THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR

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1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR VOL 22, NO 22 DE CEM BER 22, 28 Ha waii, Cal i for nia to Create Electric Car Net works Will Pro vide Charg ing and Bat tery Exchange Sta tions Using Renew able Energy Ear lier this month Hawaii was the lat est loca tion to announce that it will cre ate elec tric car net works. Cal i for nia announced its inten tion to do the same last month. Both states have agree ments with Better Place, a ven ture cap i tal com pany started last year to put together elec tric car net works. Hawaii gov er nor Linda Lingle announced that the state will cre ate a state - wide elec tric car net work. The net work in Cal i for nia will ini tially be lim ited to the Bay Area. Better Place plans to begin issu ing per - mit s for the Hawaii net work within the next year and intro duc ing vehi cles within 18 months, with mass-mar ket avail abil ity of elec tric cars in 212. Hawaii cur rently spends up to $7 bil lion a year on oil imports and driv ers pay some of the high - est gas o line prices in the nation. Gas o line con sump tion now accounts for nearly 2% of the state s green house gases. Accord ing to Julie Mul lins, spokes per son for Better Place Hawaii, the gov er nor s office is now work ing on leg is la tion that would cre ate incentives for cit i zens to purchase electric cars. Hawaii is an ideal loca tion to develop a model pro gram to reduce for eign oil depend ence because of its readily avail - able renew able energy resources like solar, wind, wave and geo ther mal. The pro gram seeks to reduce depend ence on for eign oil, develop renew able energy options and cre - ate an infra struc ture to sta bi lize the national economy. Hawai ian Elec tric Com pa nies and Better Place Hawaii also signed a Mem o - ran dum of Under stand ing (MOU) to Please turn to Page 1 Chi cago Receives $1.2 Bil lion Bid for Lease of Its Metered Park ing Sys tem First Lease of Major Pub licly Owned Park ing Sys tem in the U.S. The Electric Car Network will make use of renewable energy sources such as these wind turbines located in Hawaii. (Photo: Courtesy of Better Place) Inside Ed i to rial....page 11 New Pub li ca tions...page 17 Con fer ences...page 18 Re quests for Pro posals....page 2 Mayor Rich ard M. Daley has announced that the city of Chi cago received a win ning bid of $1.2 bil lion from Chi cago Park ing Meters, LLC, for a 75-year con ces sion agree ment to oper ate Chi cago s metered park ing sys tem made up of approx i mately 36, park ing spaces. Accord ing to the mayor s office, the lease trans ac tion which must be approved by the City Coun cil would make Chi cago s the first major pub - licly-owned park ing sys tem in the United States to be sub ject to a long-term con ces sion. At the very time that some cit ies and states are ask ing the fed eral gov ern ment for help in bal anc ing their bud gets, we re cre atively work ing to pro tect our tax pay - ers for years to come, Daley said ear lier this month. The 75-year lease deal would be a ben - e fit for the city trea sury but a hard ship for motor ists who would see park ing rates climb at the city s 36, metered spaces start ing Jan u ary 1. Neigh bor hood hourly meter rates would climb from 25 cents an hour to $1 an hour next year and $2 an hour in 213. Day time down town hourly park - ing rates would rise from $3. to $3.5 next year and to $6.5 in 213. After that, rates would be adjusted annu ally by inflation. Daley said that his admin is tra tion was tak ing inno va tive steps to cush ion tax pay - ers from the bad econ omy and keep the city mov ing for ward. This agree ment is very good news for the tax pay ers of Chi cago because it will pro vide more than $1 bil - lion in net pro ceeds that can be used dur ing this very dif fi cult economy," he said. The win ning bid der, Chi cago Park ing Meters, LLC, con sists of Mor gan Stan ley Infra struc ture Part ners A Sub LP (76% Please turn to Page 7

2 2 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 Feasibility Study of Congestion Charging in San Fran cisco to Be Com pleted by Next Spring Pend ing Re sults of Study, an Im ple men ta tion Plan Will Be De vel oped, and Fi nal Ap proval Will Be Sought The San Fran cisco County Trans por ta tion Au thor ity re cently re leased the re sults of a Mo bil ity, Ac cess, and Pric ing Study (MAPS) to eval u ate the fea si bil ity of a con ges tion pric ing plan to re duce con ges - tion and im prove mo bil ity in the city of San Francisco. Driv ers would pay a $3 fee when trav el - ing through the con gested north east ern part of the city dur ing peak week day hours. The pur pose of the charge would be to en - cour age driv ers to con sider pub lic trans - por ta tion, bi cy cling or walk ing as al ter na - tives to driving in the city. Pub lic tran sit al ready is well uti lized in San Fran cisco, ac count ing for 77, pas sen ger trips each day and over 4% of trips to the down town area, but traf fic con - ges tion re mains a sig nif i cant prob lem in the city. Stud ies show that San Fran cisco sac ri - ficed more than $2 bil lion to con ges - tion-re lated prob lems in 25 alone. A de - crease in avail able re sources from the fed - eral high way trust fund and a re duc tion in fuel tax rev e nues, along with a de cline in economic competitiveness caused by traf - fic con ges tion, prompted plan ners to con - sider in no va tive strat e gies to manage vehicle traffic. Con ges tion in San Fran cisco. (Photo: Cour tesy of the San Fran cisco County Trans por ta tion Au thor ity) Grow ing de mand in the city for trans - por ta tion op tions, cou pled with in creas - ingly lim ited road and park ing space, also fu eled an in ter est in cre ative ap proaches to con ges tion man age ment. The en vi ron men - tal and health costs of heavy con ges tion also increased in ter est in new strat e gies to combat gridlock. Re duc ing con ges tion will significantly im prove the ef fi ciency of the en tire lo cal transportation system, decrease commute times, increase reliability, improve pro - duc tiv ity and save time and re sources for trav el ers and businesses. The Au thor ity be gan ex plor ing con ges - tion pric ing schemes in 24, as part of the Countywide Trans por ta tion Plan. Dur ing the past two years, a study team un der took a de tailed eval u a tion of the con cept and how it might be ap plied in San Francisco. The study was funded pri mar ily by a $1 mil lion grant from the Fed eral High way Ad min is tra tion s Value Pric ing Pro gram. Match ing funds were pro vided by San Fran cisco s Prop o si tion K trans por ta tion sales tax pro gram and the Met ro pol i tan Trans por ta tion Commission. The fo cus of the study was on the tech - ni cal and eco nomic fea si bil ity of con ges - tion pric ing and the im pact such a plan would have on the pub - lic. The study eval u ated var i ous de sign con cepts and pric ing op tions and ex am ined suc cess ful model pro grams in Lon - don, Stock holm, Sin ga - pore and other smaller cities. The study also con - sidered the potential impact of con ges tion pric - ing on pub lic tran sit, carpooling, bi cy cling, and walk ing, and the pos si ble fi nan cial ben e - fits of the plan in fund - ing mo bil ity pro grams throughout the city. Re al iz ing the im por tance of pub lic par tic i pa tion in the plan ning pro cess, the study team re lied on the in put of sev eral ad vi sory com mit tees through out the pro - cess. Pub lic work shops also are be ing held to share and re ceive in for ma tion with shareholders. This month, the study team is host ing an on line ses sion and two pub lic meet ings in San Fran cisco to re view the re sults of the eval u a tion and to ex am ine var i ous con ges tion pric ing pro gram scenarios. The team is in the fi nal stages of the fea si bil ity study and will con tinue to re - fine and de velop its fi nal rec om men da - tions into next spring. An im ple men ta tion plan will be cre ated in 29 and the team will seek fi nal ap proval from the mayor and the Board of Supervisors. For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact Zabe Bent, SFCTA, at tel. (415) or mo bil - ity@sfcta.org. The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, ISSN 14488, is pub lished bi-weekly, except dur ing Jan u ary and August when only one issue per month appears (22 issues per year), by Law ley Pub li ca tions, 6813 Jer e miah Ct., Fairfax Sta tion, VA 2239, Tel: (73) , Fax: (73) , edi tors@lawleypub lications.com. Sub scrip tions $295 per year. Peri - od i cals post age paid at Fairfax, VA. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, P.O. Box 123, Burke, VA The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor pub lishes cur rent news on all modes and aspects related to urban trans por ta tion. Law ley Pub li ca tions is an inde pend ent and pri vately owned orga ni za tion. Copy right 28, Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Reserved. Repro duc tion, includ ing pho - to copy ing and fac sim ile or elec tronic trans mis - sion, in whole or in part with out writ ten per mis sion from the Edi tor is expressly pro hib ited. Law ley Pub li ca tions assumes no respon si bil ity or lia bil ity of any kind for the accu racy or com - plete ness of the infor ma tion herein, or for addi - tional or changed infor ma tion sub se quent to the date the mate rial was received and/or pub lished. Publisher/Editor: Dan iel B. Rathbone, Ph.D., P.E. Man ag ing Edi tor: Clarissa Reeves, M.Ed. Assis tant Edi tor/researcher: J. Holden

3 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 3 Results from Existing Con ges tion Charg ing Schemes Show Benefits Must Be Clearly Ex plained to En sure Pub lic Sup port Con ges tion charg ing schemes in Stock - holm, Lon don and Sin ga pore pro vide use - ful in for ma tion to cit ies con sid er ing such plans to ad dress traf fic con ges tion, en vi - ron men tal con cerns and rev e nue short - falls. Pri mary con cerns about cor don con ges - tion charg ing schemes are the fol low ing per cep tions: That the bur den is great est on lower in - come earn ers. That neigh bor ing com mu ni ties are neg - a tively im pacted at a dis pro por tion ate rate. That re tail busi nesses and over all eco - nomic ac tiv ity will suf fer. That the rev e nues may not pro vide di - rect ben e fits to ap pro pri ate pro grams. Steffen Kallbekken, a re searcher at the Center for International Climate and Environ men tal Re search in Oslo (CICERO), con ducts re search on en vi ron men tal tax a - tion. He cites the Stock holm con ges tion pric ing trial pro gram as the best case to il - lus trate how chal lenges of pub lic op po si - tion to con ges tion charg ing are best ad - dressed. Kallbekken ex plains that ini tially the con ges tion tax in Stock holm was very con - tro ver sial but, af ter the ini tial trial pe riod in 26, driv ers and res i dents ex pe ri enced the pos i tive ef fects of the plan and adopted a more favorable view. He ex plains that the con ges tion charge in Stock holm is an ex am ple of how an en - vi ron men tal tax can re sult in cer tain ben e - fits. Dur ing the trial pe riod, traf fic to the city fell by 22%, travel times dur ing rush hour dropped by nearly a third, ac ci dents with in ju ries fell, and emis sions fell by 1 to 14% Polls found that the num ber of peo ple likely to vote in fa vor of per ma nently in - tro duc ing the con ges tion tax in creased by 18% dur ing the trial pe riod. In the ref er en - dum af ter the trial, the tax re ceived a 52.5% ma jor ity and the tax was per ma nently implemented. The Stock holm ex am ple shows that dem on strat ing the ben e fits of en vi ron men - tal taxes can sub stan tially in crease pub lic sup port, Kallbekken says. By di rectly link - ing the tax to con crete goals, of fi cials were able to dem on strate clearly the value of the scheme. He ad vises cit ies con sid er ing con ges tion charg ing to pro vide the pub lic with thor - ough in for ma tion about the re sult ing benefits. In Lon don, the orig i nal Con ges tion Charge Zone (CCZ) was es tab lished in 23 and was ex tended in 27 to in clude a western extension. The key objectives of the charge are to re duce con ges tion through out the city and raise funds for in - vest ment in the lo cal trans port sys tem. The charge was orig i nally 5 ($7) but the fee was in creased to 8 ($12) in July 25. Ear lier this fall, Lon don s new mayor, Boris John son, an nounced his in ten tion to re move the tax from the west ern ex ten sion, thereby re duc ing the full scheme by al most half. The de ci sion is con tro ver sial be cause Trans port for Lon don (TfL) will lose 7 mil lion (US$12 mil lion) an nu ally and fund ing for public transport will be significantly impacted. John son and his suporters ar gue that the pub lic clearly sup ports an elim i na tion of the tax and they are sim ply fol low ing the will of the peo ple. A re cent five-week con sul ta tion was held to so licit in put from Lon don ers on the mat ter and over two-thirds of cit i zens and busi ness own ers ex pressed sup port for its removal. Al most 28, peo ple re sponded and the ma jor ity fa vored re mov ing the tax from the west ern zone. A to tal of 67% of in di vid - u als and 86% of busi nesses re sponded in fa - vor of re moval. Only 19% ex pressed a de - sire to see it con tinue as is and an other 12% said they would like to keep it but make changes to im prove the way it operates. The mayor s of fice also sur veyed Lon - don ers and 1, Lon don-based busi nesses to gauge the ac cu racy of the con sul ta tion. Their responses and the re sults of the sur - vey con firmed the find ings of the con sul ta - tion. Ac cord ing to mayor John son, Lon - don ers have spo ken loud and clear, and the ma jor ity of peo ple have said that that they would like the scheme scrapped. A con ges tion charg ing sign in Lon don. (Photo: Cour tesy of Trans port for Lon don) Al though TfL es ti mates that traf fic re - turn ing to the west ern ex ten sion would re - sult in a small in crease in emis sions of air pol lut ants and car bon di ox ide, the mayor s of fice says the in crease would be un likely to have any ma te rial ef fect on mea sured air qual ity within the west ern ex ten sion or on the bound ary route be - cause of the num ber of dif fer ent fac tors that affect local air quality. They ar gue that on go ing in vest ment in tech nol ogy such as hy brid and hy dro gen buses, en cour ag ing the up take of low-car - bon ve hi cles and fu els, and re duc ing power con sump tion all are help ing off set trans port re lated emis sions across the Cap i tal. They also point out that TfL is work ing on a se ries of other mea sures aimed at eas ing con ges tion and smooth - ing traf fic flow, in clud ing re phras ing traf - fic sig nals and im prov ing the plan ning and ex e cu tion of road works pro jects. The agency also is set ting up a task force with ex ter nal ex perts to review other ways traffic can be mitigated. A 12-week stat u tory pub lic and stake - Please turn to Page 1

4 4 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 Intelligence New Jer sey In creases Gas Card Money for Large New Carpools Tren ton, New Jer sey The New Jer sey De part ment of Trans - por ta tion is en hanc ing its ridesharing pro gram by of fer ing com mu ters gas cards for new carpools and in creas ing the mon e tary value of the gas card ac cord ing to the size of the carpool. The pro gram, called Carpooling Makes Sense, was started in 26, says Khalid Shaikh, a prin ci pal en gi neer at the NJDOT and a con tact for the pro gram. Un til now, he said, the pro gram of fered a $1 gas card to com mu ters who formed a carpool re gard less of the num ber of rid - ers. Now $1 gas cards are be ing of - fered to new carpools of two peo ple, $15 gas cards to new carpools of three peo ple, and $2 gas cards to new carpools of four or more people. New Jer sey gov er nor Jon Corzine an - nounced the ex panded pro gram on De - cem ber 1 and it went into ef fect the same day, Shaikh said. He told UTM that the en hance ments were de signed to pro mote for ma tion of larger carpools. The use of carpools can help re duce traf fic con ges - tion, al le vi ate park ing prob lems, re duce en ergy con sump tion and im prove air qual ity, he said. It can also save com mu - ters money and re duce wear and tear on their vehicles. Ac cord ing to the NJDOT, carpooling can substantially reduce a commuter s gas o line costs. The driver of an av er age midsize car trav el ing 3 miles roundtrip to work and pay ing $2. per gal lon of gas o line can save ap prox i mately $3, per year by carpooling five days a week. A carpool in New Jer sey. (Photo: Cour tesy of the NJDOT) With gas prices of $3. per gal lon, the sav ings would be closer to $3,5 per year. As originally instituted, the program set aside $5, for in di vid ual $1 debit cards to be used for gas o line pur chases by par tic i pants in new carpools. Ac cord ing to Shaikh, ap prox i mately 3,9 carpools were reg is tered un der the orig i nal Carpooling Makes Sense program. Shaikh said that, to the best of his knowl edge, the NJ DOT gas card in cen tive pro gram for carpools is the only pro gram of its kind. All New Jer sey res i dents and work ers are el i gi ble for the Carpooling Makes Sense pro gram, sub ject to the pro gram re - quire ments for the gas cards. First, a mem - ber of a new carpool fills out and sub mits the Carpooling Makes Sense pro gram reg - is tra tion form. Then, the ap pro pri ate Trans por ta tion Man age ment As so ci a tion (TMA) for the carpool s lo ca tion con tacts the carpool re gard ing pro ce dures for ver i - fi ca tion and track ing. To qual ify for the gas card a new carpool must carpool at least 24 days in a two-month pe riod. The TMA will track and ver ify the use of the carpool and the ad di tional rider pro gram. Carpools also must sub mit their carpool log within 12 days of reg is tra tion in order to be eligible to receive the gas cards. Trans por ta tion Man age ment As so ci a - tions are non-profit, pub lic/pri vate part - ner ships that have been es tab lished to form part ner ships with busi nesses and lo cal gov ern ment to pro vide com mu ter in for ma - tion and ser vices. There are eight TMAs in New Jer sey, and each han dles a cer tain geo graphic re gion. They are Cross County Con nec tion, Greater Mer cer, Hud son, HART, KMM, Meadowlink, Ridewise and TransOptions. Ac cord ing to Dominic Palladino, com - mu ter ser vices co or di na tor at Cross County Con nec tion, the gas cards for new carpools were mar keted heavily dur ing this past sum mer when gas prices were at a re cord high. Cross County Con nec tion is the TMA that pro motes tran sit and ridesharing op tions for com mu ters in southern New Jersey. For more in for ma tion, visit por ta - tion/com mu ter/rideshare/gascard.shtm or con tact Khalid Shaikh at (69) or NJDOT press of fi cer Tim o thy Greeley at tim o thy.greeley@dot.state. nj.us Dubai Pub lic Trans port Agency Ap proves Big gest Bus Pro cure ment Deal in His tory; Will Ac quire 1,6 Buses Dubai, UAE In No vem ber, the Roads and Trans port Au thor ity (RTA) of the emir ate of Dubai ap proved the larg est bus pro cure ment deal ever made. Af ter so lic it ing bids last year, the RTA s Board of Di rec tors ap - proved an agree ment with five bus sup - pli ers world wide to sup ply 1616 brand new, highly so phis ti cated buses for the agency at a to tal cost of AED8.6 bil lion ($2.3 bil lion). Growth in the UAE, and in Dubai in par tic u lar, where tour ism is a key in dus - try, has con trib uted to an in creased de - mand for pub lic trans por ta tion ser vices. The emir ate has be come a hub for com - mer cial and eco nomic ac tiv ity in the re - gion as well as a des ti na tion for global in - ves tors and in ter na tional busi ness men. The num ber of per son trips made by mass tran sit modes in Dubai is ex pected to increase by 3% by 22. RTA Pub lic Trans port Agency CEO Essa Ab dul-rahman Al-Dosari, de scrib - ing the in te rior of the new buses as roomy, com fort able, sturdy and safe, noted that they pro vide the key fea tures the agency con sid ers nec es sary for up - grad ing the qual ity of ser vice of fered to bus pas sen gers in Dubai. The new fleet will in clude stan dard, dou ble-deckers and ar tic u lated buses and will rep re sent a va ri ety of size and design choices. Al-Dosari noted that all are fit ted with the high est safety and se cu rity fea tures and onboard mod ern tech nol ogy ap pli - ca tions. Other fea tures of the new fleet in clude next bus stop an nounce ment ca - pa bil i ties, a sta tis ti cal sys tem of bus com mu ters, a GPS to track buses linked with RTA Con trol Cen ter, and in ter nal and external display monitors. Please turn to Page 5

5 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 5 Intelligence (continued) Fol low ing the pur chase, the num ber of buses op er at ing in Dubai is ex pected to reach 2,5 by 29. The ad di tional buses will help the agency pro vide bus feeder ser vice to Dubai Metro sta tions while meet ing the grow ing re quire ments for bus tran sit ser vice re sult ing from de - mo graphic growth in the emir ate. The ex - tra capacity will enable passengers to travel widely through out the emir ate on the network of public buses. Al-Dosari said the new buses would be fit ted with highly tech no log i cal en - gines, the Euro IV, which are com pat i ble with the high est en vi ron men tal stan - dards. The buses also are fit ted with the unique I-Shift trans mis sion sys tem and ESP ve hi cle brak ing and sta bil ity sys tem, of fer ing com fort able and safe driv ing and fuel-efficiency. RTA will al ways seek to pro vide ad - vanced mass tran sit modes, which are closely linked with the en vi ron ment and hu man con cerns. The aim is to min i mize the num ber of daily traf fic ac ci dents caused by ex ces sive num bers of pri vate ve hi cles, re duce en vi ron men tal pol lu tion rates, im prove pub lic health lev els, and boost the pro duc tiv ity of all spec trums of the community said Al-Dosari. For more in for ma tion, visit tal or con tact the RTA Pub lic Trans por ta tion Agency at info@rta.ae. Frost and Sullivan: PRT Can Help Over come To day s Trans por ta tion Chal lenges Lon don, Eng land Per sonal rapid tran sit (PRT) is emerg ing for the fu ture be cause it has the po ten tial to contribute significantly to the solution of fun da men tal prob lems of mod ern so ci - ety in clud ing con ges tion, global warm - ing and de pend ence on a de creas ing sup - ply of cheap oil, says Frost and Sullivan an a lyst Poonam Tamana. Tamana has com pleted ex ten sive anal - ysis for the Automotive and Transportation Group at Frost and Sullivan about the per sonal rapid tran sit mar ket. In a De cem - ber 2 teleconference en ti tled The Global Emer gence of Per sonal Rapid Tran sit Sys - tems A New Rev o lu tion in Ur ban Trans - port, Tamana stressed that the key chal - lenge for PRT is gain ing con stant po lit i cal, eco nomic and tech nol ogy sup port. A lack of con stant sup port may re sult in a lack of government funding, she said. Frost and Sullivan also con cluded that be cause PRT ve hi cles can be bat tery op er - ated and of fer a non-stop ser vice, PRT sys - tems the o ret i cally use less en ergy per pas - sen ger per ki lo me ter than all other modes of ur ban trans por ta tion. Why is PRT needed to over come to - day s transportation challenges? Tamana asked. The main rea son for PRT in tro duc - tion, she said, is that it has an en vi ron men - tal ad van tage of zero emis sion use. Other rea sons in clude that it is a flex i ble ser vice de signed to meet on-de mand ex pec ta tions. It is also safe and easy to use and of fers a quiet op er a tion. Some mar ket ex perts say it is cheaper to build than roads. Ac cord ing to Tamana, the ad van tages of PRT sys tems can drive the mar ket for - ward. How ever, Tamana noted that other fac tors re strain the mar ket for PRT de vel - op ment. These in clude the lack of spe cific reg u la tions or safety stan dards for PRT sys tems as well as a view of some trans por - ta tion pro fes sion als that PRT is un proven and a high risk mode of transportation. Tamana said that there is an ur gent need to for mally es tab lish de sign, op er a tion and main te nance pro to cols for PRT sys tems. There is also the need for ed u ca tion to help more peo ple to fully un der stand the PRT con cept. But the big gest chal lenge is the The UL Tra PRT ve hi cle to be used at Heathrow Air port in Eng land. (Photo: Cour tesy of the BAA) need for con stant po lit i cal, eco nomic and tech nol ogy support, she said. The lat est PRT in stal la tion, the UL - Tra PRT sys tem mar keted by ATS Ltd, is due to start op er a tion at Heathrow Air - port Ter mi nal 5 in 29. Ac cord ing to Tamana, the fu ture of PRT is look ing to be most dom i nant in air port ap pli ca tions. Other key ap pli ca tions are ex pected to be tour ist at trac tions, shop ping malls, Eco Towns and new urban city developments. Ac cord ing to Tamana, mar ket de - mand anal y sis shows that Eu rope and North Amer ica are the two key re gions for PRT de vel op ment. The PRT con cept is de signed to of fer the com fort and con - ve nience of the per sonal tran sit ve hi cle with the ef fi ciency of pub lic tran sit. At the same time it of fers the po ten tial to re - duce en ergy use, land use and the en vi - ron men tal im pact of trans por ta tion. PRT is so flex i ble it can help by im prov - ing ur ban con ges tion, sustainability and livability all in one system. However, current technical feasibil - ity provides insufficient capacity in high den sity ar eas, which means that cur rent forms of PRT would pro vide in suf fi cient ca pac ity in ar eas such as cen tral Lon don. This means that in vest ment costs for the tracks and sta tions are com pa ra ble to build ing new roads. Re al iza tion of trans por ta tion op por tu ni ties can be max - i mized by de vel op ing value added prod - ucts and ser vices in line with the gov ern - men tal strat egy or aiding segment challenges, Tamana said. In the past, gov ern ments have backed out of PRT pro posed pro jects at the ini ti - a tion stage. There is an in abil ity for PRT pro jects to fol low through on long term en gi neer ing de vel op ments, which in hib its mak ing a com mit ment to a PRT sys tem, the Frost and Sullivan analysis concluded. For more in for ma tion, con tact Anna Anlauft, Frost and Sullivan, Cor po rate Com mu ni ca tions Au to mo tive and Trans por ta tion Eu rope at tel or anna.anlauft@frost. com.

6 6 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 Transportation Tort Liability: Case in Review Louisiana DOTD Liable in Wrongful Death Action The Lou i si ana Court of Ap peals re cently af firmed a Dis trict Court judg ment, based on a jury ver dict, that found the Lou i si ana De part ment of Trans por ta tion and De vel - op ment (DOTD) li a ble for dam ages ex - ceed ing $1 mil lion, re sult ing from a fa tal ac ci dent on a state high way on New Year s Day 21. As the driver of the ve hi cle was found to be in tox i cated, the jury al lo cated fault in the pro por tion 7% to the DOTD and 3% to the driver. Shortly be fore mid night on De cem ber 31, 2, the ve hi cle, trav el ling at be tween 4 45 miles per hour, went into a slide, crossed the high way and op po site shoul - der, and hit a tree. The front-seat pas sen ger was ejected through the rear win dow and thrown ap prox i mately 45 feet and died at the scene. As the ac ci dent in volved a fa tal ity, the driver was rou tinely tested for al co hol and drugs; he was later ar rested for driv ing while in tox i cated, but this charge was dis - missed be cause he com pleted a pre trial di - ver sion pro gram. The DOTD claimed the jury com mit ted man i fest er ror in ap por - tion ing only 3% of fault to the driver. How ever, at ap peal, both judges found that the evidence presented was insufficient to es tab lish the de gree of in tox i ca tion or im - pair ment of the driver, and hence affirmed the jury s decree. The ma jor is sues re gard ing the dan ger - ous con di tion of the road way were whether the drop-off from the road way to the shoul - der pre sented an un rea son able risk of harm, and whether a pe can tree, on the op - po site side of the road way and in DOTD s right-of-way, posed an un rea son ably dan - ger ous condition. Plaintiffs expert witness alleged the oc cur rence of the ac ci dent was due to a num ber of fac tors re lated to the de sign and main te nance of the high way, including the pe can tree struck by the au to mo bile was sit u ated too close to the travel lane; there was no ev i dence of ap pro pri ate curve warn ing signs in place at the time of the ac ci dent; the driver would have had dif fi culty re - gain ing the road way due to the drop-off s se ver ity; the nar row ness of the shoul ders (which he es ti mated at 1.2 to 1.5 feet wide) and steep ness of the ditch foreslopes (es ti - mated at a 2 ft slope) would have in hib - ited re cov ery af ter the ve hi cle left the road way. At ap peal, the judges found that the prox i mate cause of the ac ci dent was the de fect in the shoul der of the road way, and that ad dress ing the pe can tree is sue was not nec es sary. One judge stated I am not pre - pared to re quire DOTD to re move all trees from rights of way along all the state high - ways in this state. Re gard ing the con struc tion and main te - nance of the high way, the court found that the high way is clas si fied as a ru ral mi nor col lec tor road way, which had been in ex is - tence, first as a gravel road, since 193. It had been the sub ject of five pro jects from 195 through 1994, al though not all pro - jects were im ple mented due to lack of funding. At is sue was whether the fifth pro ject, the last as signed and com pleted prior to the ac ci dent, could be de fined as a to tal re - con struc tion, and what du ties it would im pose on DOTD. This pro ject had in - volved the place ment of a new as phalt sur - face over the con trol sec tion in which the accident took place. Plain tiffs wit ness claimed that pro ject, ap proved in March 1994, re quired DOTD to re con struct the high way in ac cor dance with de sign stan dards and AASHTO guide lines in ef fect at the time. He showed the ex ist ing base of the high way was com - pletely re placed with a soil ce ment base, eight and a half inches thick, on top of which two and a half inches of new as phalt pav ing was placed. Ac cord ing to the wit - ness, such con struc tion met the def i ni tion of a re con struc tion in DOTD s high way plan prep a ra tion man ual, and was con sis - tent with a 3R (resurfacing, restoration, and re ha bil i ta tion) re con struc tion as defined in AASHTO guidelines operating from Fur ther, he al leged that the last two curves en coun tered by the driver im me di - ately be fore the ac ci dent met the cri te ria of a bro ken-back curve, which an AASHO pub li ca tion of 1954 rec om mended against. He also crit i cized DOTD s fail ure to widen the pave ment in those curves, rec om - mended in the AASHO doc u ment with re - gard to older high ways with sharp curves. Last, he pointed out that in terms of Func tions 442 and 443 of the DOTD s main te nance plan ning man ual dated 1991, main te nance and re pair of non-paved shoul ders, as on the high way in ques tion, should have been car ried out. These Func - tions re quire that edge ruts reach ing five inches in depth should be as signed first pri or ity on the work sched ule, and be sched uled as soon as re sources are avail - able, in ter rupt ing pre vi ously sched uled rou tine work, if nec es sary. How ever, his ev i dence showed that in the six months prior to the ac ci dent there were no no ta - tions re lated to Func tion 442 or 443 main - te nance in the prescheduling in spec tion re - ports, al though there were no ta tions about spot surface replacement and removal of tree limbs. A DOTD en gi neer in the dis trict de sign, wa ter re sources and de vel op ment de part - ment, tes ti fied the fifth pro ject in volved an ini tial anal y sis of the func tion ing of the high way, from which it was de cided re con - struc tion or new align ment for the sec tion was not needed. As the soil bor ings were rel a tively in tact it was de cided to sim ply cold plane or mill the up per two inches of the ex ist ing sur face, re duce it to gravel, sta bi lize with ce ment, and cover with three and a half inches of as phalt. There fore he char ac ter ized the pro ject as an overlay, not as a reconstruction. DOTD s re but tal ex pert wit ness agreed that the curves were a bro ken back curve, but as the straight tan gent sep a rat ing them was 6 feet in length, he con sid ered the bro ken back curve ir rel e vant as a cause of the accident. Please turn to Page 7

7 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 7 Con tin ued from Page 1 Chi cago Re ceives $1.2 Bil lion Bid for Lease of Its Metered Park ing System own er ship), Mor gan Stan ley In fra struc - ture Part ners LP (23%) and sev eral other en ti ties shar ing 1% own er ship. LAZ Park - ing will serve as the op er a tor for Chi cago Park ing Me ters, LLC, ac cord ing to a De - cem ber 2 press re lease. The re quest for qual i fi ca tions (RFQ) for com pa nies in ter ested in over see ing the city s extensive parking meter system was is sued on Feb ru ary 8. The RFQ showed gross op er at ing rev e nue col lected from Chi cago s me tered park ing sys tem in 27 amounted to ap prox i mately $22.9 mil lion, dem on strat ing an increase of 16.5% since 23. Mayor Daley said he pro poses al lo cat - ing the nearly $1.2 bil lion in net me ter pro - ceeds into four dis tinct funds, in clud ing: $4 mil lion in a long-term re serve/rev - e nue re place ment fund, sim i lar to the $5 mil lion long-term Chi cago Sky - way re serve; $325 mil lion in a mid-term bud get re lief fund to help bal ance city bud gets through 212, con sis tent with the 29 bud get plan; A park ing pay sta tion in Chi cago. (Photo: Cour tesy of the City of Chi cago) $1 mil lion hu man in fra struc ture fund to sup port for pro grams help ing those most in need; and The bal ance ap prox i mately $324 mil - lion in a bud get sta bi li za tion fund that may be used to help bridge the pe riod un - til the na tion s econ omy be gins to grow again. As part of this agree ment, the city will implement graduated meter rate increases over a pe riod of five years that will bring rates closer to mar ket level. Af ter that, any in creases will be sub ject to the ap proval of the city coun cil and are ex pected to be at the rate of in fla tion. These in creases will be the first in more than 2 years for more than 25, of the 36, meters. This agree ment also man dates the pri - vate op er a tor to make sys tem up grades in the near fu ture that will pro vide cashless pay ment op tions far sooner than the city would be able to com plete. And by the mid - dle of 211, all me ters must have both cash and cashless pay ment options. Ac cord ing to Lisa Schrader, dep uty chief of fi nance for the city of Chi cago, the ad van tage of a pri vate lease is that the city gen er ates up-front pay ments and of - fers greater value for tax pay ers. A pri vate op er a tor with core busi ness ex pe ri ence can man age the sys tem and make en - hance ments while of fer ing im proved ser - vices and greater efficiency. Un der the agree ment, the City Coun cil re tains the right to re vise the me ter in - creases, change the num ber of me ters or the hours of op er a tion. But to the ex tent the city takes ac tion that neg a tively im - pacts me ter rev e nue, it will be ob li gated to make the pri vate operator whole. For more in for ma tion, visit rtal/home.do or con tact Lisa Schrader at tel. (312) or lschrader@ Con tin ued from Page 6 Lou i si ana DOTD Found Li a ble in Wrong ful Death Ac tion With re gard to the high way edge drop-off, while ac knowl edg ing it dif fi cult to dis cern the ver ti cal height of the drop-off from pho - to graphs, he con cluded that the drop-off shown was prob a bly two to three inches, and would not have pre sented an ob sta cle to a driver at tempt ing to re gain the road way from the shoul der. Re gard ing the AASHTO guide lines and their re la tion ship to DOTD s du ties, he claimed that none of the pro jects could prop erly be con sid ered ma jor re con struc - tions, al though the first pro ject in 195 met some of the cri te ria for an ear lier def i ni tion of re con struc tion, short of a major reconstruction. The court found that while DOTD has no duty to bring old high ways up to mod ern AASHTO stan dards, un less a new con - struc tion or ma jor re con struc tion of the high way has taken place, it does have a duty to cor rect un rea son ably dan ger ous con di tions ex ist ing on old high ways. It con cluded DOTD was li a ble by neg li - gently fail ing to dis cover that which was eas ily discoverable; that the drop-off had ex isted at the time of the ac ci dent; was a con trib ut ing fac tor to the driver s loss of con trol of the ve hi cle, and pre sented an un rea son able risk of harm to the travelling public. Al though it stated that the ev i dence re - vealed significant factual dispute as to whether the fifth pro ject was an over lay or re ha bil i ta tion, a re con struc tion, or a ma jor re con struc tion, it found that the jury may le git i mately have con cluded that it con sti - tuted a ma jor re con struc tion of the high - way and there fore im posed certain attendant duties on DOTD.

8 8 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 Product and Industry News Pay Park ing by Cell Phone Is Tested at Sin gle-slot Fa cil i ties in Decatur, Geor gia StreetSmart Tech nol ogy LLC an nounced ear lier this month a pi lot pro ject in Decatur, Geor gia to al low sin gle-slot park - ing pa trons to post their park ing time and pay us ing cell phone tech nol ogy. The cell phone pay ment pi lot pro ject com bines Street Smart s sin gle space park - ing ca pa bil i ties and pay by cell tech nol ogy. While pay by cell ser vice is avail able in some lo ca tions with mul ti ple space park - ing fa cil i ties, this is the first time it is be ing used at sin gle parking locations. StreetSmart s SmartMeter pay by cell sys tem is be ing tested at two of down town Decatur s most pop u lar park ing lo ca tions. Mo tor ists sim ply dial the num ber in cluded on the me ter s sticker, fol low the au to - mated prompts to punch in the space num - ber, also on the sticker, and see their time post on the me ter. Live op er a tors are avail - able to as sist with any ques tions and the first ses sion is offered free of charge. The sys tem then sends driv ers a text mes sage to visit the pay for park ing website and fill out the form that will cre ate their ac count. Mo tor ists fill the ac count in $2 in cre ments, and it is drawn down au to - A park ing me ter that al lows park ers to post their park ing time and pay us ing cell phone tech nol ogy. (Photo: Cour tesy of StreetSmart) mat i cally ev ery time they park at a SmartMeter. The sys tem will even send a text mes sage to driv ers be fore the me ter ex pires and al low them to post more time, up to the two-hour limit, if they un der es ti - mated the length of their stay. Ini tial re sponse to the pro gram has been pos i tive for both mo tor ists and lo cal mer - chants. Driv ers ap pre ci ate the con ve - nience of a cashless pay ment op tion and busi nesses in the area are re lieved from on - go ing re quests for change. StreetSmart, which of fers the first fully in te grated park ing space con trol and man - agement information system, installed the ba sic tech nol ogy in Decatur last year and ex pects to ex pand through out the city in the near future. The sys tem in cludes space-by-space ve hi cle de tec tion, dig i tal park ing me ters, and wire less ra dio te lem e try. It is unique in that it con nects park ing main te nance, en - force ment, and col lec tions op er a tions through cellular SMS messaging. By con stantly mon i tor ing the sta tus of ev ery park ing space, it of fers au to ma tion, greater workforce ef fi ciency, and en - hanced me ter func tion al ity. Also, by en - forc ing turn over and cre at ing more park - ing, the sys tem re duces cruis ing and of - fers fuel sav ings and environmental benefits. SmartMeter en cour ages me ter turn - over, which in creases rev e nue but also pro vides valu able in for ma tion about the av er age length of stay, peak use hours and me ter vi o la tions for stra te gic plan ning and better man age ment of re sources. Park ing officials benefit from better management and greater ef fi ciency as well as cost savings. Payment, maintenance and occupancy in for ma tion all ap pear in real time to a cen - tral lo ca tion as well as to hand held de vices of lo cal en force ment. En force ment be - comes more ef fi cient be cause the tech nol - ogy en ables the city s park ing man age - ment team to de ter mine the lo ca tion of the most ex pired me ters and respond quickly to violations. StreetSmart man ages the park ing me - ters and has the abil ity to clear and re set them be tween oc cu pants, which can ac - count for a 3% in crease in rev e nue. The sys tem also can en force the time me ter by pro hib it ing ad di tional time be yond the max i mum limit, which can ac count for an ad di tional 1% revenue savings. In stal la tion costs vary de pend ing on agreements with individual cities and licens ing fee ar range ments but the ne go ti a - tion li cense fee is ap prox i mately $3 per month per space and the in stal la tion fee is be tween $25 and $35 per month per space. Ac cord ing to the com pany s chief in - for ma tion of fi cer, Eric Groft, StreetSmart ex pects the com bi na tion of added rev e nues and cost re duc tions to off set the ex penses of the sys tem and leave the city ahead financially. If the pay by cell pi lot pro gram is suc - cess ful, the SmartMeter sys tem even tu ally could be ex panded to all of Decatur s park - ing me ters. StreetSmart also is in dis cus - sions with other mu nic i pal i ties to make the tech nol ogy avail able to those cities. For more in for ma tion, visit or con - tact Kirby An drews at kandrews@streets marttechnology.com. Visa Of fers a Range of Ad vanced Tran sit Pay ment Op tions Including Visa paywave Visa, Inc. is merg ing elec tronic pay ments tech nol ogy and tran sit agency fare col lec - tion capabilities to fulfill the demands of both tran sit pas sen gers and op er a tors. With Visa paywave, a pay ment card in which a tiny chip is em bed ded that com - mu ni cates se curely with contactless card read ers over short dis tances, the com pany has elim i nated the need for pas sen gers to pur chase a ded i cated ticket for tran sit travel and re placed it with more con ve nient and func tional payment options. As transit system efficiency becomes in creas ingly im por tant due to grow ing de - mand but lim ited fi nan cial re sources, the availability of electronic payment options of fers prom is ing so lu tions. In com bin ing greater con ve nience, lower op er a tions costs and in creased trans ac tion vol ume, Visa now is of fer ing a range of so lu tion strat e gies ideally suited for transit systems. Com mu ters are look ing for speed and con - ve nience, tran sit sys tem agen cies and op - er a tors want to re duce the chal lenges pre - Please turn to Page 9

9 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 9 Product and Industry News (continued) sented by fare col lec tion and man ag ing pay ments and ac count ing, and Visa is de - vel op ing the tech nol ogy to meet these re - quire ments. The com pany cur rently is of - fer ing four dif fer ent tran sit pay ment op - tions now in use in North Amer ica, Eu rope and Asia. Ac cord ing to Visa, Inc., spokes per son Elvira Swanson, these vary in their level of in te gra tion from those that of fer a more con ve nient choice for pay ing for ex ist ing tran sit fare me dia, through dual-tech nol - ogy cards com bin ing the ad van tages of Visa with pro pri etary fare me dia, to a com - pletely in te grated Visa so lu tion that elim i - nates the need for any pro pri etary media on the operator s part. The first op tion is known as ac cep - tance and re load. In San Fran cisco, Sin ga - pore and Se oul, South Ko rea, tran sit us ers use their ex ist ing Visa ac counts to pur - chase or top up pro pri etary tran sit fare me dia, such as mag netic-stripe pa per fare cards. These can be pur chased on de mand or automatically. The sec ond, the shared card op tion, is used in Lon don where the dual-use Visa and Oys ter cards are avail able (in clud ing VisaWave tech nol ogy). A shared card pro - gram also is un der way in Los An geles and in cit ies in Eu rope and Asia. In this case, the tran sit sys tem s fare card tech nol ogy and Visa fi nan cial pay ment are in te grated on a sin gle card. As a dual-pur pose so lu - tion, tran sit pas sen gers have one fewer card to carry and tran sit op er a tors have less fare media to distribute. With the pay ment at the gate op tion, tran sit sys tems that do not yet have pro pri - etary contactless fare col lec tion tech nol - ogy can take ad van tage of the Visa paywave so lu tion for fare col lec tion with - The use of a contactless Visa payment card. (Photo: Courtesy of Visa) out needing a separate fare application on the card. This ap proach al lows a sin gle card to be used on a va ri ety of dis tinct tran sit sys - tems within a re gion and re lieves the con - sumer of re quir ing mul ti ple fare me dia for each sys tem they use. It also helps to re lieve tran sit op er a tors from wor ry ing about managing fare media and technology. This ap proach is be ing used by ferry pas - sen gers in Is tan bul, Tur key as well as in the KLIA Ex press pro gram in Kuala Lumpur, Ma lay sia. Visa is also work ing with re - gional tran sit au thor i ties in the New York metropolitan area to allow commuters to use their Visa paywave cards and mo bile de vices to pay for sub way, bus and com mu - ter train trips in Manhattan and New Jersey. Fi nally, the Visa Fare Me dia op tion is the most highly in te grated tran sit pay ment method and rec og nizes Visa as the fare me - dia it self. These in clude ded i cated cards, co-branded and pre paid Visa cards that func tion as sys tem-branded fare me dia that can also be used for Visa purchases. Visa paywave tech nol ogy al lows fast and con ve nient fare me dia to be is sued and ser viced by is su ing banks so that the tran sit op er a tor does not have to han dle fare col - lec tion. Ac cord ing to Swanson, tran sit agen cies even tu ally will move be yond card acceptance to become important co-brand partners. The cards can be re loaded at many ATMs by ac cess ing the ReadyLink net - work so that pas sen gers can avoid an ad di - tional stop at a tran sit fa cil ity, and pre paid Visa cards can pro vide ac cess to other forms of elec tronic com merce as well. The tech nol ogy also en ables co-branded Visa credit, debit or pre-paid cards to be linked with tran sit-re lated re wards and perks for heavy transit users. Cur rently, Visa Eu rope is work ing with RATP in Paris to eval u ate and de velop the con cept of Visa paywave ac cep tance di - rectly at the fare gate. The pur pose of the part ner ship is to as sess how Visa paywave can ad dress the more so phis ti cated tick et - ing chal lenges pre sented in a mass tran sit environment. Work ing with Citibank, Visa also will be the ex clu sive pay ment part ner sup port - ing tran sit ap pli ca tions on lo cal cards for key tran sit pro grams in Hong Kong and Delhi, and Visa paywave cardholders in Tur key can use their card to pay for travel do mes ti cally or abroad. In Ma lay sia, do mes tic Visa contactless cards are ac cepted at the fare gate to board the ex press train from the air port to the cen tral bus sta tion. Rather than pur chase a ticket or ded i cated tran sit en abled Visa card, pas sen gers sim ply use the contactless card pro vided by their issuers. In Ko rea, Visa cards are com monly used to pay for tran sit ser vices. Al most a quar ter of all Visa cards from 18 dif fer ent is su ers in the coun try sup port do mes tic tran sit ap pli ca tions of some sort. Cardholders can even use the same card to ride tran sit and to go shop ping. And for the first time, com mu ters can use their Visa ac count to add value to their bal - ances au to mat i cally on the phone s SIM card. In the United King dom, a Barclaycard Visa credit card fea tures Visa paywave for tran sit pay ment and a contactless Oys - ter smartcard ap pli ca tion which al lows cus tom ers to make low-value pur chases and travel through out the pub lic trans port net work with a sin gle card. Visa Eu rope is also work ing with Trans port for Lon - don (TfL) to de ter mine how Visa paywave cards might be ac cepted di - rectly at the fare gate through out the city s transit system. In New York, Visa is par tic i pat ing in a pi lot pro gram at the New York Met ro pol - i tan Tran sit Au thor ity (MTA) which will al low com mu ters to use their Visa paywave en abled cards and mo bile de - vices to pay for sub way, bus and com mu - ter train trips. The cards are ac cepted at turn stiles and fare ter mi nals through out the tran sit system. In Los An geles, Swanson says that Visa is work ing with LA Metro to of fer spe cial Visa paywave cards that also in - cor po rate the tran sit sys tem s TAB fare ap pli ca tion. These dual-use, pre paid Visa cards will let rid ers pay their fares, top up their fare ac counts us ing their Visa ac count, and make pur chases any where a Visa is accepted. For more in for ma tion, con tact Elvira Swanson, Visa, Inc., at tel. (65) or elswanso@visa.com.

10 1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, DECEMBER 12, 28 Con tin ued from Page 1 Ha waii, California to Cre ate Elec tric Car Net works col lab o rate on the in fra struc ture and en - ergy needs to power the net work. Better Place s two pri mary con cepts for the net - work in fra struc ture con sist of bat tery switch sta tions and chang ing sta tions, both of which would ex tend the range of the ve - hi cles and make them more func tional for trav el ing lon ger dis tances. Be cause Better Place will man age when ve hi cles are re charged, they can pro - vide a mar ket for re new able en ergy out put in off-peak hours when it might oth er wise not be needed, said Ha wai ian Elec tric ex - ec u tive vice pres i dent Robbie Alm. Cal i for nia has de fined a plan for a sus - tain able trans por ta tion model in which state and lo cal gov ern ment are work ing in part ner ship with the pri vate sec tor to move the state from green house gas-emit ting cars that run on fos sil fuel, to ward clean, elec tric cars fu eled by re new able en ergy, sup ported by an open net work in fra struc - ture. Better Place es ti mates the net work in - vest ment in the Bay Area will to tal $1 bil - lion when the sys tem is fully de ployed. The main com po nents of the net work are charg ing sta tions, bat tery ex change sta - tions, and the pro vi sion of elec tric ity by means of re new able sources at times outside peak consumption. Better Place pro vided the fol low ing de - scrip tions of their charg ing sta tions and ex - change sta tions: Each charg ing sta tion is about the same size as a stan dard park ing me ter. When an elec tric ve hi cle pulls up and parks, on-board soft ware in structs the ve hi cle to link-up with the charg ing sta tion un til the bat tery is charged. The driver does n t have to do any thing to be gin the pro cess. All ve - hi cles within the Better Place model will have the same plug which will al low them All Better Place ve hi cles will have the same plug to al low charg ing at sta tions. (Photo: Cour tesy of Better Place) The Better Place Rogue elec tric ve hi cle. (Photo: Cour tesy of Better Place) to charge at these spots, re gard less of the make, model or power re quire ments of the elec tric car be ing driven. The charge spots func tion at 3.3 kw and 6.6 kw. In terms of volt age, the trickle charge is the same as a stan dard wall outlet in a home. Each ex change sta tion is roughly the size of your av er age liv ing room. Like the charg ing spots, they are fully au to mated. A driver pulls in, puts the car in the neu tral gear, and sits back. The bat tery ex change sta tion does all the work. The de pleted bat - tery is re moved, and a fully-charged re - place ment is in stalled. In un der three min - utes, the car is back on the road. It s just like an au to matic car wash a quick, ef - fort less, drive-through experience. Better Place ini tially start ing work ing with of fi cials in Is rael, Den mark, and Aus - tra lia to cre ate elec tric car net works. The com pany will ac ti vate net works on a coun - try-by-coun try ba sis with ini tial de ploy - ments beginning in 21. For more infromation, visit or con tact Julie Mul lins, Better Place, at tel. (65) or julie.mul lins@ betterplace.org. Con tin ued from Page 3 Learning from Congestion Charging Schemes holder con sul ta tion is sched uled for next sum mer to re view a draft re vi sion to the Mayor s Trans port Strat egy re flect ing his in ten tion to re move the west ern ex ten sion from the charg ing area. Fol low ing this, TfL also would need to con sult the pub lic and stake holders on a vari a tion to the Con - ges tion Charg ing Scheme Or der to for - mally re move the zone. The mayor will take into ac count the views ex pressed in the con sul ta tions and de cide whether or not to con firm his de ci - sion. The ear li est the ex ten sion could be re - moved from the charg ing zone is 21. Sup port ers of con ges tion charg ing ar - gue that peo ple will al ways vote against taxation unless the immediate benefits of the tax are made clear and ap par ent. As Kallbekken dem on strates, pub lic sup port for en vi ron men tal tax a tion re quires that a clear and strong case be made that the charges will have a sig nif i cant and positive impact. For more in for ma tion, visit rging or con tact Steffen Kallbekken at steffen.kallbekken@cicero.uio.no.