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Beijing Metro
James Fallow, blog, The Atlantic
Recently I took my 200th trip on the Beijing Metro.
… having complained every now and then about certain imperfections of urban life in Beijing, let me take this opportunity to remark on what a miraculous change the rapidly-expanding metro has wrought in a very short time.
As recently as the middle of last year, the subway system didn’t go many places — and could be ferociously crowded when it went there. (I am thinking mainly of Line 1 at rush hour, as locals will know.) Here’s how the route system looked when we arrived:
… What’s my point? First, recognizing something good that’s happened in a city about which I and many others often complain. And second: Wonder if infrastructure and public-transport improvements can make a difference in basic livability? Yes they can.
(10 December 2008)
Officer Is Indicted in Toppling of Cyclist
John Eligon and Colin Moynihan, City Room (blog), New York Times
A police officer who was caught knocking a man off his bicycle in Times Square over the summer in a video that was distributed widely on YouTube has been indicted by a grand jury, according to lawyers involved in the case.
… It is believed that prosecutors were seeking felony charges of filing false records in connection with the police report that Officer Pogan filed after arresting Mr. Long. Officer Pogan, who was stripped of his gun and badge in July after the video emerged, also could be charged with a misdemeanor count of assault.
… Mr. Long was taking part in a monthly ride, called Critical Mass, that often draws hundreds of riders. In a criminal complaint against Mr. Long, Officer Pogan said that the cyclist rode straight into him. But the video, which was shot by a tourist and posted on YouTube and on the blog Gothamist.com, showed Officer Pogan lunging toward Mr. Long.
Officer Pogan arrested Mr. Long on charges of attempted assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but the charges against Mr. Long were dropped in September.
(15 December 2008)
New driving habits create new budget problems for Idaho
Cynthia Sewell, Idaho Statesman
Idaho may be too dependent on fuel tax to pay for the roads and buses it needs
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Americans – and Idahoans – keep driving less, and that has meant less money for roads and more demand for public transit.
If this continues, and Idaho doesn’t change the way it pays for transportation, it will threaten the state’s ability to keep highways and bridges safe and ready to handle a growing population.
In the largest continuous decline in the country’s history, Americans have driven about 100 billion miles less over the past year than in the year before.
The decline has continued even as gas prices left the $4 mark far behind.
(17 December 2008)
At M.T.A. Hearing, Another Shoe Almost Dropped
William Neuman, City Room, New York Times
One transit rider was so infuriated on Wednesday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s decision to slash service and raise fares that he tried to follow the example set by Muntader al-Zaidi, the 29-year-old Iraqi journalist who hurled two shoes at President Bush on Sunday.
The rider, Stephen A. Millies, who identified himself as an Amtrak worker with the Bail Out the People campaign, was one of about two dozen people who addressed the authority’s board during a public speaking period at the start of the Midtown meeting where the budget vote was held.
“This budget ought to be thrown in the garbage can,” Mr. Millies said. He railed against the fare increase and for good measure spoke out against home foreclosures. Then, referring to the M.T.A.’s chief executive, who was sitting about 15 feet away, he shouted: “Where is Elliot Sander? You made $300,000 last year!”
According to a witness, Mr. Millies then slipped off one of his shoes and began to bend down to pick it up, saying “this shoe is for you.” Authority police officers immediately swarmed around Mr. Millies and hustled him out of the board room and onto an elevator, where he could be heard shouting “I didn’t do anything.” Moments later he was seen in handcuffs, being escorted from the building.
(17 December 2008)
Photo at original.
