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The politics of bringing bullet trains to the US
Lucy Wallwork Transportation Technology & AutomotiveThe Shinkansen "bullet trains" in Japan and France’s extensive TGV network are testament to the commitment of some countries to high-speed rail. The U.K. has recently realized it is falling behind and is trying to catch up, but is causing a furor in the process. Even Uzbekistan is in on the game. The U.S., meanwhile, is still making baby steps. Now, investors who have built on experience on other international projects are now rushing into the U.S. to try their changes. But who is willing to pay for these pricey projects?
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Puerto Rico’s recovery faces ongoing privatization challenges
Michelle R. Matisons Civil & GovernmentOn July 9, Puerto Rican officials submitted a 411-page draft recovery plan to the U.S. Congress that outlines Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s vision for the island’s future as it acknowledges that the death toll from Hurricane Maria may be much larger than originally admitted. This plan states that prior to September’s storm, the island already struggled "with an economic crisis spanning more than a decade." That crisis led a federal oversight board to take over Puerto Rico’s finances in 2016.
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Turkish Airlines prepares for Istanbul New Airport amid rumors of stake…
Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & AutomotiveTurkish Airlines, on the back of its highest ever load factors, has undertaken a trial operation of the Istanbul New Airport and announced plans for the largest movement of equipment in civil aviation history ahead of its October opening. It has certainly been a momentous time for the Turkish flag carrier and its growing dominance of air travel in Europe and the Middle East. On Aug. 9, the airline reported it carried a record 7.5 million passengers and 119,000 tons of cargo in July, marking its best ever month, with a $258 million net operating profit in the first half of 2018.
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Big Sur back in action as Highway 1 reopens
Dave G. Houser Recreation & LeisureCalifornia’s most famous road trip is back on. For the first time in 14 months, Highway 1 — aka the Pacific Coast Highway — is open without interruption, after a quarter-mile chunk of it in Big Sur was wiped away in a massive landslide last year. Over the years, landslides have taken out portions of the iconic highway, but none were as big as the so-called Mud Creek slide in May 2017, when more than 6 million cubic yards of earth collapsed into the sea following torrential rains.
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Ride-sharing programs may reduce patient no-show appointments
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationLyft and tech company Hitch Health recently released the findings of a yearlong, nonemergency medical transportation pilot that took place in Minneapolis at the Hennepin Healthcare internal medicine clinic. The result of the pilot seems to show a great deal of promise, as the outcomes of the survey showed that "targeted patients who have missed appointments in the past" reduced no-shows by 27 percent. Missed appointments cost the healthcare industry an estimated $150 billion a year.
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Increase in marijuana-impaired driving has police concerned
Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityOklahoma law enforcement officers are worried that marijuana use may increase impaired driving as the state begins to introduce legal medical marijuana. Police are working with Oklahoma AAA to handle the increase in impaired drivers. However, Oklahoma is the not only state worrying about the increase in impaired driving. As more states go on to make marijuana legal, there are going to be traffic implications for each.
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Edmonton tackles fence security with autonomous vehicles
Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & AutomotiveEdmonton International Airport (EIA) is leading the way in developing systems to protect the safety of its perimeter by introducing a new autonomous vehicle that offers an extra set of eyes around the miles of fencing that are hard to patrol in person. I reported last month about the problems airports are facing in securing the vast areas of land away from the passenger terminals, which could prove an easy target to those intent on breaking onto airport property and causing danger.
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Wolves, transport infrastructure and ‘trophic cascades’
Lucy Wallwork Transportation Technology & AutomotiveWhat have wolves got to do with railway lines? A video that has gone viral on YouTube tells the story of so-called "trophic cascades" through the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park — a small-scale change that set off a chain reaction of responses in the park’s complex ecosystem. Yellowstone Park may seem a far cry from the transport infrastructure of our biggest cities. However, the same processes set in action by the wolves can help to better understand how we should approach planning our highways, railways and streets.
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E-bikes grow in popularity around the world
Dave G. Houser Transportation Technology & AutomotivePerhaps you can’t afford a Tesla, but you’d still like to avoid high gas prices and polluting the atmosphere. Then you should consider another kind of electric vehicle that’s been gaining momentum worldwide: the e-bike. An e-bike (short for electric bicycle) is essentially a standard bicycle fitted with an ingeniously integrated propulsion system consisting of a mini electric motor powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
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Will the days of ‘going for a drive’ come to an end?
Lucy Wallwork Transportation Technology & Automotive"Autotelic travel" is undirected travel. In contrast with directed travel, this is travel for the sake of enjoyment, not in order to reach a destination. In the United States, this has manifested culturally as the tradition of "going for a drive." But with the new sustainability agenda, and the urgent need to reduce automobile trips for environmental and societal reasons, is this a luxury we can still afford?
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