Driving Long Island

Testing the Chevy Malibu Hybrid

2007-12-22T18:44:00.001-08:00

Current Cars, New Standards

2007-12-20T18:46:00.000-08:00

Winding Road asks a good question: Are we there yet?

Do Any Current Cars Meet the New CAFE Standard?
By Evan McCausland
Yes, we know CAFE standards measure the average fuel economy of all cars sold by a manufacturer in a given year. And yes, we’re also aware that the new magic 35 mpg figure is still two steps and about 12 years away.

Still, we started wondering - are there any cars currently on the market that could actually reach a combined EPA average of 35 mpg today? We hopped onto the EPA’s website to see what we could find.

Sex Offender-Free

2007-12-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

Interesting. As the article says, no one wants to stand up for sex offenders but I wonder how far the law can go?

Defensive Driving

By Gregory Zeller
Sex offenders need not apply at Lindy’s Transportation.

Through a partnership with Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victims Center – that’s one organization – Islandia-based Lindy’s, one of Suffolk County’s busiest taxi companies, will no longer hire individuals appearing on the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Service’s Sex Offender Registry.

In exchange for checking current and potential employees against the registry, and agreeing to perform annual checks of all employees, Lindy’s can place decals on its vehicles declaring the company sex-offender-free. It also earns the gratitude of Megan’s Law advocates, and the ire of civil libertarians.

Somewhere in between are employment lawyers, not eager to champion sex offenders but unable to deny the legal implications of any blanket policy that discriminates against a particular group – whether based on race, gender or even criminal history.

The Chevy Volt

2007-12-09T06:24:00.000-08:00

Another opinion on the Volt.

Up North

2007-11-30T05:10:00.002-08:00

This sounds a little like pulling into the Huntingon LIRR station and being besieged by the Orange&White taxi drivers.

With one driver for every 62 residents, the Albanian and Korean cabbies drive circles around other towns. Well, it's just one circle: Only 10 miles of road are paved.
By Tomas Alex Tizon
Los Angeles Times
BETHEL, ALASKA -- Atiny, round-faced woman stands in a field of ice, a solitary figure in the tundra, waiting for a ride. From one hand dangles several plastic grocery bags. With her free hand, she flicks a finger as if inscribing a single scratch in the air, an almost imperceptible gesture.

A taxicab appears from a cloud of mist. It is an old, white Chevy, so splattered with mud there is hardly any white to see. On the roof glows a green sign that reads "Kusko."

"Hello, dear," the driver says.

"I'd like to go home," says Lucy Daniel, folding herself in the back seat among her bags.

Daniel, 65, a Yupik Eskimo who grew up riding dog sleds and paddling seal-skin kayaks along the Bering coast, now takes a cab everywhere she goes.

A Bit of Green in L.A.

2007-11-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

L.A. Auto Show Suggests Automakers Finally Going Green
By Chuck Squatriglia

The Los Angeles Auto Show is the first big industry event of the season, and it's offering the strongest evidence yet that automakers are serious about going green. But many critics say it's just good PR.

The overall emphasis of the annual event is squarely on your typical SUVs and sedans, and there's the usual assortment of high-end exotics and luxury cars. But nearly everyone is also showcasing hybrid, electric or fuel-cell vehicles and vowing to increase the fuel efficiency of their fleets. Some automakers say they'll have alternative fuel vehicles on the road within months, and one or two say they want to lead the industry beyond oil.

A Sense of Suburbia

2007-11-19T05:47:00.000-08:00

Hydrogen Is Far Away

2007-11-19T04:51:00.000-08:00

It doesn't look as if we're going to be replacing the old gas guzzler with another fuel anytime soon, does it?

Hydrogen: the wave of the future, but how far down the road?
by Jean-Louis Santini
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States hopes to fill American roads with hydrogen-powered cars in two decades, but the clean fuel must be cheap and practical to make before it can replace oil, US experts say.

President George W. Bush unveiled a 1.2-billion-dollar initiative in 2003 to reverse US dependence on foreign oil and make hydrogen, which emits zero pollution, the fuel that drives the US economy.

"That was ambitious," said Timothy Wilkins, an attorney of the firm Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, based in Texas, who specializes in environmental and energy regulation.

"I think in a century hydrogen could fill a role like that, but not in 20 years," Wilkins told AFP, adding that the Bush administration was no longer as vocal about the plan as it used to be.

"To produce it like the gasoline scale, to get it in the vehicle fleet, fully integrated in the vehicle fleet and the infrastructure the fueling, stations ... it will take one century," he said.

While hydrogen has more energy power than oil, methanol and natural gas, its lightness makes it very difficult to stock and transport.

Universities, oil companies and automakers, as well as the US Energy Department, are investing in research to find better ways to produce hydrogen, most of which today is generated from non-renewable fossil fuels such as natural gas.

Pennsylvania State University researchers recently developed a method of producing hydrogen gas by combining electron-generating bacteria and a small electrical charge in a microbial fuel cell.

Fuel Standards

2007-11-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

yes, of course, it's all Nancy Pelosi's fault. Morons. H/t TPM

Court’s Fuel-Economy Ruling May Prod Congress to Set Even Higher Requirements

By MICHELINE MAYNARD
The New York Times
DETROIT, Nov. 16 — A ruling by a federal appeals court this week to throw out proposed fuel-economy standards is likely to accelerate efforts in Congress to set higher requirements for all vehicles, industry analysts said Friday.

Detroit auto companies had been lobbying to soften proposals for higher fuel economy, and the court ruling, which voided the Bush administration’s year-old standard for light trucks because it did not take pollution issues into account, represents an unexpected setback to that effort.

Democrats and the Environment

2007-11-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

Three Democratic presidential candidates, Dennis Kucinich, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, are going to be discussing environmental issues at 5 p.m. Eastern today.
You can get more information here. I tried the video link a little while ago but it wasn't working but if it's up and running later, I'll post it at Going Green

I wonder where Mr. Interior, Bill Richardson, is? And Obama?

Grist also has a breakdown on where the candidates, Democratic and Republican, stand on environmental issues.

Car Design as Art

2007-11-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

NB, Some bad language.

Not So Fast

2007-11-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

The San Jose Mercury News has a good piece, looking at the difficulties of creating an electric-car business. It manages to avoid the hype of some alternative-energy stores and gives us some context about the auto industry..

How Silicon Valley could become the Detroit of electric cars
DAUNTING CHALLENGES FACE FIRMS ENVISIONING LIFE AFTER GASOLINE
By Matt Nauman
Mercury News
The valley's electric car industry
Silicon Valley is already the capital of the world's high-tech industry. Is it also becoming the Detroit of the electric car industry?

Last week's announcement by Shai Agassi, a former SAP executive based in Palo Alto, that he's raised $200 million for a company that will try to revolutionize the electric car industry is the latest sign of this region's growing role in one of the hottest sectors of the automotive industry.

That's no surprise considering California's mandate for cleaner cars, the local enthusiasm for plug-in hybrids, the Silicon Valley fascination with new technology and the number of Bay Area venture firms investing in this industry.

Agassi, who spent months studying his venture, makes an interesting observation about the valley and the Motor City. "Detroit is a car manufacturing center. I think what we're looking at is not something that can be done in a normal way. . . . It needs an Internet approach, a Google approach."

And, he said, this region is well-suited to do that. "In the valley, we know how to do technology disruption. We know how to do business models, how to develop proof of concept and get it adopted around the world," he said.

Others, even those enthusiastic about the potential of electric cars, are uncertain about how much success start-ups such as Agassi's Better Place and Tesla Motors of San Carlos can have against the huge global auto industry. General Motors and Toyota, for instance, each produced more than 9 million vehicles in 2006.
"It's not simple or cheap stuff to do," said Neal Dikeman, partner with Jane Capital Partners, a San Francisco merchant bank focusing on cleantech and energy technologies. "$100 million is the ante up to play the game," Dikeman said.

"People are waking up to the fact that this is not like software start-ups that raise $40 or $50 million, and then have IPOs," said Darryl Siry, Tesla's vice president of sales, marketing and service. "This business is capital intensive."

Driving Cutback?

2007-11-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

Based on the traffic jams, it sure doesn't seem as if people are reducing their driving.

Improved Mileage Pays Off

2007-11-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Citigroup Report Says Automakers Can Profit from CAFE Standards
By GreenBiz.com

WASHINGTON -- Anticipating legislation that will boost required gas mileage for cars in the United States, Citigroup has released a report showing that the auto industry can improve mileage and improve profits at the same time.

The report comes as the U.S. Congress is considering bills to raise the standards for the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which dictate the miles per gallon achieved by an automaker's vehicle line. In June, the Senate passed a bill that would raise the average to 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over the average 24.1 mpg currently achieved by the six major U.S. car companies.

"When you have the world's number one bank, which has financial ties to many major automakers, saying fuel economy standards are a good economic play, it drives a stake through the heart of the auto industry's scare tactics," said Representative Edward J. Markey of the House's Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

The report, "CAFE and the U.S. Auto Industry; A Growing Auto Investor Issue, 2012-2020," was created by Citigroup, working together with Ceres and the Investor Network on Climate Risk. The report examines predicted changes to the CAFE standards, and finds that improved mileage requirements will be good for manufacturers as well as for the environment.

You Tubed

2007-11-03T19:14:00.001-07:00

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Carbon-Neutral Auto Race

2007-11-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

Teams to Race in Carbon-Neutral Road Rally
Emily Gertz
November 2, 2007 1:17 PM

From World Changing:
It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world -- or it will be in January, in Africa:

Zero Rally Africa, a carbon neutral car rally to be staged between Victoria Falls and Cape Town in January 2009 [is being held] to publicise renewable energy and draw further attention to climate chnage while crossing the continent which will be worst affected by global warming.
It is open to solar, electric, hybrid, biofuel and hydren vehicles.

Over twenty teams from the USA, UK, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, India, New Zealand and Australia want to take part so far. It will be a dramatic demonstration of the viability and practicality of these vehicles in an even more dramatic setting.

.

Car Careers for Women

2007-11-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Women in the Driver's Seat: An Automotive Career Forum for Women
Saturday, November 3, 10:30 am - 2 pm

10:30-11:15 Car Care Clinics & Brunch, Network with Women & Dealers
11:30-12:45 Panel Discussion
1:00-1:45 Car Care Clinics, Network with Women and Dealers
2:00 Raffle Drawings

Where
Center for Automotive Education & Training
15-30 Petracca Place
Whitestone, Queens

Directions

Register now to receive your free brunch ticket. Or, call Diana at 718.640.2000 for more info.

Toll on Health

2007-11-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

Bye-Bye, Parking Meter

2007-11-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

How soon before it's here on Long Island?

Meter is ticking on parking meter's fate
Internet system will let drivers reserve, pay for space with cell phone
By Erik N. Nelson

SAN FRANCISCO — Parking meters are so 1920s.
That's what U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters told a crowd of journalists Tuesday just off Van Ness Street after buying a little paper ticket from a newfangled meter that controls an entire block of parking spaces.

"Meter technology has remained unchanged since — can you believe this — the 1920s, when vehicle travel was a relatively new activity in American life," Peters said. "Back then, the early parking meter concept wasn't too much different from parking during the last turn of the century, when travelerswould tie up at a hitching post and throw a coin to the stablehand to watch their horse."

But, now the stablehand is artificial intelligence, the hitching post is wireless Internet parking, and the days of trolling for a parking space are, in theory, numbered.

All the well-equipped motorist will need to do is call up the parking system on a cell phone or hand-held computer, and the system will show where the empty spaces are.

A few clicks later and the space is reserved and waiting for the driver to arrive.

Payment will work the same way, and then some.

The parking meter would text the motorist's cell phone with a warning, and instead of having to sprint to the meter, the overdue parker can pay via cell phone, too.

Free Test of Experimental Car

2007-10-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

100 AAA members have won a free test of an experimental, plug-in car in Northern California.
One hundred Northern California households will be given the use of experimental, plug-in hybrid cars next year in the first widespread consumer testing of the super-high-mileage vehicles in the nation, under a program announced Tuesday by UC Davis transit planners and an auto club.

The households, to be chosen from the ranks of more than 4 million members of AAA of Northern California, will each have an eight-week loan of a Toyota Prius converted to run on batteries that are twice as powerful as those originally installed by the automaker.

The cars can easily get 100 miles per gallon on their combined power from electric motors and gasoline engines. They also spew out far fewer environment-harming emissions than even conventional hybrid cars.

Biodiesel Kits

2007-10-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

Plantdrive offers kits for converting diesel engines into biodiesel.

Hollywood Goes Green

2007-10-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ed Begley Jr. is leading the Hollywood Goes Green conference Dec.11-12. You'll be hearing more about this but one session caught my eye:

Easy Rider: Fuel Saving and Energy Efficient Vehicles MTV is giving its signature show "Pimp My Ride" a green makeover as part of MTV's public awareness campaign to persuade viewers to do their bit to slow global warming. Larry David drives a Prius in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." How can the depiction of cars in film and television influence public opinions and auto sales? Cars are among the top culprits for gobbling up the atmosphere by producing carbon dioxide emissions. In addition to the on-screen effort, what sort of programs can Hollywood adapt to reduce its dependence on automobiles? Hybrid cars for executives? Corporate carpooling incentives? Luxury vehicles with fuel-saving measures? More telecommuting to reduce auto emissions?

Commuter Choice

2007-10-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Long Island Transportation Management recommends its
Commuter Choice Program

Given the rapidly rise cost of fuel, this isn't a bad idea.

The Commuter Choice Program is a voluntary program designed to assist Long Island employers with the promotion of commute alternatives at their worksite.

Free Commuter Choice Program services include:

Assistance with carpool and vanpool formation

Enhancement of your company's current commuter transportation programs

Help with relocation issues, compressed work week schedules, telecommuting and flextime

Commuter Information Racks with site-specific transit and rideshare information

On-site Commuter Fairs for your employees
Notification of Air Quality Action Days

As an employer, there are a number of excellent reasons why you should participate in the Commuter Choice Program. They include:

Increased productivity
Enhanced ability to recruit and retain valued employees
Improved employee morale

Gaining status as a community leader by participating in the Commuter Choice Program

Reduced congestion in your parking lot

Improved air quality

More pleasant work environment due to less stressful commute

Increased flexibility for hours of operation with alternate work schedules

Cost savings associated with telecommuting

Retaining employees when relocating

Access to state funded grant monies
Tax benefits for you and your employees: Employers can save on payroll related taxes and employees can save on federal income taxes

Bye-Bye Backwards

2007-10-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

Who needs reverse?

The Tokyo Motor Show 2007 got under way Saturday and runs through November 11.

Honda's theme at this year's Tokyo auto show is "The endless joy of mobility on our earth," which involves reducing carbon dioxide emissions while keeping cars stylish and fun. To that end, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui this week unveiled the Puyo concept car. The Puyo, named for a Japanese phrase loosely translated as the "comforting sensation of touching," seats four and is meant to convey a feeling of "softness." Like the Pivo2 from Nissan, the Puyo also has a 360-degree rotation capability so reverse becomes a notion of the past.

Hybrid Cars on eBay

2007-10-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

Prius Owners

2007-10-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

The Long Island Prius Owners Group will meet at noon Nov.11 at Dave & Busters
261 Airport Plaza Blvd., Farmingdale.

Going Hybrid

2007-10-20T11:47:00.001-07:00

The always useful CNET is offering an online course in buying a hybrid car. Might be worth taking a look.

Motorcyclists and Traffic

2007-10-20T09:19:00.001-07:00

Jeez, this is annoying. I just sent a complaint to the Suffolk County police. Lately, scores of motorcyclists have been going around in Huntington, blocking traffic as they enter or leave major roads. It just happened again up on Jericho Turnpike--bikers blocked all lanes of traffic in both directions and entering Jericho from either direction so their pack of friends could leave the Harley Davidson lot together. Everyone else, be damned. I would have liked to travel in a convoy to a music show Thursday night--good luck to me trying to stop traffic. Enough already--they don't have rights the rest of us don't have, no matter what they're doing. Why are the rest of us stuck waiting through two red lights so that they can claim ownership of the road?

The Vaporware of Cars

2007-10-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

The Times takes on the much-ballyhooed idea of a gas-free drive.

Tomorrow’s Chevrolet: Two Vaporwares in Every Garage?
By Jerry Garrett
Vaporware is a term the computer industry uses to describe a new product that is hyped but never delivered. That term came to mind when I saw the new Chevrolet advertising campaign, “Gas-Friendly to Gas-Free.”
“I’ve heard the future,” the announcer tells an apparently gullible audience of children with their ears pressed to the hood of the Chevrolet Volt concept car, “and it hums.”
Actually, I’ve listened to the Volt too, and it doesn’t make any noise, much less hum. That’s because the show car is a mock-up without an actual powerplant. Where is the actual powerplant? It’s still on someone’s drawing board. Or perhaps it hasn’t even graduated from the designer’s imagination yet. Either way, it’s still vaporware. Until it’s real, it’s just make-believe.

Batteries for the Chevrolet Volt have yet to be invented.The ad campaign touts five ways that Chevrolet is seizing the auto industry’s environmental leadership, including mileage-improving cylinder deactivation programs, ethanol capability, hybrids, “gas-free” (if you drive less than 40 miles a day) “electric” vehicles like the Volt, and fuel-cell vehicles, such as the hydrogen-burning Equinox concept.

Just for Car Nuts

2007-10-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

OK, you have to be a little nuts about squirrels to fall in love with this Jeep commercial, but it is extremely well done, if a little slow in getting started. Just go along for the ride; it's fun. The commercial, that is, and, I assume, the car.

Blog Action Day: Cleaning Green

2007-10-15T05:41:00.001-07:00

Blog Action Day: Cleaning Green
It’s time to get rid of the unhealthy cleaning products in the house and use such natural items as borax, distilled white vinegar, baking soda, salt, washing soda (sodium carbonate), also known as soda ash, and lemons. Note that most of these products are readily available. We had trouble finding Borax for a while. I went to seven supermarkets over a period of weeks, looking for Borax but was met by blank looks by the 20-somethings.

I did find one manager who knew what I was talking about but said that Borax, like other products, such as Brillo and Spic-and-Span, had pretty much disappeared. (Stop and Shop, in particular, seems determined to reduce the number products it offers).

Then, suddenly, Borax reappeared on the shelves of the Waldbaum’s store near me, so I’ve been scooping up the boxes as I can.

If it’s not available in your nearest store, try Soaps Gone Buy, which offers Twenty Mule Team Borax, Fels Naptha and other seemingly lost products.

If you need convincing that shifting to these products is a good idea, study the labels of your commercial soaps. One day, when I had an especially ugly, sticky spill on my kitchen floor, I used bleach and a little dish soap and immediately felt sickened by the fumes. It turned out that the dish soap contained ammonia, and mixing it with bleach is a terrible idea.

I was further surprised to discover ammonia in some shampoo! So read those labels or just switch; it’s easy.

Here are some uses:

Lemon juice: We’ve also used lemon to clean the inside of the car. I frequently found myself coughing hard in the car, especially when the heat came on. Just spraying the air didn’t help; we keep a lot of papers and clothing in the car for different reasons and so the air is frequently dusty from those items. So applying some lemon to clean off the dashboard, reaching into the air vents and sprinkling some baking soda and then vacuuming it up helped the air quality a lot.

It also can dissolve soap scum. We have hard water in our neighborhood and soap scum remains on the bathtub. It works well to remove it, especially if mixed with vinegar or baking soda. You can also let it soak in the kitchen sink and pour it down the drain to remove odors. It also works to clean the kitchen floor.

Borax: all kinds of cleaning: countertops, laundry, floors. Boosts cleaning of clothes—will definitely brighten your clothes. We didn’t realize how dingy our bed covers had gotten from the dog—we washed the covers, of course, and they looked fine. Then we used Borax to supplement laundry soap and things looked much, much better, almost new.

Baking soda: Use about a half cup of baking soda, followed by a half cup of vinegar, as a drain cleaner. Those over-the-counter drain cleaners are about as toxic as you can get in a household product. It’s far less abrasive than commercial products.

Hydrogen peroxide: mix with water, spray on grout and areas subject to mold; let sit for an hour and then wash off with water. Kills mold and germs.

Vinegar: We use this for all kinds of projects: we use a bit to clean the dishwasher to kill germs, to kill mold or mildew, as a fabric softener (add a little during the rinse cycle), countertops, kitchen and bathroom floors. There may be a strong smell when first used but it dries and the scent disappears very quickly. And the temporary smell is nothing compared to the odor of bleach or ammonia, and there’s no harm remaining from using it.

Traffic Hazard Ahead--Us!

2007-10-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

So, it's not just our imagination--Long Islanders really are hazardous drivers, not just because of congestion or speed but because of the way we disregard traffic rules. I can't count the number of times I've seen people use a turn lane to jump ahead of straight-ahead traffic. That's just one problem. Here's a really thoughtful piece on how dangerous we are making our roads.

Carpooling FAQ

2007-10-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

Long Island Traffic Management organization has a q-and-a on carpooling:

Carpooling FAQs
Q: How much time will I save if I drive in the HOV Lanes?

A: You can save up to 20 minutes off of your commute – each way – if you drive in the HOV Lanes.

Q: If I were to join a carpool, am I committed to the carpool 5 days a week?

A: Absolutely not. You decide how many days during the week you want to drive with your carpool partner(s). As long as it works for you and your carpool partner(s), that’s all that matters. One day a week is better than none at all!

Q: What happens if the driver of my carpool has to work over time and can not drive me home or my child gets sick at school and I have to leave work unexpectedly? How will I get to her/him?

A: There is a solution – Guaranteed Ride. LITM will pay for your ride if your carpool driver is unable to fulfill his or her responsibility of the carpool. LITM will also pay for your ride to your child in the case of an emergency. Guaranteed Ride is your “insurance” to getting where you have to be when your carpool partner(s) can’t.

Q: Is a child considered a passenger in the HOV Lanes?

A: Yes, a child is considered a passenger in the HOV Lanes.

Q: How much does it cost to be part of a carpool?

A: The participants in the carpool determine the costs and details of the carpool. You are the people who are involved and you should be the people who make the decisions as a group. Usually the carpool participants split the costs while others rotate the driver so that if each person in the carpool drives equally, the costs work out evenly as well.

From the City to Northport

2007-10-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

Yikes. This could make you dizzy.

Not Quite Ready

2007-10-11T03:57:00.000-07:00

The state launched a new traffic warning system. Guess what?

BY STEVE RITEA
Newsday

The day after state officials unveiled $450,000 worth of electronic signage designed to alert drivers to traffic slowdowns on the Northern State Parkway, the system got its first test Wednesday after a truck illegally entered roadway, striking a low bridge and snarling traffic.

And the signs failed.

A system programmed to recognize only traffic moving faster than 10 mph went to sleep when drivers needed it most, with the computer assuming that slow traffic meant no traffic at all.

Bad Drivers on Long Island

2007-10-09T05:31:00.000-07:00

A Miller Place resident offers his humorous take.

Commuter Choice Awards

2007-10-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

This is a little dated but still worth mentioning:
Ten Long Island Companies Recognized for Regional Commuter Choice Programs

In May 2007, the winners of the second annual Regional Commuter Choice Awards were announced, recognizing the outstanding commute alternative achievements of organizations in the New York metropolitan region.

The awards are sponsored by The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) in collaboration with the regional Metropolitan Mobility Network (MNN), and honored companies for demonstrating their commitment to reducing traffic congestion and air pollution via commuter benefit programs that encourage commute alternatives. The winners represent a diverse group of members of the Commuter Choice (www.commuterchoice.com) program, and resulted in the elimination of 60,000-plus car trips and more than one million vehicle miles traveled on regional roadways each week.

The Regional Commuter Choice Award recipients were classified as small (up to 100 employees), mid-range (100-500 employees) and large businesses (500 employees or more), which qualified for one of the following rewards (two organizations received honorable mention awards):

Leadership Award: For longstanding commuter benefit programs with multiple commute alternatives and a high rate of employee participation; a comprehensive marketing plan and a formal program evaluation showing environmental results.
Outstanding Achievement Award: For commuter benefit programs introduced one year ago or longer with a wide selection of commute alternatives and a high rate of employee participation.
Innovator Award: For a new or unique commuter benefit programs introduced within the last 12 months.
"Millions of people in the New York region sit in traffic, increasing air pollution, wasting gasoline and increasing their own stress every day," said Joel Ettinger, executive director of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. "The Regional Commuter Choice Awards recognize employers that are committed to helping commuters find a better, faster way to get to work. Reducing drive-alone commuting saves employees time and money, while reducing the congestion and pollution caused by so many cars on our roads."

Long Island Transportation Management and New York State Department of Transportation are pleased to announce that ten Nassau and Suffolk County employers were recognized for their leadership and commitment to getting workers to try alternatives to driving single occupancy vehicles to work.

The Nassau/Suffolk County winners are:

Large Outstanding Achievement
Geico
Northport VA Medical Center

Mid-Size Outstanding AchievementEppendorf/Brinkmann
Honeywell

Mid-Size Innovator Air Techniques, Inc.

Small Biz Outstanding Achievement
Girl Scouts of Nassau County

Leadership
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Honorable Mention
AHRC
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Town of Huntington

"We congratulate all of these Long Island companies for making the commitment to invest in commute alternatives for employees - an invaluable employee benefit that will help attract and retain a high quality workforce."
Marianne Carillo, President and CEO, LITM

For more information and to get your organization involved with Commuter Choice, call 877-4COMMUTE.

Canadian Trucks Speeding

2007-10-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

Not all speeders are on Long Island. Note the speed limit is given in kilometers. His gauge indicates that he's driving about 90 kilometers, or about 55 MPH.

Bucolic? Well, Sometimes

2007-10-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has a nice piece today about driving on Long Island. Despite the nastiness of traffic most days and most times, pleasant afternoon drives can be found.

My first real exposure to Long Island, moving here from Connecticut, was Jericho Turnpike. What a dismal introduction. All those many strip malls, with their endless entrances and exits that slow traffic.

My own neighborhood is getting more difficult to get out of. We're bordered on one site by a very busy county road that leads down to Jericho Turnpike. At the end of the other road, Dix Hills, also leading to Jericho, is a five-way intersection that has become nearly impossible to get through now. I don't know what has happened, other than the resetting of lights because of a relatively new grocery store but that intersection has become a real mess, with drivers making haphazard turns in front and to the side of other cars as they try to enter one of the five roads leading into the intersection.

Dull But Useful

2007-10-06T04:27:00.000-07:00

Accident Liability Explained.

Going Home

2007-10-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

An Oldie But Goodie

2007-10-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is one of those joke lists about Long Island drivers.

A right lane construction closure is just a game to see how any people can cut in line by passing you on the right, as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same jerks to squeeze their way back in before hitting the orange construction arrows.

Turn signals will give away your next move; a real Long Island driver never uses them. Use of them in Massapequa may be illegal.

Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane-change is considered "going with the flow."

Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. (For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs).

The new electronic traffic warning system signs are not there to provide useful information, they are only there to make Long Island look high-tech and to distract you from seeing the State Police car parked behind the grassy knoll.

Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the highway.

Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork.

Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions and not enforceable during rush hour.

Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Long Island driver, flashing his high beams behind you, doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.

Please remember that there is no such thing as a shortcut during rush-hour traffic on Long Island.

Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire.

Learn to swerve abruptly. Long Island is the home of high-speed slalom driving thanks to our State Legislature, who put potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.

Seeking eye contact with another driver revokes your right of way, except in Garden City where it acts as an invitation to duel or play chicken.

The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.

It is traditional on Long Island to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light changes.

Never take a green light at face value. Always look right and left before proceeding; remember that the goal of every Long Island driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.

Gas will always be more expensive on Long Island because everyone's too busy to care!

Construction signs warn you about road closures immediately after you pass the last exit before the backup.

Throwing litter on the roads adds color to the landscape and gives Adopt-a-Highway crews something to clean up.

It is assumed that state police cars passing at high speed may be followed in the event you need to make up a few minutes on your way to work, or the beach.

Real Long Island female drivers can put on pantyhose, apply eye makeup, and balance the checkbook at seventy-five miles per hour, during a snowstorm, in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Real Long Island men drivers can remove panty hose and a bra at seventy-five miles per hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

All Long Island drivers are required to use a cellular phone while driving. It makes it easier to call 911 when they hit someone and the Police can respond more quickly to block off 2 or more lanes of traffic ... especially during rush hour.

And, finally ...

Heavy fog and rain are no reasons to change any of the above rules. These weather conditions are God's way ensuring the economic well-being of body shops, junk yards and new vehicle sales.
However, snow (no matter how light) constitutes a mandate to slow to 20 mph less than the speed necessary to deal with the condition. Ice, even if only patchy, is considered a reasonable excuse for not going to work and spending the day shopping instead.

Blast From the Past

2007-10-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

From the archives of The New York Times in 1901, an article about auto racing.

Long Island Automobile Club Secures the Coney Island Boulevard for a Series of Mile Contests.
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October 20, 1901, Wednesday

Page 8, 376 words

Twelve races, to establish, if possible, straightaway mile records, have been arranged by the Long Island Automobile Club for Saturday, Nov. 16, on the Coney Island Boulevard. Consent for this meeting has been obtained from Park Commissioner George V. Brower, and the officers of the Parkway Driving Club and the Pleasure Driving Association have also consented to assist in making the affair a success. Here.