sitting in hotel rooms for three days who couldn’t get a hold of us. I had pilots e-mailing me saying, ‘I’m available, what do I do?’ ” To that it is hard not to be sarcastic and say, “Your kidding right?”

JetBlue’s emergency control room had people trained to do what then? Even if trained to handle a crash scenario or another terrorist attack, these people should be flexible enough to handle a major weather event. JetBlue crews could not get through to the company? They may look hip, but in this information age, you are telling me you cannot communicate effectively company wide? Wow. The article reports that Neeleman said that “...JetBlue lacked the trained staff to find them and tell them where to go. Prior to last week, JetBlue had never had so many people out of position...” Ahh, yes. That shows that JetBlue has gotten too big for its britches. They are not the first airline to do that, with various factors crimping on the success of the company. JetBlue seems to be an example of letting a company gets larger and larger in the amount it produces without having the infrastructure to keep up with it. I wonder if this shows an inherent flaw in the small, low cost carrier model. You fly on the margins with not enough aircraft as back ups and not enough staff to weather, well, weather, and other problems that may arise on a day-to-day basis. That is how you keep the costs low and the profits high. JetBlue also lacks inter-airline agreements with competitors to help them out by taking passengers as needed who are delayed for whatever reason. Why? I think for one think major carriers resent the low cost carriers and feel no need to help them out. I do not blame them actually.

I feel the low cost model, made popular by Southwest, has done a lot of financial damage to an industry that is often hard pressed to make profits. Maybe JetBlue will have to do what small, low cost airline, Spirit is thinking of doing. Spirit is considering selling just about everything that they can on-board, food, water, blankets, liquor and who knows what else. But hey, they have eight-dollar fares! What a country! Spirit is getting ridiculous. That really is bait and switch. Other low-cost and long time legacy carriers are not immune to these gambits to attract passengers with a low fare and then make them pay for service on-board either. The low fare obsession has forced them to these measures. To this airline enthusiast’s opinion, the low cost model has led to a race to the bottom in the industry. A low bottom of fares, but also a low bottom of service, comfort and convience for passengers, and the ability of carriers to make any money at all in the end.

I would like to also add something more about JetBlue. If airline analyst Daryl Jenkins is correct and JetBlue has a policy of never canceling or almost never canceling flights for whatever reason, you have to question their professionalism in regards to safety. I wonder what the true limits are of keeping JetBlue planes in the air. Oh, and by the way JetBlue, get a meteorologist and listen to him or her! Then have all managers and senior executives go to a lecture on Bernoulli’s Principle, and how ice can really ruin a plane’s day. Maybe one of the fine engineers where I used to work at the world-renowned, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center can help you out. Thanks for reading Gentleman Agitator.

Post Script: The CNBC cable network aired last December and into January a fairly good documentary about the inner workings of American Airlines. One of the areas they looked at was American’s operations center in Dallas one night with storms affecting planes and people. It is a good example of how an airline properly handles an event like that. From what I have read and heard about their TOC at DFW, I have been really impressed. I do not know if CNBC will show this again. However, you can see clips at:
Inside American Airlines, a Week in the Life. Sadly, the storm clip is edited to show only a bit of the TOC and more of a complaining passenger.

Hoosier Lawmakers Need to Go to Class on Mass Transit

Last month, in a previous dispatch, I wrote about the latest proposal from the city of Cincinnati, Ohio for new mass transit options. This month I am commenting closer to home.

I live in Bloomington, Indiana. It is not a major metropolitan area. However, being home to Indiana University we get an extra influx of around 38,000 people during the school year. We are also a city that is attracting more new people including those working at our biotech companies and retirees. The city continues to grow. Like many growing cities, we have transportation issues. Like just about everywhere else in America, in Bloomington, the car is king. We live in the heart of the proposed Interstate 69 extension corridor. This would take our main road artery, State Highway 37 that starts and stops with stoplights and supersize it to a major interstate. This most Bloomington area citizens are dead set against. Yet, most in Bloomington seem to be happy with cars. That is a shame.

Mass transit in Bloomington, consists of two bus lines, Bloomington Transit and Indiana University’s campus bus service. These are both adequate services. However, I think we could have more options in getting around town and to get out of town. Were I king for a day, we would have a tramline around the community. I would like this because it would have dedicated stops rather than a bus that can be stopped anywhere at anytime. If this were built to serve downtown and campus, it could ease the glut of cars in the area. An electrified line could also eliminate a lot of pollution that buses cause. I give kudos to Bloomington Transit however for recently adding a hybrid electric bus. Thanks BT! Also, I would like to see a commuter train that made round trips to Indianapolis. With Bloomington all but being an exurb of Indianapolis, many commuters make the trek to the big city and back on workdays. A commuter train would ease congestion on the stoplight expressway of Highway 37. It would also be another reason not to build I-69 through this area, as it would again ease traffic congestion. Then again, let us be real. We know that I-69 is not about helping Hoosiers transportation needs. It is about making money and setting up a NAFTA superhighway from Mexico to Canada. Governor Daniels is really going in the wrong direction on a road to nowhere.

Last week I was attending my first meeting as a member of the Bloomington Transportation Options for People organization. Their mission statement reads: To bring about a more sustainable culture, urban form and higher quality-of-life to Bloomington citizens through improved alternatives to driving a car. I look forward to working with them.

At the meeting, I was handed a copy of an article from the Indianapolis Star, January 31, 2007, Mass transit gets stuck in slow lane at Statehouse, by Matthew Tully. 

The first line was a cold bucket of water for all those Hoosiers who support alternative forms of transportation. It read, “Anyone looking for a serious debate about mass transit would be smart to avoid the Indiana Statehouse.” Was I surprised? No. Gee, I did not even know state government in Indiana knew what mass transit was. Lead by governor Mitch Daniels, the state plan is to build more toll roads. Then, no doubt, he will sell off the new toll roads to foreign investors. This is more so-called patriotic Republicanism, by selling off our infrastructure. Little did I know there was a pearl of hope on mass transit, from a state senator that was brought to the state senate transportation committee. True to form, that pearl was crushed in fifteen whole minutes of debate in a senate committee room by Republican leadership. Why the Jim Taylor political machine in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, would be proud of such legislative dexterity.

The article goes on to tell where the pearl comes from in detail, “All told, the panel spent roughly 15 minutes considering the wild concept of relying on mass transit to fight congestion, pollution and economic weak spots. Funny thing is that was 15 more minutes than the matter typically receives.
"It would have been unheard of to have bills like this come before the General Assembly in the past," said Mike Dearing, who heads metropolitan planning efforts in Indianapolis.

Dearing was speaking about Senate Bill 105, a modest proposal from Sen. Timothy S. Lanane, D-Anderson. Lanane's bill calls on the state to study the idea of a commuter rail system between Indianapolis and Muncie, with likely stops in cities such as Fishers and Noblesville.

The study would cost $100,000 or so. By comparison, the state raised $3.8 billion for road projects from the lease of the Indiana Toll Road last year. And remember, even if the legislature approves the study, it would be an overshadowed side note to this year's main transportation debate.”

C’mon now, it just a study. You know, study, as in educate, as in educating yourselves on something that could be of great benefit to Hoosiers quality of life and economic benefit to the state. Is that too much to ask for?

Apparently, there is a little more hope this week. The chair of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, Terri Austin wants to learn more about mass transit. She has an all day hearing tomorrow on the 14th with national experts coming to discuss mass transit. To a Hoosier like me who support transportation options, a positive response from that committee would be a sweet valentine indeed.

Are you a Hoosier who supports mass transportation options? Or perhaps you support mass transit for our nation in general. Encourage our Indiana leaders! Speak out! Write them:

Rep. Terri J. Austin
Sen. Timothy S. Lanane
Sen. Vi Simpson (for Bloomington folks)
Governor Mitch Daniels 

Thanks for reading Gentleman Agitator.

DELTAFLOT: BLUEPRINT FOR A FRANKENAIRLINE: Part 2, Tear Up the Blueprint!

CONGRATULATIONS DELTA FAMILY!

It is with great relief that I read this in the Cincinnati Enquirer on-line today, January 31:

"Delta Air Lines Inc.’s official creditors committee said this morning it will support Delta’s standalone reorganization plan, prompting US Airways to withdraw its hostile bid to buy Delta.
Delta’s committee said in a statement its decision was reached after a lengthy review of both Delta’s proposal and US Airways’ proposal, which the committee said it rejected."

US Airways had fought for many months to conduct a hostile take over of Delta. The plan was for the two to merge into a new company which would have taken the Delta moniker.

My congratulations to the entire Delta Air Lines family! 

Management and labor should be given praise for working together. To see Americans working together in the workplace in such a positive way is refreshing in this day and age. I believe when people work together in a positive way towards a common goal, anything is possible. I give the greatest  praise  though to the employees. Their "Keep Delta, My Delta," grassroots PR campaign I think helped turn the tide against the merger. It showed that they understand tradition and heritage are still important in understanding the power of loyalty, both employee and customer, in business. Keep 'em Flying Delta Family! Now, get ready to get out of being a bankruptcy hangar queen and get back to the black! We who fly with you and support you will continue to be right with you...

To the US Airways family, I hope that you are able to finish integrating into the "new" US Airways into a great airline. This industry needs healthy companies. And although I am not a US flyer, I wish employees and flyers the best.

I have felt through all this, and continue to feel, that ultimately, competition is good. It is good for everyone involved. It is what the American economic model is all about. If mergers do become necessary, they need to make the sum greater than its parts. That really did not seem the case with US and DL.

Last year, when the US Airways bid was announced I wrote about the risks of creating a large, operationally unwieldy, and debt ridden airline. This is exactly what this proposed merger would have created. It was what I called Deltaflot, a Frankenairline. US Airways chief Doug Parker put on a very confident stance that the "new" Delta could be melded from three carriers. He took the stand that consolidation in the industry is essential and this was the best bet for Delta's creditors to get a good deal and for his airline to emerge as one of the world's largest. Delta's creditors in the end did not see it that way, nor did Delta's employees and many flyers like me.

There are a lot of bitter feelings on both sides. I am disappointed when I see Delta people write or say stuff like, "Paybacks are _ _ _ _." C'mon Delta family, you are better than that. Delta stands for class. Let's show that class. There are those who say snide remarks like wishing Delta would liquidate or other horrible sentiments. To both types I say, time for the Karma police to start handing out violations.

The airline industry is an incredible thing. I have been fascinated with it since childhood. Those who work in it and those like me who just follow it, know that it is more than just pushing tin around in the sky. It is about providing service to people moving about the world in the best way possible. And it is about the people who make that happen. There are those in the general public who think you are invisible. There are those who know you are human beings trying to make a living and or live out the passion of flying. My best wishes to you all.

Cincinnati Papers Open Discussion On Streetcars

A tip of the fedora and thanks to a link I found on the weblog, The Overhead Wire. I see that Cincinnati's newspapers have given their initial opinions to a proposal for a new streetcar system in the city. An opinion column in the Cincinnati Enquirer on January 21 asks, Streetcars: Is the desire there? They write:

"What's so special about an electric-powered streetcar?

"It's the permanence," says Cincinnati Councilman Chris Bortz. "and the size of the loop." Bortz chairs Cincinnati City Council's Economic Development Committee. He argues a streetcar system's fixed tracks make all the difference for developers, investment bankers and residents. They can count on that route being there as a "permanent" improvement for decades to come. Bus routes are usually longer, with more stops and schedules, and buses, if not dirtier in emissions, are usually noisier than electric streetcars. Bortz believes trains and streetcars are blessed with an emotional appeal not usually associated with buses."
Councilman Bortz makes a good argument. The Cincinnati Post also touches on the proposal in their column, "Riding the Bus." The main theme of the column is about a proposed hike in bus fare increase by SORTA, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority. They write:

"We hope, however, that City Council will see fit to conduct this review without the breast-thumping that accompanied its last review of the bus system. That one occasioned threats of cutting off city funding for SORTA (which gets about half its operating budget from a dedicated portion of Cincinnati's earnings tax) and establishing a whole new bus system. If council wants to do something genuinely constructive (no, this isn't meant as a laugh line), after it finishes its review of SORTA's rate request it should open talks with political, civic and corporate leaders about establishing a transit system that is genuinely regional...

...There is no shortage of people who'd like nothing better than to drive a stake in the heart of light rail, but they can relax. Right now Greater Cincinnati will have its hands full just trying to scrape enough money together to rebuild I-75 and replace the Brent Spence Bridge. But we also need to maintain a viable transit system. Putting it on a more regional basis would be a logical first step in that direction."

It was very sad to see that threats might be made to cutoff the financial lifeline to SORTA. My hometown of Kansas City once had an integrated bus system, "The Metro." However, suburban Johnson County, Kansas, divorced itself from "The Metro." A foolish move that just encouraged greater divisiveness between the Kansas and Missouri sides, rather than working together for the greater whole of the area. SORTA should not be a regional transportation agency. Kentucky and Indiana need to be integrated as well. They seem to be so proud of calling themselves the "Tri-State," in greater Cincinnati, but how much is really behind that moniker? They can plant a seed with the downtown streetcar line.

Lastly, I know I am critical of the nattling nabobs of negativism in Cincinnati, but I did get a good laugh out of another one of Enquirer cartoonist, Jim Borgman's take on the streetcar proposal. To me, it is not negative, but really telling it like it is about city development as a whole. You can click on the image to enlarge.
                                        

Do not know what he is referring to when the man quips, "Forget it. Let's take the subway?" Cincinnati does have a subway. Really! Ok, well, it was only partially built in the 1920s and never had a train running, but its remnants still exist. To learn more about Cincinnati's subway, check out: Cincinnati's Abandoned Subway, a part of the great Cincinnati Transit history website.

The Next Stop is Over-the-Rhine

Can Cincinnati finally get moving? One of my greatest frustrations about American cities, especially Midwestern cities, is a glacial like reticence to progress, moving forward, and become greater. Cincinnati has long held this reputation.

Sometimes moving forward means literally moving. An article in the Cincinnati Enquirer of January 17, 2007 brought up yet another study to bring some sort of mass transit besides busses to the Queen City. Light rail has been proposed before and this time it is a streetcar system.

The article by Jon Newberry reports that the city of Cincinnati has hired HDR, of Omaha, Nebraska, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm. They will study a proposal for a three to four mile loop streetcar line. It would run from the Ohio riverfront, through downtown, to the Over-the-Rhine district and back.

I am a great proponent of mass transit systems in the United States. Last year I joined the Citizen Advisory Committee for planning and transportation in Bloomington, Indiana, where I live. I am a strong believer that greater transportation options for Americans can improve our economies and better the quality of lives across the country.

While I have a very positive view, many in Cincinnati do not. Cincinnati is one of my favorite cities. The Queen City sits at the nexus of the Midwest, the South and the Eastern United States. It has a great deal of geographical, historical and cultural character. It has many aspects that make it a good place to live. It also has problems and challenges that many metropolitan areas share. However, the city seems to be plagued by horrible self-criticism and angst about itself. This is very apparent coming from one of its largest media outlets, radio station WLW 700 AM.

I am a WLW listener here in Indiana. WLW is in many ways your typical conservative talk radio format station. They love to turn the guns on liberals and government every chance they get. Sadly, they turn the guns on their own city just about every chance they get as well. Once again, after the article about a possible streetcar line appeared in the morning paper, that night, host Scott Sloan started knocking the idea. He made comparisons and contrasts between Cincinnati and Buffalo and Portland, Oregon. Portland has an excellent and successful mass transit system with streetcars, buses and light rail.

Instead of looking at how Cincinnati might use a streetcar system, Mr. Sloan decided to look at faults in the Buffalo system. Specifically, how a streetcar uses electrical lines that might impede auto and truck traffic in the downtown area. This has pinched businesses in Buffalo along the line. If it is difficult for all potential customers to get to your store, it is obviously hindrance.  Fine, point taken, but what does that have to do with Cincinnati? So, why not just encourage city planners to look at Buffalo’s experience to learn from, rather than throw the idea out all together?

On Scott Sloan’s webpage at http://www.700wlw.com/pages/onair_scottsloan.html, he has a poll yesterday. Will a streetcar system help turnaround downtown? The choice of answers are:

Yes. It would bring everything together and downtown would boom once again!

No. We need population to feed the system, and we don't have it. Tackle crime first, then we'll see.

Sadly, Mr. Sloan’s cynicism prejudices the poll. The answers should be a yes or no. Instead, each answer is loaded. What does “boom,” mean? How are we to gauge that word in this context? His “no” answer is loaded also. We must accept his argument about tackling the crime problems first, then streetcar later.

The two seem a bit incongruous. Yes, there is overcrowding in Hamilton County lockups. Yes, there is a crime problem, specifically a horrific murder rate. Streetcars have what to do with that? Why juxtaposition the two? The murder rate always seems to be the number one topic on WLW. WLW hosts do not provide many answers to crime and most other problems, other than to stop welfare to the poor, defeat any levy for schools, and build more jails. That kind conservative lack of creativity has held back not only Cincinnati, but also the whole nation for twenty-five years. This is not to say that I am a wild-eyed liberal willing to only throw money at problems. Conservatives and Liberals have been stuck in the same paradigms for years. They are tiring and old. They are old like an old, stuck LP vinyl record.

Cincinnati once had a fine streetcar system.  Like many cities, the rise of the automobile ended many a streetcar line. If you visit Cincinnati’s History Museum tucked inside the great Union Terminal Museum Center, you can take a virtual ride on an old streetcar. Here I am making the fantasy ride to the Clifton district.
                              

There is a need for streetcars and similar transportation once again. There are economic and environmental advantages to doing it. Planned carefully, Cincinnati’s downtown can be helped by the line. It’s a nice downtown, but it can be great. It definitely needs more development. While this sort line would just be a start, I wonder how some day it would be great for someone to be able to commute to downtown, go to a Reds or Bengals game, or for a downtowner to go to the Kenwood Mall and not have to get in the car and fight traffic on I-71 or 75. Cincinnati’s environment can be helped by streetcars in reducing pollution from the cars left behind. Yes, building the lines might cost taxpayers some money. Any government that promises that private investment will pay for all of something like this is really naïve. Speaking of private investment, I would have a private company, not local government, run the streetcar line. Yes, make some money off it! At least a public/private partnership is necessary. Let us see what plans go forward, discuss them fairly and see where it goes. I look forward to it.

It must be looked at as a long-term investment in Cincinnati’s core and the entire metro area. It is an investment not only for this generation, but those to come. Cincinnati is a great city, a great region. It can be even greater. Come on Cincinnati, get moving!