Four the Future - October 1

Friday night: best time for posting? Nah. But I know you didn't want to keep waiting, right? So, tonight: four increasingly critical stories related to transportation, economic development and human rights.

• Study: High-speed rail will create 13,000 jobs
  Source: Business Journal of Milwaukee; September 20, 2010
  Summary: A study was conducted regarding a proposed high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. It found that it would create 13,000 new jobs, eliminate 780,000 annual car trips, and save 2.76 million gallons of gas per year.
  Opinion: Rail is a more efficient form of transportation. It’s not surprising that the reduction in costs and stimulating activation of land adjacent to rail stations would result in broad economic benefit. A study was conducted for light rail in the Spokane region, too, and it was found to create "about 17,300 jobs, $561.6 million per year in payroll, and $1.4 billion per year in output or value of goods and services produced," just in the first phase from downtown Spokane to Liberty Lake.
  
• Millwood considering speed bumps to slow speeders
  Source: Spokesman-Review; September 30, 2010
  Summary: The City of Millwood is considering laying two speed bumps each along Riverway and Bridgeport, and a raised intersection at Empire and Fowler.
  Opinion: Maybe they’re not reading the blog. There seems to be some indication from a quote in the article that someone views speed bumps as punishment for speeders, and is failing to see that they are permanent "infrastructure-residents" of a neighborhood. Who volunteers to write a letter pointing out that there are alternatives to speed bumps?
  
• Could 'Goldilocks' planet be just right for life? (includes video)
  Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer; September 30, 2010
  Summary: Scientists using telescopes in Hawaii have discovered a planet orbiting the star Gliese 581 a. It is just the right distance from the star to be "not too hot and not too cold" for water to exist in liquid form. It is "tidally locked" which means one side of the planet is always facing the star (just like our moon is tidally lock to the Earth). The hottest parts of the planet would be 160 degrees and it would be -25 on the cold side. But at the terminator, where the star is constantly at the horizon, temperatures should be "shirt-sleeve weather."
  Opinion: OK, admittedly, this isn’t exactly in Spokane’s immediate neighborhood. This could be an interesting thought experiment for planners. In this case, there are significant environmental barriers, but many varied opportunities. For instance, in the hottest part of the planet, there’s plenty of solar radiation for energy production. But, no water there. Over time, I would think the liquid water be depleted, evaporating on the hot side, then snowing on the cold side, hidden from the sun and preventing the water from return. So, lots of frozen water for mining on the cold side. Look at that—the beginnings of an economy, and we’re not even there. But what else would be different? Would residents be recognized to have a right to clean air and water? Would they have a right to access to food and healthful agricultural products? A right to access to energy? What could we learn to help us understand our own world? Hopefully we’ll treat the natives better than we have in the past.
  
• Slime Mold Transportation Network Design
  Source: Science NOW; October 1, 2010
  Summary: The IgNobel Awards were given out recently. There were several categories, but the grand prize of 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars (value? US$0) was given to research with a slime mold. Hokkaido University’s Nakagaki Toshiyuki demonstrated that a slime mold, when provided bits of oatmeal for food upon a map, would spread out in a system which closely replicated the transportation system of Tokyo, Japan. Actually, it wasn’t exactly the same. It was slightly more efficient.
  
  
  
  Opinion: This is usually the job of transportation planners. And, yes, slime molds are brainless creatures. Thanks for asking.