Next EV launch – Chevy Spark

Another new EV has been officially launched and is scheduled to show up at showrooms in California and Oregon next summer: the Chevy SparkEV.

Now the Spark is no Tesla – and I haven’t seen any reviews yet – but the launch of a new moderately priced EV by General Motors is surely a good sign for the future.

Good News: The Spark is equipped for fast charging, so the battery can get an 80% charge in 20 minutes at specially-equipped charging stations.

Bad News: The Spark has the new SAE Combo fast charging connection, so there are now officially two different, distinct, incompatible fast charging systems in the U.S.

I really don’t know how we got into a VHS vs. Betamax situation, which seems to me like an unnecessary, self-inflicted handicap at this stage of EV development, but I hope we can figure out a way to work through it.

Ewing NJ Town Center plan gets some press

It was good to see the developing Town Center redevelopment plan for Ewing, New Jersey get a good story in the Trenton Times.  This is a real cutting-edge project that will tie together a relocated commuter rail station, a relocated airport terminal, and potential new rapid transit links at a new high-quality, mixed-use Town Center in a brownfield redevelopment zone in an inner-ring suburb at the heart of the Northeast Mega-region.  Hard to top that!

(I am involved in a related project – more about that at a later time.)

This story broke at about the same time that the Trenton-Ewing-Princeton triangle was ranked 4^th in the Top 50 Mid-Sized Cities list for jobs and economic development by Area Development magazine (see story in TheAtlantic Cities).

 A lot of exciting possibilities ahead!

It’s Global Warming! (Sandy’s Silver Lining?)

Bloomberg Businessweek’s cover put it bluntly: “It’s GlobalWarming, Stupid!”  So the silver lining of Hurricane (or post-tropical whatever) Sandy may be that increased attention will be paid to (1) the real and urgent dangers of climate change and (2) the overall substandard status of America’s infrastructure, including transportation.

I had suggested a while back that we might be only a few more natural disasters away from the public demanding that transportation planners come up with solutions to these threats.  I think Sandy put us a step closer.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s assessment, by the way, was right on target.

On the response to climate change: “In truth, what’s lacking in America’s approach to climate change is not the resources to act but the political will to do so.”

On infrastructure: “The U.S. has allowed transportation and other infrastructure to grow obsolete and deteriorate, which poses a threat not just to public safety but also to the nation’s economic health.”

Tesla Model S is Motor Trend Car of the Year!

Elon Musk and his Tesla electric cars continue to make big-time news, now winning the coveted Motor Trend car of the year award.

Two things are important here:  First, as MT’s subhead on their story said, this is “Proof Positive that America Can Still Make (Great) Things”.  Second, the magazine’s reporting underscores that electric vehicles can be powerful, fast, exciting, well-handling, fun-to-drive cars.  There is nothing wimpy in this technology.

Now, as I said in my earlier comments on the Tesla, most of us may not be able to afford this gem, but it is heartening that this state-of-the-art, climate-friendly, 21^st century technology is being built and delivered right now in this country.

Southern Towns: Atlanta, Some Thoughts

I’m sure there is very little I can say about Atlanta and transportation that hasn’t been said before, but after spending a few days there (the first in a while), I can’t resist putting a few points on paper:

MARTA – I found the MARTA connection at ATL to be very convenient.  Headways were a little longer and service was a little slower than I would have liked, but it delivered me to midtown Atlanta very comfortably.  I did notice that most of the stations we passed in the southern part of the city were surrounded by low-density development, with some parking.  Why no TOD?  MARTA apparently has a pretty low reputation in Atlanta, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me.  Perhaps the sparse coverage?  MARTA’s cousin, the Washington Metro, on the other hand, is choking on its own success.

Atlantic Station – I had heard a lot about this Smart Growth infill development and was eager to see it.  The central part of this development was very impressive, with high-quality, well-scaled buildings, streets, and open spaces.  Atlantic Station as a whole seems to be a transit-oriented development without the transit!  Attractive stairway openings lead down from the surface level, but to a vast underground parking garage, not a light rail station!  Unfortunately, the whole development is located at a place that is “not on the way” for transit planning purposes, inJarrettWalker’s language, and so is unlikely to have rapid transit access at any time in the near future.

Georgia State Capitol – Really?  A beautiful building facing freeway ramps and parking lots and home to a concentration of homeless people.

Up-and-coming neighborhoods – I was pleased to see some nice development and redevelopment activity in some up-and-coming neighborhoods: West Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Inman Park.  A key factor holding these neighborhoods back is that they are overrun with auto traffic.  High-speed traffic roars through local high streets, and pedestrians use the rare crosswalks at their own risk.  A little basic traffic calming and pedestrianizing would work wonders in promoting sustainable economic development in these places.

Atlanta of the future – At a very brief glance, there appears to be plenty of room in Atlanta for infill urbanizing and upgrading.  The necessary transit upgrades will not be complicated, just expensive.  In rough terms, I think tripling the mileage of the MARTA network would give a pretty decent transit grid.  Georgia remains one of those places where using gas tax money on transit is verboten and where taxes and public expenditure generally are the subject of not-very-enlightened discourse.  But there are plenty of smart and energetic people in Atlanta, so one hopes for a bright future.

Tesla Continues to Make News with Model S and Superchargers

You may have read the recent New York Times rave review of the Tesla Model S sedan.  If not, you should.  You may find yourself putting a Model S on your win-the-lottery wish list!

Perhaps a more important Tesla development – from a transportation policy point of view – is Tesla’s launch of “Supercharger” fast charging stations.  Six of these high-tech, solar powered fast chargers have already opened at strategic intervals on California highways.  They may (or may not) be part of a solution to a problem a lot of people (including me) have been struggling with: how do you design, fund, build, and operate fast charging stations on Interstate corridors?  Slower chargers are fine for overnight or daytime charging but are a problem for longer-distance travel.  Fast chargers, which can “fuel up” and EV in half an hour or so, are expensive and require special equipment.  Without a network of fast chargers, users of electric vehicles might consider themselves stranded on electrified islands in urban centers.

The Tesla Superchargers look very promising.  Unfortunately, they also raise some serious technical issues (taking another step away from standardization in fast charging) along with an unproven (some would use harsher terms) business plan.  Still, these are bold and visionary steps, and I wish Elon Musk and the Tesla folks well (and if I win the lottery I will buy a Model S for sure!).

You can look here for the Supercharger launch video, complete with pyrotechnics, or here for Motor Trend’s more sober account.

Exciting New Raleigh Union Station Project Moves Ahead

An exciting new rail station project is taking shape in Raleigh, NC.  The Union Stationproject will convert an old warehouse building into a new multimodal transportation center in downtown Raleigh.  Amtrak will be a key tenant, to be followed by developing commuter and light rail services.  The project looks like a classic example of using a high-quality transportation project as a lever for urban redevelopment.  (Raleigh has recently trailed Durham on the “hip and trendy” scale, but watch developments in Raleigh’s Warehouse District – which will get a real lift from Union Station.)

The Triangle area is poised for future transit oriented development as well as high-speed rail connections.  As the Raleigh News and Observer story mentions, a key component of success for North Carolina rail will actually be found in Virginia, where freight rail bottlenecks cause chronic delays in already slow-paced Amtrak schedules.  The highway congestion is so bad between Washington and Richmond that an improved train service could be very attractive to travelers.

This looks to be a very successful project, which also demonstrates that we’re still getting good results from stimulus funding!