CLEAN!
The place was really busy. Guess everyone else also heard the forecast for warmer weather this coming week.
Friday Safety Message
The City of Arvada is testing a new technology on 64th Avenue between Miller and Ward Road. Instead of using a hot mix asphalt, they are applying a greener alternative. Warm mix asphalt reduces both fuel consumption and the production of greenhouse gases.
Colorado One
Southwest Airlines on Wednesday unveiled an airplane painted with the red, yellow and blue colors of the Colorado state flag, underscoring the airline's growth in the Denver market. Colorado One, a Boeing 737-700, was welcomed into the specialty fleet by 500 employees from around the U.S., cheering and waving Colorado flags. It is the ninth Southwest plane designated to a state bearing significance for the company.
Denver Post: Southwest dedicates "Colorado One" plane
Dallas News: Southwest Airlines launches another state airplane: Colorado One
You won't see them every day, and they rarely run when you might actually want to use them - but they're beloved by rail enthusiasts. "Parliamentary" trains - also known as "ghost" trains - are strange services which often run just once a week and in one direction. They exist in order to keep certain lines open, because without them the train operators would often have to close the route - something which costs time and money
BBC video: On board a real-life 'ghost train'
The most obvious thing about blind spots is that they are absurd, and actually kind of offensive, and their continued existence on our highways is an egregious affront to the ease and safety and common sense that technological progress represents ...
Here's another thing about blind spots, though: Despite everything else, they're also kind of fantastic. Everything that makes blind spots so ridiculous -- their inconvenience, their anachronism, the danger they add to rote transportation -- also makes them glorious ...
So it is with a heavy heart that I share this bit of scientific progress: a side-view mirror that pretty much does away with the blind spot.
No surprise here
4.8 % of all vehicles registered in Boulder are hybrids according to registration statistics collected by the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder's Office, compared with a national average of less than 1 %
Traffic jams ahead!
It won't be long before the bulldozers begin rolling, the jackhammers start dancing, and the din of motorist-maddening highway construction gets underway on U.S. 36 between Denver and Boulder.
This summer marks the debut of a $306 million effort by the Colorado Department of Transportation to build a managed lane in each direction of the busy highway, from Pecos Boulevard to Interlocken Loop, allowing for bus rapid transit and a corridor-long bikeway. The project is expected to stretch over three years and cause numerous slowdowns and headaches for those who use U.S. 36 on a regular basis.
Chevrolet aims to design cars that possess a spirit of their own – a car with personality and spunk that can inspire new and old generations of Chevy owners alike - a car that you can, as Dinah Shore sang, “see the U.S.A. in.”As a young man, my Dad worked for Chevrolet garages in both Iowa and Wyoming. He was fiercely proud of American-made cars, and was saddened by their decline in quality and sales over the years.
Not good in a blizzard...
Plane returns, jets scrambled because of a reclined seat (and someone with a short fuse.)
Think how much this cost in money and inconvenience.
It's an end of an era for Denver, where the "Barnes Dance" or "pedestrian scramble" was invented 60 years ago by the city's first traffic engineer, Henry Barnes. Barnes came up with the idea of stopping all traffic at intersections and allowing pedestrians to cross in any direction.
One of the top reasons for the changes in the system is because RTD will be moving to four-car light-rail trains from the current three to accommodate increased ridership. That means the trains will need slightly longer blocks of time to get through the intersections. On short blocks, a train with four cars would not fit without blocking traffic on other streets.
Everyone who has lived in Wyoming has his or her own tale of weather horror or road warrior mayhem on the 401-mile stretch of Interstate 80 that traverses our state. Is there a driver among you, for example, for whom the name “Elk Mountain” does not evoke an instant shiver and frightening vision of black ice and howling winds? Now your friendly editors at WyoFile ask you to contribute your most frightening or enlightening story about driving our most notorious and challenging road. Outstanding “Tales of I-80” will be published prominently on our site.
Driven to Drive Less
Boulder has come up with a "colorful" idea to cut traffic.
If 2,800 people participate in Driven to Drive Less, that effect will be equal to taking 400 cars off the road, according to the city.
The glass-bottomed hot air balloon is the creation of Christian Brown, the pilot who travelled around the world in a balloon with Sir Richard Branson. Brown, who has been hot air balloon pilot for 18 years and holds the tethered altitude world record at 10,000 feet, says the experience of flying this new airship was terrifying.
To stop or not to stop?
Living "car free"
A Boulder man moved from one house to another entirely by bicycles this week. The group of 25 helpers hauled everything from a full sized sofa to a queen-sized mattress on bike trailers.
Make up your mind
Yesterday General Motors sent out a memo requiring everyone to refer to "Chevrolet" not "Chevy" from now on. After a huge outcry from the public, it's backing off that rule.
"We love Chevy. In no way are we discouraging customers or fans from using the name. We deeply appreciate the emotional connections that millions of people have for Chevrolet and its products," GM says. "We hope people around the world will continue to fall in love with Chevrolets and smile when they call their favorite car, truck or crossover “Chevy.”"
London's famous double-decker "Routemaster" buses were retired in 2005, much to public dismay. Now, they're coming back as "The New Bus":
The New Bus for London is inspired by the much-loved Routemaster and will use the latest green technology when it launches in 2012.
Meet the New Bus for London
“Union Pacific and the Boy Scouts of America have played leadership roles in shaping America's history. With the UP No. 2010, we are proud to celebrate 100 years of Scouting, progress and patriotism”
Union Pacific Railroad Unveils No. 2010 Boy Scouts of America Commemorative Locomotive.
Amazingly 70% of hit-and-run accidents reported in Denver involved parked cars. And this statistic is reported throughout the US. Though it is illegal to leave the scene of an accident, people may be leaving because they are uninsured, don't have a driver's license or simply don't care. Of course this raises insurance rates for everyone.
Created by Auto Insurance.org
Security expert Bruce Schneier nails the core incompetency: "For years I've been saying 'Only two things have made flying safer [since 9/11]: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers.'"
So what has the TSA done in response to the attempted attack? They've told airlines to make passengers stay in their seats during the last hour of flight. They've made it verboten for passengers to hold anything in their laps, again only during the last hour of flight. Perhaps most hilariously telling, they've forbidden pilots from announcing when a plane is flying over certain cities and landmarks.
Ice Skating for Cars
Share the Road
Spooey
New Wyoming Licence Plates are starting to appear. The old design, featuring Devil's Tower, will be retired through 2010.
Traffic can flow freely again
Happy Birthday Lizzie!
Oct. 1 marks the 100th birthday of Ford's Model T a car so affordable, it made automobiles necessities and launched American car culture. It's been quite a ride from there.Time: A Brief History Of: The Model T
After all that work to create a quiet car!
California's legislature has passed a bill to ensure that hybrid vehicles make enough noise that they'll be heard by sight-impaired people crossing the street.
Newsweek gives us a photo gallery of the most fuel efficient cars.
Is this "transportation" or "humor"?
Lawn chair flight reaches goal.
Kent Couch, the "pilot" of the lawn chair says:
"Things just look different from up there. You're moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity. "
My New Favorite Electric Car.
(And a list of 30 more ready to take over the road.)
The Nano