State College, PA - CATA Study to Explore Fare-Free Rider Access

State College, PA - CATA Study to Explore Fare-Free Rider Access: "CATA will soon study the feasibility of making its entire bus system fare-free for all riders, the public-transit agency confirmed.

The state Department of Transportation has awarded the Centre Area Transportation Authority a $100,000 grant to investigate the idea formally, CATA transit planner Greg Kausch said. He said the study, funded through PennDOT's Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative, is expected to last 18 to 24 months."

Greenworks Philadelphia: Reducing automobile traffic

One Perfect Day Aboard Amtrak

One Perfect Day Aboard Amtrak: "With a shared love of rail travel, it seemed only natural to plan a honeymoon by train. We even took a train from our wedding to the hotel where we spent our wedding night. Our honeymoon spanned most of the nation, with travel on several of Amtrak's routes including the Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, and Lake Shore Limited. The train turned out be a perfect way to honeymoon. Our sleeper car was a perfect private getaway, and the motion of the train and the whistle only added to the romance. When we ventured out we enjoyed the lounge car, wine tastings, a film in the movie theater,and delicious meals in the dining car."

Consumer products will not solve the problem. Consumer products ARE the problem

Solar Panels Could Pose Dangers to the Environment | Pays to Live Green: "Solar Energy is one of the top emerging renewable energy sources that could relieve us of our dependency on dirty energy sources like coal and dangerous energy sources like nuclear. Even with it’s many positives, solar energy has a major drawback that could cause some harm to our environment. Solar energy itself is not dangerous nor is the process of solar panels converting the sun’s light into energy. The biggest problem is in the production and disposal of the solar panels."

Ready for holiday drivers? Take the train.

Johanna James Allstate Insurance Company: "Do you still think you can dodge the drunk driving bullet? Drunk driving facts do not lie. Do what you can to avoid becoming a statistic."

Cliff Lee's family leaving Arlington so they can go places | Bud Kennedy | Fort Worth, Arling...

Cliff Lee's family leaving Arlington so they can go places | Bud Kennedy | Fort Worth, Arling...: "We finally found the hero to deliver public transit to Arlington.

Unfortunately, Kristen Lee and her husband, Cliff, gave up and moved to Philadelphia.

Of all the words written after the Texas Rangers' playoff ace turned down a new contract, the most jarring might have come from his wife, like Lee a native of Benton, Ark.

She prefers Philadelphia for the cultural opportunities and the dining, she said.

But mostly -- she really likes the trains."

SEPTA misses another Silverliner V deadline | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

SEPTA misses another Silverliner V deadline | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future: "Separately, SEPTA CFO and treasurer Richard Burnfield told a SEPTA Board meeting on Thursday that ridership was up 4 percent last month from the previous year"

PennDOT: Older driver deaths on rise - timesherald.com

PennDOT: Older driver deaths on rise - timesherald.com: "UPPER MERION – Though traffic fatality reports often focus on teenagers, the number of crash deaths involving older drivers is on the rise in Pennsylvania, and PennDOT believes it’s essential aging drivers and their families talk frankly about the right time to turn over the car keys for good for safety’s sake.

About 16 percent of Pennsylvania’s 8.7 million licensed drivers are 65 and older, and state statistics predict that number will increase to 21 percent by 2020, according to PennDOT.

In 2009, there were more than 16,700 crashes involving a driver 65 and up, resulting in 276 fatalities. This represents 14 percent of the total crashes in the state and 22 percent of the fatalities, an increase from previous years."

Anti-tax foolishness is nonsensical

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - myspace.com/unicycleintransit: "I am tired of Republican intransigence on taxes. They vote as a block, and will not even consider any discussion of a new tax or a hike in a tax, no matter how small, and no matter what good it might do. In particular, if Governor Rendell suggests it, they respond as one with a resounding rejection of the proposal. They will fight you to the death to prove to you that 2+2=5. This is lunacy. We are talking about solutions to both the highway and bridge problem, and the transit problem. Permanent solutions. Remember what I said at the top? This argument goes on year after year? This is why. A proper fix to the problem comes along, and no matter how much sense it might make, since it's a tax, the answer is no.

The highway fix involves a fuel tax of maybe four cents a gallon. C'mon, four cents a gallon isn't even chickenfeed. Gasoline flips up and down 40 cents a gallon in any given month and you accept that. You spend four cents in gasoline driving around a parking lot to find a good space. Objections to that tax are groundless. They need to stop."

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Carfree Times: September 2010 - Carfree neighborhood proposed for Philadelphia

Carfree Times: September 2010: "Gaslight Village is a proposed mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented, urban village on the site of a former gas works on the east bank of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River. When completed, it will be home to some 4,000 families."

Mann: A Changing Climate Doesn’t Have a Political Agenda | Universe Today

Mann: A Changing Climate Doesn’t Have a Political Agenda | Universe Today: "“We have to make it clear that the ice sheets are not Republicans or Democrats – they don’t have a political agenda as they disappear,” said Michael Mann, a physicist at Pennsylvania State University, who has been at the recent forefront of climate research. “Certain facts cannot be denied. We have to find a way to steer the conversation to a good faith debate about what we can do about the problem, not this bad faith debate about the reality of it.”"

Transit cuts loom in Pittsburgh - thegabber.org

Transit cuts loom in Pittsburgh - thegabber.org: "the interests of poor and working people were prioritized, the local and state government would tax the rich, banks, and corporations. If the federal government wanted to meet human needs, it would help cities and states fund socially useful programs rather than spending money on wars and bailouts.

...Everyone deserves access to efficient, free public transportation, but as long as the state serves the capitalists, poor and working people need to organize to win and defend this right.