Mass transit is a concept that holds significant promise in the U.S. as it is currently very under-utilized. Train travel has become more popular now that the price of gas has rocketed upwards, but rails only go in certain directions and there isn't always a solid route to your chosen destination. The highway system in this country, on the other hand, is huge and connects every major city in the country with each other (well, except Honolulu). So, what if you could combine the passenger-carrying abilities of the train with the abundant routes of the bus? That's exactly what a British company called Silvertip Design has envisioned with its Blade Runner concept. The machine carries two sets of wheels, one appropriate for highway driving and the other set up for rails. By using railways when possible, traffic wouldn't be a problem, and when the route needs to take a different direction, highways can be used to get to the proper set of tracks. Like modern trains, a diesel engine would power a generator, providing electric power to the wheels.


[Source: Indian Autos Blog]

I've had the pleasure to visit the beautiful island of Tenerife a few times, which is the largest of the Canary Islands. Being a very mountainous island, it's a difficult place to build a railway system, but they're catching up with a new tramway line which serves the island's capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the nearby town of La Laguna. The company that is building it just got the permission to install a very large array of photovoltaic panels to produce electricity directly from sunlight, so that most of the energy needs of this tramway will come from the sun. The 600 kW system is expected to have a lifespan of 20 years.

[Source: Energelia]

Since Toyota, like other automakers doing business in the U.S., is currently unable to supply enough hybrids and other small fuel efficient cars to meet consumer demand, they are offering up other suggestions on how to conserve gas. Over on the Open Road blog, they have talked about hypermiling before but there is a solution that saves even more fuel and emissions. In a shocker for a car company, they actually suggest driving less.

As we've discussed before, there are plenty of ways to do just that. First of all, plan ahead. Instead of making separate trips to the store, to school to pick up the kids, and then to the soccer field, time things to make a single trip and plan the sequence to give you the shortest route. Go get a basket for your bike and use that for short trips to the store or a friend's house. If you have mass transit available, take the bus or train. Perhaps most important, just say no to drive throughs. Park the car and walk the 30 feet to get your burger or coffee.

[Source: Toyota]

In all the time I've been writing for AutoblogGreen I've driven a great many different cars and trucks. Whether it's for ABG, Autoblog or my day job at Green Fuels Forecast, I drive most of these different vehicles to review them on one or more of the sites. From time to time, schedules work out in such a way that I may not have a car available with which to get home from the office. Most of the time I hitch a ride with one of my co-workers. On a couple of occasions my wife or daughter has come to pick me up and drive me home. The one thing that I haven't done - even though I have recommended it to people on this site - is ride the bus.

Last November, the Ann Arbor Transit Authority acquired its first twelve hybrid buses as part of a plan to replace the entire fleet with hybrids over the next three years. The buses are equipped with GM's Two-mode hybrid system and the engines are running on B20 biodiesel. The bus stop is about a block away from my downtown Ann Arbor office and drops me off about 4 blocks from my house. Thanks to my EVDO card I was able to finish two blog posts and answer some email on the thirty minute ride home (that's about twice as long as it takes to drive). The hybrid buses run a lot quieter than the conventional diesel-only buses since the hybrid system can provide power for acceleration reducing the need to rev the engine as much. If I didn't 't have review cars to drive most of the time, I would definitely take this as an option instead of driving my own car to the office. For those times when I have a gap in the schedule like today, I'll definitely be riding the bus.

The 2004 decision by the city of Elk Grove to purchase refurbished buses with gasoline/electric hybrid drivetrains from ISE and Complete Coach Works sure hasn't panned out as well as had been hoped. With the noble intention of being the first U.S. city with an all-hybrid bus fleet, Elk Grove officials purchased 21 of the buses for around $10 million. According to a spokesperson for the city's contract maintenance company, MV Transportation of Fairfield, "Those buses immediately began having problems." After experiencing leaking in the rain, loss of air conditioning, and some buses that completely stopped working, the fire that happened in September of 2007 was the last straw. It was then that the buses (pictured above) were pulled from service and parked behind a grassy knoll.

Although hotly contested by the manufacturers, the city claims there were actually four fires and 25-30 "thermal incidents." Vice President Justin Spragg of ISE Corp contends that there were only three fires and that they were not all related to the ultra-capacitor used in the hybrid design. According to the article in the Sacramento Bee, he also stated that there were far fewer than the 25 "thermal incidents" claimed by the city. President Macy Neshati of Complete Coach Works is quoted as saying, "I think we're aware of a couple of instances that would be properly described as a thermal incident but 'fire' is like flames and evacuation and buses burning to the ground. We certainly haven't had that." The manufacturers place the blame at the feet of the maintenance company while the city appears to have plans to try to recoup their initial $10 million investment from all parties through legal action. For all the details on this refurbished hybrid bus hullabaloo click "read".

[Source: Sacbee]

London was one of the first cities to use fuel-cell buses provided by Daimler, as consequence of the CUTE (Clean Urban Transport for Europe) pilot program a few years ago. Ken Livingstone, London's mayor, has decided that the program was satisfactory enough and has ordered the purchase of new vehicles, with a target of five percent of city vehicles running on Hydrogen by 2015.

Despite other projects in Europe using local manufacturers, London is buying ten American buses, made by ISE Corp, although five will have a fuel-cell system provided by Ballard (which already provides them for British Columbia) and five will have modified ICE engines that run on hydrogen. Both models will also have additional hybrid features, with batteries that will store braking energy.

The project is expected to cost about 10 million UK pounds (about $20 million), which includes a full 5-year warranty for the buses.

[Source: Moteurnature]

It seems that the latest trend in train technology is hybrid powertrains. For a long time, diesel trains have used electric motors for smoother power but as battery improvements arrive, the powertrains are becoming more sophisticated and handle features such as regenerative braking.

Let's start with France. Last October, SCNF started a medium distance route between Paris and Troyes using the Canadian Bombardier AGC which can be powered by dual mode (either diesel or electric) or dual voltage (because some train lines have different voltage levels). Users don't perceive any change when switching from one energy source to another - although no batteries are installed.

Then there's Japan's Kiha E200 (pictured above) which uses both an 95 kW electric motor and a 300 kW diesel engine and lithium-ion batteries located within the ceiling of wagons, which is run by JR East. But there's more: JR East has also a concept model, called NE, that uses a hydrogen-powered fuel-cell which reaches 60 mph and is able to run 30 to 60 miles without refuelling, thanks to regenerative braking. The NE has also batteries within the ceiling and has an auxiliary diesel engine that helps the train climbing up slopes or when the batteries are too low. Three units from the latter are being tested in the UK and Australia as well.

Arriving from Canada, there's the 2004 Green Goat, an improved diesel locomotive with diesel electric and diesel hydraulic which is claimed to be cheaper to run and maintain and produces less pollutants.

But don't think that hybrid trains are new. Back in 1986, Czech's CZD company built a hybrid locomotive that used both a diesel engine and electric motors backed up with batteries which were recharged with regenerative braking or from the tender. Unfortunately, the project was discontinued because of the company's financial problems.

[Source: Consumer and Japan for Sustainability]

The last city to ressurect tramways has been Buenos Aires, Argentina (with an Alstom Citadis model in the picture). Tramways (streetcars in North America) have made a huge comeback in recent years. During the '50s, trams was replaced by diesel buses, which offered greater flexibility at that moment and were considered far superior. However, buses have a huge drawback called tailpipe emissions and metropolitan areas, which are always more congested, were in the search of better solutions.

So the new tramways arrived. Silent, more flexible, more ecological (including regenerative braking that sends back energy to the power grid), sleek, faster (usually with segregated throughways) with low floors suitable for handicapped people... Cities have then put the tracks back on the streets or renewed the remaining tram lines with a general sense of success.

Of course, criticism has been heard as well. Motorists had trouble to adapt to the new trams, with reported accidents during the first days of operation. Trams are also perceived as a "poor-mans" subway (metro) because of the lower capacity and speed than subways, and the visual impact. And there's always the question of the origin of that clean electricity.

[Source: El Pais, Wikipedia]

Saving money often has the side effect of being what many would consider green. Not the money being green thing, either... as Personal Finance Advice points out here, ditching your car can save emissions and put extra cash in your pocket. Here are the top ten reasons to ditch your car, according to M Butler via Treehugger via Hugg.

• No car payment
• No car insurance:
• No pain when gas prices increase
• No car repair bills
• Better health
• Environmentally friendly
• No gym membership
• Better organization
• Better organization
• A much healthier bank account

See, it's mostly about saving money for this person, which is why the list was first found on the Personal Finance Advice page. But, as it could be construed as a green choice, it made its way onto Hugg and then Treehugger. Capice?

[Source: Personal Finance Advice via Hugg via Treehugger]

Remember the hoverboards from Back to the Future? Alright, this is just like that, except totally different. You see, both the hoverboards and these magnetic levitation (maglev) trains use magnetism to lift a few inches off the ground, or track, removing that nasty stumbling block of efficiency: friction. The results of this levitation are reduced power consumption from the drivetrain and faster speeds. Japan already has an efficient public transportation system with many high speed trains in operation, so it is certainly not shocking that they would be the first to bring maglev trains to the masses. According to this article, China currently has a small track using a maglev, but Japan will most likely be the first to use them in large numbers, traveling large distances.

[Source: Yahoo News]

USA Today has an article about the return of the street car to several American cities. Streetcars were common from the late nineteenth to the midtwentieth century. As we all know most of the tracks got ripped out and the cars were replaced with buses. As cities have tried to revamp their urban cores, some are using streetcars as a means of attracting developers, businesses and residents back. Electric streetcars have many advantages, they're cleaner than diesel buses, and rails are cheaper than subway tunnels.

[Source: USA Today via TreeHugger]

Got a resolution to drive less in 2007? If you live in or near Atlanta, that resolution might be easy to keep.

I just watched this video on the Associated Press media site. The video shows how you can save some money if you happen to live in Atlanta and are open to the idea of mass-transit or commuting. There is a service sponsored by a local conservation group that allows up to 90 days of receiving a payment of $3.00 a day for every day that you don't drive your car to work. If you happen to live close to the office, that may not be a bad idea. Likewise, if you live a good distance from the office, you could certainly save quite a bit on gas if you were to use mass-transit options instead.

The video says that the average commuter in Atlanta pays $6,000 a year to drive to and from work. The conservation group is Atlanta's Clean Air Campaign. Ellen Macht, the executive director of the group says that although 90 days is the maximum you can collect the payment, many choose to stick with it, as they find that they get used to it, and it becomes a pleasurable experience.

Related:

• Vanpooling in Atlanta and Houston with VPSI
• Pick up an Online Hitchhiker with Ridester

[Source: Associated Press]

If you are in the Boston, MA area this weekend you might want to swing by the Boston City Hall Plaza on Saturday or the Larz Anderson Auto Museum on Sunday. Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen as well as Azure Dynamics, and other manufacturers and suppliers are all bringing their latest high mileage and alternative fuel models to show off to prospective buyers. The state of Massachusetts has been one of the leaders of the group of North-Eastern states that have adopted California style emissions regulations so they are heavily promoting these types of vehicles along with mass transit. There will be over 100 exhibits of vehicles, technology and transportation alternatives. The Festival actually started last weekend with a symposium held at the Boston Museum of Science. Among the displays this weekend will be

• compressed natural gas (CNG) Honda Civic GX
• an Austin Mini, which Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems LLC, based in Florence, MA, converted from diesel to run on vegetable oil
• an all-electric Toyota RAV4
• a gasoline/electric Toyota Prius hybrid
• an electric/hydrogen-fuel-cell hybrid, Vectrix maxi-scooter (in the Museum lobby)
• Live presentations by Museum educators on emerging alternative-energy technologies will be featured in the Current Science & Technology Center on an ongoing basis.

Also on display will be the Electric 1964 VW bus created by the VW Electronics Research Lab and Hybrid Technologies which will be making its North American public debut and the return of the 2008 Jetta TDI. Ford also has a hydrogen fuel cell powered Focus. Admission to the festival is free on Saturday at the Boston City Hall Plaza. When it moves to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline on Sunday admission will be $7 per person. This definitely sounds like a show to check out if you're interested in these kinds of vehicles, which you probably are if you're reading this site. The full press release from the festival organizers is after the jump.

[Source: AltWheels.Org]