PDX Transit

This has been an exciting week in the area of personal, electric transportation. "General Motors Corp. is teaming with Segway Inc., maker of the upright, self-balancing scooters, to build a new type of two-wheeled vehicle designed to move easily through congested urban streets."  The name of the project is PUMA, Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility.

Personally, I think the design is fantastic and very innovative.  Its hard to believe that Toyota or Honda didn't develop it.  I could really seeing PUMA strongly embraced in countries like Tawian and China where Scooters and bikes rule the streets.  Can you imagine such a vehicle in Portland?  I think it would be fantastic, but given its size it seems like a dedicated lane would be need for this class of device.

Read more at GM, Segway to Make Vehicle

Image by yufujamar via Flickr

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• GM, Segway unveil two-wheel electric ride for city folk (financialpost.com)

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"President Obama on Thursday highlighted his ambition for the development of high-speed passenger rail lines in at least 10 regions, expressing confidence in the future of train travel even as he acknowledged that the American rail network, compared with the rest of the world’s, remains a caboose."

Read the entire article Obama Seeks High-Speed Rail System Across U.S. from the New York Times

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I wanted to share an email from Scott regardging Google map updates for the Portland area.

Scotto wrote: Did you notice that in the past week Google Maps Traffic for Portland has been extended to include more minor highways? So far this feature has not appeared on my 3G iPhone.

Also there is a "traffic at day/time" feature which seems to give you average traffic data at the timeframe of your choosing.

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Can $8 Billion help stimulate the rail industry?  Well, it can't hurt can it.  "President Obama and leaders in more than 30 states say it's time to embrace trains again — but newer, faster ones that can transport passengers past gridlocked airports and highways on electrified railroads at up to 200 mph".  Re

Read more at http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-03-16-high-speed-rail-travel_N.htm

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UPS is about to field-test "hydraulic hybrid" delivery trucks, developed with the help of the EPA.  They estimate that "savings on fuel and maintenance over the life of the truck could be as much as $50,000, while reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would be 30% or more."

High Hopes for a New Type of Hybrid Vehicle

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Toyota FT-EV unveiled a electric car for under $20,000 that can be driven up to 80km without using a drop of petrol

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Ford Fusion Tops Toyota Camry, Honda Accord Again With Best-in-Class 34 MPG 4-Cylinder Model

http://sev.prnewswire.com/auto/20090109/CLF05009012009-1.html

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"The Hawaiian Electric Company on Tuesday endorsed an effort to build an alternative transportation system based on electric vehicles with swappable batteries and an “intelligent” battery recharging network."

Hawaii endorces plan for electric vehicles

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Ford Motor Company's Sync system is a microchip located in the dash of 21 new cars, trucks, and crossovers that delivers a fully integrated, voice-activated in-car communications and entertainment system. Sync can read incoming text messages, and accurately translate emoticons and messaging expressions such as "LOL."

Read the entire article, Ford introduces speech engine

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The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI sedan, with its four-cylinder turbocharged diesel, 140-horsepower engine, offers a spirited drive. Though it offers plenty of torque and acceleration, it averages only 36 miles per gallon in the city and 42 mpg on the highway, which is as good as many subcompacts and gas-electric hybrid cars.

THe TDI does this all while retaining the excitement of a sports vehicle. It also offers the benefit of adhering to California?s strict emissions-control rules. Added to that, it?s fun to drive and reasonably priced at $21,990.

Read more at "Car enthusiast’s love affair with the new Volkswagen Jetta TDI sedan"

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This article by Ann Job describes how Chrysler's financial woes have caused them to terminate production of the new Durango and Aspen hybrid SUVs, closing the only plant that produces them as part of an effort to curtail expenses. Job takes the view that this is an unfortunate occurence, given that these two hybrids compare favorably in gas mileage and features with other SUVs, even hybrids like the Tahoe and Escape.

She then proceeds to give a review of the Durango hybrid, which seems extraneous, as the article's title, "Financial Troubles End Chrysler's SUV Plans", should simply be a news item about Chrysler's decision. The addition of the review not only confuses the point of the article, but also seems somewhat useless in light of the fact that Chrysler won't even be making this model any more.

Read more at "Financial Troubles End Chrysler's Hybrid SUV Plans" 

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