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Parked Cars as a Buffer for Cyclists

By Sewell Chan

Markings, street signs and other traffic devices have been set up along Ninth Avenue as part of a new bike lane experiment. (Photo: New York City Department of Transportation)

What’s that? Parked cars in the middle of Ninth Avenue?

Seven blocks of Ninth Avenue in Chelsea have been transformed over the past few weeks. A dedicated 10-foot-wide bicycle lane has been created on the east side of the street, from 23rd to 16th Streets, separated from the vehicles by an eight-foot-wide buffer zone and then a lane of parked cars. The effect is to create a sanctuary of sorts for cyclists, who often complain that trucks, cabs and passenger vehicles intrude on bicycle lanes with impunity.

As William Neuman explained in an article last month, the idea of using parked cars to separate bicyclists from motorists has been tried in cities in Europe but never in New York City.

The new bicycle-lane design was announced in September. Workers began at 23rd Street and progressed southward. The work is mostly completed, said Ted Timbers, a spokesman for the Transportation Department, including markings and signs. About 20 single-car parking spaces were eliminated as part of the redesign; Muni-Meters, which control multiple spaces, were installed in their place.

Also being tested on the seven-block stretch of Ninth Avenue in Chelsea is a raised traffic island at each intersection, extending into the avenue. Called a ‘’pedestrian refuge,’’ the island the effect of shortening the distance traveled to cross the street to 45 feet, from 70 feet. Those traffic islands are still being installed, and an official ceremony to mark the completion of the redesign will be held once that work is finished, Mr. Timbers said.

A 21-page slide presentation that the Transportation Department presented on Sept. 19 to Community Board 4 in Manhattan illustrates the changes and their impact on pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

The city’s traffic planners believe the redesign provides more “green space” (well, at least more open space — whether it’s “green” is debatable) for pedestrians and a safer experience for cyclists, while having minimal effect on motor vehicles and parked cars. Mr. Timbers said the department would be “closely watching” traffic, pedestrian and cycling patterns along the seven-block stretch over the next several months. If the redesign is found to be effective, he said, it could be used on other avenues in the city, but probably not on the avenues with the heaviest traffic.

(Source : The New York Times)

A Bikes-Only Parking Lot in Midtown?

By Patrick McGeehan

A rendering of the proposed bicycle parking area at the Olivia building on 33rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

A few business executives have dreamed up a private-sector solution to the problem of secure bicycle parking in New York: the city’s first bikes-only parking lot. They have a space on West 33rd Street. All they need is a corporation willing to pay as much as $200,000 a year to sponsor it.

“We’re really looking for a big number to build something quite spectacular,” said Daniel A. Biederman, president of the 34th Street Partnership. “We want this to be the premier bike parking facility in the country.”

Already, the group has cleared one high hurdle: Stonehenge Management, a developer, has offered a 2,600-square-foot lot next to an apartment building it owns on the north side of 33rd Street between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue, Mr. Biederman said.

The partnership, which is financed by businesses and property owners in a 31-block section of Midtown, has developed a preliminary design for the lot and has ordered up a prototype of the racks it would contain, Mr. Biederman said. At first, it would hold 100 bikes, with room to expand if there is more demand, he said.

Regular users would pay a fee, but some spaces would be available for free, short-term use by cyclists visiting the neighborhood. Those fees will depend on how much the partnership can raise from a sponsor, Mr. Biederman said.

“There’s a huge demand out there for this kind of parking option,” said Caroline Samponaro, bicycle campaign coordinator at Transportation Alternatives, a group that advocates for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Ms. Samponaro said that a similar concept had worked in Chicago, where the McDonald’s Corporation became the long-term sponsor of a bike parking lot that charges $149 a year.

(Source : The New York TImes)

Red Hook Parking Rules Will Be Suspended Next Monday

September 2, 2008,  4:58 pm

By Sewell Chan

The fourth and final phase of the sign-replacement project will start on Sept. 8 and last for three or four weeks.

Starting next Monday, alternate-side parking rules will be suspended in parts of Red Hook for three to four weeks as the Department of Transportation installs 1,400 signs with new, eased street-cleaning regulations — the fourth and final phase of a project to change approximately 8,000 signs throughout Community Board 6 in Brooklyn.

The area is bounded to the north by Summit Street (included), from Imlay to Van Brunt Streets, and Hamilton Avenue (included), from Van Brunt to Smith Streets; to the east by Smith Street (included), from Hamilton Avenue to the Gowanus Bay; and to the south and west by the Gowanus Bay, from Smith to Summit Streets.

The new regulations will take effect once the sign changes are complete.

The third phase of the Brooklyn parking overhaul began on Aug. 18 and will end Sept. 15.

Meanwhile, in Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and other areas west of Court Street, where the third phase of the sign-replacement project started on Aug. 18, the 1,600 newly posted alternate-side parking rules take effect on Monday, Sept. 15.

The area is bounded to the north by Atlantic Avenue (included) from Columbia to Court Streets, to the east by Court Street (not included) from Atlantic to Hamilton Avenues, to the south by Hamilton Avenue (not included) from Court to Van Brunt Streets, and to the west by Columbia Street (included) from Atlantic Avenue to Degraw Street, Degraw Street (included) from Columbia to Van Brunt Streets, and Van Brunt Street from Degraw to Hamilton Streets.

The Transportation Department explained the purpose of the new rules this way:

In many cases, residential street-cleaning parking restrictions are being reduced from three-hour intervals to just 90 minutes, and from twice a week to just once a week, to ease parking for local residents. On commercial corridors, some streets will now be cleaned more often and regulations will be better coordinated to help ensure some curbside parking for local shoppers. The new rules were established by the Department of Sanitation.

The changes do not affect 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. parking rules or meter regulations, or any other parking rules other than the street-cleaning regulations.

(Source : The New York Times)

Taxi Group Sues to Block New Mileage Rule for Cabs

By WILLIAM NEUMAN

Published: September 9, 2008

A taxi industry group has filed a lawsuit seeking to block a city rule that effectively requires most new taxis to be hybrid vehicles, a key part of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s push to cut pollution and make city policies more sensitive to environmental concerns.

The city’s new taxi rule, which is set to go into effect on Oct. 1, requires that new taxis have a fuel efficiency rating of at least 25 miles per gallon for city driving, a standard that is currently met mostly by hybrid vehicles.

In the lawsuit, lawyers for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents large fleet owners, say that only the federal government can set rules on fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions. The suit was filed Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

The lawsuit also claims that hybrid taxis are unsafe, in part because they are smaller and lighter than the Ford Crown Victoria, which has been the standard taxicab for many years. Passengers and drivers in the hybrids would be more susceptible to injury in an accident, the lawsuit asserts.

“These cars are not safe,” said Ronald Sherman, the president of the Board of Trade, which represents 27 fleets that run a total of about 3,500 taxis. “When they’re put out as taxicabs they’re too small, they don’t have enough crush space in them. They’re too light.”

The lawsuit raises other safety concerns as well, charging that the partitions that owners must install between the front and rear seats of the taxis may prevent side-curtain airbags in the cars from opening properly.

And it warns that because there is less room in the rear seat than in the Crown Victoria, passengers could be injured, hitting their faces on the partition, during a crash.

A spokeswoman for the city legal department declined to comment on the suit, saying that city lawyers had not yet received the legal papers.

Matthew Daus, the Taxi and Limousine commissioner, rejected the industry’s safety concerns.

“These cars and the partitions that are in them are 100 percent safe,” Mr. Daus said.

He said that partitions had been redesigned to make sure they did not block the side airbags. And he said that seat belts and shoulder harnesses would keep passengers from hitting the partition in an accident even in the more cramped rear seats of the hybrid cabs.

Allan J. Fromberg, a spokesman for the commission, said that many drivers had already switched to hybrid vehicles voluntarily and that some medallions required cabs to be hybrids. Indeed, Mr. Fromberg said on Tuesday, of the 13,237 yellow cabs on the road, 1,400 were hybrids.

Under the city rules disputed in the lawsuit, the 25 mile per gallon requirement would be raised to 30 miles per gallon for new vehicles beginning in October 2009.

(Source : The New York Times)

6.000 Perlintasan KA Jawa-Sumatra Tak Dijaga

Senin, 8 September 2008 – 18:26 wib

PURWOKERTO – Jumlah perlintasan kerata api (KA) di Jawa dan Sumatra tercatat ada sebanyak 8.000 buah. Namun, dari jumlah itu, diperkirakan sebanyak 4.000 hingga 6.000 perlintasan KA tidak dijaga petugas atau tidak berpalang pintu.

Direktur Operasional PT KA Sudarno Ramadan mengimbau kepada masyarakat penguna jalan raya untuk meningkatkan kewaspadaaanya ketika akan memasuki pintu perlintasan KA. “Apalagi saat melintas di perlintasan tak dijaga atau tak berpalang pintu,” ujarnya saat inspeksi di Stasiun Purwokerto, Senin (8/9/2008).

Dia mengatakan, pertumbuhan pintu perlintasan liar dan yang tidak dijaga di Jawa dan Sumatera tak bisa dicegah dan jumlahnya terus bertambah. Dia mengakui pihaknya tidak mampu mengendalikan perkembangan perlintasan liar yang tumbuh sepanjang jalur kereta api di Jawa dan Sumatera.

“Data yang ada di PT KA jumlahnya diperkirakan sudah mencapai 8.000 pintu perlintasan. Sebanyak 2.000 hingga 3.000 adalah perlintasan resmi yang dijaga, sedangkan sisanya antara 4000 – 6000 tidak dijaga dan pintu perlintasan liar,” jelasnya.

Dia juga mengakui, di pintu perlintasan rawan terjadi kemacetan dan kecelakaan sebab frekuensi perjalanan KA pada masa angkutan Lebaran sangat padat. “Untuk meminimalisasi terjadinya kecelakaan di setiap pintu perlintasan yang tidak ada penjaganya, PT KA melalui sudah melakukan koordinasi dengan Dinas Perhubungan dan Kepolisian setempat untuk dipasang rambu-rambu lalu lintas,” imbuhnya.

Menurutnya, untuk meningkatkan keamanan dan keselamatan perjalanan KA, pihaknya sudah menambah frekuensi kerja petugas juru pemeriksa jalan KA. Dalam keadaan normal, pemeriksaan maksimal dua kali per hari. Namun, pada masa puncak angkutan ditambah empat – lima kali per hari.(ful) (Ridwan Anshori/Sindo/mbs)

Sumber : okezone.com

Waspadai Jalur Selatan Saat Mudik

Waspadai Jalur Selatan Saat Mudik

Rabu, 10 September 2008 – 08:33 wib

PURWOKERTO – Bagi calon pemudik yang melewati jalur selatan Jawa Tengah diminta hati-hati. Sebab, Jalur yang biasa dilalui pemudik dari Jakarta-Bandung-Purwokerto-Jogjakarta itu masih banyak yang berlobang. Selain itu, di jalur tersebut juga bergelombang.

Pantauan di lapangan pada Rabu (10/9/2008), lobang berkisar antara 20-50 sentimeter nampak menyebar di beberapa titik. Kondisi itu membahayakan bagi pemudik, khususnya yang menggunakan kendaraan roda dua.

Titik jalan berlobang itu antara lain di Desa Sidabowa, Kedungrandu, Kemranjen (Banyumas). Sedangkan penyempitan jalan di persimpangan yang menimbulkan kemacetan juga terdapat di Rawalo, Karangrau, Kalibagor, Buntu dan lainnya.

Kabag Ops Polwil Banyumas AKBP Budi Meidiyanto, Rabu mengatakan, berdasarkan catatan Polwil, di wilayah Banyumas banyak titik yang perlu diwaspadai pada arus Lebaran ini.

Setidaknya, di wilayah Banyumas ada 23 titik rawan kecelakaan, 22 titik rawan kemacetan, 11 rawan banjir, 17 rawan longsor dan 14 titik rawan kriminalitas.

“Di tempat-tempat itu akan ditempatkan personel untuk pengamanan,” ungkapnya. (Ridwan Anshori/Sindo/teb)

(sumber : okezone.com)

Kenaikan PBBKB Bikin Distribusi BBM Kacau

Kenaikan PBBKB Bikin Distribusi BBM Kacau

Rabu, 10 September 2008 – 12:20 wib

Mochammad Wahyudi – Okezone

JAKARTA – Kenaikan pajak bahan bakar kendaraan bermotor (PBBKB) dinilai bukan solusi yang tepat untuk menurunkan tingkat konsumsi bahan bakar. Justru, kenaikan tersebut bisa membuat distribusi BBM dalam negeri menjadi kacau karena berpotensi terjadinya aksi penyelundupan.

“Kenaikan ini namanya kenaikan harga BBM terselubung,” ucap Anggota komisi XI DPR-RI dari Fraksi PAN Dradjad Wibowo, di Gedung DPR, Senayan, Jakarta, Rabu (10/9/2008).

Seperti diberitakan sebelumnya, dalam Rancangan Undang Undang tentang Pajak Daerah dan Retribusi Daerah (PDRD) yang saat ini sedang dalam pembahasan, pemerintah dan DPR telah sepakat menaikkan tarif pajak bahan bakar bagi kendaraan bahan bakar pribadi dari lima persen menjadi maksimal 10 persen terhadap harga jual bahan bakar.

Dengan kata lain, perubahan ini membuat daerah bebas menetapkan harga jual BBM eceran, asalkan tidak melebihi batas atas seperti yang telah ditetapkan sebesar 10 persen.

Menurut Dradjad, hal ini akan mengacaukan distribusi BBM dalam negeri karena bisa membuat potensi penyelundupan antardaerah. “Contohnya, harga BBM di Jateng dan Jabar bisa beda, sehingga orang bisa main selundup,” ucapnya.

Dradjad menambahkan, jika pemerintah memang berkeinginan untuk menurunkan tingkat konsumsi BBM di masyarakat, seharusnya cukup konsentrasi untuk menaikkan pajak kendaraan bermotor.

“Kalau pajak BBM yang naik, maka yang akan nanggung itu semuanya. Tapi, kalau pajak kendaraan bermotor yang naik, maka yang nanggung hanya yang punya kendaraan,” imbuhnya. (rhs)

(sumber : okezone.com)

Ilmuwan Jelajah Misteri Alam dengan Alat Jutaan Dolar

Salinan dari okezone.com

Ilmuwan Jelajah Misteri Alam dengan Alat Jutaan Dolar

Rabu, 10 September 2008 – 17:27 wib

Magfirah Ahdarini Sipahutar – Okezone

JAKARTA – Ilmuwan takkan pernah berhenti mencari tahu rahasia alam. Kali ini mereka berencana menggunakan partikel akselerator terbesar yang jauh tertanam di dalam perut bumi antara batas Perancis dan Swiss, untuk menjelajah dunia dengan skala lebih kecil yang tidak pernah dilakukan oleh ilmuwan manapun sebelumnya.

Adalah Large Hadron Collider (LHC) yang akan digunakan untuk mencari tahu bagaimana semesta ini terbentuk dengan menganalisa bentrokan partikel. Proyek ini disambut ketakutan dan skeptis oleh banyak pihak karena dikhawatirkan akan menimbulkan kehancuran di bumi, yang ditolak mentah-mentah oleh para ilmuwan.

Menurut para ilmuwan LHC sudah siap digunakan untuk uji coba mengedarkan sinar proton ke dalam terowongan sepanjang 17 mil. Uji coba tersebut merupakan langkah besar bagi dunia ilmu pengetahuan yang nantinya akan menyediakan informasi baru tentang cara kerja alam semesta.

LHC sendiri tersusun dari akselerator yang dibakar dengan jarak lebih dari 300 kaki dari Jenewa Swiss dan telah menghabiskan lebih dari USD10 milyar untuk biaya konstruksi, detektor partikel, dan komputer, berdasarkan keterangan juru bicara European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Katie Yurkewicz yang dikutip dari CNN, Rabu (10/9/2008).

Alat mega besar dan mega mahal ini dinilai potensial oleh para ilmuwan untuk menjawab pertanyaan para fisikawan yang tak terjawab selama bertahun-tahun, termasuk kemungkinan keberadaan ekstra dimensi. Alat ini diharapkan juga menemukan partikel teoritis bernama Higgs Boson yang selama ini tak terdeteksi untuk menjelaskan kenapa suatu benda atau barang mempunyai massa. Selain itu, LHC juga akan merekonstruksi ulang bagaimana keadaan setelah terjadinya Big Bang yang dikabarkan bagaikan ?sup panas? electron dan gluon.

Banyaknya pengharapan yang dibebankan ke proyek LHC ini terus diiringi dengan keraguan dan protes keberatan, namun tetap tak menggoyahkan pendirian para ilmuwan bahwa yang mereka lakukan ini adalah kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan.

“Saat Columbus berlayar ke arah barat, ia berpikir ia akan menemukan sesuatu. Ia tidak menemukan apa yang ia cari, namun menemukan sesuatu yang menarik,” papar fisikawan teoritis dari Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Joseph Lykken, yang juga ikut andil dalam eksperimen Compact Muon Solenoid, salah satu dari enam eksperimen yang berhubungan dengan LHC, ketika menjawab sikap kritis dari publik.

Di tahun 2009 nanti, LHC direncanakan akan dipakai untuk mulai menghancurkan partikel dalam dua arah berlawanan dengan cara mengirimkan 2 sinar proton ke sekitar terowongan. Alat ini akan dioperasikan dengan energi dan intensitas yang lebih tinggi sehingga bisa menghasilkan cukup data. (srn)

Jalur Mudik di Jateng, Jalur Alternatif yang Tak Menggiurkan

Posting saya salin dari detiknews.com

(foto: Triyono WS)

Rabu, 10/09/2008 13:08 WIB
Jalur Mudik di Jateng
Jalur Alternatif yang Tak Menggiurkan
Triono Wahyu Sudibyo – detikNews

Semarang – Menghindari pantura Timur Jawa Tengah, bukan perkara mudah. Sebab jalur-jalur alternatif tak cukup menggiurkan.

Alternatif pertama bagi pemudik dari arah Jakarta adalah melewati Semarang ke arah Grobogan. Dari Semarang mereka harus menempuh perjalanan lebih jauh melalui Demak bagian Selatan, Grobogan, Purwodadi, Blora, dan Rembang.

Lalu lintas di jalur tersebut sejatinya cukup padat. Namun untuk menghindari kemacetan di pantura Timur, jalur dengan jalan yang agak sempit itu pantas jadi pilihan.

Alternatif kedua, pemudik bisa melewati Semarang ke arah Selatan (Kabupaten Semarang, Salatiga, Boyolali, dan Solo). Untuk menuju ke Surabaya atau Jawa Timur, dari Solo bisa langsung meneruskan ke arah Sragen, Ngawi, dan seterusnya.

Sementara bagi pemudik dari arah Timur (Surabaya), pemudik bisa mengambil arah ke kiri setelah Juwana, Pati. Jalur dengan jalan yang tak begitu lebar itu menuju Pati dan Semarang.

Pemudik yang terlanjur masuk Pati dan Kudus, bisa ambil arah ke kiri di daerah Jekulo, Kudus. Jalan tersebut merupakan alternatif menuju Semarang.(try/djo)