• Aviation Safety: Better Data and Targeted FAA Efforts Needed to Identify and Address Safety Issues of Small Air Cargo Carriers. GAO-09-614, June 24, 2009 (55 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-614
• Highway Trust Fund: Options for Improving Sustainability and Mechanisms to Manage Solvency. GAO-09-845T, June 25, 2009 (14 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-845T
• International Aviation: Federal Efforts Help Address Safety Challenges in Africa, but Could Benefit from Reassessment and Better Coordination. GAO-09-498, June 16, 2009 (38 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-498
• Public Transportation: New Starts Program Challenges and Preliminary Observations on Expediting Project Development. GAO-09-763T, June 3, 2009 (16 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-763T
• Recovery Act: The Department of Transportation Followed Key Federal Requirements in Developing Selection Criteria for Its Supplemental Discretionary Grants Program. GAO-09-785R, June 30, 2009 (7 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-785R

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Home Screen RATP Apps	Welcome Screen RATP Apps
RATP Clickable Network Map	RATP Clickable Network Map: itinerary planning

RATP Clickable Network Map: itinerary confirmation	Itinerary Search
Itinerary Results	Itinerary Results: Options
Localisation using iPhone’s GPS	Traffic Information by Type
Traffic Information by Transport Mode	Traffic Information Details
Timetables Main Screen	Timetables: Buses (example)
Timetables: Search of a Specific Route	Timetables: Selecting Direction
Timetables: Selecting Departure Stop	Timetables: Display Time of the Next Buses

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The train was riding approximately at 188 mph or 300 kph. This is not top speed but… commercial speed: Marseilles to Paris in 3h08, 863 kilometers (or 537 miles)… Average speed of 171.2 mph with a stop in Avignon. What do you say?

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“MTA grants Italian rail car builder more time in contract negotiations” by Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times, May 28, 2009

Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority board delayed a decision today on whether to hire an Italian rail manufacturer to build 100 cars needed for Metro’s light rail line extensions. The delay — the second since March — would give MTA officials more time to work out the details of a new offer by the firm, AnsaldoBreda, for a $300-million financial guarantee on the potential 100-car contract. [...]

Link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/mta-grants-more-time-to-controversial-italian-rail-car-builder.html

“Subsidies attracting riders to mass transit” by Sean Holstege, The Arizona Republic, June 2, 2009

When Jim Wilson took a job at Arizona Public Service Co. a year ago, he figured he’d pay $75 a week in gas and $40 a month on parking to commute from Surprise to downtown Phoenix. So, when APS offered him a transit pass for free, he was thrilled. [...]

Link: http://www.azcentral.com/news/traffic/lightrail/articles/2009/06/02/20090602subsidy0602.html

“Time For Feds To Fund Mass Transit Operating Expenses?” by Linda Caruso, The National Journal, June 1, 2009

Americans are using public transportation in record numbers — taking 10.7 billion trips last year, an increase of 4 percent over 2007 — yet because of declining state and local budgets, many mass transit systems are facing the prospect of raising fares, cutting service and laying off staff. [...]

Link: http://transportation.nationaljournal.com/2009/06/is-it-time-for-the-feds-to-fun.php

“Recession hasn’t slowed light rail traffic” by Steve Harrison, Charlotte Observer, May 28, 2009

The Lynx Blue Line averaged 15,121 weekday trips in April – surprisingly high ridership given the severe recession. Charlotte’s light-rail line had been averaging roughly 14,000 trips for much of the year, and the Charlotte Area Transit System expected it to decline because fewer people are working. [...]

Link: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/749244.html

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“Florida still has chance for fast train, but other states vying for U.S. aid” by Michael Turnbell, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 25, 2009

A bullet train, its supporters say, could boost tourism, create jobs and get cars off Florida’s crowded roads. There’s even $8 billion in federal stimulus money available to help build the proposed Tampa-Orlando-Miami line, where trains would move at least 110 mph and zip travelers from South Florida to Disney World in less than two hours. [...]

Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-high-speed-rail-b052509sbmay25,0,6488044.story

“Against All Odds, Florida Rail Authority Rolls On”, News Service of Florida, May 26, 2009

The Florida High Speed Rail Authority last month had one of its most high profile members resign and the rest of its members terms have actually expired. But the authority has kept the wheels on its plan to apply for federal money that can be used to build a proposed Tampa-Orlando-Miami bullet train. [...]

Link: http://www.jaxobserver.com/2009/05/26/rail-authority-rolls-on-despite-vacancy-expired-terms/

“High-speed rail proposal is viewed with concern” by Christine Souza, California Farm Bureau Federation, May 27, 2009

As the state’s High-Speed Rail Authority plans an 800-mile high-speed rail system that will help alleviate congestion on roadways and transport passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a little over two and a half hours, California’s agricultural landscape is likely to change dramatically. [...]

Link: http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1316&ck=F3F1B7FC5A8779A9E618E1F23A7B7860#top

“High speed rail for America” by Sean Devlin, Examiner.com, May 25, 2009

The CBS Evening News revisited the high speed rail discussion and looked into as whether it was a viable option. This is especially important as the green movement is looking for more environmentally responsible transportation, part of which means alleviating road and air traffic congestion. [...]

Link: http://www.examiner.com/x-6812-Newark-Alternative-Transportation-Examiner~y2009m5d25-High-speed-rail-for-America

“High-speed rail dreams depend on dedicated tracks” by Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com, May 28, 2009

While rail advocates dream of passenger trains blazing through Washington at 200 mph, freight railroad representatives say anything half that fast won’t work on their tracks. ”True” high-speed rail would exceed 150 mph, but the Amtrak Cascades line between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., is more likely to see incremental progress from the current top speed of 79 mph to between 110 and 125 mph (the top potential speed of the current Talgo trains), Cascadia Project rail fellow Ray Chambers said at a forum in downtown Seattle on Thursday. [...]

Link: http://www.seattlepi.com/transportation/406665_trains28.html

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“More U.S. airports add rail service to downtown” by Roger Yu, USA TODAY, May 25, 2009

Riding the rails between downtown and the airport is becoming a reality for more U.S. travelers. With their roadways jammed with cars and shuttles, a growing number of domestic airports are building or have plans for a rail link that will connect passengers from the terminals to regional metro-rail systems, allowing road warriors and vacationers to ditch their cars. [...]

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2009-05-25-rail-lines-airport-city-center_N.htm

“Transit Authority Feeling the Pain From a Crippled Advertising Market” by WILLIAM NEUMAN, New York Times, May 24, 2009

The worst advertising market in decades has had a devastating, and well-documented, effect on newspapers, magazines and television networks. But now another recipient of ad dollars is being hurt by the market slump at a time it can little afford it: mass transit. In recent months, a company that sells many of the ads that appear on buses and trains and in stations in New York, Boston, Minneapolis and other cities has come up short in its payments to transit agencies, citing a sharp drop in ad rates and sales. New York is among the hardest hit. [...]

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/nyregion/25ads.html?_r=1&sq=transit&st=cse&scp=3&pagewanted=all

“S.F. supes push to gain more power over Muni” by Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 2009

San Francisco voters have made clear three times in the past decade that they want to limit political meddling when it comes to Muni. But a recent plan to cut bus service and raise fares has shown that City Hall influence is still very much part of the mix. The Board of Supervisors – using powers granted by the same voters who wanted to tame its influence – has been threatening for weeks to reject Muni’s unpopular $766 million budget plan approved last month by a mayoral panel. [...]

Link: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/27/BAR317PJ4U.DTL

“RTA looks into riders using cell phones instead of tickets or transit cards” by Richard Wronski, Chicago Tribune, May 26, 2009

The day may be coming when Chicago-area transit riders will use their cell phones as a ticket to ride. With a wave of their phone over a sensor, riders could board buses or trains as quick as a beep while the fare is automatically deducted from their online account. No cash, paper ticket or pass would be needed. Such fare-phones are being considered by the Regional Transportation Authority, which is already developing a revamped fare system using “smart” credit cards that would work on the CTA, Metra and Pace. [...]

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The Jury of Globe Forum (www.globeforum.com) has selected 100 companies that offer the most exciting sustainable innovations and that are most likely to succeed, from more than 500 candidates from 16 countries. One of the companies selected is the Swedish developer of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems Beamways AB. Being a part of the Sustainable Innovators 100 will enable Beamways to market its concept to investors and decision makers from all corners of the world, many of whom act outside the specialist networks where the Beamways concept is already well established.

Beamways CEO, Mr. Bengt Gustafsson, welcomes this opportunity. “We are proud to be selected”, he says and continues, “PRT systems are after many years as a technology playground with fanciful demonstration projects finally emerging as a serious tool to help solve the traffic problems of our cities. Our technology addresses the individual needs for flexibility in time and efficient routing while also improving the environment and public safety. We can also show that PRT can be made financially efficient for all parties in competition with other public transport systems and individual automobile traffic.”

Gustav Gorecki of the Globe Forum organization says: “Beamways is exactly the type of company we want to help develop. Early, competent and with a concept that is both perfectly in line with the targets of our organization as well as making sense businesswise.”

About Beamways

Beamways AB is a privately owned company based in Linköping, Sweden. The Beamways concept for Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) system has been developed over two years.

Beamways is in a two year period where it will conduct a number of studies to verify that the basic concepts works. Patents for the main ideas will also be obtained. After this period further capital will be needed to prove the concept with a complete test track.

In parallel with this technical development project Beamways also engages in political lobbying activities to promote PRT, participates in PRT studies and research and conducts marketing activities.

More information is available on our home page www.beamways.com.

About Globe Forum

The annual business conference and networking event Business Innovation for Sustainable Growth, is where entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, investors and government from different countries and regions are invited to create relations and develop sustainable business.

Globe Forum brings together a large number of different interested parties to create the leading marketplace for innovation and business development by turning a vision of the future into market opportunities and by promoting sustainable innovations between our focus markets.

www.globeforum.com

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However, after a couple of months of operation, the viability of the system has been proven endangered by the cost of maintenance… Around 1,500 bikes are repaired every day and these costs are definitely not compensated by user’s fares. According to internal sources, every bike wocould cost around €2,500 to JCDecaux, whereas only €1,000 were included in the business plan and budget.

As of today, the estimates are impressive: up to 11,600 bikes vandalized, 7,800 bikes that disappeared, and more than 3,200 complaints filed by JCDecaux for theft or vandalization. These alarming figures should however be put aside the large number of daily users (78,000 in average) and the number of kilometers travelled per bike per year (estimated at 10,000 km/year!). The quality of bikes even if necessary for users to enjoy a pleasant ride is not only a matter of maintenance and people need to be conscious they have to care about the vehicle they use, as any other mean of public transportation, as if it was a train, a bus, or a subway…

References

• Article: Vandalisme : Vélib’, un service pour tous, à chacun d’en prendre soin !, Velib Newsletter : here
• Article: Le Vélib’, si populaire mais si cher, lefigaro.fr, June 24, 2008: here

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• Aviation Safety: Potential Strategies to Address Air Ambulance Safety Concerns. GAO-09-627T, April 22, 2009 (17 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-627T
• Commercial Aviation: Airline Industry Contraction Due to Volatile Fuel Prices and Falling Demand Affects Airports, Passengers, and Federal Government Revenues. GAO-09-393, April 21, 2009 (52 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-393
• High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing Financial and Other Challenges and Establishing a Clear Federal Role. GAO-09-560T, April 1, 2009 (6 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-560T
• Transportation Security: Comprehensive Risk Assessments and Stronger Internal Controls Needed to Help Inform TSA Resource Allocation. GAO-09-492, March 27, 2009 (57 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-492

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