Transport & Infrastructure News and Discussions

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An airplane is more hard to "move" than a car right?

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Japan Continues to Improve Its High Speed Rail
July 8, 2023 by Brian Wang

Japan has had regular high speed rail for commuting betweens its cities for decades. N700A trains can reach 285 km/h (177 mph) on 3,000 m (9,843 ft) curves, allowing the maximum operating speed to be raised to 285 km/h (177 mph). All N700 series were upgraded to N700A but there have been new N700S being added for the last three years.

The N700S can reach speeds of 226 mph. The N700S has better braking systems enable shorter braking distances in emergencies such as earthquakes. The traction system uses silicon carbide components, and uses 7% less power than the N700A series.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/07/j ... -rail.html

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1,250-hp quad-turbo modular engine will be world's most powerful V12
By C.C. Weiss
July 25, 2023

https://newatlas.com/automotive/zenvo-m ... turbo-v12/

Zenvo Automotive is already known for building some of the world's most exotic, powerful hypercars, and it's about to step its game up to the next level. The Danish performance carmaker is teaming with powertrain specialist Mahle to create the world's most powerful road-going V12 engine, with sights on topping the current king by over 200 hp. As if that isn't enough muscle for any four wheels, the new 12-cylinder mill will feature in the center of a hybrid drive with over 1,800 hp of combined power, making for one of the world's most powerful cars, period.

Zenvo is preparing to officially leave the STs (and TSs) behind, launching a new halo with an actual name: Aurora. Ahead of a planned August world premiere, it has released some details about the four-figure powertrain on which it's working in partnership with Mahle. The heart of that hybrid drive will be a bespoke 6.6-liter flex-fuel V12 engine, which will rev its way to 9,800 rpm, hitting a 1,250-hp peak at 8,000 hp on the way to redline.

While the main focus of the new quad-turbocharged V12 is power and more power, Zenvo's work with Mahle will help it meet new Euro 7 emissions regulations. The engine will make use of Mahle's Jet Ignition technology to improve the combustion process and boost fuel economy. The new engine will also benefit from lightweight aluminum and carbon fiber construction and the ability to run on cleaner synthetic fuels in meeting both European and US emissions regulations.

[wjfox]

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Revolutionary Jet Zero Airplane That Will Halve Fuel Use Gets $235 Million in Air Force Funding
August 20, 2023 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/08/r ... nding.html

Jet Zero is developing a revolutionary blended wing air plane for commercial and military purposes. They have been awarded $235 million in US Air Force funding. It will halve fuel use and will make flying more spaceous and comfortable.

The US DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) funded a four year project to lead to the first flight of the full-scale demonstrator by the first quarter of 2027. The DIU was founded in 2015 to help the US military make faster use of emerging commercial technologies.

Jet Zero is working with Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites. They selected Pratt Whitney for the engines.

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Tech Billionaires Identified as Buyers of $800 Million in Solano County Farmland
August 25, 2023

Introduction:

(The Real Deal) Flannery Associates, the mystery company behind $800 million in farmland purchases around Travis Air Force Base, is backed by a who’s who of billionaires from Silicon Valley.

The Folsom-based company with plans to construct a utopian city with “tens of thousands of new homes” in Solano County is spearheaded by Jan Sramek, 36, a former Goldman Sachs trader who has quietly courted some of the tech industry’s biggest names, the New York Times reported, citing unidentified sources.

The company’s pitch: Take a patch of brown hills split by a two-lane road between farms and suburbs, then turn it into a city with tens of thousands of residents, clean energy, public transportation and dense urban life.

The pitch, whose five-year, stealth campaign was unveiled during a recent poll of residents 60 miles northeast of San Francisco, was swallowed by some of Silicon Valley’s richest residents.

Each had become enraptured enough with the idea of building a new city atop former cow pastures to fork out millions to buy up 140 properties spanning “tens of thousands of acres,” according to Catherine Moy, mayor of nearby Fairfield.

Read more here: https://therealdeal.com/sanfrancisco/2 ... armland/

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Biden, Modi and G20 allies unveil rail and shipping project linking India to Middle East and Europe
Source: AP

By AAMER MADHANI and JOSH BOAK
Updated 10:49 AM CDT, September 9, 2023

NEW DELHI (AP) — President Joe Biden and his allies on Saturday announced plans to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe, an ambitious project aimed at fostering economic growth and political cooperation.

“This is a big deal,” said Biden. “This is a really big deal.”

The corridor, outlined at the annual Group of 20 summit of the world’s top economies, would help boost trade, deliver energy resources and improve digital connectivity. It would include India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union, said Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.

Sullivan said the network reflected Biden’s vision for “far reaching investments” that come from “effective American leadership” and a willingness to embrace other nations as partners. He said the enhanced infrastructure would boost economic growth, help bring countries in the Middle East together and establish that region as a hub for economic activity instead of as a “source of challenge, conflict or crisis” as it has been in recent history.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/biden-modi-i ... 893d548333

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Biden administration announces $1.4 billion to improve rail safety and boost capacity in 35 states


Source: AP

Updated 5:04 AM EDT, September 25, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Monday that it has awarded more than $1.4 billion to projects that improve railway safety and boost capacity, with much of the money coming from the 2021 infrastructure law.

“These projects will make American rail safer, more reliable, and more resilient, delivering tangible benefits to dozens of communities where railroads are located, and strengthening supply chains for the entire country,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

The money is funding 70 projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C. Railroad safety has become a key concern nationwide ever since a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed and caught fire in East Palestine, Ohio, in February. President Joe Biden has ordered federal agencies to hold the train’s operator Norfolk Southern accountable for the crash, but a package of proposed rail safety reforms has stalled in the Senate where the bill is still awaiting a vote. The White House is also saying that a possible government shutdown because of House Republicans would undermine railway safety.

The projects include track upgrades and bridge repairs, in addition to improving the connectivity among railways and making routes less vulnerable to extreme weather. Among the projects is $178.4 million to restore passenger service in parts of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi along the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/biden-rail-s ... 332a1ba146

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The introduction to this article was posted in the Extreme weather news and discussion thread. This extract applies more directly to infrastructure. The total of both citations is four paragraphs.

New York City Is Underwater. There’s More Trouble in the Pipes.
by Henry Carnell
September 29, 2023

Extract:

Rainfall and floods are only expected to worsen due to climate change, and …(New York) city’s wastewater and drainage infrastructure isn’t equipped for the pressure. A FEMA report from this summer concluded that most cities’ drainage systems “were not built to handle the amount of runoff from increasingly intense storms.”

Those infrastructure problems are set to worsen, compounding the impact. Erika Smull, a municipal bonds analyst at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, is a water utilities expert and former environmental engineer. She explained to me earlier this year that US water infrastructure “is reaching or has reached the end of its usable life. It’s been there for longer than it should be. We are entering into a new era.”

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... adams/

Here is a link to the article covering the discussion with Erika Smull that was published earlier this month: https://www.motherjones.com/environmen ... l-crisis/

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Google's Green Light project retimes traffic lights for 30% fewer stops
By Loz Blain
October 11, 2023
https://newatlas.com/transport/google-g ... t-traffic/

Through its Maps app, Google has access to a monster trove of daily traffic data – and it's using it to provide cities with free, AI-optimized traffic signal timing suggestions that could reduce stop/starts by 30% and intersection emissions by 10%.

Project Green Light has partnered thus far with 12 cities worldwide, to provide timing recommendations on 70 different intersections. It gives these recommendations free of charge, for now, via a little web interface, and the company says that rolling the changes out can be a five-minute job that uses the city's existing management systems.

Data is one key here; city traffic engineers simply don't have access to the breadth and quality of information that Google gets simply by virtue of having so many Android devices and in-car navigation systems online and constantly reporting location data.

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[wjfox]

One of Europe's most polluted cities wants to ban cars from its centre

Published on 23/10/2023 - 14:42

Levels of pollutants in Milan's air are almost four times the safe amount.

Milan, one of Italy’s busiest cities, has proposed banning cars from its centre.

Mayor Giuseppe Sala wants to reduce pollution in the traffic-heavy metropolis of 1.4 million people and said similar measures would follow.

If it gets the green light, the measure will come into force in 2024.

Authorities will use surveillance cameras to enforce the ban.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/10/ ... its-centre

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[weatheriscool]

Louisiana and Amtrak agree to revive train service between New Orleans, Baton Rouge

Source: ABC News/AP

October 28, 2023, 10:12 AM

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana is a step closer to connecting its capital city to New Orleans via a revived train line. Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed a service development agreement that will advance the return of intercity passenger rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, about an hour-long commute.

The agreement, signed Thursday, is a breakthrough for a project that has been in the works since 2008. “All eight years I’ve been governor, I’ve been working to reestablish rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans,” Edwards told WBRZ-TV. According to the agreement, passenger service could start as early as 2027.

The plan is to start with one round trip a day. More rides will be added as riders increase. Along the route, passengers can expect stops in Gonzales, Laplace, and Jefferson Parish. “An Amtrak line connecting Louisiana’s capital to the largest metropolitan area in the state will have immense economic benefits for both cities and the parishes in between,” Edwards said in a news release.

“Not only will this service potentially reduce the number of vehicles on the roadways which will result in less congestion, but it will also connect communities through employment opportunities and allow for more transportation options for festivals, sporting events, and concerts.” A $20 million settlement from the Road Home Program is helping fund the project, reviving the passenger train service that stopped running in 1969.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireSto ... -104448057

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