Transportation
« Previous EntriesFord and In-car Cloud Computing
Saturday, May 29th, 2010While most American car makers have struggled in the bearish economy, including Toyota, Ford has made a remarkable turnaround, and in April announced strong quarterly profits. According to MarketWatch, Ford swung to a profit of $2.1 billion, or 50 cents a share, from a loss of $1.4 billion, or 60 cents a share, in the [...]
The Great Train Race
Thursday, April 8th, 2010I have always loved trains – they have always occupied a sweet spot in travel for me between the intimate contact with the land that car travel offers and the fast, but depersonalized and remote sense you get from air travel. I had resigned myself to the fact that passenger trains might one day disappear [...]
Plug-in Hybrids Go for a Spin in 2010
Monday, January 18th, 2010Well, they shouldn’t be faulted for their enthusiasm. 2010 is here – slated to be the Year of the Electric Car – and automakers are still working out the glitches before the long-promised, much-hyped vehicles hit the production lines. To be fair, the year is still young – and with the Nissan Leaf expected to [...]
Railroads – The Once and Future Hot Investment
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is buying into the future, by investing in the past – but don’t confuse his latest acquisition for an eccentric billionaire’s bid on nostalgia. There’s more going on here than meets the eye. Buffett, one of the world’s most successful investors, isn’t an eccentric – having proven his near-uncanny financial [...]
Planning for the Electric Car Infrastructure
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009The future is almost here, but are we prepared for it? After years of research and development, several of the world’s largest automakers are preparing to deliver the next gen electric car to showroom floors in 2010. But they’re going to have to contend with a lot more than simply changing the mindset of a [...]
Riding the Buses
Thursday, October 29th, 2009It was another rainy day in Washington as I drove the 60 miles from Olympia to Seattle to interview for the post of executive director of Seattle Metro. In all honesty, the bleak weather fit my mood. My head was throbbing, and I felt uneasy, nervous, lacking in confidence-partly because I would be interviewing with [...]
Virgin Atlantic – Flying High with Biofuels
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009Richard Branson wants to change the way you travel. As Chairman of Virgin Group Ltd. (which counts several travel companies – among them the Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, and Virgin Blue subsidiaries – under its banner) Branson’s aim is not wholly surprising. But the intrigue stems not from the what, but the how. As public [...]
The Science of Rogue Waves
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009It is a terrifying specter to any ship captain at sea – a massive, roiling wall of water, unreasonably tall and impossible to maneuver. The rogue wave is the personification of the deadly, unpredictable strength of Mother Nature. For centuries, the existence of this type of wave (also referred to as freak, monster, killer, or [...]
China’s Blazing Fast Bullet Train
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009If the Opening Ceremonies for the summer 2008 Olympic Games were any indication, the People’s Republic of China is intent on changing their global image. Under the rule of one of the last Communist governments, China has been under intense scrutiny for a myriad of social concerns – including their use of sweatshop labor, extreme [...]
GM Survives the Unthinkable
Friday, August 21st, 2009It is poetic, if not altogether overly optimistic – there is a rebirth occurring for the company headquartered in the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. General Motors has emerged from bankruptcy – promising to be a leaner, more efficient version of its former self. In web parlance, we could call it GM 2.0. The beleaguered [...]
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