thoughts on plug-in hybrids, electricity source, v.s. alternatives

D: the two maps show:
1) location of coal plants (purple dots) and
2) the potential for wind power.

Notice anything? That's right- we have coal plants where the wind is best. ?!?
Now, many folks suggest hybrids and plug-in cars are always more green. Not really.
If the electricity comes from coal plants, then the co2 and pollution is roughly comparable to just using a standard gasoline vehicle.
Here's where it gets interesting. Plug-in hybrid/electric battery cars, when connected to the power grid, can address a limitation of wind power. Wind power is not reliable. Sometimes there is wind but sometimes not.
So:
1) build wind generators
2) a policy (see below) of incenting use of plug-in hybrids/electrics is implemented
3) 2) offsets a limit of 1)
4) we minimize the use of coal.

Another aside: electric discharge does create ground-level ozone. We don't have any perfect solutions.

There is a problem with automatically handing out rebates for a hybrid car. Just like the tech of the last few decades, hybrid cars can be a performance booster v.s. a way to gain efficiency.
Well, if we used the innovations in car performance since the 1970s to improve efficiency, we'd have vehicles 25% better on gas.
Instead, we now have sedans that rival the performance of many 70s sports cars.
Well, hybrids can be used the same way.
I expect to see drag-racers availing themselves of 'green' rebates in the name of performance.
That's right - your tax dollars at work!

Slapping hybrid (and H2) power trains in full-size sedans and SUVs ignores a fact. Most families choose not to use a scooter, moped, motorbike, subcompact or microcar in lieu of a larger vehicle.
We are attached to the idea of a box-on-wheels that can hold 5 adults for one commuter.
THAT is the problem.
Just using an efficient diesel subcompact matches a hybrid sedan's performance sans all the high-tech wizardry.

A rectangular car chassis precludes adoption of a teardrop shape which would be low drag.
See the Isetta for some ideas about this.

So long as we are trapped in a mindset which requires a full-size sedan that can match an old sports car for acceleration, all the nods to being green are nothing short of laughable!


http://www.hybridcars.com/local-incentives/region-by-region.html

" Ontario...

Residents of these three provinces are eligible for partial sales tax rebate on all hybrid vehicles. In British Columbia, residents can get a rebate of up to $2,000, in Ontario up to $1,000 and in PEI up to $3,000. These rebate are apparently for all hybrids, regardless of make or model. Check with regional tax authorities or a tax professional."

map of parking around uptown waterloo

D: the amount of parking within a coupla blocks of uptown is huge.
Why does the city feel a need to spend 10s of millions to make more?!

Aside: I counted all the bike stands uptown Waterloo. It was less than on-road car parking, on one block, one ONE side of the street!

The placement of signposts does not generally seem to consider car doors and such.

I spoke to a cafe owner uptown. Actually, he didn't like the idea of more greenery. It seems the store name is hard to see through foliage.
He pointed out there were multiple green park areas within a few blocks.

roads at tracks better maintained than sidewalks

D: pic 1 is in the uptown Waterloo mall parking lot. Notice the rubber guide to keep the pavement in place
D: pic 2 is the same place, but with steel guides to prevent the pavement from cracking. Note it is in the best shape of any.

D: pic 2 and 3 are by Kumpf Drive on Northfield. The severe cracks on the sidewalk have not been repaired, unlike the road, which shows recent asphalt patches.
That track on the sidewalks is BRUTAL.
I have a mountain bike.
Now say baby stroller. Or wheelchair. Or decrepit old lady.
A twisted ankle, a broken hip.

I want you to complain. Call the city, or your local politician.
Ask why sidewalks are treated as the 'poor cousin' of roads.
Why have we made the car king?

D: aside - John called back in a timely fashion from Urban Planning.
It seems the bike lane sweeping was behind schedule cuz
1) they were playing catch-up on leaves that were caught by the fall snow and
2) the UW was spilling a lot of gravel.

D: OK... but Father David Bauer Drive still looks like a bomb hit. There are chunks of pavement the side of my fist all over the place. And heaps of gravel.
My advice: go on the sidewalk.

Many say 'build it and they will come'. No, they won't.
Build it WELL and MAINTAIN it and then they will.

some cars have hard2C signals

D: the other day, watching for a car signal in case it was turning, I still couldn't see it.

I think NewScientist posted an article on it last week. Sadly, their search engine interface is nigh unto useless.

Does anybody know which new car models place the turn signal towards the center of the bumper?

the dangers of outdoor exercise

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512150141.htm

As environmentalists have pointed out, it can be as dangerous to be outdoors behind a city bus -- walking or bicycling -- as it is to be in front of one.

The main culprits are ozone, fine particulate matter, and carbon monoxide, he says. These pollutants irritate the lungs and respiratory system, and can exacerbate the problems of individuals with underlying disease

The pollutants affect the lungs by causing inflammation or irritation of the airway lining. More mucus and phlegm is produced, he says, and small muscles surrounding the airway respond by squeezing down. The work of breathing increases and it becomes more difficult to get oxygen into the body.

Ozone adversely affects a person's breathing pattern and causes the airways in the lungs to become smaller and more resistant to oxygen exchange. Because of ozone, a person working out has difficulty taking deep breaths, and has to breathe faster. As a result, the exercise becomes more stressful and difficult.

Carbon monoxide arises from cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust. It has a tremendous ability to force oxygen out of our circulatory system -- it combines with hemoglobin 200 times faster than oxygen. Overexposure may lead to headache, dizziness, confusion, and dangerous increases in body temperature.

D: That is what I love about smog alerts.
Instead of incenting folks to drive LESS in the first place, we tell folks to *just* drive- thereby aggravating an existing smog alert.
I watch cars go by and see on average 1.5 occupants of each 5 person 'box on wheels'.
D: here's an idea. During smog alerts, the price of gas jumps a buck. To deter driving.
I think our bus gives one free smog day a month or something.

See
http://kwbusblog.blogspot.com/

D: I see hardcore joggers training in smog alerts. I point out the alert to them.
It never seems to stop them.
Madness- damaging your lung capacity due to some obsessive training!
After all, your cardio V-max is the ultimate bottleneck in your performance.

more money wasted on parking

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/349415

"A new parking strategy for uptown Waterloo includes paid on-street parking and up to three new parking garages.

One of the garages could be built at Caroline Street South and Willis Way by 2013 at a cost of $18.7 million. It could have up to 750 spaces."

D: Everybody likely noticed the new buildings built by the Market Square.
I kept asking what that would do to parking.

Apparently, it means
1) private parking is lost
2) the tax base - your money - is used to subsidize this private parking loss.

I got a question:
The garage might open the way for a Westin luxury hotel in the core.

D: this is an example of a private profit-based company making use of externalizing the negative cost of parking.
I'm not against a hotel - I'm just against them off-loading the cost of parking.
If they want to build a hotel, they can build the parking too.

D: it's funny. We can afford to cover a vast swathe of land with asphalt.
But public transit initiatives are expensive!
D.

breakdown of city funding for street, sidewalk, bike lanes

http://therecord.metrolandwest.com/article/339663

D: great article today!

"A quick look at some of the municipal budgets in this region shows there is no balance to transportation spending. Roads get the overwhelming amount of taxpayer dollars; sustainable transportation -- walking, cycling and transit -- get comparatively little.

This year, Kitchener will spend $17.2 million on roads, $1.6 million on sidewalks and $486,000 on paths and trails.

Cambridge will spend $10.3 million on roads, $225,000 on sidewalks, $204,000 for on-road bike lanes, and $35,000 for off-road trails.

In Waterloo, roads will get $6.9 million, sidewalks $254,000 and bike paths $250,000.

"Let's be honest, the vast majority of money goes into roads," Wellar says.

Waterloo Region is the only municipal government in this region that approaches balanced spending between infrastructure for roads and sustainable transportation -- at least for 2008.

Waterloo Region will spend $92.5 million this year on roads. But it will also spend $81 million on Grand River Transit. It will also spend $1.6 million to build 108 kilometres of sidewalks and bike paths."

D: the car is king, but only cuz cars get the lion-sized share of transit funding.
Funny, my bike doesn't wear out roads or cause potholes.

For a caricature of the 'ugly car-driver' cliche, let us study the local representative.
Fred Snider.
http://therecord.metrolandwest.com/article/301210

"What's with the stupid, idiotic people who ride their bicycles on snowy roads?

Roads are made for vehicles, and cyclists are privileged to use them also. The roads are narrower in the winter because of snowbanks, so cars don't have the room they have in the summer. And roads with snow make it easy for cyclists to lose control and fall.

If they fall they deserve what they get for being stupid -- and no helmet is going to save them -- but how about the poor driver who runs over them? The driver is going to feel guilty when they shouldn't -- not to mention being made late for wherever they were going.

Waterloo Region should stop wasting time and money on useless bylaws (like the pesticide issue and bicycle helmet issue), and outlaw riding a bicycle on snowy/icy roads. Get these idiots off our roads now."

D: as much as reading that makes my blood boil, I will refrain from making comments about Fred himself. Others have already done so for me.
Rather, I will examine the assumptions behind his argument. His position exemplifies the unspoken assumptions about how things ought to be, which closely resemble the status quo, and why the car is king.
1) somehow, snow removal doesn't apply to bike lanes even though they are considered a feature of roads
2) somehow, buffers for snow between road/lane and the sidewalk is 'wasted space'. Heck, why not just use the bike lane?
3) leading back to his initial argument in a charming case of circular logic.

I think we've all seen that at LEAST a buffer of one yard between road/lane and sidewalks is needed to pile snow. My poor old boss from Club Ab was out there every day cleaning the sidewalk adjacent to King Street. Many local businesses were not so conscientious.

Somehow, car-bigots such as Fred just assume that continued neglect of anything but full-width high-speed vehicle lanes which leaves cyclists (and sometimes pedestrians!) nowhere else to go means everyone ought to drive cars.
My newer boss offered that opinion after I got hit by a car. For the record, the snow was cleared and had nothing to do with that. I tried to stay calm when I pointed out that
a) not everybody can afford a car and
b) not every residence has parking for cars.
I live above an old grandfather-claused biz uptown Waterloo. I cannot park here during business hours, making owning a car both expensive and essentially impossible.
It is likely best that I bit my tongue.

I cannot help but think of my Aunt Marian in California. While driving, we passed a cyclist. She muttered, "damn cyclists." Later while walking down the sidewalk there was a cyclist there instead. And once again, the charming tolerant open-minded woman muttered- you guessed it- "damn cyclists". This can be translated to:
1) I drive
2) I walk
3) I don't happen to bike.
4) So screw cyclists.
Of course, she is quite broadly compassionate. She also believes in building a big ditch to drown as many Mexicans sneaking in as possible, as well as withholding organs from people in need of transplants.
Thanks auntie!

Thank you, Fred, for exemplifying everything that wrong with the system, and being the quintessential ugly car driver.