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Railroad Newsline for Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

BNSF ISSUES UPDATE ON BRIDGE FIRE AT BELEN, NM

Update As an update to the previous advisories concerning the BNSF Railway Company bridge fire at Belen, NM, main tracks were restored to service at 11:30 hours CT, Monday, April 23, 2007.

Traffic volumes on the service region remain high and BNSF personnel are striving to monitor train flow in order to maintain fluidity.

Customers may continue to experience delays up to 24 hours on traffic moving through this corridor. - BNSF Service Advisory

ED. NOTE: Related Video here:

[www.krqe.com]

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BNSF COAL TRAIN LOADINGS RECOVERING FROM WINTER WEATHER ISSUES

The pace of BNSF Railway Company coal train loadings in the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming and Montana is recovering from the effects of winter weather on mines in late March, although intermittent mine issues continued through the first half of April.

Average April BNSF daily train loadings for the PRB stand at 50.5 trains per day through April 15, 2007, compared with an April average of 48.9 trains per day through April 15, 2006. Mine issues resulted in the loss of an average of 12.4 loading opportunities per day during the first 15 days of April 2007.

Year-to-date through April 15, 2007, BNSF has loaded a total daily average of 48.7 trains in the PRB, up 2 percent from the 47.9 trains loaded through the same period in 2006.

Systemwide, BNSF has loaded a total of 81.4 million tons through April 15, 2007, approximately 3 percent above the 2006 year-to-date total of 79.0 million tons.

Electric Power Coal Stocks Up Year Over Year

Total electric power sector coal stocks increased between January 2006 and January 2007 by 31.8 million tons (30.4 percent), according to the Electric Power monthly report issued April 16 by the federal Energy Information Administration.

Comparing January 2007 to the same month of the prior year, total electric power sector coal stocks have now increased for 13 months in a row, according to EIA. Stocks of subbituminous coal, the kind mined in the PRB, grew by 19.0 million tons between January 2006 and January 2007 (from 46.5 to 65.5 million tons, a 40.8 percent rise). - BNSF Today

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TENNESSEE ZOO TRAIN DERAILS; 10 BUMPED, BRUISED

Photos here:

[wtvf.images.worldnow.com]

[wtvf.images.worldnow.com]

[wtvf.images.worldnow.com]

MEMPHIS, TN -- Memphis Zoo officials are investigating why a car in the zoo train derailed Saturday afternoon, sending 10 people, eight of them children, to the hospital with noncritical injuries.

Authorities said the last car in the train became detached from the others before it derailed and flipped at 12:15 hours.

The passengers tumbled onto a grassy hill near the Once Upon a Farm exhibit. The children were taken to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center and the adults to Methodist University Hospital for examination; officials said no one admitted or seriously injured.

"We're looking at some bumps and bruises," said Fire Department Division Chief Henry Posey. "They were lucky. In a turnover like that, someone could have easily been crushed."

The train, which is 12 years old and has never had a similar wreck, is inspected daily, said Brian Carter, zoo marketing director.

"We have a driver that takes a few laps on it every day and inspects it before it ever goes into operation."

Carter said the train was well under its maximum capacity of 38 riders. - Alex Doniach and Trey Heath, The Memphis Commercial Appeal

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STRIKING RAIL WORKERS FUMING OVER OTTAWA'S RETURN-TO-WORK LEGISLATION

OTTAWA, ON -- Striking workers at Canadian National Railway are being legislated back to work.

The House of Commons approved back-to-work legislation by a vote of 195 to 71 late on Tuesday. The bill still needs to go through the Senate, but it is expected that it will likely take effect before the week is out.

In justifying its push for the return-to-work legislation, the ruling Conservative party said it was concerned the strike was causing serious damage to the economy.

At the start of the week, which also marked the return of Parliament, the Canadian Industrial Transportation Association (CITA) had urged the government to act rapidly to pass the back-to-work legislation, Bill C-46, tabled in Parliament in February.

“This strike adds to the logistical problems faced by a broad spectrum of Canadian industry in serving domestic and export markets” “Shippers serving highly competitive export markets and retailers needing to stock their shelves with seasonal imported merchandise will all be affected”.

“When a labour impasse in an essential service like rail freight is reached, it is necessary for the government to take swift and decisive action to minimize the damage to Canadian industry, Canadian workers and farmers, and the broader Canadian economy, said Bob Ballantyne, president of CITA.

The legislation aims to resolve the dispute by forcing the union and CN Rail to submit their best proposals to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which would then settle on one plan.

Striking United Transportation Union members immediately criticized Ottawa’s move as support for what they believe is an illegal union-breaking strategy by CN Rail. The Canadian chapter of the United Transportation Union, representing 2,800 conductors and yard workers, also vowed to resist CN Rail’s plan to sign separate labor accords on a regional basis.

The UTU yesterday accused CN Rail of effectively casting “a chill over its relationship” with its key union after the railroad issued a release claiming a national deal in the labor dispute was not possible because of “continuing internal conflicts within the UTU” and asking for regional settlements.

The UTU shot back that CN Rail was trying to “fragment the bargaining structure so as to weaken the UTU’s ability to gain improvements through collective bargaining a single national collective agreement.”

“CN Rail appears intent to act the company’s objective of redrawing the boundaries of organized railway workers in Canada into four fragmented regional bargaining units. This, despite the fact that the UTU is the certified bargaining agent for the national bargaining unit, from coast to coast to coast,” the UTU stated in a release.

UTU’s Canadian Vice Presidents John Armstrong and Bob Sharpe fired off a letter to CN Rail stating that they believe that CN has acted “contrary to the Canada Labour Code by pressing recognition issues during the ongoing strike action and lockouts and by purporting to negotiate in the media and not at the bargaining table.”

“No one knows better than our membership across Canada that your threatening press release amounts to bad faith and it is not designed to make every effort to renew the expired collective agreement,” stated Sharpe and Armstrong. “If CN Rail is attempting to push the bargaining parties farther apart by creating fears of greater uncertainty and disruption to CN operations, it has succeeded by raising the specter of fragmentation.”

UTU members went on a nation-wide strike for 15 days in February and resumed rotating picket lines last weeks after rejecting a contract deal. - Lou Smyrlis, Canadian Transportation & Logistics

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THE CALL OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

PORTLAND, OR - Jack Pfeifer grew up listening to Union Pacific steam locomotives, hotblooded fire-breathing creatures trailing billowing clouds. His father and uncle worked for the railroad, and Jack aspired to work for the railroad, too, as he looked down from atop Council Bluffs, Iowa, west toward the Missouri River.

But Jack never wanted to ride the rails as a career. He was content to be a railroad personal claims agent for more than 40 years, a job for which his meticulous nature was perfectly suited.

"Railroading was not a job I hated to face each Monday morning," he said. "It was my life."

With the Eastman Retina camera he used in his claims work, he also took color photos of trains, impeccably documenting the time, date and place. He would find the ideal locale, then photograph them in different weather and lighting conditions -- the smoke spiraling up, playing against the blue sky.

On an ideal day, he would get a prize shot: a rainbow framing his train.

Because he used color film -- uncommon in the 1950s -- his photographs were on railroad calendars, and eventually he was approached by a publisher, producing a book in 1990 that is a veritable encyclopedia of steam trains.

When the steam trains gave way to diesel, Jack was not interested. He shifted to ships, and almost every day in his later years, he would be down at the Portland terminals, watching ships come and go. Jack died at 85 on March 11, 2007.

His love of photographing trains began early. At 12, Jack, the only child of stolid German parents, got a $1.50 box camera and started to take pictures of trains at every opportunity.
Soon he had a Kodak 616 camera, better suited for train photography.

During World War II, he enlisted in the Coast Guard and served as a storekeeper on a tank landing ship in the South Pacific.

Every time his ship pulled into a port that had a church, he sent home a bulletin to his home church back in Iowa. Betty Ethington, a young woman also from a railroad family, wrote back. He appeared at her door during a transfer to officer school in New London, Connecticut. Then the war ended, and so did his military career.

He and Betty married in 1946, and he went to work at the railroad. They had two children.
He was not an affectionate "kid dad"; he was the guy to depend on. He had a great sense of propriety -- once going to extreme measures to return a $1 bill someone had dropped in a depot.
Cautious and analytical, he wouldn't make millions, but he would never lose a dime. He wrote personal letters to corporate big shots to describe his experiences with bad customer service -- something that bothered him greatly as a point of honor and integrity.

He held politicians in low regard.

Jack worked first in Omaha, Nebraska, then Green River, Wyoming, then in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was in Wyoming that he found his favorite place -- Sherman Hill. He spent maybe five years of his life on a desolate hill there -- "Home of the giants of the rails," he wrote, "Challengers, turbines and the ultimate -- the double-headed Big Boys!"

A promotion brought him to Portland in the mid-1960s, as far west as he could go, he figured.
Jack mostly worked out of the Pittock Building in downtown Portland; Betty worked there, too, for about 10 years.

The family rode for free around the country on Union Pacific Pullman cars -- first-class, with white linen and silverware.

On his days off, Jack went down to the Portland train yards to see what Union Pacific was up to, and he photographed trains in the Columbia River Gorge.

Jack retired in 1982 after more than 40 years with the railroad.

Naturally, he had a model train. But a train going 'round and 'round wasn't stimulating enough. So his took up the entire basement, one of the largest HO gauge models in the Northwest.

He meticulously laid the tracks, anchored with tiny rail spikes. It took seven men to run it, operating it like an actual railroad.

Once a month he held "ops-sessions" (operational sessions), or meets. Hundreds of people came and went through his basement, and just as many others hoped to be invited to see or participate.

He and his wife also went on about 15 cruises, all over the world, something she enjoyed after all those trains. After he developed the new hobby of photographing ships, he would get up at dawn, taking photographs, looking at ship's funnels.

For years, he used a log to keep track of the ships that came in and out of Portland. He would see ships in port that he had seen on his cruises.

He was always looking for a great access or vantage point, just as he did for trains. After Sept. 11 security measures, he couldn't go down to the ships so much. They sent him e-mails of ship arrivals and departures, but that wasn't the same -- there was something about going out and seeing it for himself.

Still, whenever he heard a train on nearby tracks at his Beaverton home, he would race downstairs and see whether he could catch sight of it, remembering when . . . . - Amy Martinez Starke, The Portland Oregonian

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TIME TO BUILD A BETTER RAILROAD: HIGH SPEED TO CHICAGO

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Watching the House DFL majority laboriously assemble an attractive state budget last week, while knowing that it's destined to be dismantled by vetoes, was dispiriting work.

So I did what adroit legislators do during deficit years (which is what this year feels like, no matter how much the GOP pols yammer about a surplus). The savvy ones say, when you can't spend, borrow. I dug out the House and Senate bonding bills, and found something to make me smile: high-speed rail to Chicago.

Both bills include $2 million to seriously plan for the day when Minnesotans could get on a train at a restored Union Depot in St. Paul, and disembark 5-1/2 hours later at Union Station in downtown Chicago.

Amtrak runs from St. Paul to Chicago once per day now, and takes eight hours on a good day to do it. Even with service that slow, ridership is rising. The bonding bill proposal, sponsored by Sen. Katie Sieben, DFL-Newport, and Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, anticipates six round trips per day, at a top speed of 110 miles per hour.

You want faster? (I do.) It'll cost more, and mean fewer stops. But it's possible that St. Paul to Madison to Milwaukee to Chicago eventually could be done in four hours.

Imagine the possibilities. A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison could board a train at 8 a.m., and step off light rail at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in time to teach a noon seminar. A Chicago cycling enthusiast could load his bike on the fast train on Saturday morning, transfer to a southeastern Minnesota circulator in La Crosse or Winona, and be tooling along the Root River trail by midday. A businesswoman in St. Cloud could get on the Northstar (it'll get there eventually), transfer to Central Corridor light rail, then take the fast train right into the Windy City's Loop. It'll take a little more time than today's drive-fly-drive trip requires, but there'd be ample elbow room for laptop work the whole way.

The Midwest Regional Rail System's map has the fast train following the existing Amtrak route -- go down the Mississippi along lovely Lake Pepin to La Crosse, then hang a left.

The map in my mind's eye includes a spur track to Rochester. (We're talking a few passenger trains here, not 34 coal-bearing brutes per day.) If Minnesota wants to juice up the job-creating potential of the collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Mayo, how about connecting the two campuses by rail?

Two developments are taking such thoughts beyond mere meanderings. One is the ascent to the chair of the U.S. House Transportation Committee of Minnesota's own Rep. Jim Oberstar.

As the dean of the state's congressional delegation himself allowed last week, "there hasn't been a better time in the last 30 years" to seek federal financing for a rebirth of passenger rail travel in the Upper Midwest.

The Eighth District DFLer has been a train lover since the 1950s, when he rode the rails to the University of St. Thomas from his home in Chisholm. Oberstar has promoted the renewal of intercity passenger service in the Midwest for two decades.

But the rules of this game require leadership from the states. It's been coming from Illinois and Wisconsin. Illinois, which puts $25 million a year into Amtrak operations, has a $100 million proposal for high-speed rail before its Legislature. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle proposed in February bonding $80 million, in anticipation of a federal match.

Minnesota's $2 million is puny by comparison, but Oberstar says it would signal that Minnesota wants in on this project. Get a solid plan in place -- quickly, while Oberstar is in a position to help -- and federal money will follow for a sizable share of total costs. The tab for Minnesota's share of the train to Chicago was put at $325 million five years ago.

The other change is in the Legislature's attitude about trains. Hausman, the head of the House bonding committee, calls it "a sea change." Republican scorn for non-automotive modes of transportation appears to be melting away. Over very little partisan objection, she assembled a bonding bill that gives a push to 10 transit projects.

Of course, only one Republican's attitude really counts. Gov. Tim Pawlenty hasn't been a promoter of high-speed rail, but neither has he signaled opposition. He has frowned on the size of the House and Senate capital improvements bills, which both tip the scales in the $300 million range, a bit hefty for a "non-bonding" year.

Still, remember what Pawlenty said in his 2003 State of the State speech? "Behind me is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. When he took office, he set two main goals. First, preserve the Union. And second, build the transcontinental railroad. ... He had a vision and agenda for building the future beyond the immediate crisis. ... We also need to get about the business of rebuilding Minnesota's future."

If the governor and his Republican allies won't go along with the kind of building that a generous state budget affords, the least they can do is follow the example of their party's founding father and start building a better railroad. - Commentary, Lori Sturdevant, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

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RAILROAD, LOCALS DEBATE TOURIST PLAN

TALKEETNA, AK -- Some residents who planned to meet amongst themselves Saturday about the impact of tour buses rumbling through a quiet rural neighborhood instead got a chance to sit down informally with representatives of Princess Tours and the Alaska Railroad Corporation to hash out the plan's basics.

East Woodpecker Road residents and other interested parties told railroad spokesman Tim Thompson they worry about dust, noise and other fallout from the railroad's intent to load and unload passengers at a railroad siding that until recently has only been used as a crew camp and a rail welding yard.

The half-mile-long siding, which sits on 300 undeveloped acres of railroad land ending in riverfront property, became a little less remote in the minds of area residents when heavy equipment this week cut a swath of woodland to lengthen the mile-long road so tour buses can easily reach the tracks.

Chris Thompson, an executive with Princess Tours, said about 10 buses a day will go up and down East Woodpecker Road on Saturdays and Mondays. Every other Wednesday, six to eight buses will serve a smaller train.

Tourists bound for Denali will have a chance to get a ride into Talkeetna to meet fishing tours or other trips they might have booked, or to shop downtown before boarding another bus for their final destination. Chris Thompson said tourists are encouraged to go into town before going to the lodge. Some, he said, simply want to get to their lodge.

Talkeetna Town Council Chair Ruth Wood was one of about 15 people gathered around a group of picnic tables in front of a Main Street coffee house for the Saturday meeting. She told the railroad's Thompson that she is disappointed the railroad didn't let locals in on the new planned use of the road and rail siding.

“You've had all winter to talk to the community,” she said. “A decision should never have been made without talking to the community.”

The railroad, which moved 525,000 passengers last year, is congested, the spokesman said. Using the siding in Talkeetna for a special train will resolve a train delay problem caused by congestion.

Offloading passengers in Sunshine, farther up the Talkeetna Spur Road, is not practical, nor is offloading in Willow or Wasilla. If the railroad did that, he noted, Talkeetna would really lose some tourism.

Tim Thompson said that news of the plan broke when the plan was only about four weeks along.

He apologized for not meeting with the community sooner.

When pressed for a look at what the future holds, the railroad spokesman noted that the railroad owns 300 acres and for now has no plans for permanent structures there. The railroad may, however, build a new section house there, which would add to the road traffic.

“Ten, 20, 30 years down the road, I don't know,” he said.

One area resident who moved to the Wolf Run Subdivision in the late 1970s said he has a pretty good idea what the future for that area holds, and it looks a lot like a new lodge. Gesturing to the buildings surrounding the group, Bill Aratt said he sees the potential of East Woodpecker Road turning into a street lined with businesses like the downtown where the group sat.

“The railroad doesn't care about Talkeetna and certainly not about us living in this area,” Aratt said. “It's all about money, and it's only about money. When somebody tells me it's not about the money, I'm skeptical. I just wish I were wrong more often. The question is not what they plan to do now. The question for us is ‘what is their potential to grow?'”

Longtime Talkeetna resident Roberta Sheldon recalled how she has seen the volume of tourist traffic grow over the decades. The trains, she said, “grow larger and larger every year.”

The town has provided things like restroom facilities and other services for tourists.

“We've taken our hit. I think it's time that Princess and the railroad chip in on the impacts,” she said.

The railroad spokesman said he'd take concerns from that meeting back to railroad officials.

Residents want not just dust control but more control by the railroad on the speeds crew members use when driving down the road to railroad land. Several residents said dangerous driving speeds put pedestrians, including the area's children, at risk.

The railroad will send its chief executive to the Talkeetna Town Council meeting May 7 to meet with the community. - John R. Moses, The Mat Su Valley Frontiersman

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THE DRIVE TO SAVE SCROGGINS SITE

LEBANON, OR -- Even though it looks dilapidated and weather-beaten, the old Scroggins Feed and Seed Warehouse next to the Santiam Travel Depot in Lebanon, Oregon is a landmark worthy of preservation, locals say.

The three-story structure with a jutting tower, now vacant save for pigeons, also houses two wooden refrigerator railroad cars believed to be nearly 100 years old.

A group led by residents Kate Dimon and Heather Clark is now applying for 501(c) 3 status and trying to figure out just what it will take to restore the building and cars.

The effort is complicated by the fact that Linn County owns the building while Union Pacific Railroad owns the land it sits on.

“We don’t know what exactly the building can be used for, but we know it must be preserved.
Someone who comes along after I’m gone will want to know what happened in the 1880s,” said Dimon, an architect by training, who’s previously helped preserve 37 buildings in the western U.S.

The building, which sits on concrete slab foundations, is constructed of 13-by-13 rough hewn fir beams and covered with tongue-and-groove siding. It contains a 1920s seed cleaner, connected by chutes to various seed bins.

Built in 1881, the structure was used as a seed warehouse for more than a century before Linn County took possession through tax foreclosure in 2001.

In 1937, the two wooden Pacific Fruit Express railroad cars were moved into an adjoining structure to refrigerate dressed turkeys, according to contemporary accounts.

The building’s fate recently came into question when the metal roofing panels, peeling and falling off in many places, raised safety concerns among neighbors.

The railroad denied the county access to repair the building, instead demanding the county either enter a lease for $6,000 per year or tear the building down.

Dimon is hoping it doesn’t come to that and has planned a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, to speak with UP officials in person.

Ideally, she said, the railroad would grant permission for the community to restore the old warehouse to its original character to remain as a landmark.

Renovations would likely include removing the exterior structure, added at a later time, which houses the cars. The structure’s handsawed rafters could be used to reconstruct a porch similar to one present in early photos of the building.

Half the original Scroggins Warehouse sign is still painted on a portion of the wall, preserved beneath an add-on roof, and the colors could be duplicated to refinish it, she said.

New exterior siding would be needed in places and the tin sheets nailed onto rafters would need to be replaced by a more permanent roof.

Despite the laundry list of repairs, Dimon said that from her experience the building is in remarkably good shape.

“Some of the old buildings people try to restore are in appalling condition, but this one is just terrific,” she said.

The railroad cars are a separate but parallel issue, Clark said.

Clark, a former Southern Pacific brakeman and conductor, is hoping to find somewhere to store the old cars while they can be refinished.

Made of finely hewn fir, with walls six inches thick, the two “reefers” sit inches from each other and the structural beams of the building around them. Their tight position presents a challenge to getting them out.

The cars were moved over from Albany on flatbed trailers 70 years ago, and Clark is searching for photos anyone may have of the operation, which must have required the trucks to back in across Sherman Street.

“A lot of grease was used to get them in, I’m sure,” she said.

Built in 1910 and 1913 respectively, the two cars are probably some of the best preserved examples in the country of the wooden refrigerators which would later be made obsolete by their steel successors, she said.

The cars retain much of the original iron fittings and hardware.

Efforts to save the cars are intensified by news that the Southern California Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society now wants them for a museum at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona. Chairperson Loren Martens recently contacted the newspaper and the county about their availability.

To help raise money, the Lebanon group will soon sell T-shirts featuring an original photo of the mill. The photo was purchased by former Lebanon Mayor Scott Simpson, who is active in the renovation effort.

The group also is soliciting the assistance of local industries and looking for public input or help of any kind.

“We’d like to see people just come and help,” Dimon said.

The group meets at 19:00 hours every Thursday at 868 South Main St. in downtown Lebanon. - Patrick Lair, The Albany Democrat-Herald, The Corvallis Gazette-Times

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DEVELOPER WANTS STEAM ENGINE TO MAKE PERMANENT STOP IN LECLAIRE

Whether it gets derailed or on track is anyone's guess, but the owner of a 1924 ALCO Grand Trunk Western 8305, 0-8-0, hopes his steam engine can whistle into LeClaire, Iowa.

Michael Mahler, a developer with LeClaire's Great River LC, hopes to bring the steam engine he bought in 2005 from Northwestern Steel in Sterling, Illinois, to the scenic riverfront town and put it on a spur he'd lease from the railroad.

Photo here:

[photos.qconline.com]

Caption reads: Mike Mahler is planning to place a 1924 Great River Alco 080 steam engine along with an Advertising Car used in the Wild West shows along the river front in LeClaire, Iowa. Mike Mahler is also holding a 1885 Springfield rolling block rifle next to an Army issued McClellan saddle and saddle bag. (Gary Krambeck/The Rock Island Argus)

Some flat cars and a caboose could be added to create the look of a train stopped in LeClaire, and the train could be used for retail and museum space, Mr. Mahler said.

"Anything's possible," he said. "It could have a candy store, or even a diner. But, whatever it has would be a wonderful addition to LeClaire and a way to get one of those green signs that bring people in off the interstate. I don't see anything about this that wouldn't complement LeClaire."

However, the railroad said the crossing at Jones Street must be shut down before Mr. Mahler could lease the land and rail space. Therein lies the problem.

City administrator Ed Choate said "that's not real likely to happen," although it's "not an impossibility," even though the city voted a year ago to leave the crossing open.

That vote was a precursor to the town's plans for a $2.5 million face lift to make LeClaire more pedestrian friendly, Mr. Choate said.

Last month, the first of two meetings was held to get input on historical features to be added to the Cody Road Corridor, the section of U.S. 67 that flows through the downtown.

A second meeting is scheduled for April 26 to discuss the renovation project, which includes transitioning slopes and steps to make street and shops more navigable.

Decorative signs will be added, as well as vintage-designed street lamps, waste receptacles and benches.

Mr. Choate said bids for the work already are being solicited, and construction is expected to begin May 7, and be completed by the end of November.

The 2000 census listed LeClaire's population at 2,868 people, and that has since grown to 3,400, Mr. Choate said.

The town built a new fire station in 2001; public works building in 2002; police station in 2003; library in 2004; and city hall in 2005.

Mr. Choate credits the growth to reasonable real estate prices, good schools, and quick accessibility to the Quad-Cities. "You really can't find a better place to live that's only a 10- or 15-minute drive to Bettendorf or Davenport."

Besides antique and gift shops, LeClaire is home to the Iowa side of the "Great River Tug Fest" a yearly event that draws thousands to a tug-of-war across the Mississippi River between LeClaire and Port Byron.

LeClaire also is the boyhood home of Buffalo Bill Cody, and the town recently began restoring the Lone Star Steamer, part of the Buffalo Bill Museum.

Although he doesn't know if Buffalo Bill's Wild West Train Show ever toured LeClaire -- the railroad came to the town in 1899 and the show lasted from about 1885 to 1917 -- Mr. Mahler believes his project would link LeClaire with its railway past.

Mr. Choate said the train proposal should go before the city council in the next few months.

There's already local support. Long-time resident Beverly Mital, 60, is excited about the steam train. "Anything that's historical and fun like that is welcome here," she said.

Rick Reed, LeClaire's Chamber of Commerce president, also is on board. "I think this would be a great idea if (Mr. Mahler and the city) can find an appropriate place for it so it fits into the bigger plan" he said. "I think this could be done, and I love this concept, absolutely love it." - Ruth Longoria, The Rock Island Argus

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TEAM EXPLORES DELTA RAILROAD RECOVERY

Local economic development officials, a Mississippi State University team and railroad owners are working to revive a 92-mile section of tracks linking the Delta and the eastern part of the state.

It has gone through several name changes, but what is today the Columbus and Greenville Railroad, commonly referred to as C&G, was built in the late 1800s to ship cotton and other agricultural products out of the Delta to points in the Southeast. Most of the line was abandoned in 2002 because costly repairs were needed for the 156 bridges and deteriorating track throughout the line's six counties: Leflore, Carroll, Montgomery, Webster, Oktibbeha and Clay.

"When the railroad first made its way through Mississippi, it not only transported goods but indirectly helped establish rural communities near the railroad depots," said Cynthia Wilson, Webster County development council executive director.

When the line first became inactive, the idea for a "rails for trails" tourism line developed. However, after meeting with other economic developers in the six counties and officials with the railroad, Wilson said it became apparent that the best option could be to refurbish the line.

"We also had to establish a regional rail authority to acquire state and federal support in refurbishing the line," Wilson said. "By establishing a regional rail authority and an executive board, we will hopefully secure funding for the rail line."

The economic development council applied for and received a $40,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to initiate an exploratory study of revitalizing the Columbus and Greenville Railroad line.

Wilson, a retired Mississippi State University Extension Service employee, immediately turned to the university for help.

After visiting with Wilson, Virgil Culver, director of the MSU Community Action Team, assembled a group of MSU experts, including personnel from the Industrial Outreach Service and the departments of Political Science and Public Administration and Industrial and Systems Engineering to address the potential of the inactive railway.

"In light of escalating fuel prices, rail is the most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transportation," said Roger Bell, president and chief executive officer for the C&G railway. "Rail transport is also considered an advantage many times when an industry is looking to locate to an area."

The MSU team is evaluating the impact reopening the line would have on recruiting industry to north-central Mississippi by estimating how it would affect freight flow throughout the state.

"Currently, there is not an east-west line north of Jackson," said Bill Martin, Industrial Outreach Service project manager. "The research team will determine what, if any, benefit will be realized in the distribution of goods, including use of the Port of Greenville, the state's largest river port."

The cost to renovate the line is estimated to be almost $40 million. To determine if the benefits will outweigh the cost, the team is evaluating the economic potential to rural counties, including the role a rail line will have in attracting industry, Martin added.

The MSU-led project includes the creation of a freight-flow map for Mississippi to demonstrate how goods move through and around the state.

"The team will evaluate the abandoned line to determine if its reopening would improve the movement of goods considering the other modes of transportation," Martin said. "This includes reviewing the current transportation system that serves Mississippi and the region, including the ports of Mobile, Gulfport, New Orleans, Greenwood and Memphis."

The research team is also conducting informal, one-on-one interviews with industry representatives to learn about methods and cost of freight shipment used by regional industries.

The interviews will determine if and how much cost savings to industries would result from reopening the line. After the study, a market assessment of refurbishing the line will be presented to C&G.

Martin, however, is already optimistic about the potential.

"We see, on this dormant railroad, an opportunity to improve transportation and attract new industry to the state," he said.

If he is right, the sounds of locomotives may return to many small towns in central Mississippi. - Karen Brasher, The Delta Farm Press

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FORMER OKLAHOMA STATE SENATOR LINKED TO TRAIN SALE

Photo here:

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Caption reads: He ascended from the hardscrabble life of an impoverished Pittsburg County coal-mining family to become one of the most indomitable and debatable figures in Oklahoma history. A down-home lawyer who wielded widespread power publicly and behind the scenes, Gene Stipe never forgot his 'Little Dixie' constituents from southeast Oklahoma. He came to the state Capitol at age 21 and quietly left March 11 as a state political icon after a half-century tenure.

GUTHRIE, OK -- Former state Sen. Gene Stipe and a business partner collected $300,000 in state taxpayer money off the sale of seven railroad cars after Stipe arranged for the funding for an excursion train project, The Oklahoman has learned.

Six years later, the train cars sit abandoned on a track near the Guthrie train depot, having never been used for their stated purpose.

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Caption reads: Train cars sit near the depot in Guthrie on Wednesday. State money was used in 2001 to buy the cars from a company owned by Gene Stipe. (Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman)

Two people confirmed they provided information last fall to the FBI about the train sale to the Guthrie Arts and Humanities Council. That indicates the sale may be part of an ongoing federal grand jury investigation involving Stipe.

A central figure said Stipe obtained $150,000 in 2000 through the Oklahoma Historical Society and the remaining $150,000 in 2001 through the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, a quasi-state agency.

Records confirm the money went through those entities.

At the time, Stipe was head of the Senate Transportation Committee and generally considered one of the most powerful men in Oklahoma.

Upon promising money for the train, Stipe "said he'd found a train for us to buy," said Tim Arbaugh, one of two Guthrie residents who led efforts to secure money for the train. Stipe didn't indicate that he owned the train until after his company received the entire $300,000 in state money, Arbaugh said.

"That's when he said, 'Thanks for buying my train,'" Arbaugh said.

Documents obtained by The Oklahoman, including a letter written by Stipe, identify the seller of the train cars as Phipps Enterprises.

That company was owned by Stipe and Steve Phipps, a Pittsburg County businessman. Phipps recently assigned his ownership in the company to his wife.

Phipps Enterprises is at the center of the grand jury investigation, which initially targeted state money that went to a McAlester dog food plant, but now encompasses allegations of widespread political corruption based in southeast Oklahoma.

Former state Rep. Mike Mass recently pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Court documents identify Stipe and former state Reps. Randall Erwin and Jerry Hefner as other targets. All are Democrats.

Stipe resigned from the Senate in 2003. He later pleaded guilty to overseeing a scheme to pump more than $245,000 into Walt Roberts' 1998 congressional campaign. Federal prosecutors now are trying to revoke his probation in that case.

Project now an eyesore

Guthrie city leaders have floated the excursion train idea for at least 15 years as part of a larger plan to restore passenger rail service to an old, unused line running 43 miles, nearly to Enid. Stipe's help in obtaining the money rejuvenated hopes of that idea coming to fruition.

The train bought from Stipe's company included one box car and six passenger cars. They have become such an eyesore that a railroad company plans to destroy them if they aren't moved away from the depot downtown.

"They're a terrible-looking piece of junk," said Kenneth Mitchell, a retired abstractor and train buff who said the FBI approached him seeking information.

Arbaugh acknowledged that, but said the train was in far better condition when the Guthrie Arts and Humanities Council bought it.

The council's chairman is Donald Coffin, a Guthrie restaurant owner and former Democratic legislator.

Coffin acknowledged buying the trains from Phipps Enterprises but said he didn't deal with that company.

"I think it was Tim (Arbaugh)," he said.

Coffin said he didn't know Stipe was a silent owner of the company.

In addition to his role on the arts and humanities council, Arbaugh also is chairman of the Guthrie Transportation Authority. At the time he helped secure the train money, Arbaugh oversaw the abstract division of the state auditor and inspector's office. He was fired from his state job last month after the FBI alleged that he made an illegal $2,000 contribution to Dan Boren's 2004 congressional campaign, using money supplied by Stipe and Phipps.

Money was earmarked

Documents show the Oklahoma Historical Society provided $150,000 to the arts and humanities council for the train in 2000. The records don't indicate which legislator earmarked the money.

A year later, state Sen. Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, earmarked $150,000 in "special project" money for the train.

That money went through the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. Its executive director, Zach Taylor, confirmed that he provided documents concerning the train cars to the FBI. Taylor said he also gave the FBI spreadsheets of special project money that went through his agency.

Former state Rep. Dale Wells, also a Democrat, earmarked another $150,000 in 2001 for a separate train purchased from a Kansas family. Like the other train, it now sits abandoned by the Guthrie depot.

Arbaugh said while Morgan and Wells gave their blessing to the payments, "it probably couldn't have happened if Stipe and Mass hadn't directed it to be done."

Mass was chairman of the powerful House Appropriations and Budget Committee in 2001. Wells said he doesn't recall specifically who asked him to obtain the money. Morgan didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

Arbaugh said he approached Stipe later for more money to restore the trains and help secure the rail track. He said Stipe continued to take his phone calls but obtained no more state money.

Train's value unclear

The train's condition when Phipps Enterprises sold them is open to debate.

Mitchell said Coffin and Arbaugh approached him around 2000 and asked him to appraise some train cars that the arts and humanities council wanted to buy.

Arbaugh disputed that, saying he took Mitchell to see the train in hopes of ending Mitchell's criticism of the project.

Mitchell said he and Arbaugh drove on a rainy Saturday to Wilburton, where one train car was being housed at A-OK Railroad. The remaining cars, Mitchell, said, were "mothballed" near McAlester.

"It poured almost as hard inside (the train car) as it was outside. It had no heat or air, no electrical system," Mitchell said.

Arbaugh said that train car was in far better shape than Mitchell remembers.

A-OK Railroad owner David Donoley said some of the passengers cars were in "immaculate" condition, and had been used to transport Wilburton High School football fans to a game in Hartshorne.

Donoley said he knew at the time that either Stipe or Phipps owned the train cars.

Arbaugh said he knew Phipps Enterprises owned them but didn't learn until much later that Stipe was a silent partner.

The train cars didn't include a locomotive, which would be needed for a proposed excursion train. That would cost several more thousand dollars, Mitchell said.

A letter from Stipe dated Feb. 23, 2000, names Phipps Enterprises as the company that sold the trains to the Guthrie Arts and Humanities Council.

In the letter, Stipe asks the Oklahoma Railroad Association to move the cars to Guthrie and to keep the relocation cost "to a minimum."

Stipe's letter didn't identify himself as an owner of Phipps Enterprises. An FBI affidavit used to obtain a search warrant last month for Stipe's offices alleges Stipe kept his ownership silent to help the company obtain money.

At least six of the seven cars were made before the Great Depression, but "I am told they are quite roadworthy," Stipe's letter states.

The letter mentions Coffin and Arbaugh as the people for the association to contact.

"I believe the entire state will benefit from this tremendous addition to Oklahoma's first Capitol and this important historical center," Stipe wrote. The letter appears to have been faxed either to or from the state auditor and inspector's office.

Extra money sought

It's not clear when the Guthrie Arts and Humanities Council bought the train. The Guthrie City Council agreed in September 1999 to guarantee a $150,000 loan by the Logan County Historical Society for the train's purchase. Coffin also was a member of that entity.

However, City Clerk Wanda Calvert said the resolution never took effect, in part because it was contingent upon the historical society obtaining an extra $450,000 for the train cars.

Nearly eight years later, some city leaders still want the excursion train to be a reality.

In September, the city council passed a resolution urging the Legislature to secure $6.4 million to pay a private operator to run the train.

Coffin identified the proposed operator as Central States Rail. He said he has been dealing with a company official in Nebraska. Central States Rail would supply its own train under the proposal. - Tony Thornton, The Oklahoma City Oklahoman

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TRANSIT NEWS

TRIMING LIGHT-RAIL PLAN BY $200 MILLION WON'T BE EASY

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- The proposed light-rail line linking Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota faces one of its biggest challenges yet as officials prepare to trim $200 million from the price tag.

Up to now, the Central Corridor has promised something for everyone along the route: more transit options, renewal along University Avenue, a welcome new travel choice for University of Minnesota students and an anchor for a new east-metro transit hub at the Union Depot in downtown St. Paul.

But as currently planned, the project is too expensive to qualify for the federal funding critical to turn the rail line into a reality. In order to qualify, the Metropolitan Council must trim the cost to $820 million by early next year by cutting or delaying at least one of three popular options.

The options on the block are: a proposed tunnel through the U campus, a sidewalk-to-sidewalk reconstruction of University Avenue or the Union Depot as the end of the route.

In each case, the Met Council risks disappointing a significant partner in the effort to build the region's second light-rail line, which could be operational by 2012.

"There are very, very tough decisions ahead," said Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter, who serves on the Central Corridor management committee. "This is a huge investment and we want to make sure that it will have the value that we anticipated it would."

Already, Ramsey County is threatening to pull its funding out of the project if the rail line does not extend all the way to the Union Depot in St. Paul. "The system that we have been dreaming up and planning for is one that connects with the Union Depot," Carter said.

Competition for federal funds

Federal rules have changed since the Hiawatha line, which opened in 2004, was built. Now, because competition for federal funding is so fierce, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has adopted a strict cost-benefit index to identify the most viable projects.

The project budget is now $932 million, but the FTA recommends adding $90 million to pay for three-car train platforms and a storage building and to account for inflation. That puts the budget $200 million over what it needs to be, Bell said.

Deciding what to cut won't be easy, especially as the line's regional partners advocate to keep the components of the rail line they view as key.

For example, doing without the tunnel under Washington Avenue at the U could save about $155 million. But it would also put trains on Washington Avenue, which is already crowded with 25,000 vehicles per day, said Bob Baker, executive director of U parking and transportation services.

College students feel invincible and cross the street whenever they want, and more than 3,000 pedestrians cross Washington Avenue at Harvard Street at lunch time, he added.

"If you were a rail operator, could you imagine trying to drive through the bikes, and the buses and the pedestrians at the university?" Baker asked. "Pretty scary thought."

Along University Avenue, business are hoping for a rebuilt street: wide sidewalks, trees, grass, streetlights, bike racks and public art that will spark redevelopment and make it inviting to get off the train to eat or shop. Eliminating an extensive facelift in favor of a limited street reconstruction to accommodate the tracks would save $55 million.

But the Midway Chamber says it would be a mistake.

"The long-term goal is to get a beautiful, unified look out of this," said Lori Fritts, the chamber president. "Nothing has been done for University Avenue for a very, very long time because everyone has been waiting for this."

On the east end of the rail route, in downtown St. Paul, about $72 million could be saved by ending the rail line on 4th Street instead of taking it to the historic Union Depot, which is now a post office.

But with $50 million from Congress, Ramsey County commissioners want the depot to become an east-metro transit hub serving light rail, buses, commuter rail, Amtrak and high-speed trains to Chicago.

Wanted: Downtown loop

Commissioners want trains to go through St. Paul on a one-way downtown loop, proposed by Commissioner Tony Bennett, with stops at the Cathedral of St. Paul and Xcel Energy Center and the concourse level of the depot.

The Met Council has already nixed the loop, which would add an estimated $49 million and add another 12 minutes of travel time. But Ramsey County commissioners have not given up.

"We are paying 50 percent of the capital and 70 percent of the operating [costs] and we want a product that meets our vision -- and that has to be from the depot at the concourse level to Minneapolis," said Commissioner Raphael Ortega.

St. Paul officials back a route that would take the train down two tracks along Cedar Avenue and 4th Street -- into the center of downtown -- and then to a stop at street level in the plaza in front of Union Depot.

"Starting at the depot is very important," to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and improvements along University "are extraordinarily important," his policy director Nancy Homans said. Coleman won't set priorities until he sees cost estimates, Homans said.

"The mayor has gone out of his way to not draw lines in the sand and not say, 'I walk away from the table if I don't get ...,' " she said.

In June, engineers will begin the preliminary design that will provide updated cost estimates for the Met Council to use in its budget decisions.

Arriving at a compromise is critical because St. Paul must not lose its chance for light rail, said Fritts of the Chamber of Commerce. "This is a really important project for the whole east metro. If we are not connected to this system, other lines will be built and they are going to go west and south." - Laurie Blake and Myron Medcalf, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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BUSINESSES AT FAIR PARK GAIN HOPE: OWNERS SEE FEDERAL GRANT AS STEP TOWARD REVITALIZATION

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Fred Conwright cannot count how many empty promises and fruitless studies on revitalizing South Dallas have come his way in the 26 years since he opened his Two Podners restaurant in the shadow of Fair Park.

And in some South Dallas quarters, there is concern that the Dallas City Council's approval earlier this month of a $150,000 federal grant for the planning of an Afro-centric cultural and entertainment district in the neighborhood might have been the beginning of yet another unfulfilled endeavor.

But after Friday's declaration that the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma will keep their annual showdown at the Cotton Bowl through at least 2015, Mr. Conwright believes real change may finally be on the way to South Dallas.

"The announcement solidifies the fact that it's not only promises this time. ... You can get excited that something is being done other than talk," Mr. Conwright said.

Grambling State University and Prairie View A&M University are also expected to agree to keep their annual game at the Cotton Bowl through 2015.

The developments come two months after the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic announced that in 2010 it would leave the only home it has known for the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington. South Dallas residents and business owners said then that the impact from that loss would be minimal.
But they worried about the possibility of losing the other two games and the likelihood that a quieter Fair Park would damage the potential for new economic development.

Now, some say the most recent developments are substantive signs that the people who live just outside the wrought-iron Fair Park gates may finally benefit from their proximity to the historic site.

"Right now you can go down there and -- outside of the Science Place -- you can probably roll cannonballs down the Esplanade," said Mike Scheel, a co-owner of the nearby Amsterdam Bar. "I would love to see the city utilize Fair Park as a good public gathering place."

The council's approval of the cultural-district grant this month followed years of talk among community leaders about the need for a district including entertainment, retail, restaurants and personal-service businesses benefiting South Dallas-area residents. The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Dallas City Council member Leo Chaney, whose district includes South Dallas, has long called for development of an entertainment and retail area along Second Avenue between Fitzhugh Avenue and Scyene Road. He and other community leaders invoke Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, as the model for what they want.

Considered a key element in the rebirth of downtown Memphis, the Beale Street district is a tourist draw that includes restaurants, blues clubs, cafes, art galleries and theaters.

"I'd like to see a vibrant commercial corridor with Afro-centric flavor," Mr. Chaney said.

Lee McKinney, an assistant director in the city's Office of Economic Development, stressed that the planning is in the early stages. But she said that the district probably would have more features than Memphis' Beale Street.

"I think it's year-round entertainment, people living there, retail and commercial space," she said. "So it's not just Beale Street, if you will. It is a development that would provide lots of things."

Already, $50 million in mostly bond-funded Cotton Bowl improvements and the renewed commitment from UT and OU are expected to lead to more stadium events throughout the year. And that would mean more crowds for future businesses to capitalize on.

DART's southeast corridor light-rail extension is scheduled to open four stops, including one in Fair Park, in September 2009, adding incentive for development.

To Mr. Conwright, it doesn't really matter what kinds of businesses come to the area or exactly where they're located, as long as they're family-friendly and open soon.

"There's been study group after study group," he said. "It's time for something to start happening." - Scott Goldstein, The Dallas Morning News

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THE TROLLEYS ARE LONG GONE, BUT AUTO ALTERNATIVES MAKING INROADS

General Motors executives like to say that the fuel-cell car "will take the automobile out of the environmental equation," when really it will only solve the tailpipe problem. Cars will still take up space, create gridlock and drive development decisions.

Many of us have seen old photographs of the comprehensive trolley and railroad lines that used to serve even the smallest American communities, and wondered whether we've really made progress since then. Though the commuter of 1912 lacked an interstate highway system, he or she could walk out the front door, hop a trolley, then connect to an efficient national rail network with 300,000 miles of track.

Our shrunken, financially imperiled Amtrak system is a ghost of the network we tore up in search of modernity and the personal freedom afforded by automobiles (our rail infrastructure now has half as many miles as existed in 1912). But cities are beginning to rebuild what was lost, turning to light-rail systems, fast ferryboats and dedicated bus corridors, among other new approaches.

The American Public Transportation Association is full of relatively happy news:

Fourteen million Americans ride on public transportation each weekday.

Americans took more than 7.8 billion public transportation trips in the first nine months of 2006, up 3 percent from the previous year. Light rail had the highest percentage of growth among all modes of transportation, with an increase of 5.4 percent. Double-digit growth was seen in Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Sacramento. Other big gainers include Buffalo and Houston.

"Even as gas prices declined, more and more people decided to ride public transportation," says APTA President William W. Millar. "This continued increase in transit ridership demonstrates that when people have transportation choices, they use them."

Last January, the APTA released a study that found that transit saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline every year, the equivalent of 108 million cars filling up, almost 300,000 each day. If twice as many Americans had transit choices, we'd save 2.8 billion gallons. Two-worker households that use public transit on a given day save more than $6,200 a year on average.

Moare than 60 American cities now have or plan to build light rail systems. The APTA reports that there are now 651 light rail stations around the country, operated by 26 transit agencies. Commuter rail agencies add another 1,153 stations. Funded proposals will add 131 new stations in coming years.

Despite transit critics who charge that light rail offers "limousine-priced" rides to people who would otherwise have taken the bus, there's ample evidence that transit is cost-effective (especially when the cost of gridlock is taken into account), and ridership is increasing from people who would otherwise have taken their cars.

When the St. Louis light rail system opened in 1993, according to the Milwaukee Journal, not only did the number of passengers far exceed expectations, but bus ridership also increased 20 percent. In Toronto, Canada, transit carries 77 percent of all downtown-bound commuters during rush hours. In Portland, Oregon, the Tri-Met light rail system eliminates 187,000 car trips every day, or 58 million per year.

The Federal Transit Administration reports that Americans lose more than 1.6 million hours a day stuck in traffic. Without transit, the nation's $40 billion in annual traffic congestion losses would be $15 billion higher.

Long-distance trains, so-called "heavy rail," are also making a comeback, despite setbacks. Amtrak as a whole has lost about $25 billion since it was created in 1971, a staggering sum until you consider the $40 billion annually spent on highways. States are banding together in high-speed train "compacts" designed to provide ultra-fast and competitive rail service for such regions as the Midwest, Florida, the Northwest and California.

The model is Amtrak's Acela train between Boston and Washington, DC, which travels at speeds of up to 150 mph. That's slower than European trains, but it's fast enough to be competitive with flying, especially when including the time consumed in getting to airports and checking through new security procedures.

Biking is also gaining in popularity, for health, for its environmental benefits and to eliminate auto-related costs. Owning a car for a year can cost more than $7,000. According to the League of American Bicyclists, operating a bicycle for a year weighs in at $120. The National Personal Transportation Survey found that approximately 40 percent of all trips are less than two miles in length -- which represents a 10-minute bike ride or a 30-minute walk. Fifty-four percent of all commuters live within 10 miles of their worksites -- making their commute time by bike or car just about the same.

Employers also benefit, because studies show that people who bike to work are more productive and take less time off for illness. Bikers also cut down on an employer's need to subsidize employee parking.

Our transportation choices obviously have a major impact on the environment, so what can we do to lessen our impact on the planet and reduce our dependence on foreign oil? If we could prepare for the coming hydrogen-based energy economy by promoting interim clean-car technologies and a national public transportation network, we'd certainly be making major progress.

The Europeans and South Americans are far ahead of the car-dependent U.S. in taking back the streets. In the U.S., anti-car activism is largely restricted to bicycle advocacy, with groups such as Critical Mass and Transportation Alternatives occasionally blocking traffic and demonstrating for better bike access.

European car-free zones have become very successful. Sixty cities have declared that they're going to make their centers car-free. In some places, such as Athens or Singapore, because of pollution problems, you can drive only every other day (license plates ending in an odd number one day, even the next), and London now is charging cars a hefty fee to enter the city center. In Copenhagen, Denmark, 30 to 40 percent of commuters get to work by bicycle.

Although vehicle miles traveled and the number of cars in the world grows every day, some very green shoots are starting to show themselves through the concrete. - Commentary, Jim Motavalli, The Hartford (CT) Courant (Jim Motavalli of Fairfield is the editor of E/The Environmental Magazine).

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