change.gov:The Main Train Drains the Planes in Spain

Seems like the Spanish are jumping off planes and onto trains in record numbers, leading to the unfortunate rhyming of headlines all around the Net. The planes in Spain carried 20 percent  fewer fed up victims last year. 

According to Wired Autopia, "Airlines carried 72 percent of the 4.8 million long-distance travelers who opted to go by rail or air in 2007. That fell to 60 percent last year". Joseph Valls, a professor at the ESADE business school in Barcelona told The Guardian "The numbers will be equal in two years." This is really "Change We Can Believe In" as it is actually happening.

Again from Wired, "Alberto Garcia of the Spanish Railways Foundation estimates AVE trains use 19 percent less energy than conventional trains and generate one-sixth the carbon emissions of a plane."

By 2020, Spain plans on building 10,000 more km of high-speed rail. Over here, at least California is planning on building some, if it doesn't go totally bankrupt and is repossessed by Mexico first. Or would that be Spain. Not sure. Anyway, it is time the US and Canada get cracking and stop wasting money on roads and make massive investments in high speed rail and rapid transit.

The so called "Green Stimulus" plan of Obama is really disappointing. It calls for $30 billion for roads and only $10 billion for transit and rail. In fact, the amount for high speed rail is only $1.5 billion while there is $2 billion for batteries. That doesn't really seem like much of a change at all. 

Fortunately, the people are a step or two ahead. They have forgotten all about electric cars which now seem oh so mid 2008. Back when oil prices were high and people still could afford expensive cars by taking out second or third zero percent mortgages on their McMansions. Now $40,000 cars that you have to plug-in don't seem like such a great idea.

Electric cars are the "solution" for everyone else. The people that people believe will never get out of their cars. Yet, when asked what they want, people ask for better transportation, not a electric band aid that will not make getting around any more convenient, faster or more enjoyable. It is problem solving instead of looking for better solutions and new opportunities. If that thinking had prevailed one hundred years ago, we would be riding around on horses with diapers.

It is not electric cars or more roads that people really want, it is high speed rail and rapid transit. Fortunately the people sending this message out clear and strong at Obama's site, change.gov. The top 20 or so ideas contain five or six that are related to rail and transit. Electric cars, not so much.

Let the soon to be Prez know that you want high speed rail and rapid transit at change.gov

It is the forth most popular idea. Your vote can help make it the top idea.

While you are at it, support my Billions for Bicycles idea which doesn't seem to be as popular. At least it faired better than Put Warning Labels on Cars and Ban Irresponsible Auto Advertising, which seem to be dropping in popularity faster than the stocks of the small three automakers.

Last of all, the reason why the world should be happy I didn't become a poet or more likely, the reason why I could not become one. Enjoy?

After the day began on the plain main train through plains of grain, to my bane, the insane rain in Spain sustained, drained my brain again, dry hopes in vain, restrained, waned, feigned. What a inane pain to gain raising cain, last obtained on stained lanes of Danes.

Provide Solutions and Avoid Gas Tax Pains and Carbon Tax Attacks

It all sounds so nice and green and fair. A revenue neutral carbon tax for British Columbia, the Best Place on Earth. The greens loved it. The first government in North America to give carbon taxing a shot. If it worked here, it would spread like wildfire across North America.

Well, the organic manure hit the windmill. It is fair to say that it was not a popular move. In a move that still seems rather surreal, the left leaning New Democratic Party borrowed a page from the neo-cons and starting an “Axe the Tax” campaign. The bad timing of the summer’s high gas prices certainly didn’t help. People were mad and looking for fight.

Now, with falling oil prices, there is concern that people will quickly return to their SUV lovin’ ways. Both for environmental, security and economic reasons, there is talk about gas or carbon taxes to discourage overuse of the precious black gold.

In going forward with such politically tricky ideas, it is important to learn from the BC experience. It would be easy enough to draw the conclusion that people just are not willing to except such taxes. This would be a mistake. The problem is not with the concept of a carbon tax, it is how it was implemented that caused the pain.

First of all, while it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, making the tax revenue neutral proved to be a bad idea. The anti-tax crowd, likely the ones the government was trying to bring onboard with revenue neutrality just simply does not like taxes, especially new ones, especially ones that they perceive as social engineering. On top of that, many just don’t trust government. They fully expect the money to be used for something and thus were not convinced.

People want solutions. If they feel they have no options to avoid paying the tax, they will feel like they are being unfairly targeted for actions they have little control over. They will fell like they are being punished for driving and they feel they have no alternatives, they will get mad.

Instead of returning the money from the carbon tax, a better idea would be to use it to fund transit improvements and other public measures that can help people reduce their carbon emissions. Five billion in transit improvements will get peoples attention. Construction companies, consultants and unions will be onboard. Drivers will feel that they have an option or at least will think that other drivers with leaving them with more space on the road. People waiting in the cold while packed trains and buses pass them by will certainly be excited about increased transit funding.

Using funding from a tax to improve public transit creates a lot of big winners who will provide the public support needed for the tax to be successful. A revenue neutral tax will create a lot of small winners who, given the small amount they receive, will not really care much one way or the other.

People don’t mind pay more taxes if they know the money will be used for something they want. If the last election was any indication, people clearly want money to be spent on rail and rapid transit. Voters in Seattle, Los Angles and Honolulu approved tens of billions of dollars in tax increases for rapid transit. California approved ten billion dollars for high-speed rail.

No one really gets that excited about receiving a hundred dollars in the mail. It is no big deal these days. Pretty much everyone will pay some of that in carbon tax so really no one really benefits that much.

Congestion charging has been a success in London because transit improvements where on the ground when the charges came into effect. Pricing without improvements is rather cruel. Without alternatives, it is just another tax that is unlikely to change people’s behavior.

Pooling our resources to create a better transportation system is a far more compelling idea than giving everybody a hundred bucks and hoping against all hope they can use this small amount of money to somehow provide themselves with a greener transportation solution.

Ironically, the province did announce a transit plan before the carbon tax was implemented. Which is all fine and good. Only problem is that they didn’t have a plan to fund it. Without such a plan, it is hard for people to take the plan that seriously especially when they are staring a carbon tax in the face. Only now is the province looking at revenue sources to fund the transit improvements. Up on the list are bright ideas like a cell phone tax (I don’t get it either) and of course gas taxes, congestion charges and road pricing.

So when governments are considering carbon taxes, road pricing and other similar measures, here are a few suggestions:

• Create many big winners
  
• Provide people with solutions so they have an option to avoid paying
  
• Clearly tie the tax or charge to the solutions
  
• Announce the solutions and the tax or charge at the same time
  
• Have solutions on the ground when the tax or charge starts
  
• As the solutions improve, increase the tax or charge
  

Good Luck!

Billions for Bikes Beats Band-aid Bailouts

Shockingly enough, this is my first post dedicated to bicycles. I was rather fixated on high-speed rail for a while. Now that the people in my home state have voted to spend $10 billion on high-speed rail and there is talk of systems all over North America, it is time to focus on pedal power.

In a world shaken to the core by climate change, volatile fuel prices, rising obesity rates and a collapsing economy,  there has never been a better time for cycling. What is possible will only be limited by our vision and execution. 

Green stimulus is all the rage. People realize that this is an opportunity to transform our cities and our economy. We need to create a world where people can live great lives while using much less energy and resources. This, really is our only option.

Politicians are looking for shovel ready projects where construction can start as soon as possible. Bicycle paths and bridges are idea. Compared to other types of projects, they are simpler and have less impact on the environment and the community. Transit and rail projects are complicated and can take years to plan. Not to argue against transit and rail, we need both. It is just that cycling projects can be done now while the economy is still in the tank. This will provide people with both jobs and affordable transportation speeding the recovery. 

Be sure to push for high-quality cycling facilities that people want and will use. This tends to be paths and cycle tracks, like in Amsterdam and Copenhagen that are separated from cars. There is little evidence that even bike lanes are effective at encouraging more people to cycle. By pushing for want people actually want, you will find that politicians are likely to be more receptive in spite or even because of the additional cost. 

Don't be afraid to dream big. Politicians just aren't interested in small projects that no one will even notice. Don't forget, the goal is economic stimulus. That means big bucks. These people are used to dealing with large numbers. Don't waste their time or yours with small projects.

Unlike the automobile industry, the bicycle industry is doing just fine thank you. Sales are at record levels. Unfortunately, unlike the automobile industry, the bicycle industry has not done a very good job of fighting for funding for facilities. If auto industry had done such a poor job, we would still be riding horses and well, bicycles. Fortunately, the bike industry is starting to support advocacy groups, but much more needs to be done.

So start phoning, writing, and meeting with your elected representatives. Join and volunteer for cycling advocacy groups. Form your own. Bring your friends, family and co-workers on board. Be relentless. Don't take no for an answer. Remember, the squeaky gets the green stimulus.

More info:

Third Wave Cycling Group - My consulting firm

British Columbia Cycling Coalition - British Columbia's Cycling Advocates

Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition

Bikes Belong - Sponsored by the U.S. bicycle industry with the goal of putting more people on bicycles more often

Thunderhead Alliance - The national coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations

Sustrans - The UK's leading sustainable transport charity

Active Transportation for America - A Case for Increased Federal Investment in Bicycling and Walking

Certainty in an Uncertain World - The Case for Accelerated Investment in Cycling

The Future Has not Happened Yet

After several hours of pouring over the news of Obama’s historic victory with tears of joy in my eyes, it is time to reflect on what happened and the hard work ahead. The change has just begun.

I witnessed the election of the first African American President from a smoke-free bar in Vancouver. A mere forty years ago, I’m not sure which would have seemed more improbable.

When Vancouver first tried to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, the industry was up in arms, predicting economic disaster and the end of civilization as we know it. They showed up on mass at public meetings and lobbied intensely. Fortunately civic leaders stuck to their guns. Their fears failed to materialize. They were forced to improve their food because people can now taste it. If anything, smoke-free bars are now attracting people that used avoid smoky pits.

Early this year, when the city proposed banning smoking from even out door patios, nobody said a peep. I guess they realized, that with only 13% of the population smoking, it is no big deal.

As big a battle as it has been to reduce the scourge of tobacco, it pales in comparison to the oppression and huge challenges African Americans have overcome. A struggle that threatened to tear the nation apart. Many brave people have risked their lives to make yesterday possible. Many have died.

In both cases, it would have been easier for many to simply accept that the future would be the same as the past. But people of courage and vision knew the future will be different if they took a stand for what is right. They knew that change is not only possible, it is inevitable if we believe and fight for it. That change is all we have. That change is the hope of a better world, in the face of seems impossible. They knew from the bottom of their heart, without knowing how or when, that the future had not happened yet.

Our ability to anticipate events is perhaps one of our greatest strengths. It saves us from floods, earthquakes and famine. It is also our greatest obstacles to a better world. The future is a wild horse that can’t be tamed. At best, we do our best to hang on and hope for the best. While anticipation is a gift, our ability to chance is what gives us the wings to soar above what many were sure that was all that was possible.

We may never create a perfect world but it is only through the striving for that which we are sure is not possible that we approach our potential.

While taken time to celebrate our victories, we must chart our course forward to overcome the many challenges facing the world today.

Eclipsed, and rightly so, by Obama’s accomplishment, yesterday also witnessed the start of another chapter in the history of change. This time, it is change for the sake of the planet. \The people of California, in spite or perhaps because of the financial crisis, approved $10 billion dollars to start building high-speed rail from San Diego to Sacramento. The state that road to greatness of endless freeways, now is starting to turn its back on the automobile. This is a bold step that, in the next forty years will transform California and indeed the whole country.

For those that think the only path forward is greener fuels and vehicles, Californian’s rejected propositions for alternative fuel vehicles and renewable energy bonds; and renewable energy generation.

For those too busy predicting the future to invent it.

For those too absorbed in small drama to notice people’s passion for chance, open your eyes.

For those ruled by the truisms “People love their cars” and “You’ll never get people out of their cars.”, I stood as a witness of the election of an African American president in a smoke free bar.

Yes We Did, Yes We Can and Yes We Will

The future has not happened yet.

Green Conservatives and Air France Rail

The seeming contradictions are piling up as fast as the stock market is falling. The world is changing rapidly around us yet we seem to be standing still, afraid to really do much of anything except watch the world pass us by.

Here in Canada, after suffering through the Election to Nowhere, we are stuck with a Conservative Party with really nothing left to conserve of the neo-conservatism that has grown rather old. Like it or not, there is no status quo any more.

The free market seems to have blown itself apart quite effectively. Seems like we have reached peak greed even before we hit peak oil. Making Hot Wheels is way more profitable than making full size automobiles. Yet here we stand clinging our McMansions, cars and big screen TV’s.

Over the pond, people, businesses and political parties are realizing and taking advantage of the new realities.

Air France, realizing the poor economics of air travel, will be operating high-speed rail by 2010.

The Conservatives in the UK, the party of Margaret Thatcher, actually seem to be committed to conservation and fighting climate change. Their logo is a big tree. They are aggressively opposing the third runway at Heathrow for environmental reasons. Instead, they are proposing a massive high-speed rail network throughout the country. Their plans are not being received that well by some members of the business community. This, of course, is to be expected, as entrenched interests always seem to fight change in spite of the potential upsides for the economy and the environment.

In an uncertain world, doing nothing is far riskier than change.

St. Pancras, the Champagne Bar and the Terminator

It is just sooo civilized.
The newly restored St. Pancras Station is just magnificent. A great mixture of new and old. It brought high-speed rail to the heart of London making Paris just over two hours away. The highlight, is though, Europe’s longest champagne bar, lining the platform. Sipping blubbly and munching on a twenty pound plate of tiny but tasty snacks. Truly, traveling does not get any better than this.

Contrast St. Pancras to the fatally bland Terminal Five at Heathrow. I suspect that it caused a world-wide shortage of white paint. I would have hated to see what the old terminal was like. Just try lining the runway with any type of bar.

Train stations can be truly beautiful buildings at the heart of a city. Airports tend to be monstrosities sucking the soul out of cities and anyone unfortunate enough to be stuck in one for any amount of time at all.
So, St. Pancreas pretty much is the peak of civilization while the Terminator was trying to end it. Fortunately, Arnie as governator seems to be moving in the other direction. Not that I agree with him on everything, he has cut transit funding but, hell, I don’t agree with myself all the time. He was against the bullet train before he was for it. His priority a year ago seemed to be spending money on roads and not rail. I suspect high fuel prices changed all that.

He is now a supporter of the $10 billion high-speed rail initiative before California voters this November. He even broke his word not to sign any bills until the legislator approved a budget to approve the bill required to move the initiative forward. It is often great that politicians don’t follow through on everything they say.

The facebook group has over 30,000 members. I suspect it stands a good chance of passing due to high fuel prices and enthusiastic Obama supporters who are likely to support rail and transit. Still, it is a good idea to encourage your friends in the Golden State to vote for it. It would be great to experience 
This vote is critical as it will mark the start of the movement in the States away from cars and planes which are destroying the economy, the environment and cities while providing people with an increasing miserable transportation experience.



San Francisco’s high speed rail station, Transbay Transit Center will be the first grand rail station built in North America in a century. Hopefully they figure out a snappier name though.

I am convinced that the best way forward is to provide people with great transportation experiences that are also environmentally friendly. Who knows, maybe the platform in Frisco will be lined with a champagne bar or even better, a brewpub serving a great porter.
Cheers!!

Going Backwards - Fast

I was in Europe A couple of months ago. The main excuse was to check out bike sharing systems. I didn’t let that distract me from hopping on a train at any opportunity. The training started with the Eurostar, the high-speed rail from London to Paris.

It is good to get out of here every once and a while. A change in perspective can, well, change one’s perspective. In North America, surrounded by cars and planes, we think this is just how people get around. Even worse, we think that planes and cars represent the latest and greatest and the be all and end all in transportation. Well, that was the fifties. Now, the world is passing us by while we are dreaming of a past future that never will be. Passing us by so fast that we might as well be going backwards fast.

Just how fast, check out the video.



High-speed rail is fast and getting faster. This is not your father’s train. The latest ones are hitting 350 km per hour, almost 4 times what an automobile can go. And you don’t have to stop for chips or the can. As far as planes go, by the time you schlep out to the airport, suffer through insecurity line-ups and cram onto the plane, downtown to downtown rail is competitive for trips of up to five hours. And much more civilized.

We have wasted untold billions of silver and sweat in a transportation system that was a symptom of cheap, plentiful oil and steel. Now that neither are cheap, there is no longer a need to for the automobile industry. Hybrids are not a solution, they cost several thousands more up front at a time when wages are stagnant and prices are going up. Not a transportation solution for the masses, they do allow a few to ease their consciences. The reality is that congestion is making driving slower and slower. Rising costs of everything from steel to plastic to oil make the automobile a drag on the economy.

As planting hay and building stables would have been a folly a century ago, so is constructing highways, drilling for oil, building better batteries and hoping for hydrogen today. The folly of moving backwards fast.

Countries all over the world have been investing in high-speed rail for the last 30 years. Japan, France, Spain, all have great networks. China and India are coming on fast. Californians will be voting on high-speed rail. Probably even more important decision than the presidential race. Even Alberta, the oil capital of the world, is looking at a line between Calgary and Edmonton. As dealers of addictive substances have long known, it is better to stick to selling it than using it.

The progress in China is truly staggering. They building a 12,000 km high-speed railway network would connect all provincial capitals and major cities by 2020. The first inter-city high-speed link, between Tianjin and Beijing, opened August 1st, and more than 1.8 million passengers have ridden the 350-km/h electric trains. The 120km journey used to take 70 minutes but now takes only 30. They plan on having the speed up to 380kph in a couple of years. Don’t be distracted by the reports of their love affair with the car. Sure, they are using cars but they are also making massive investments in transit and rail. The really story is that they are leapfrogging us, if indeed, they ever were really behind.

Peering from the window of the Eurostar munching on what seems like my tenth croissant, the cars on the highways are moving backwards fast.

The Relentless March of Inevitability

2010 will mark a turning point. The people of Vancouver will be able to celebrate accomplishment of Olympic proportions. The calling of our age. A legacy ensuring hope for the future. It won’t be celabrated by the lighting of a flame, the raising of a flag or the playing of a national anthem. Instead it will be marked by the routine chime of a SkyTrain door, the chirp of a pedestrian button, the squeak of a chain or a simple “No thanks, I’ll take the bus.”

Late in the morning of Thursday February 11, 2010, a coffee mug will be placed in a holder and an engine will sputter to like marking the last time ever that the majority of the people of Vancouver will take a car to work. The next day, someone will make the choice to walk, cycle, or take transit thus culminating the relentless march of inevitability that began with the defeat of the freeways in the early 70’s.

The automobile will join transit, walking and cycling as alternate transportation. A choice for some, a necessity for a few, but no longer dominant.

With streets still jammed with traffic, this may seem unlikely. However, the 2006 Census reported the total being a mere 51.5% of people drive to work. Chances are that high gas prices have already reduced that to under half. Still another 6% are passengers so a bit over half still commute by car so still over half get to work by car. Many of the steps of inevitability are already in motion. The high price of gas, the higher price of housing, climate change, the Central Valley Greenway, South East False Creek, wider sidewalks on Burrard Bridge. In the end, it will likely be the Canada Line that will make the final difference. The much maligned little mini metro that could can and will likely be the nudge that pushes the automobile over the cliff of eternal minority status.

As the auto follows the horse to pasture, we still will fondly reminisce the summer drive on the open road. On the weekend we may even take the country train to enjoy a cruise down memory lane. The new hobby horse.

Worshiped and loved. The heart and soul of the twentieth century. Or was it. In reflection, the age of the automobile will appear as the illusion it was. Never an option for the majority of the people in the world. Never the dominate form of transportation in the world.

A strange love at that. A love proclaimed but not with patience. In reality, a tool of convenience, the less time spent with the better, lest one explodes with rage with the least of unintended provocation. We deserve better love than that.

Never before in history has a creation burned so bright, rose so high so fast, burned out so fast and fell to the ground so hard. It soared but never flew. So much for hydrogen and hybrids, the hyped, hapless, hopeless harbingers of non-change. Automotive margarine. In the end, it simply just ran out of gas. It lasted only a hundred years. A mere blip in human history. Will it even be remembered in the passage of time, our age of strip malls, cul-du-sacs and drive-ins.

Vancouver is ahead but Burnaby and New West are not far behind. Vancouver will be the first city in Canada and on the west coast to relegate the automobile to minority status. We follow in the footsteps of New York City and Washington DC. One by one, the rest will fall, the bastions of Buick, Benz and BMW under the boots of the relentless march of inevitability. The driving beat marking the end of the age of the automobile.