tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54952361742383581462024-03-06T12:02:42.339-08:00Fix Oahu!Civil Engineering Professor Panos D. Prevedouros, PhD discusses his opinions on infrastructure issues with emphasis on the City and County of Honolulu.Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.comBlogger667125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-56835418451333504242024-01-10T12:23:00.000-08:002024-01-10T12:23:47.559-08:00What Are the Best things Drivers Can Do to Improve their Driving Record?<p><span style="font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px;"><a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/ci/driving-record-check/12553#expert=Panos_D._Prevedouros">My brief expert opinion in WalletHub</a>:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 700;">Why is it important for drivers to check their Driving Record?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Much like people's credit scores and records, drivers need to inspect their driving records and be aware of relevant laws. There may be errors in the record that need correction. Also, incidents that occurred many years ago may still be listed although applicable law requires them to be expunged after, say, five years.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How often should drivers check their Driving Record?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Drivers should inspect their driving record if there is a change in their insurance premium if they plan to shop for and change insurance carriers, or every five years at the latest.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the best thing to do if drivers see an error on their Driving Record?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Drivers need to contact the DMV or relevant authority to request a correction and inform their auto insurance carrier of the error.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What are the best things drivers can do to improve their Driving Record?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Traffic safety clinics and defensive driving schools are good places to start improving a problematic driving record. Issues with drugs and alcohol must be dealt with; at a minimum, alternatives need to be found to avoid impaired driving at all times. Drivers with a propensity to speed would benefit by joining car racing clubs which provide safe ways to drive at high speed at race tracks and other venues off the public roads.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-31384035978952699412024-01-10T12:16:00.000-08:002024-01-10T12:16:04.966-08:00Is it Fair for Car Insurance Companies to Consider Gender, Age and Driver Occupation?<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><a href="https://wallethub.com/cheap-car-insurance/hawaii#experts=Panos_D._Prevedouros">My brief expert opinion in WalletHub</a>:</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Insurance companies are under substantial strain from increasing losses due to many reasons such as extreme weather (e.g., floods that damage vehicles), increasing number of crashes and fatalities, increasing rates of distracted and impaired drivers (e.g., more states have legalized marijuana), etc.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">These losses have necessitated increases in premiums. A fairer distribution of increases is done by assessing risk factors and assessing higher premiums for higher-risk drivers. Young male drivers and occupations with driving as a major part of the job (e.g., Uber, delivery workers) are examples of groups associated with higher crash involvement rates.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">I have a good example of risk-based car insurance premiums in my own household. My spouse and my daughter have their own car and insurance. Both are insured by the same insurance company, and both drive 2018 model compact cars of similar market value. My spouse is a white-collar worker in her late 40s. My daughter is a 21-year-old college senior; her premium is 65% higher than her mom's!</p><p><br /></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-16191119348115597122023-10-05T09:54:00.002-07:002023-10-05T09:54:19.525-07:002023's Greenest Cities in America<p> <a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/most-least-green-cities/16246#expert=Panos_D._Prevedouros">My commentary in WalletHub's ranking of US green cities</a>.</p><p>Honolulu ranked 2nd out of 100. Reno did well at 33.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Should cities invest in going green? What are the benefits?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Environmental and transportation solutions need to be tailored to an area's specific characteristics. Solutions for Tokyo are likely less suitable for Chicago. Cities with acute pollution issues should focus on smart city mitigations targeting pollution, such as electrification of bus fleets and incentives for EVs. Cities with acute traffic congestion should focus on smart city congestion mitigation, such as adaptive traffic signal management and intelligent time-dependent road pricing.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What policies or investments offer the biggest bang for the buck?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Smart traffic management for both arterial streets and freeways is the most common low-hanging fruit with moderate costs and substantial congestion and pollution reduction. Priority lanes and traffic signal preemption for Bus Rapid Transit are cost-effective smart city improvements for public transport.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How can state and local authorities attract renewable energy companies and other green businesses?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By incentivizing the electrification of transportation, substantial new demand is generated which creates a need for power supply, which in turn, makes the establishment of new renewable energy suppliers welcome. A conducive framework for power purchasing agreements needs to be in place.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What are some easy ways individuals can go green without much cost or effort?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Several smart home solutions are affordable and effective in reducing power and fuel consumption. Hybrid light-duty vehicles are presently the most cost-effective choice for commuting and highway travel. Unfortunately, recycling is more of a feel-good initiative than an effective green option given that less than 10% of what is put into recycling collections is actually recycled, reused, or repurposed.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In evaluating the greenest cities, what are the top five indicators?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Inter-Regular, arial-fallback, helvetica-fallback, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A generic list may serve as a guideline, but each city needs to focus on its most acute issues and deploy smart solutions that its taxpayers can afford, for mitigations.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-56317495198077435962023-05-17T11:04:00.003-07:002023-05-17T11:10:23.739-07:00Consumer Reports Can Be Wrong!<p>CONSUMER REPORTS: <a href="https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/research/blog-can-the-grid-handle-evs-yes">Can the Grid Handle EVs? Yes! </a></p><p>They should really study this series: <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-ev-transition-explained">The EV transition at scale poses daunting challenges</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHPmGYyxh13rFrPbuIwWl1Tu1miRmnvHy75GPyJ18OueidJmNiVmyw_Nz2rlH1uMe49tNJqfdp87ujuFtpTPgUZ55adMCQEaduOXW1r6xFgRjar2uyYfyhBHRaOfsH22xVX4-Yi0hWWAIyeEBXPhFBC03SmxdtyeKuZ2lFS3eeAB87sjNd4wJ93GNig/s646/CR.EV.power.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="646" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHPmGYyxh13rFrPbuIwWl1Tu1miRmnvHy75GPyJ18OueidJmNiVmyw_Nz2rlH1uMe49tNJqfdp87ujuFtpTPgUZ55adMCQEaduOXW1r6xFgRjar2uyYfyhBHRaOfsH22xVX4-Yi0hWWAIyeEBXPhFBC03SmxdtyeKuZ2lFS3eeAB87sjNd4wJ93GNig/s320/CR.EV.power.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Dear Chris,<p></p>
<p>The answer in your blog is incorrect. It is predicated on: </p>
<p><span style="background-color: white;">"...Americans
drive approximately 2.9 trillion miles a year,..." and "...The
average efficiency of all 20 comes to 3.1 miles per kilowatt
hour. "<br />
</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color: white;">Totals and
averages can be grossly misleading and this is the case here.<br />
</span></p>
<p> Total power generation capacity may match total EV KWh demand
over the course of a year. But this totally ignores diurnal
patterns and Peak Demand periods! The grid often has a hard time
providing enough power for the usual demands plus a/c on hot and
humid days.</p>
<p>Some locations have spare capacity, some are nearly maxed out
(California, Hawaii, many others), and the US grid is far from
being interconnected to cover demand deficits.</p>
<p>This question can be answered with reasonable confidence only at
the local/regional level based on historical patterns of daily KWh
consumption, along with specific forecasts of EV in traffic by
type... car, SUV, pickup, delivery truck, long distance truck.</p><pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Panos D. Prevedouros, PhD
Reno, Nevada
Past Chairman and Professor Emeritus
Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Hawaii at Mānoa</pre>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-73838313521009259902022-11-18T10:39:00.006-08:002022-11-19T13:01:04.567-08:00Quick Rail Boondoggle Update<p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rail boondoggles seem to multiply in the US. </span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Honolulu rail is not alone at starting at under $5B in 2021, and surpassing $10B in 2020 with no ending in cost escalation, no opening date and continuously revealed construction problems (i.e., <a href="https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21281436/hi-start-of-honolulu-rail-ridership-hinges-on-damage-repairs-to-cracks-on-pillars">hammerhead pillar cracks</a>) and operational problems (i.e., <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/10/internal-memo-reveals-list-of-experts-concerned-about-honolulu-rail-track-layout/">track switching "frogs."</a>)</span></li></ul><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IqvtjmDFk931f1E8Uh3c2iEKhN0dnIOB9vkUcny8qm0LCd6L1xqBpokoRuF80USVosD-esdbByXbeyVnS3VViyvasDJBrv8o9vwMvNssepApCYIYmB266R4-qRYgb8ZXwrv_ZW86dUtDre5zUEc6JHQPEASvv_SkwfPcDh2qQEX6m1xCaZuPS6mtQg/s640/Daniel-K-Inouye-International-Airport-HART-rail-station-v3-640x427.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IqvtjmDFk931f1E8Uh3c2iEKhN0dnIOB9vkUcny8qm0LCd6L1xqBpokoRuF80USVosD-esdbByXbeyVnS3VViyvasDJBrv8o9vwMvNssepApCYIYmB266R4-qRYgb8ZXwrv_ZW86dUtDre5zUEc6JHQPEASvv_SkwfPcDh2qQEX6m1xCaZuPS6mtQg/s320/Daniel-K-Inouye-International-Airport-HART-rail-station-v3-640x427.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now </span><a href="https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2022/11/light-rail-tunnel-under-downtown-austin-might-not-happen-after-all/" style="font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Austin's rail </a><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">which </span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">started at $5.8B has surpassed $10.3B while mostly incomplete.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The pseudo high speed California HSR <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/little-engine-couldnt-californias-high-speed-rail-costs-rise-200-million-mile">has surpassed $100B</a> and is nowhere near Los Angeles or San Francisco.</li></ul></span><p></p><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furthermore, "transit agencies nationwide are taking in less farebox revenue, with agencies recovering, on average, just 12.8 cents for every dollar they spent on operations in 2021, down from 32.3 cents in 2019." [<a href="https://www.planetizen.com/news/2022/11/119569-transit-agencies-increasingly-dependent-federal-funding">Planetizen</a>]</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
This indicates a much lower utilization and much higher resource consumption and pollution per passenger mile.</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let's build and expand more of these losers, shall we?</div>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-85688389070634090062022-06-27T16:40:00.001-07:002022-06-27T16:40:22.471-07:00 Why Panos Prevedouros left Hawaii<p><a href="https://www.grassrootinstitute.org/2022/06/why-panos-prevedouros-left-hawaii/">Mahalo to Dr. Keli'i Akina for the invitation and probing questions</a>.</p><p>The state is at risk of a major natural catastrophe, he says, and its “suicidal” energy policy will just make everything worse</p><p>Hawaii’s policy mandate to go to 100% renewable energy is nothing short of suicidal.</p><p>That was the message of Panos Prevedouros, former chairman of the University of Hawaii civil engineering department, who spoke with host Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute, on the June 22 episode of “Hawaii Together.”</p><p>Described by Akina as “one of Hawaii’s leading public intellectuals,” Prevedouros moved just last year from Honolulu, his home of 31 years, to Reno, Nevada. During his half-hour conversation with Akina, he explained why. Foremost was his concern about Hawaii’s energy policy and its relation to personal safety.</p><p>Because of its geographical isolation, he said, Hawaii needs reliable energy. In the event of a natural disaster, for example, Hawaii’s hospitals “must have reliable electricity for 10, 15, 20 days, or however long it takes for the military and other external providers of health assistance to come help a highly populated island like Oahu or Maui.”</p><p>Renewable options like wind and solar farms are not highly reliable, he said, especially since they can be totally demolished by the strong hurricane winds. Thus, Hawaii should be making reliability its top priority, even if that means using coal.</p><p>In general, Prevedouros said, Hawaii is totally unprepared for a natural disaster.</p><p>“I don’t see the [power] plants [or airports] being hardened. … Our harbors are absolutely not prepared to deal with a major surge from a hurricane or a major surge from a tsunami. Our harbors will be a complete mess. There will be cranes and they’re toppled and there will be containers all over the place.”</p><p>And when the Navy arrives from San Diego to help, he warned, “there will be nowhere for them to dock. Nobody is preparing plans to have resilience in our harbor.” </p><p>He said the failure of Hawaii’s politicians to prepare better for a disaster is not peculiar to Hawaii.</p><p>“That’s a malaise that exists almost everywhere politically, because politicians, really, do not take a 1% to 2% risk very seriously, and plan to invest big money in that. However, unfortunately, bad luck … really catches up with these things, and we really need to protect the population.” </p><p>Prevedouros said aside from his fears for his family’s safety, he left his beloved Hawaii because of a litany of “wrong” policy decisions.</p><p>“One wrong decision does not really change the whole picture,” he said. “There were so many wrong decisions, a litany of which, that, actually after that, I said, ‘Enough is enough.’” </p><p>Well known as a critic of the Honolulu rail, Prevedouros said the recent proposal to stop the system a mile or so short of Ala Moana Center is “definitely a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. They should have had the guts to stop it at Middle Street, and they probably will be forced to do something like that because now we have the other gift: inflation” — which is sure to drive up its construction costs.</p><p>To watch the entire conversation, click here.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-25847688370314680272022-04-29T12:16:00.002-07:002022-04-29T12:21:34.737-07:00Archegos -Theranos - Honolulu Rail: The Price of Lying<p>What do these three multi billion dollar failures have in common?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The repeated intentional lying about the workings and costs of
each project.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Archegos</b> (AXIOS)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The March 2021 implosion of the hedge fund-like Archegos was
one for the ages, eventually costing banks like Morgan Stanley, Nomura and
Credit Suisse billions of dollars.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Archegos' responses to questions were often "deceptive,
false and misleading.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's interesting to see the banks portrayed as the victims
in the saga, especially since several of them saw red flags around Archegos
that made them nervous — but they stuck with him all the way down.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Theranos</b> (Wikipedia)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By 2015, Forbes had named Holmes the youngest and wealthiest
self-made female billionaire in America on the basis of a $9-billion valuation
of her company. The credibility of Theranos was attributed in part to Holmes's
personal connections and ability to recruit the support of influential people,
including Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Jim Mattis, and Betsy DeVos, all of
whom had served or would go on to serve as U.S. presidential cabinet officials.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The decline of Theranos began in 2015, when a series of
journalistic and regulatory investigations revealed doubts about the company's
technology claims and whether Holmes had misled investors and the government.
In 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Theranos and
Holmes with deceiving investors by "massive fraud" through false or
exaggerated claims about the accuracy of the company's blood-testing technology.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Honolulu Rail <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The project started by Mayor Mufi Hannemann as a 34 mile, $3
billion proposal in 2006 and settled into a 20 mile, $4.6 billion elevated steel-on-steel
“light rail” in 2008, to be completed in 2019. At the present time, Honolulu Rail is an
incomplete, underfunded 18-20 mile construction project with a year 2031 projected
completion at a cost of well over $11 billion.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The project is under investigation by the US Department of
Justice. There have been several allegations and instances of fraud and gross errors; two samples from 2016 and 2019:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-investigate-the-political-corruption-fraud-and-abuse-involving-the-honolulu-rail-project">Change.org
petition</a>: Investigate the political corruption, fraud, and abuse involving
the Honolulu Rail project.</li><li><a href="https://www.rtands.com/passenger/rapid-transit-light-rail/honolulu-councilwoman-audit-fraud-rail/">Suggesting
that fraud may be the cause of cost overruns</a>, City Council newcomer Heidi
Tsuneyoshi is demanding a forensic audit of contracts tied to a plan to build a
transit system for Honolulu. (A forensic audit was never approved by public
officials.)</li></ul><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Similar to the multi-year lying and defrauding at Archegos and Theranos, the fraud (i.e., the irresponsible
wasting of billions of taxpayer dollars) at Honolulu Rail continues unabated: “<i>Inside the ‘frantic’ push to
shorten rail and keep its federal funding</i> -- Project officials stress that
they’re still fully committed to getting rail to Ala Moana, but it’s still not
clear financially how that would happen. Rail leaders are presenting a “truncated
project scope” to the Federal Transit Administration in order to secure rail’s
remaining federal dollars. Project officials stress that they’re still fully
committed to getting rail to Ala Moana, but it’s still not clear financially
how that would happen.” (Honolulu Civil Beat, April 28, 2022)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-71369878796684736142022-03-05T17:17:00.006-08:002022-04-23T08:18:51.624-07:00PSA: Avoid Airport Covid Testing by US Careways dba XpresCheck<p>April 23, 2022 UPDATE: BBB was unable to get ant response to my complaint from this shady company. See note at the end.</p><p>-----------------</p><p>My public service announcement is based on personal experience and follows my complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvEXpfh0wc1GApQP7ZvJcMzJdcH5cGTpqvgVfvkT0hacIZyYQ9W4mTN2Vz34-eIT75_1ncLz1UYSXNaLpBf7_ZRxgefzFAHZlGPXuX6AVB-BoJ_yxoUxPKL52QvyyCrdA2mv3rj8F2iPmgTCDfIpBwQpkHn5N8o8umo7IC1J1liONFNXWVxQPFN8IzZQ=s1116" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvEXpfh0wc1GApQP7ZvJcMzJdcH5cGTpqvgVfvkT0hacIZyYQ9W4mTN2Vz34-eIT75_1ncLz1UYSXNaLpBf7_ZRxgefzFAHZlGPXuX6AVB-BoJ_yxoUxPKL52QvyyCrdA2mv3rj8F2iPmgTCDfIpBwQpkHn5N8o8umo7IC1J1liONFNXWVxQPFN8IzZQ=s320" width="307" /></a></div><p>My dispute with US Careways involves a rapid Covid test I did at their Denver Int'l airport XpresCheck lab on February 21. 2022 at a cost of $250.</p><p>US Careways specializes at rapid Covid tests at airports. (At an exorbitant price, but that's besides the point.) Their lab at DEN provided me with a negative covid result <b>without a time stamp</b>, making the test invalid for my expensive international flight for which it was required.</p><p>See Figure 1 for the PDF results and Figure 2 for the on screen results.</p><p>I have taken several Covid tests required for flights and all of them come with <u>the date and time the specimen was collected</u>. See my sample test from CVS which correctly shows the date and time (Figure 3). This was the first incomplete test and caused me tremendous aggravation at Dulles Airport prior to being able to get on my flight to Europe. </p><p>They must be stopped from charging $250 for a $10 test and provide incomplete (useless) results. </p><p>Adding insult to injury, Chase Visa refused my dispute of this charge. They opined that the test was conducted as promised. But the service provided to me is like a car manufacturer selling me a car without a full VIN. I can't register and legally use the car!</p><p>Figure 1</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixoXXsmzoXzGSWpz2VD_DpBA_x3lUEG11xzvivDrHRix1bIXU27VG76s6sMeWhU81dctiPz3qeskFjG4mv5mDrz0lcKXP9L_X4zWenQxaTsD8-11y5Yv16J9T1z_Izb_cbnBL76vRYrWaoQLxhPYrBZ4nSO_CEmxV8x78AGLMNJfcsWGr2gp0tc1mkYg=s807" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="807" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixoXXsmzoXzGSWpz2VD_DpBA_x3lUEG11xzvivDrHRix1bIXU27VG76s6sMeWhU81dctiPz3qeskFjG4mv5mDrz0lcKXP9L_X4zWenQxaTsD8-11y5Yv16J9T1z_Izb_cbnBL76vRYrWaoQLxhPYrBZ4nSO_CEmxV8x78AGLMNJfcsWGr2gp0tc1mkYg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>Figure 2</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOQXpW53oCyAF4_aK09kqkTPFo7ihZj8cMwc1K1oLUZ8L89XbbapiQo5vBwCrWB52NpAFpRrdpaXmTch92IMqfMjcznHnfnikWw5tby9F4mM6TfPHGDQ4J_L1hW1hnRV7hVD2cO9BeDifQExGDA6Are8ja1dz5WLBX8QyNVkF5DOiRK41UloigUGSVfw=s1282" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1282" data-original-width="1051" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOQXpW53oCyAF4_aK09kqkTPFo7ihZj8cMwc1K1oLUZ8L89XbbapiQo5vBwCrWB52NpAFpRrdpaXmTch92IMqfMjcznHnfnikWw5tby9F4mM6TfPHGDQ4J_L1hW1hnRV7hVD2cO9BeDifQExGDA6Are8ja1dz5WLBX8QyNVkF5DOiRK41UloigUGSVfw=s320" width="262" /></a></div><p>Figure 3</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTrrAQekoDcmSQVTAOlGF4GfE8yS-uBPpKDihTTzxua3MYix66hOLJxBn2JKZxWaH1XN1we92RF-JVyzMoqeHnUUNhO8-UuZmjWz6nr0vLmeOau3b4tH479GjvPu4ITmRTqN-mgtxYvP3cvi9QPmNDrnbv0YyFKliXH_GJIga6c1jjm5E_az8RynaPVQ=s2220" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2220" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTrrAQekoDcmSQVTAOlGF4GfE8yS-uBPpKDihTTzxua3MYix66hOLJxBn2JKZxWaH1XN1we92RF-JVyzMoqeHnUUNhO8-UuZmjWz6nr0vLmeOau3b4tH479GjvPu4ITmRTqN-mgtxYvP3cvi9QPmNDrnbv0YyFKliXH_GJIga6c1jjm5E_az8RynaPVQ=s320" width="156" /></a></div><br /><p>------------</p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In regards to your correspondence concerning US Careways, your position was communicated to the company. We regret to inform you that BBB was unsuccessful in obtaining a response from the company.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">When a business does not respond to a dispute, its report with BBB is updated to reflect an unanswered dispute which has an adverse affect on its BBB rating. If the company has contacted you, please let us know so that our files may be updated. If not, we regret that BBB can be of no further assistance.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">We appreciate you taking the time to contact BBB and report your experience. Please be assured that your complaint will remain in BBB’s file for this company for three years, and may be referred to if a pattern of similar practices emerges.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Madi Posey</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Your Better Business Bureau</span></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-86337852275353481502022-01-24T12:29:00.009-08:002022-01-24T12:30:56.460-08:00The Causes of Inflation<p>Consumer prices are up 7% year over year, the highest rate of increase since 1982. It's causing major headaches for the White House. <b>Until we diagnose what’s really causing the inflation, we won’t be able to treat it, said economist Stephanie Kelton.</b> (Axios, 1/24/2022)</p><p>The causes of inflation are rather obvious now. Free government money has created a substantial INCREASE in DEMAND. On the other hand, worker shortages worldwide due to free money from governments (why work... often for less $$$), and more worker shortages due to Covid illness/fears/deaths, retirements and fatigue (see nurses, teachers and cashiers) have caused a substantial DECREASE in SUPPLY. </p><p>The reduced supply of materials and workers to create products and services that people demand has pushed costs up, which is inflation.</p><p>These are the main causes for the inflation. Other parts of the cost increase include infrastructure problems (capacity at ports and warehouses), energy jitters due to political games (Russia) and due to renewable and other expensive mandates, regional weather problems that compound the difficulties above, and various national or regional controls and restrictions for Covid that reduce productivity or directly increase costs.</p><p>The worst is not over, because now there is pressure for wage increases in both public and private sector. Income increases will affect both demand and production costs, adding more fuel to the inflation fire...</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-84800684698455943082022-01-14T14:11:00.002-08:002022-01-14T14:11:15.974-08:00In Defense of Plant Based Meat<p>My Letter to the Editor</p><p>Reno Gazette Journal</p><p>January 12, 2022</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8Jzn3pZfkVICUXhJ--_7kC_ktI7UzSvXXVahOYusrTQDM9CdyiwE8ylHjfn6D_j8t9FJei-67MUY1yNnaFqoIOoZmI397Hcwd9c3uUf-_FUAY_TH4fjbq26pADRIPlwG9pu8EQx2_9hXVgHsig8qW2zXOQmjy4ACJiklisNDyOVI9nexgi1E0LoiNWg=s2187" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2187" data-original-width="1141" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8Jzn3pZfkVICUXhJ--_7kC_ktI7UzSvXXVahOYusrTQDM9CdyiwE8ylHjfn6D_j8t9FJei-67MUY1yNnaFqoIOoZmI397Hcwd9c3uUf-_FUAY_TH4fjbq26pADRIPlwG9pu8EQx2_9hXVgHsig8qW2zXOQmjy4ACJiklisNDyOVI9nexgi1E0LoiNWg=s320" width="167" /></a></div><br /><p>"No Future in Manufactured Meat" by Jim Hightower (RGJ 1/2/22) will be one of the most erroneous editorial opinions this year. The article is peppered with scientific jargon to scare the reader about substances in plant-based meat. But these substances can be found in many foods consumed routinely. Hightower states a hyperbolic past cost, but today a 4oz plant-based meat hamburger putty is about $2 at Costco. </p><p>Hightower asks, “who needs a meatless burger?” Everyone who likes meat does! The cattle industry is the number one agricultural source of greenhouse gasses worldwide, a major source of climate change that affects everyone. In June 2020, UC-Davis research estimated that livestock are responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gasses. </p><p>Based on a large US-based study by the Harvard School of Public Health, in 2012 the National Institutes of Health informed that red meat is linked to increased risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers: “one additional serving per day of unprocessed red meat over the course of the study raised the risk of total mortality by 13%”. </p><p>Last month, the White House stated that high meat prices are caused by four monopolists in the US meat-processing controlling 85% of the market: Beef prices in November were up 21% from a year ago and climbing. </p><p>Other benefits of increased substitution of red meat by plant-based meat include the reduction of animal slaughter, the reduction of water and land pollution from massive amounts of animal waste, and reduced handling, transportation and energy consumption because plant-based products are produced closer to the consumer.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-20789650944686573542021-09-16T20:33:00.001-07:002021-09-16T20:35:45.067-07:00Robert Poole: Problems on the Road to All-Electric Transportation<p>Excellent summary of opportunities, impediments and realistic timelines for surface transportation electrification by <a href="https://reason.org/transportation-news/problems-with-electric-vehicles-freight-rail-innovation-in-jeopardy-and-more/#a">Robert W. Poole Jr. of Reason Foundation</a>.</p><p>------------</p><p>Over the past few years, I’ve become convinced of the superiority of
electric vehicles. Part of this was an exhilarating ride in a friend’s
Tesla and more enthusiasm has come via keeping up with technology
advances. As electric vehicles (EVs) mature, with next-generation
battery systems having much greater range and/or much shorter recharging
times, I’ll be happy to trade in my current vehicle for the cleaner,
quicker, and less maintenance-intensive EV that is coming.</p><p>That said, there are some major problems preventing the emergence of
an all-electric personal vehicle fleet. (I’ll discuss all-electric
trucks on another occasion). As a starting point, I recommend renowned
energy analyst Daniel Yergin’s recent piece in <em>Politico Magazine</em>, “<a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/lgjhlhlppgzrljsnrdlwjrfgsnrhmzlyjgsfgfzgghwqh_xvddbjdgtdbhdsgpjgj.html">The Major Problems Blocking America’s Electric Car Future</a>.”
His article discusses supply chain transformation, modernization and
expansion of the electricity grid, and public acceptance of very
different vehicles. Another good introduction is former U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT) research and technology advisor Steven Polzin’s <a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/lmghlhlppgzrljsnrdlwjrfgsnrhmzlyjgsfgfzgghwhz_xvddbjdgtdbhdsgpjgj.html">Q&A session</a> at Arizona State University.</p><p>Here is my brief overview of the problems the industry and government
must address to get beyond idealistic projections of no more
fossil-fuel vehicles sold beyond 2030 and a completely carbon-free
electricity sector by 2035.</p><p><u>Enough electric generating capacity</u></p><p>Most attempts to quantify a complete phase-out of fossil fuel
electricity generation by 2035 take the objective to be replacing the
current 4.13 terawatt-hours generated in 2019. <em>Reason</em> science editor Ron Bailey earlier this year wrote a <a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/ersqcqcllydfcbjhftczbfvyjhfqrdckbyjvyvdyyqzqr_xvddbjdgtdbhdsgpjgj.html">good summary</a> of
the Energy Information Administration’s estimates of what this would
take. For example, it would take 290 new nuclear power plants to replace
the 62% of current electricity generated by coal and natural gas, at an
estimated cost of $3.6 trillion—and in just 15 years. Alternatively,
aiming to get 90% there via wind and solar (with some natural gas
backup) was estimated by a University of California—Berkeley Center for
Environmental Public Policy study to cost $1.7 trillion.</p><p>But that is just to replace current electricity uses. If even 60% of
all US cars were electric vehicles by 2050, the nation’s electricity
capacity would need to double by that date, according to the January
2021 electrification futures study by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory. <em>Reuters’ </em>Nichola Groom and Tina Bellon provided a good <a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/wddjhjhqqvfbhgksbwhngbtvksbjdfhygvktvtfvvjnjl_xvddbjdgtdbhdsgpjgj.html">summary </a>of
this challenge in “EV Rollout Will Require Huge Investments in Strained
U.S. Power Grids.” I will venture to say that neither replacement of
all existing electricity capacity by 2035 nor doubling its current
capacity by 2050 will happen.</p><p><u>Battery problems</u></p><p>News articles regularly appear about the limitations of current
electric vehicle batteries. They don’t provide enough range for trips
beyond urban travel. They take far longer to charge than refilling a
conventional car’s gas tank (which is why nearly all of today’s gas
stations lack the room to serve more than a handful of EV charging
customers per hour). The current lithium batteries cost way too much
(which is why EVs cost far more than a conventional car of the same
size), they can catch fire and explode, and they require a number of
rare and expensive metals, whose sources are mostly in either China or
underdeveloped countries. The good news is there’s a fortune being
invested in new kinds of vehicle batteries, but no one can predict how
soon and how much better the next generation of EV batteries will be.</p><p><u>Far more (and much faster) EV charging</u></p><p>The “more” problem is one focus of the Biden administration’s
environmental agenda, focusing mostly on subsidies for electric vehicle
charging stations. If successful, this risks putting lots of new
capacity in place before there is enough demand for it, but leave that
aside. The administration and the Senate have shown no interest in
changing federal law to allow EV charging facilities on rural Interstate
highway rest areas, unlike the House, whose Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation (FAST) Act reauthorization bill includes such a
provision. An informal business/environmental coalition is trying to
build support for including this provision in one of the pending
infrastructure bills, but the White House and DOT have remained silent
on this.</p><p>Faster EV charging is being developed by researchers and battery
companies (established and startups), but even cutting it from 45
minutes to 15 still means much longer waits for customers and far more
acreage needed due to durations several times longer than at gas pumps.
This will be a much bigger problem for long-distance car and truck trips
than for urban travel, where much EV charging can take place overnight
at home, or at workplaces.</p><p><u>Environmental opposition</u></p><p>Experts know that the kind of electrical transformation desired by
the Biden administration and (in theory) by nearly all environmental
groups will require a huge investment in new long-distance electricity
transmission lines, huge areas to locate a vast expansion of solar
panels and windmills, and a very large expansion of mining rare-earth
minerals, such as lithium and others. Yet as these efforts are starting
to get underway, we see various environmental groups, often allied with
local NIMBYs, seeking to block new transmission lines, large-scale solar
arrays even in deserts, a major expansion of wind power installations,
and domestic attempts to start mining lithium and other rare earths.
Since this is a surface transportation newsletter, let me just say that
there are numerous examples and they are taking place with increasing
frequency. The major environmental groups need to start speaking out
against this kind of opposition if we are to take their commitment to
widespread electrification seriously. And the Biden administration needs
to reform the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to reduce
endless opportunities for litigation that seeks to block just about
every kind of new infrastructure project.</p><p>
</p><p>For all these reasons, I have to be skeptical about grandiose
electrification goals for 2030, 2035, or even 2050. And if achieving
those goals will actually take a lot longer, we need to think through
what is actually possible, let alone cost-effective. A completely EV
America will require a much larger electricity sector.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-67446948986585585702021-08-23T17:38:00.004-07:002021-08-23T17:39:35.867-07:00Honolulu Rail Critic Pushes for Middle Street Endpoint<p>"<span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18px;">Longtime Honolulu rail critic Panos Prevedouros advocated that the project should hit pause, finish the line to Middle Street and the route should be reassessed. A city councilmember introduced a resolution this week with a similar stance.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;">A vocal critic of the Honolulu rail project, UH Manoa civil engineering professor Panos Prevedouros has never held back on his opinion of the decision to build the mass transit system.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;">"I'm totally exhausted about the inability of our decision-makers to do the right thing, after all the proof they have in front of them," he said. "These are crazy numbers by any standard of infrastructure project delivery."</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;"><a href="https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2021-05-11/honolulu-rail-critic-city-councilmember-push-for-middle-street-endpoint" target="_blank">I said so on May 11, 2021 in an interview with Hawaii Public Radio</a>. </p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;"><a href="https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/08/03/hawaii-news/rail-costs-unimaginable-retired-transit-official-says/" target="_blank">Then on August 3 came devastating confirmation from a respected FTA agent</a>. The retired FTA director, who evaluated every rail project for 30 years, said:</p><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><p style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px; white-space: normal;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">“The Honolulu project is way beyond anything that I’ve observed….I’m shocked. … Whenever I see the costs going up, I’m personally flabbergasted. <b>It is way beyond and unmatched by anything that I have observed</b>. Of the projects we’ve done in the last few decades, there’s nothing that even approaches that cost overrun. It’s extraordinary by any measure…. Because the shortfall’s so dramatic, there are questions about where should we stop the project… <b>this project can no longer proceed</b>."</span></span></p></div></div><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;">More details of his opinion were published on<a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/08/for-cost-overruns-honolulu-rail-is-in-a-league-of-its-own-new-data-shows/" target="_blank"> August 9</a>:</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: proxima-nova, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">"One former, longtime FTA official who helped launch Honolulu rail more than a decade ago said the dramatic cost overruns that have plagued the project ever since construction started are worse than anything he’s seen. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: proxima-nova, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“<b>I’ve never seen anything close</b>,” Ron Fisher, former director of the FTA Office of Project Planning, said of rail’s persistent and growing budget woes."</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: proxima-nova, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fisher, meanwhile, said that rail is in an unusual situation among the nation’s transit projects because it’s woefully short on cash and essentially has been pushed back into a planning phase. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: proxima-nova, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Local transportation officials should pause the project, he said, in order to study different endpoints to the line as well as their impacts to ridership, rail operations and the surrounding environment. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: proxima-nova, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: proxima-nova, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">That study of the various costs and benefits of stopping at different places should involve credible experts, and it should include legitimate public input and participation, Fisher added."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 20px auto; max-width: 700px;"><br /></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-10931516668741011172021-06-22T17:33:00.007-07:002021-06-24T13:21:32.957-07:00Is Hawaii Becoming a Perfect Contradiction?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">The state depends on tourism but cannot guarantee covid regulations
for conventions in 2022.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">An island state without ferries but more than enough "environmentalists" that killed the Superferry.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state with the best astronomy in the world, but with enough
cultural opposers that killed the 30 Meter Telescope.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A place where people have multiple jobs and things to do
that they cannot carpool two or three at a time, but will take a train 500 at
a time.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A place where politicians such as Ige and Caldwell do not
deserve one term, but were voted into top office twice.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state with a button pusher who drove us all nuts, and
still kept his state job.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">The state with the most workers per capita, but 15 months after the lockdown does not
have nearly enough workers to clear the unemployment benefits backlog.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">The Aloha State takes care of ohana, but has the most homeless
per capita.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state with modest incomes and high cost of (basic) living has
exorbitant housing costs and a high preference for private K-12 education at
$20,000 or more per year!</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state having among the highest taxation delivers among the
worst public K-12 education in the US.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state that has a waste to energy plant that makes electricity, but prefers to ship recycled paper waste 2,000 miles away.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state that has no connection to external electric grids for help, but focuses on unreliable intermittent energy for baseload power supply.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state with a rich volcanic reservoir enough to solve its energy problem, but hates geothermal energy development (New Zealand has a profit sharing scheme for use of culturally sensitive geothermal energy for the benefit of the indigenous Maori.)</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">A state that has an 85% dependency on imported food, but converts prime agricultural lands such as Koa Ridge and Aloun Farms to cookie cutter suburban subdivisions (that are primarily car dependent too.)</span></li></ol><o:p></o:p><p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-59070827141174109272021-05-25T12:29:00.005-07:002021-05-25T12:29:40.502-07:00Job Market for Civil Engineers in 2021<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.zippia.com/future-job-market/?featured=107035375727">Featured on Zippia's Future of the Job Market Report</a></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-L_UJgTAnmKtBtWhtFH3miQVHVwGoIXqd8p7kyJLytHPSObFzWTn7LniDZRH8t0E9fg5PcNss7HQL2bo-gh9HRouYcvHbZwT1RqB22b594z_QgWv2NW-I8dtfIWiuPcaSH3uAq2JzEw4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-L_UJgTAnmKtBtWhtFH3miQVHVwGoIXqd8p7kyJLytHPSObFzWTn7LniDZRH8t0E9fg5PcNss7HQL2bo-gh9HRouYcvHbZwT1RqB22b594z_QgWv2NW-I8dtfIWiuPcaSH3uAq2JzEw4/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-87003166690246385912021-04-19T11:06:00.000-07:002021-04-19T11:06:19.375-07:00Irrational Covid Vaccine Fears<p>Excerpts from an article titled<b> Irrational Covid Fears </b>by David Leonhardt, of <i>The NYT</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Guido Calabresi, a federal judge and Yale law professor, invented a little fable that he has been telling law students for more than three decades.</p><p>He tells the students to imagine a god coming forth to offer society a wondrous invention that would improve everyday life in almost every way. It would allow people to spend more time with friends and family, see new places and do jobs they otherwise could not do. But it would also come with a high cost. In exchange for bestowing this invention on society, the god would choose 1,000 young men and women and strike them dead.</p><p>Calabresi then asks: Would you take the deal? Almost invariably, the students say no. The professor then delivers the fable’s lesson: “What’s the difference between this and the automobile?”</p><p>In truth, automobiles kill many more than 1,000 young Americans each year; the total U.S. death toll hovers at about 40,000 annually. We accept this toll, almost unthinkingly, because vehicle crashes have always been part of our lives. We can’t fathom a world without them.</p><p>It’s a classic example of human irrationality about risk. We often underestimate large, chronic dangers, like car crashes or chemical pollution, and fixate on tiny but salient risks, like plane crashes or shark attacks. [Or thrombosis from a vaccine.]</p><p>The vaccines have nearly eliminated death, hospitalization and other serious Covid illness among people who have received shots. The vaccines have also radically reduced the chances that people contract even a mild version of Covid or can pass it on to others.</p><p>Yet many vaccinated people continue to obsess over the risks from Covid — because they are so new and salient.</p><p>To take just one example, major media outlets trumpeted new government data last week showing that 5,800 fully vaccinated Americans had contracted Covid. That may sound like a big number, but it indicates that a vaccinated person’s chances of getting Covid are about one in 11,000. The chances of a getting a version any worse than a common cold are even more remote.</p><p>But they are not zero. And they will not be zero anytime in the foreseeable future. Victory over Covid will not involve its elimination. Victory will instead mean turning it into the sort of danger that plane crashes or shark attacks present — too small to be worth reordering our lives.</p><p>That is what the vaccines do. If you’re vaccinated, Covid presents a minuscule risk to you, and you present a minuscule Covid risk to anyone else. A car trip is a bigger threat, to you and others. About 100 Americans are likely to die in car crashes today. The new federal data suggests that either zero or one vaccinated person will die today from Covid.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-3488729605345006172021-04-16T14:56:00.004-07:002021-04-16T14:59:57.962-07:00Finally an Article that Describes Me Well: Why Some People Are Willing to Challenge Wrongs<p><br /></p><p>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #161f2d; font-family: Publico, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 30px;">The traits of a moral rebel</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #31445d; font-family: Akkurat, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; max-width: 700px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First, moral rebels generally <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2015.1012765" style="border: 0px; box-shadow: rgb(214, 223, 232) 0px -1px 0px inset; color: #f83036; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, box-shadow 0.2s ease 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 0.2s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">feel good about themselves</a>. They tend to have high self-esteem and to feel confident about their own judgment, values and ability. They also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167209346170" style="border: 0px; box-shadow: rgb(214, 223, 232) 0px -1px 0px inset; color: #f83036; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, box-shadow 0.2s ease 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 0.2s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">believe their own views are superior</a> to those of others, and thus that they have a social responsibility to share those beliefs.</p><p><span face="Akkurat, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #31445d; font-size: 20px;">Moral rebels are also</span><span face="Akkurat, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #31445d; font-size: 20px;"> </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.10.002" style="border: 0px; box-shadow: rgb(214, 223, 232) 0px -1px 0px inset; color: #f83036; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s, box-shadow 0.2s ease 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 0.2s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">less socially inhibited than others</a><span face="Akkurat, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #31445d; font-size: 20px;">. They aren’t worried about feeling embarrassed or having an awkward interaction. Perhaps most importantly, they are far less concerned about conforming to the crowd. So, when they have to choose between fitting in and doing the right thing, they will probably choose to do what they see as right.</span>"</p><p><br /></p><p>That's right!</p><p><br /></p><p>SOURCE: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-some-people-are-willing-to-challenge-bad-behavior-despite-personal-risk" target="_blank"> Analysis: Why some people are willing to challenge behavior they see as wrong despite personal risk</a></p><p><br /></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-47596568869710098632021-04-09T12:24:00.003-07:002021-04-09T12:24:18.376-07:00Urban Transit After COVID-19<p> Excellent input by transportation experts Robert Poole and Steve Polzin.</p><p>==============</p><p><b>Urban Transit After COVID-19 </b></p><p>Here is a recent set of headlines from a couple of reputable sources,
to introduce a discussion of how urban transit will need to change when
we enter the post-pandemic period:</p><ul>
<li>“<a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/mdspjpjggywljnmdltjbnlzymdlpcwjknymzyzwqpnysp_njdqprqwnqpqrjkktrf.html">Remote Work Is Here to Stay. Manhattan May Never Be the Same</a>,” Matthew Haag, <i>The New York Times</i>, March 29, 2021</li>
<li>“<a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/yfgvwvwrrqmnwkygnfwbknpqygnvsmwzkqypqpmlvkqvm_njdqprqwnqpqrjkktrf.html">If Rush Hour Dies, Does Mass Transit Die with It?</a>” Henry Grabar, <i>Slate</i>, Feb. 11, 2021</li>
<li>“<a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/qvgdcdcqqsntcgyftvcpgtjsyftdmncbgsyjsjnwdgsdm_njdqprqwnqpqrjkktrf.html">Riders Are Abandoning Buses and Trains. That’s a Problem for Climate Change,</a>” Somini Sengupta, et al., <i>The New York Times</i>, March 25, 2021</li>
</ul><p>The reporters of these stories reflect genuine concerns, but my
impression is that many in the transportation community have not fully
thought through the implications for urban transit in the “after”
COVID-19 times.</p><p>One expert who has is Steve Polzin, a former transit official,
university professor, and most recently as a senior advisor for research
and technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation. After reading a
detailed paper that he and a colleague produced while at DOT last fall,
Reason Foundation commissioned Polzin to write a policy brief focusing
specifically on how transit will have to change, and why. The new
report, “<a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/mttpjpjggywljnmdltjbnlzymdlpcwjknymzyzwqpnypq_njdqprqwnqpqrjkktrf.html">Public Transportation Must Change after COVID-19,</a>” was published last week and you can find it <a href="http://click1.e.reason.org/fbhypypzzhqwpjtnwbpgjwchtnwydqpfjhtchcqsyjhyh_njdqprqwnqpqrjkktrf.html">here</a>.</p><p>Polzin first reminds us that in the five years prior to the
coronavirus pandemic, transit experienced a significant loss of
ridership, before appearing to stabilize at a lower level by 2019. Then
the pandemic led to former transit riders avoiding buses and rail
transit in favor of cars, bikes, walking, and working at home. Comparing
January 2020 (pre-pandemic) with January 2021, unlinked transit trips
were 65% less (though transit vehicle miles of service decreased only
23% for the same months).</p><p>Alas for those hoping for a post-pandemic return to “normal,” among
the factors leading to permanent changes are, of course, some degree of
permanent shifts to working from home, either part-time or full-time,
along with the continued popularity of network companies like Lyft and
Uber, a millennial generation that is getting older and buying houses in
the suburbs, and a general movement of people and companies from
higher-density to lower-density locations.</p><p>Polzin points out that even if many people work at home Mondays and
Fridays, but still work in the office mid-week, this will “make it
harder to justify peak capacity capital investments and complicate
service scheduling.” In terms of permanent work-at-home shifts, he notes
that if this share doubles from pre-pandemic levels of 5.7% to about
12% of people working from home, that could mean 15%-to-20% fewer
downtown workers, a major change for downtown-focused rail transit
systems.</p><p>Another section of the brief looks at declining vehicle occupancy by
transit mode: bus, light rail, heavy rail, and commuter rail. All four
are down significantly, but some much more than others. And this makes a
surprising difference in the environmental friendliness of these modes.
Here is his comparison of pre-pandemic vs. December 2020 fuel economy
of various commuter modes, drawn from the U.S. Department of Energy
Alternative Fuels Data Center plus estimated occupancies from the
National Transit Database. The metric is passenger miles per gasoline
gallons equivalent; hence the highest numbers are best.</p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Commuting Mode</td>
<td valign="top">Pre-COVID</td>
<td valign="top">Current</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Heavy rail</td>
<td valign="top">50.4</td>
<td valign="top">18.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Automobiles</td>
<td valign="top">41.7</td>
<td valign="top">41.7*</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Commuter rail</td>
<td valign="top">39.6</td>
<td valign="top">10.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Light trucks/SUVs</td>
<td valign="top">36.1</td>
<td valign="top">36.1*</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Transit bus</td>
<td valign="top">26.6</td>
<td valign="top">14.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">Demand response (Uber, Lyft)</td>
<td valign="top">9.2</td>
<td valign="top">9.2*</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><p>*assumed to be unchanged</p><p>As of December 2020, the most fuel-efficient means of commuting was
the car, followed by light trucks—but only because occupancy embedded in
the transit calculations was so drastically low. Obviously, when we get
past the pandemic those figures should rise but whether mass transit
will be able to rebuild enough ridership to be more fuel-efficient (and
hence more carbon-friendly) remains to be seen, and as you can see from
the current numbers, transit has a long way to go.</p><p>A major premise of the Biden administration’s transportation agenda
is to greatly increase federal spending on transit, compared with only
modest, constrained increases for highways (with very little scope for
adding highway capacity). This approach poses major risks of putting
billions of taxpayer dollars into projects that will have costs far
greater than their benefits (e.g., light rail systems for medium-sized
cities, megaproject expansions of heavy rail and commuter rail systems,
etc.).</p><p>
</p><p>At the very least, it is premature at this juncture to commit funding
for major new rail transit projects before we have some idea of the
extent of transit ridership in the first several years after nationwide
vaccinations.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-55200108020404710632021-03-22T14:14:00.006-07:002021-03-22T14:19:56.746-07:00Inspections Discover Cracks in Rail Line Tracks <p> Rick Daysog: <a href="https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/03/17/cracks-other-flaws-rail-systems-tracks-could-cause-further-delays/">Inspections discover cracks in rail line tracks</a>. Also mirrored at <a href="https://www.fullcourtgreta.com/2021/03/18/inspections-discover-cracks-rail-line-tracks-that-experts-say-could-cause-further-delays/">Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren</a>.</p><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #282828; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - During a recent inspection, rail officials discovered cracks in several crossover tracks along the line that could cause further delays for the embattled project.</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #282828; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">According to Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation documents, the manufacturer of the crossovers ― called frogs ― was responsible for the casting flaws.</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #282828; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">Recent inspections also found that some of the welds and surfaces on other parts of the tracks didn’t meet the specifications set under contract.</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #282828; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">“Before we have an operating system, we have cracks and failures,” said rail critic and University of Hawaii Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. Panos Prevedouros.</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #282828; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">“That is really extremely disappointing. I don’t now how else to describe it. ... We’ve been had.”</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #282828; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">Prevedouros said the rail system’s steel-on-steel technology was supposed to last for decades but can’t even last several hundred practice runs without cracking.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">“We selected rail because supposedly it was bullet proof,” he said. “You build it out of steel and you’re done.”</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">How long the project is delayed will depend on how many of the cracked frogs need to be replaced and how long it takes to manufacture and install them.</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">Hawaii News Now asked HART spokesman Joey Manahan how many of these devices are damaged and how much of a delay replacing them will cause.</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">He declined to answer, saying that the rail authority planned to respond at its board meeting Thursday.</p></div></div><div class="card collection-item" data-type="text" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="card-content card-article" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 0px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;">Prevedouros believes the initial opening of service between Kapolei and Aloha Stadium, which was scheduled for June, will now be delayed several months because HART won’t be able test their trains at normal speeds and under normal conditions.</p></div></div><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "PT Serif", Helvetica, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.47; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></div></div><p><br /></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-47818790216625628112021-03-22T14:09:00.003-07:002021-03-22T14:10:58.642-07:00HART Rail Cost Grows Past $12 Billion<p> In January 2016, I projected that the cost to complete HART's rail will be $11 Billion (stated by HART as $6.9B at that time). Once again, that was the good news.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAiZu4cduzxCUctYaCHmFmUKmMi0CffLXse6dYJcvr-SIInowSdXtvyJbVHB8Y7zFps7BqWLHoHiD7IxfKQPjTPuDpvXEr459liRLb4wsxL2AulelKrO0JSWZuKy8olicVEFKPAHECaIjA/s1038/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="1038" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAiZu4cduzxCUctYaCHmFmUKmMi0CffLXse6dYJcvr-SIInowSdXtvyJbVHB8Y7zFps7BqWLHoHiD7IxfKQPjTPuDpvXEr459liRLb4wsxL2AulelKrO0JSWZuKy8olicVEFKPAHECaIjA/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's pretty clear that the people in charge need to do something about destroying the city's and state's finances while pursuing a largely useless, outdated and very expensive to run transportation "alternative."</p><p>We have great alternatives already... TheBus, Uber, Zoom, bikeways and soon enough, robotaxis. Plus people leaving Hawaii by the thousands</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-50506418821478836642021-03-01T12:27:00.003-08:002021-03-01T12:27:19.457-08:00Why is My Car Insurance So High<p> Quoted in this article on <a href="https://www.creditdonkey.com/high-car-insurance.html?fbclid=IwAR3OE-2aXspzat9Aq7ukxNNreYc79Z_KY7ISL47UHhv7IT0AqfbwlopIsZo#interview=panos-prevedouros">Why is My Car Insurance So High</a>.</p><p><b>What steps can drivers take to get cheaper car insurance?</b></p><p>"Drivers need to do some comparative shopping for insurance rates every couple of years.</p><p>If they are considering purchasing another vehicle, they should investigate the insurance ratings and costs of their candidate vehicles and choose wisely; rates for vehicles in the same price range vary because of their varied repair costs, safety features and performance levels.</p><p>If the driver has a problematic traffic record, then he or she must consult with their DMV and insurance to go through re-education or other programs in order to lessen their risk score.</p><p>Other relevant decisions that affect insurance rates include location and distance driven. Some locations are much riskier than others (drivers who rent may have more flexibility to move to a safer area near by). Long commutes often correspond to higher annual premiums, so work or housing decisions affect vehicle operating costs including insurance."</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-47076946712317343182021-02-02T15:40:00.001-08:002021-02-02T15:40:04.807-08:00Car Insurance for High Risk Drivers.<p><a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/sr-22-insurance/7337#expert=Panos_D._Prevedouros">Quoted by WalletHub on Car Insurance for High Risk Drivers</a>.</p><p>Their slight editing made one of my comments non sensical..."such as the passing of a divided highway" should be ... such as passing on a divided highway.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Regular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Bold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>What can high-risk drivers do to lower their car insurance?</b></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Regular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">They can do several things starting with re-reviewing the rules of the road and pledging to adhere to the rules. Besides, they can attend safe driving classes and, if available, simulation lessons that help realize the risk of crashes in a controlled environment.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Regular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Bold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>What makes a driver high risk?</b></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Regular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">The typical ingredients of high-risk driving are inattention, aggression, distraction, and intoxication. These apply to drivers of both genders and all ages. Typically younger, male drivers are more susceptible to speeding and high-risk maneuvers such as the passing of a divided highway and aggressive cornering.</p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Regular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Bold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>What can drivers do to become not a high-risk driver?</b></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Regular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Drivers need to continually work on their safe driving habits such as never driving intoxicated, devoting full attention to the driving task, and leaving speeding and aggressive maneuvering for the racetrack (i.e., track days and exotic car venues.)</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-60583719608468830232021-01-08T15:48:00.001-08:002021-01-08T15:48:23.916-08:00Updated Reality for Autonomous Vehicles<p> Quote</p><p>In March 2018, Waymo confidently forecast that “up to 20,000” electric Jaguars “will be built in the first two years of production and be available for riders of Waymo’s driverless service, serving a potential 1m trips per day”.</p><p>Two months later, it added that “up to 62,000” Chrysler minivans would join its driverless fleet, “starting in late 2018”.</p><p><b>Today, there is little sign that any of these vehicles have been ordered and Waymo’s official fleet size remains just 600</b>.</p><p>End Quote</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> Financial Times, Rolling out driverless cars is ‘extraordinary grind’, says Waymo boss, January 4, 2021.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-45287218340194551632020-12-21T15:58:00.000-08:002020-12-21T15:58:04.449-08:00Experts Weigh in on Current Job Market Trends<p><a href="https://www.zippia.com/civil-engineer-jobs/trends/"> Career advice, including mine, for graduating civil engineers</a>.</p><p><br /></p><h3 class="title3" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 20px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 0px;">In your opinion, what are the biggest trends we'll see in the job market given the pandemic?</h3><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="semi-bold-font" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">Panos Prevedouros Ph.D.: </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Most jobs will be in Engineering disciplines needed for infrastructure maintenance, upgrade and replacement. Also a lot of new developments have been deferred by the pandemic, and if there is no surprise in the lending rates, development will grow and possibly skyrocket in 2022 and beyond.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Engineering disciplines related to transit will shrink. Transit has lost about 80% of its riders and is unlikely to regain many of them, for reasons such as depleted municipal budgets, desire of people to avoid dense crowds well after the pandemic ends, and robocars becoming established in 5 to 10 years.</span></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-37062075033632349442020-11-19T16:09:00.005-08:002020-11-20T15:51:54.684-08:00Rail’s Completion Takes Construction to 2033!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9FSL-sbI78KhZgDNlNnPAMhG9qF_FFEykgmpvAxsEke8nhMRmoFiwHaGq-x8Z4H7Q-VdrJP25PE4z-_7u2jlONj8ulSi6YByIRpiaDUTTkRIIDsgDGepAaedLUhmofpL3mI9cS9MrfyD/s2048/20201120_103903.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1119" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9FSL-sbI78KhZgDNlNnPAMhG9qF_FFEykgmpvAxsEke8nhMRmoFiwHaGq-x8Z4H7Q-VdrJP25PE4z-_7u2jlONj8ulSi6YByIRpiaDUTTkRIIDsgDGepAaedLUhmofpL3mI9cS9MrfyD/s320/20201120_103903.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><a href="https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/11/18/mayor-offers-up-new-timeline-rails-completion-that-takes-construction-into/">Even the rail project’s harshest critics think the mayor’s 2033 completion date estimate is overly pessimistic.</a></p><p>“He pushed it all the way to 2033. That’s 13 years. It’s like we’re restarting the project from scratch,” said University of Hawaii Civil Engineering Professor Panos Prevedouros.</p><p>Under the city’s estimates, contractors would be building the remaining four miles of the guideway and the rail stations at a rate of about 1/3 a mile each year, which is very slow by most standards.</p><p>“Inch by inch, foot by foot ― yes,” Prevedouros joked.</p><p>But he also believes that both the city’s and HART’s cost estimates are overly optimistic.</p><p><a href="https://fixoahu.blogspot.com/2018/04/uncertainty-surrounds-8b-honolulu-rail.html">“My anticipated total costs for this total project will be in the order of $13 billion,” he said.</a></p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495236174238358146.post-69619574695661594002020-10-29T17:09:00.002-07:002020-10-29T17:09:22.018-07:00Panos’ Estimates Rail Cost to Reach at Least $13 Billion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje8Zyy0Xy7ecqWzDn5YXAzMOGzfDKMyQ3uBvKL2krV21jFuYMVZEK8amNaGQfbmatlnXHBYKzt2S2yloZcA3ys5JEBtpR9LAmkP-APVXF6nJbutwmNi4OBiU8hmClZv2I2yNJp2WxUZ5oL/s800/IMG_4677-copy-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje8Zyy0Xy7ecqWzDn5YXAzMOGzfDKMyQ3uBvKL2krV21jFuYMVZEK8amNaGQfbmatlnXHBYKzt2S2yloZcA3ys5JEBtpR9LAmkP-APVXF6nJbutwmNi4OBiU8hmClZv2I2yNJp2WxUZ5oL/s320/IMG_4677-copy-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><a href="https://www.grassrootinstitute.org/2020/10/panos-estimates-rail-cost-to-reach-at-least-13-billion/" target="_blank">In fact $13 billion is a rock bottom estimate of total costs</a> from project inception in 2006 to project completion and full commissioning into revenue service in 2026 (or later.)</p><p>If HART rail were to start operations today, it would get about 20% of the expected opening day forecast ridership.</p><p>Unlike a large metropolis with huge demand for commuting trips (where rail makes sense), HART rail will be a costly and environmental disaster for decades.</p><p>The only "solution" is to cut it short. Complete 16 miles to the Middle Street intermodal center and stop the bleeding there.</p><p><a href="https://thinktechhawaii.com/update-on-rail-with-akina-prevedouros-hawaii-together/">Many thanks to Dr. Keli'i Akina and the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for the ThinkTech interview</a>.</p>Panos Prevedouroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04252016102314067888noreply@blogger.com0