Waze Is Missing a Huge Opportunity to Actually Help People Improve Their Commutes

There was a frightening message waiting for many Angelenos last Friday as they fired up Waze for their evening commute. Two freeways were closed—one covered in a mudslide—and for many, the app warned of drive times that were doubled or more. The entire city of LA simultaneously canceled its dinner plans.

A group of my friends were trying to meet in the San Fernando Valley at this very moment, so I fired up the Google Transit app for a little thought experiment. Commuting from downtown LA to the Valley in a timely manner was pretty much impossible until they reopened the 101 Freeway—Waze said it would be an hour on an alternate route. But the Red Line subway traveled directly underneath the closure, delivering someone to the Valley in just 18 minutes. For someone who uses it regularly, considering transit is given, but despite having the second-largest system in the country and a very visible branding campaign, Angelenos sometimes need a reminder that transit is even an option: One friend who checked Waze had already resigned herself to the drive until I showed her my math, and she went underground instead.

This is kind of an extreme case. But it shows you how much Angelenos—at least 1.3 million of them, according to Waze—not only rely on this app but trust it to tell them exactly what to do. A redesign out today makes Waze even more powerful. But it also points to a simple way that Waze could actually help improve transportation for cities.

Waze should be telling people when they can save time or avoid a particularly awful commute by getting out of the car.

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Private Sector Teams Identified for I-66 Outside the Beltway

RICHMOND – A list of private-sector teams have been advanced to further stages of review in the Request of Qualifications (RFQ) process regarding the delivery of  I-66 Outside the Beltway project in Northern Virginia.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) issued the RFQ last month for interested private sector teams to share their resources, qualifications and experience to deliver the $2.1 billion project under the Public Private Transportation Act (PPTA).

Interested teams have submitted qualifications statements that have been reviewed by VDOT in coordination with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Virginia Office of Public Private Partnerships. 

The shortlisted teams, listed in alphabetical order below, have been asked to provide more information in the second part of the RFQ process.  

Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain Teams

Similar to the 495 and 95 Express lanes, a private entity would contract to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the facility, taking the associated risks for the project for up to a 50-year period.  Under a toll revenue concession, the commonwealth may make a public contribution towards the financing of the project.

• Express Partners:

Equity: Transurban (70%) / Skanska (30%)

Lead Contractor: Skanska / Archer Western

• I-66 Express Mobility Partners:

Equity: Cintra (50%) / Meridiam (50%)     

Lead Contractor: Ferrovial Agroman / Allan Myers

• Transformative Solutions Partners:

Equity: InfraRed (42.5%) / Isolux (42.5%) / Fluor (15%)

Lead Contractor: Fluor / Granite / Lane

Design-Build-Operate-Maintain Teams

The state would finance the project and collect the toll revenues, but the private sector would take the risk in designing, building, operating and maintaining the project for up to 15 years.

• Express Partners:
  • Lead Contractor: Skanska (50%) / Archer Western (50%)
  • Lead Operations and Maintenance (O&M): Transurban
• I-66 Corridor Development Group:
  • Lead Contractor: Dragados (42.5%) / Flatiron (42.5%) / Shikun & Binui (15%)
  • Lead O&M: ACS / HOCHTIEF
• I-66 Express Mobility Partners:
  • Lead Contractor: Ferrovial Agroman (70%) / Allan Myers (30%)
  • Lead O&M: Cintra
• Transform I-66 Express Partners LLC:
  • Lead Contractor: Shirley (39%) / Facchina (24%) / Trumbell (19%) / Wagman (18%)
  • Lead O&M: VINCI
• Transformative Solutions Partners:
  • Lead Contractor: Fluor (40%) / Granite (30%) / Lane (30%)
  • Lead O&M: Fluor / URS

Design-Build-Alternative Technical-Concepts Teams

The state would finance the project, collect toll revenues as well as operate and maintain the project while the private sector would take the risk in designing and building the project and be able to come up with engineering savings during the bidding process, which cannot be considered under a design-build procurement. 

• I-66 Corridor Development Group:
  • Lead Contractor: Dragados (42.5%) / Flatiron (42.5%) / Shikun & Binui (15%)
• I-66 Express Mobility Partners:
  • Lead Contractor: Ferrovial Agroman (70%) / Allan Myers (30%)
• Skanska / Archer Western JV:
  • Lead Contractor: Skanska (50%) / Archer Western (50%)
• Transform I-66 Express Partners LLC:
  • Lead Contractor: Shirley (39%) / Facchina (24%) / Trumbell (19%) / Wagman (18%)
• Transformative Solutions Partners:
  • Lead Contractor: Fluor (40%) / Granite (30%) / Lane (30%)

Responses are due to VDOT by December 1, 2015 at 2 PM, which will require the short-listed teams to submit indicative financial models. After receiving and evaluating the private sector’s responses, VDOT will select a preferreddelivery option and issue a Request for Proposals seeking detailed information on the private sector’s approach to develop the Project and binding price proposals.

Online sources:

I-66 Outside the Beltway P3 and RFQ information:                                   

http://www.p3virginia.org/projects/interstate-66-corridor-improvements/

I-66 Outside the Beltway project:

http://outside.transform66.org/

Scrapping Helmet Law Could Reduce Cyclist Injuries In Seattle

There might be a cheaper way for Seattle to lower traffic-related deaths without having to irritate drivers and spend the city's money. All city officials have to do is convince King County to remove its helmet law.

Wait, how could that be?

Advocates say that requiring people to wear helmets deters them from wanting to ride, thus fewer people are riding bicycles. The fewer the cyclists, the more crashes there are. Alternatively, more riders on the road actually decreases crashes, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing research. That is because drivers become used to maneuvering around cyclists.

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12 Easy Tips to Help Local Governments Improve Transportation Options

Self-reflection can yield some truly beneficial results for public agencies: what’s behind your success? What could you be doing more effectively?

Two years ago, Arlington, Virginia’s Department of Environmental Services, the county’s second largest department, sought to get a handle on its many programs – and nearly 1,000 employees and contractors – by understanding those strengths and weaknesses.

To determine what was working and what wasn’t, consulting firm Denison gave a culture survey to all employees and measured four essential traits and 12 focus areas of organizations, such as adaptability, mission, consistency, and involvement.

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How a Former Video Game Designer Created the Best Intersection For Bikes

Riding through a city on a bike lane that’s separated from cars feels great. But when you roll up to a light, the infrastructure often vanishes, leaving you feeling vulnerable as you cross busy lanes of traffic. Now a new type of intersection might keep cyclists safer and more visible. And it was created by a designer who used to make video games.

The US’s first “protected intersection” opened this month on a busy corner in Salt Lake City. With only a few modifications to the traditional car-centered intersection, it keeps cyclists completely separated from vehicular traffic, makes them easier to see, and even gives them a head start at the light.

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After Stints In Business And Government, Gabe Klein Embraces Fear Of Screwing Up

Gabe Klein says his love for all things transportation began when he got a gig at his dad's bicycle shop... at the tender age of five.

39 years later, he’s been responsible for expandingZipcar's local fleet from 28 vehicles to 500. For startingOn The Fly, the nation's first all-natural, electric-powered food-truck company. And for launchingCapital Bikeshare, the first large-scale bike-share system in the United States.

And he achieved all of that — and so much more — in fewer than ten years.

“I was sort of shaking up the status quo,” he says. “I was a rabble-rouser, I think, in a good way: always trying to make D.C. a shining example of what a city could be.”

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A 40-Block Bike Path Could Be Coming to Cleveland

Cleveland is considering a 40-block protected bike path down Lorain Avenue, one of the city’s busiest streets. Increased bike infrastructure in Cleveland comes as no surprise. According to Cleveland radio station WCRN, the Washington-based cycling advocacy group, League of American Bicyclists, recently pointed to Cleveland as one of the country’s fastest-growing cycling towns.

Still, not all are on board. Some business owners fear that it will cause traffic problems.

“I think there’s a problem with crowding at the intersections,” local business owner, David Ellison, told WCRN. “If you narrow the street down, with trucks making turns, and only two lanes of traffic—one in each direction—I can only imagine it will get quite a bit slower.”

Read the rest of the story here.