Fresh Loaf

“I have always accepted responsibility for my actions, and this issue is no different.”

Except that he still doesn’t. Instead of admitting he made a mistake, re: driving drunk, Benji believes the mistake is not speaking out sooner about it. It’s really quite sad.

— FlackAttack of Tondee’s Tavern writing about state Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Augusta, and his recent me-so-sorry letter to constituents regarding his year-old DUI arrest.

Will we see demand for smaller, more energy efficient spaces come back? Certainly green building trends will increase – they are already on the rise, and saving energy is the primary financial driver for this (as opposed to the warm and fuzzies you get for ‘living green’). I think gas prices are already driving demand to in-town neighborhoods, although the credit crunch has stalled a lot of that movement.

— Ben at Terminal Station, an excellent Atlanta blog covering real estate and land-use issues in metro Atlanta, writing about high gas and energy prices and how the crunch may affect the intown resurgence in a tight credit market.

the trip has been incredible so far. the picture above was taken outside the fairmont lake louise. it had to be one of the most stunning settings i have seen in some time.

— James at The Arc of Time is on vacation with his family in Canada, finding Internet access where he can, and crouching in front of a lake that’s full, clean and surrounded by majestic mountains. Click the link for a photo.

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According to the American Public Transit Association, or APTA, our fellow countrymen and women took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, the highest level in 50 years. That’s a 2.1% increase over the previous year. The organization chalks the increase up to high gas prices, woeful gridlock and expanded service. Light-rail service saw the highest ridership increase with 6.1 percent. In areas with a population of less than 100,000 people, bus ridership increased 6.4 percent. That’s worth taking into account for the metro region’s outlying areas that may be looking into improving mobility for its residents and making better use of the roads that are already available.

The association also says:

• Communities who choose to invest in public transportation reduce the nation’s carbon emissions by 37 million metric tons annually — equivalent to the electricity used by 4.9 million households. To achieve a similar reduction in carbon emissions, every household in New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Denver and Los Angeles combined would have to completely stop using electricity.

• This “leverage effect” of public transportation, supporting efficient land use patterns saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline — more than three times the amount of gasoline refined from the oil we import from Kuwait.

This news arrived in my inbox literally minutes after reading this on The Arc of Time, an excellent local blog that showcases, among other things, one Atlantan’s experiences riding MARTA on a daily basis.

From today’s post:

i continue to be bemused by how long it took me to discover the beauty of commuting this way and wonder aloud why others haven’t either. every morning i look out of the windows of the bus/train and watch the cars plying their way along the highway. i know the frustration and boredom that all of those drivers are bound for. and i know they are now paying north of $3.50 per gallon, which is now something like 17.5 cents per mile, just for gas. the irrationality of entrenched habits sometimes knows no bounds — at least that was true in my case.

speaking of savings, i also won another $25 from the clean air campaign’s commuter rewards program last month. two months in a row.

That’s poetry and progress.

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UPDATE: Received a phone call from MARTA’s spokesperson. The original bus route listed in the release is incorrect. Attendees of the March 29 workshop at Dunbar Recreation Center should take bus route 4.

Listen up, James.

The transit agency is conducting a series of public workshops as part of its new MOVE program. That stands for “Making Operations Very Efficient,” all you acronym buffs.

“While much of the current transportation planning and studying is for projects ten, twenty and even thirty years out, MOVE will take a look at what can be done today to make MARTA a better system,” a press release says.

The 18-month program is aimed at making full use of what the agency has available by reaching out to stakeholders, riders and the general public. If you want to ride MARTA but think it’s too laden with problems, now’s your chance to help them sort ‘em out.

Dates and locations of the workshops follow after the jump.

(more…)

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Hat tip to James for this awesome find: a Flickr group dedicated to shots of MARTA, the little-transit-agency-that-could.

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Please start with a research project focused on creating the Flying Suit from the Jetsons. Not only would that be super cool, but I predict massive benefit to our current transportation mess.

— flackattack at Tondee’s Tavern, on what he wants soon-to-be-sorta-former CLer John Sugg to research once he starts his think tank.

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excluding gas spent to drive home from south carolina for christmas, i have put $30 worth of fuel in my vehicle this month. my average weekly fuel bill prior to the switch was more than $110.
i have finished one full book, read the first half of the old testament and begun an detailed commentary on the gospel of john.

— James at the arc of time has given up driving for MARTA.

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Several blocks of Glenwood just inside I-285 were shut down with dozens of police cars blocking access to Glenwood from side streets and parking lots. A police helicopter was still circling overhead.

— Decatur-DeKalb on this morning’s killings of two DeKalb County police officers responding to a report of a suspicious person. The suspects have not been caught.

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