TRIANGULATED VISION

A very potent combination of forces has emerged in the growth center of North Carolina where managers of a public-interest commercial district pride themselves in state-of-the-art development and land management.

Research Triangle Park (RTP) is in the center of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel metroplex not far from the area’s major airport (RDU). This triangular region grew impressively in the second half of the 20^th century and gained a reputation as an island of progress and enlightenment in a sea of rural poverty and backwardness.

= courtesy of the Durham Visitor & Convention Bureau

Raleigh is the state capital and home to North Carolina State University, so it historically has been an important center. However, in terms of urban agglomeration, Raleigh was not that large. In 1950 the whole region’s population was under 400,000. RTP was established in the 1950s to  inspire big ideas. It called out to dreamers, believers, planners and creators. In fact, it has given its name to the area, now widely known as the Research Triangle. By 1970 the population was 541,000. In 1990 it had swollen to 863,000.

Growth continued as it hit a million around the beginning of the 21^st century. Recently hit Two Million! Few fear that growth prospects will turn sour. Except for national reactions to North Carolina’s objections to mandates for gender-free bathrooms, the outlook for continued growth is widespread. Of course, development brings traffic.

Congestion is a growing challenge to the Triangle’s future. There is no substantial transit infrastructure. Big decisions need to be made soon as highways and arterials become overloaded.

 A Breath of Fresh Mobility Thinking

There are those at RTP and NCSU and in the halls of power of Raleigh willing to take a new look at these needs. This is largely the result of  the thoughtful designs and arguments espoused by NCSU-based EcoPRT -- a local start-up getting lots of attention. RTP wants to become a center of modern transit automation, a place where PRT is not a scary word. 

RTP has an opportunity to consider
transit through buildings (above)
as opposed to on-street tradition.

This is coming into being as RTP offers room for a large on-site NCSU facility that will include and maybe showcase an EcoPRT presence. Will they get interest and support from other progressive voices for modern urban mobility from across the whole country and around the world?

Today RTP is home to many large companies and about 25,000 employees. Its slogan is inspiring bold ideas. It encourages and supports dreamers, believers, planners and creators. It is run by a “Foundation” with an endowment -- income-producing properties that provide a significant level of independence. A 2011 master plan includes a LRT line connecting to three stations of a proposed but stalled regional rail line.

This seems to be a major alignment of forces for a mobility breakthrough in 2017. Look out Silicon Valley!

FERNANDO DE ARAGON

The future of Ithaca, NY is guided by the knowledge and disciplined thinking of Fernando de Aragon, and he understands the engaging potential of podcars. He will bring his perspectives and insights to PCC9 (Nov 4-6, Silicon Valley). The 2nd Podcar City conference was held in Ithaca in 2008 before a podcar feasibility study was undertaken there.

Intelligence center for the Ithaca-Tompkins Co. Transportation Council

Fernando is MPO director for this small oasis of urban life. Ithaca is located at the southern end of a NYS Finger Lake and home to Cornell University, Ithaca College and other lively institutions. It is known as a cool, happening place with both traditional and counter cultures. MPO stands for Metropolitan Planning Organization, public agencies that coordinate transportation investments, hopefully in synch with community land use objectives.

With roots in Puerto Rico and early years in southern Florida, de Aragon has worked in Ithaca seventeen years. Topography and special demographics make it challenging to meet current needs and future goals. He studied city and regional planning at Rutgers University in New Jersey and has a PhD in energy management and policy from the University of Pennsylvania. He recently published a novel about the Spanish conquests in the Caribbean.

Come meet him and understand what MPOs are all about at PCC9.

MARCUS SHARPE

To Marcus Sharpe, PRT is common sense. The appeal is obvious and the benefits will be substantial. He wrestles with the status quo of metro planning which a recent FTA report has labeled dysfunctional.

Sharpe lives up to his name.

Marcus is a native Georgian studied telecommunications as a journalism major and now works for MARTA.  Helping plot out a strategic growth plan for a progressive transit agency, his certification for business analysis of complex projects comes in handy as does work with Africa 10. He routinely balances the demands of people long for more and better transit services and like living in multi-story TOD districts, as well as those who savor the convenience of cars and see a house and yard with trees as the basis of the American Dream.

Clayton County Options

Much of Sharpe’s sharp thinking these days goes to Clayton County, the other side of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. C-Trans’s meager bus service stopped several years ago, but last fall voters approved a 1 cent sales tax hike to get it back and rail service too. MARTA could extend its metro past the airport, but at a cost unattainable from sales tax revenues.  Marcus sees extending the landside airport APM as a lighter, more viable option. Many locals get excited by commuter rail possibilities.

Pods have a scale that Skytran conveys to Marcus.

Skytran images inspire Marcus to go beyond the images of the past.  He has had positive talks with Clayton officials, although one quickly cautioned that  PRT/podcars do not qualify for FTA funds.  In 2015, under Obama and Secretary Foxx, is that valid?

BOB CAPORALE

Born and raised in the shadows of the countless skyscrapers of New York City, Bob Caporale moved to Mobile, Alabama to join the publishing and research house known as Elevator World in 1993. The founder and editor Bill Sturgeon already thought vertical and horizontal transport people should talk to each other more. In 1995 Bob as editor continued the dialog, encouraging it in many ways through articles and workshops.

With Assistant Brad O'Gwynn, Caporale
snaps a pic with journalistic flare.

Caporale approached and still approaches a wide range of related architectural, planning, regulatory and contractual issues with an open, flexible mind that sometimes conflicts with the hard worlds of mechanical engineering and public safety. This takes a good listening ear and a careful use of words.

Although still a Yankee who knows the challenges of winter, Bob has become addicted to Caribbean breezes and to West Indies Salad --  a crab dish special to the Mobile Bay. He retired from EW in 2013, and has stayed along America’s South Coast. He still finds time to contribute to www.highrisefacilities.com and his interest in smart horizontal movement innovation remain sharp. 

BILL JAMES: MOBILITY LIBERATION

Bill James of Jpods is a man on a mission of liberation. He sees himself upholding the United States Constitution by undoing a Federal "monopoly" on transportation. Bill despairs over the oil-guzzling stupidity of our road-focused infrastructure, He knows well the agony of bloodshed especially when it’s over something as mundane as gas and oil. “Our dependency on oil is a lot like the antebellum South’s dependence on slaves.” He calculates that a barrel of oil is the equivalent of twelve slaves for a year. We need to stop this.

Bill James;s happy solar vision,

James’s thinking focuses on US constitutional issues that have produced intolerable congestion and carnage on our Interstate highways of the oil-giddy 1950s thanks to General Dwight D. Eisenhower as president in the 1960s. He argues that Government needs to get out of monopolistic assumptions that cars and streets are the beginning and end of American life. Young people today are not as infatuated with cars. Smartcars are emerging as major generational shifts take place. Jpods  aims at them as it integrates solar power collection into PRT designs. “PRT technology is not the issue. Morgantown’s decades of safe and reliable service is today’s baseline.”

Jpods has obtained formal consent from the New Jersey town of Secaucus to install and operate within their jurisdiction. James works with Atlantic Energy, a Sacramento-based manufacturer of solar roofing tiles. With a network of West Point classmates and friends, he is opening new mobility dialogs with Boston – the City and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And he may yet be the first to break podcar dirt in Silicon Valley.

FLANIGAN'S EMISSIONS TIME BOMB

Ted Flanigan not only worries about carbon emissions, he has figured out ways to make a living convincing and helping others to green up their buildings and campuses. Image and communications are key. One of his tools for that is a 32-foot diameter sphere. That's the size of a ton of carbon dioxide -- one of the billions of tons that gets belched into our atmosphere every day. This is the major cause of Global Warming. Seeing Ted's Emissions Time Bomb brings that message to people right where it counts - their minds and hearts.

Although Ted, like his brother Bill, grew up in New York, his company EcoMotion is based in Irvine CA. They motivate people and institutions to green up their operations. They do walk-through assessments, feasibility and cost/benefit studies, and program management. His brother Bill has long been active in ATRA, and he understands the potential of podcars. Bill occasionally leaves his Colorado home to work with Ted and has been trained to inflate, safeguard and then deflate the Save-A-Ton balloon. So Ted understands podcars too.

Ted is active in professional and academic circles and often gives talks on renewable energy, bringing to the podium years of experience accumulated while working at the New York Power Authority in the 1980s and 1990s, and then as Director of Energy Efficiency for the City of Los Angeles. Learn more about his green aspirations and services at www.ecomotion.us.

PHILBRICK leads San Jose's MTI

Karen Philbrick has been appointed the executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute as Rod Diridon retires. She is well qualified for this challenging role after working five years as MTI's research director leading three subcenters and directing more than 200 principal investigators for both agencies,. She oversaw the competitive selection of 122 research projects, and the production of more than 150 peer-reviewed research reports. 

MTI is on the campus of San Jose State University.

MTI enjoys a well-documented reputation for providing practical, relevant surface mobility research for legislators, public agencies, and others who can benefit from peer-reviewed data. The Institute will continue on this path into the future while also retaining its dedication to astute financial management, transportation workforce development, and public information resources. Benefiting the nation’s mobility, economy, environment, safety, and security will always remain a priority.

Dr. Philbrick oversaw research that assessed the ATN industry -- the accomplishments, failures, lessons to date and prospects for commercial growth. The USDOT-funded report is to be released this fall.

Prior to joining the MTI team, Dr. Philbrick was assistant director of the National Center for Intermodal Transportation at the University of Denver working on operator fatigue issues. She has extensive contacts in the Asian Pacific region. Recently she was reappointed to the USDOT’s Transit Rail Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS). She is active with the national Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).

Dr. Philbrick did undergraduate studies at CalState-Fresno, earned two masters degrees at Columbia, and a PhD from the University of Denver.