Week in transportation, Nov. 28 edition
Shell was prohibited by a federal appeals court from drilling new wells off Alaska's North Slope. Why? The U.S. Department of Interior failed to conduct an environmental review of how the drilling would affect whales and indigenous communities. That's the pipeline that carries oil south from the North Slope in the above pic. New York Times
Curious who is reviewing transit agencies for the incoming Obama administration? Streetsblog has the rundown. One of the team has some expertise in public-private partnerships, which is interesting given that private money is likely going to be needed for some big projects in California, most notably the proposed high-speed rail line.
The Utah Transit Authority wants to expand its "contactless" fare payment system, allowing users to use credit cards and other types of smart cards to pay fares. Finextra
Chicago could get the 2016 Summer Olympics, but is its transit system ready? The Tribune's John Hilkevitch doesn't seem to think so and points to the fact that while Californians were approving transportation-related sales tax hikes and bonds on election day, there was nothing similar on the ballot in Illinois.
A federal judge ruled that automakers -- including General Motors and Chrysler -- can't sue the state of Rhode Island for trying to adopt tighter emission standards for cars. But some auto dealers can go ahead with the suit. Associated Press
The ocean in the Pacific Northwest is getting more acidic, and scientists blame rising carbon dioxide levels. CO2 is a greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels. BBC
The federal government has been building a big fleet of flex-fuel cars that can use ethanol and other alt-fuels. Problem is, the vast majority of those 112,000 vehicles are still running on regular gas. Washington Post
An interactive map by the NYT allows you to see where the city of New York issued nearly 10 million parking tickets over the last year. The hot spots look to be be side streets between 5th and 8th avenues south of Central Park.
The majority of the United States is paying less than $2 a gallon for regular gasoline, and California could see those kind of average prices within the next few days. Los Angeles Times
photo credit: Al Grillo / Associated Press
