I supose it’s a form of intimidation.  I drive a minivan.  The perpetrators I’ve managed to glimpse are young men suffering, it would seem, from a surfeit of testosterone, who may think I am, in their opinion, a mere female.  But, in fact I am just a middle aged man who does not want to own the road, just use it to get from point A to point B, without having to run the gauntlet, especially in the right hand lane.

You see these young buffoons in traffic more often around nine o’clock on Friday and Saturday evenings when daddy lets them borrow the car.   They travel in packs of four and five, way too fast, weaving all over the road in a form of one-up-manship that will lead, quite likely, to disaster.  What is of concern to me is that they are spreading their lunacy around the clock.

Hey, all I want is to get to work on time.  I drive for maximum MPG not MPH.  There are plenty of other lanes for these chumps to display their machismo, about which I care little except for its potential hazards for me.  Thinning the herd is quite acceptable to me providing innocent bystanders don’t have to go along for the ride.  The biggest source of automobile traffic deaths is one car accidents by cars driven by young males.  I’m OK with this providing they keep to the tradition of being stupid on their own time.  But not on mine.

It's all his fault!

It’s not like there hasn’t been anything to talk about. The 281/1604 interchange started construction earlier this year amid some very interesting legal proceedings. Work also started on the superstreet out on Loop 1604 as well as a variety of other smaller projects. The Legislative session came and went with no progress on transportation funding. And a certain toll road opponent has been in the news a few times lately reminding us that there still needs to be a contrasting narrative.

But the past seven months has been crazy for me. I started the year with a brand new baby boy, my wife’s and my second joy. Daddy-duty has kept me quite busy as did several unusually consuming projects at my day job. On top of that, the general lassitude that comes with now being 40 kicked-in, all of which combined to relegate my longtime enjoyment of all things transportation-related—including writing this blog—to the back burner for a while. But things have slackened lately, meaning that I can hopefully get back to blogging about local transportation issues and updating my website, which had also gone dormant for the first half of this year. I probably won’t be as prolific as I used to be, but I’m aiming not to go seven months between posts!

So if you’re still out there, thanks for sticking with us. I’m in touch with my co-bloggers Patrick and Hugh and hopefully they’ll be back in the mix here soon as well.

Cheers,
–Brian

One year ago, almost to the day, I posted here defending the TxDOT $1 billion “accounting error” that toll opponents, gubernatorial candidates, and other TxDOT-haters were using to justify their anti-TxDOT rhetoric.  In it, I noted that if people would just take a few minutes to understand what happened, they would realize that the “error” was in reality quite harmless, easy to make, and, most importantly, that no money had actually been lost. 

Well, lo-and-behold, the TxDOT Restructure Council’s recent final report with recommendations on how to improve that agency included a footnote about the error and guess what– it completely validated my position.  From the Ft. Worth Star:

And, the report included a miscellaneous note about the 2007 fiasco involving a $1.1 billion “accounting error” that briefly led to a statewide shut down of road work.

The report concluded that in fact there was no actual accounting error — and the department didn’t actually lose $1.1 billion, as many critics have alleged. Instead, the department was in effect a victim of its own dissemination of inaccurate information.

In September 2007, the report noted, a memo was sent to all district engineers regarding the next year’s letting schedule. The memo informed them that $4.1 billion would be available for construction projects, but that figure was inaccurate because it included $600 million in bond funding that had been double-counted internally, and $500 million from the Texas Mobility Fund that wasn’t available.

Steps were quickly taken to correct the mistake and prevent it in the future, the report noted.

The full report is available here:
http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/restructure/report_010511.pdf

The discussion of the accounting error is on page 55 of the report.

What effect do you think this will have, if any?

Maggie and yours truly at her retirement shindig

You’ve probably seen Maggie Rios on the local news talking about road construction, lane closures, and the like, but you won’t see her on TV anymore– at least not as a TxDOT spokesperson.  That’s because after 30 years of toiling at the state’s highway agency, Maggie has decided it’s time to give up the limelight and retire.  Now she’s off to do what most pensioners look forward to doing: spending ample time with her grandkids and husband and just plain relaxing.

I’ve known Maggie for almost two decades now, going back to when she was an assistant to David Otwell, the agency’s local public information officer back in the late ’80s and early ’90s.  She is a wonderfully kind person and a consummate professional who always strove to be the best liaison and ombudsman possible between TxDOT’s San Antonio district office and John Q. Citizen, an often challenging proposition.  She has provided immeasurable assistance to me over the years in the form of numerous documents, answers to countless questions, and the fielding of a number of complaints and suggestions (yes, even I complain to TxDOT once and a while).  Along the way, she has become a good friend.

As such, it was an honor and privilege for me to be able to attend her retirement ceremony a few weeks ago, during which she received a proclamation from the Legislature thanking her for her many years of service, as well as a flag that had been flown over the state capitol in her honor.  Additionally, she received a nice plaque from TxDOT and a wonderful gift from her co-workers.  It was obvious that she will be greatly missed.

Enjoy your retirement Maggie!

UP at TTM

I am delighted to be able to be able to share a positive story about the Union Pacific railroad, an organization which rarely gets much in the way of good press in these parts.  Today the UP came to the rescue at the Texas Transportation Museum here in San Antonio like knights in shining armor.

 Our 1954 Baldwin diesel electric locomotive was suffering from an intractable electrical problem.  The diesel engine was running just fine but somehow the electrical power it was generating was not reaching the electric motors on each of its four axles.  (You could say that the railroads have been using hybrid technology for over seventy years and the automobile industry is only just now catching up if you didn’t know that there actually were hybrids at the very first car show held in New York in 1900.)  Anyhoo, like many electrical system gremlins, this one needed a professional to both find and then fix it.  Our guys, all volunteers, as good as they are, just couldn’t trace the exact point of dysfunction.

 The Texas Transportation Museum is lucky to enjoy a very good relationship with the Union Pacific.  Following the arrival of Brian Gorton in 2005, the UP has been supportive of the museum’s endeavors in a number of significant ways, including the donation of almost half a mile’s worth of “gently” used railroad ties a few years ago.  When our almost sixty year old locomotive needs professional help, when the problem is beyond our amateur skills and facilities, the UP has been kind enough to send over a staff member or two who have yet to fail to get the “4035, an ex-army switcher, back in business.

 What made today a little unusual was that the folks we normally call were unavailable for one reason or another.  So museum curator Jared Davis decided to call the main UP HQ in Omaha, Nebraska.  After a little bit of explaining he was forwarded to staff here in San Antonio.  Before long Robert arrived and began doing his thing.  If you think finding a discontinuity in an automobile is tough, just try doing it on a make and model of a locomotive with which you are totally unfamiliar, one that came out in your grandfather’s time.  So it took a while, over an hour, but, by golly, the job got done.  The problem was in the electrical cabinet within the cab.  It looked just fine, but that’s the thing with electrical connections: the problem can be right before your eyes but totally invisible at the same time.

 So, even though it was midday on a hot Saturday, the Union Pacific came though for us, once again, in spades, just in time for an influx of afternoon visitors.  It was a good day, all in all.  Work to restore the exterior of our burnt out party caboose is almost complete.  Much needed yard work at the garden railroad was done.  A little bit of road maintenance too, to take out a bad bump experienced during the first fire truck ride of the day.  There were around fourteen volunteers all told, and every part of the museum was up and running.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Here is a link to a set of snaps taken at the recent fourth annual Ford Model T Show here in San Antonio.  It is a joint project with the local Model T club, the “T Fords of Texas,“ and sponsored by the Red McCombs Automotive group.

http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/WE.htm

 It was during this event that I arrived at the surprisingly conclusion that all  Ts are divas.  That’s why they are still here.  Someone was just too crazy about each one to let it go.  So far this year I have had the pleasure of touring both Medina and Caldwell Counties in this persnickety old machines and I fully understand the devotion.  Now all I have to do is get the one I am looking after for future generations to run right!  Having said that she did come through in spades during the Flambeau Parade, so she makes all the effort worthwhile!

            Even in the desert, I was spoiled rotten.  Not only did Anton magnanimously drive most of the time during our explorations of the vast wilderness, so I could take in all the glories of the area’s varied terrains and peaks, he is also, of all things, an avid outdoor cook, so much so he is a busy member of the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society.  Suffice it to say, we ate well!

            Exactly what I brought to the party is a pertinant question.  A good knowledge of the transportation history of the area, such as the first, failed, attempt by the Texas Rangers, under the leadership of Jack Hayes, to reach El Paso from San Antonio in 1847.  They got as far as, you might possibly guess, Big Bend.  Seeing the area up close for the first time you could certainly understand their decision, forced upon them by lack of provisions and water, to turn around.  A smaller army expedition finally made it in 1849 which led, inexorably to the establishment of a ten fort network to safeguard future travelers and settlers and, in 1850, the largest wagon train in US history, which set out to populate El Paso.

            One of the many, many wonderful stops we made along the way was to Fort Davis, named after, surprisingly, Jefferson Davis, of some repute, but who was then Secretary of War at the Federal level.  Though I have read much about such establishments, it was an eye opener indeed to actually visit one.  The visitor center and gift shop is in one of the old enlisted men’s barracks, a building which was in severely dilapidated condition in 1961 when the National Park Service was given responsibility for the old fort, which never actually had a barricade wall of any kind around it, even of wood.

            I had only been west of Kerville on IH 10 once before, twenty years ago in October, on a road trip from San Antonio to San Francisco via Los Angeles with the wonderful person to whom I have the good fortune to be still married.  When I worked for the Union Pacific in 2003 as a crew driver, I don’t think I even went as far as Del Rio on HWY 90 more than twice.  There is a midway point – I forget the name of the town – where I would meet a van based in Del Rio to swap east and west bound crews but even then it was rare to go that far.

               Actually, and I don’t know why I almost forgot, both Anton and I went to a ranch south of Ozona in Val Verde County just one week earlier, to retrieve a 1929 Dodge Victory Six four door sedan that had been sitting in a barn since 1957.  With its flat tires, it took almst two hours to load the remains on a trailer, and the rubber roof blew away during its first time ever on a freeway – IH 10 was not complted in this area until the mid 1970s.  Maybe heading west could be becoming a habit.

            The park itself lives up to its dramatic billing.  Though this is not the peak visitor season, which is the spring, there were a good number of visitors, though never to the point of feeling in any way crowded.  The mountain ranges and the Rio Grande are something that every Texan should see up close and personal at least once in his or her lifetime.  And, of course, you cannot do it all in one visit, so a repeat visit at a cooler time is something I contemplate with enthusiasm.  To sit in the Hot Springs immediately beside the river on a cool evening would just about make the entire 1,350 mile round trip worthwhile in and of itself.

            A better vehicle for going off road  than a Dodge Caravan would be wonderful as well, providing it could match the 24.8 MPG we achieved over the four days.  There are Jeep Tours to be had from an outfit in Study Butte but these were fully booked when we were there, so booking in advance would be a good idea.

            I can neither confirm nor deny if either of us happened to wade a little too far over the Rio Not So Grande and end up in Mexico.  However I can say, as a twenty year resident, that the USA, and Texas, in all its multi-faceted glory, still look wonderful to this furr’ner.

I suspect such insanity creeps up on you.  You try something once in a relatively safe environment and then the foolishness takes on a life of its own.  I dare say I am not a paragon of virtue, either.  Anyhoo, what kind of witless driving are you seeing and what do you think is going through the minds of the perpetrators?

2011 Audi R8

MSN has had fun giving us the show’s 10 most notable unveils, and the 10 sexiest rides — i.e., to your right is a glimpse of the Audi R8 Spyder (go ahead, click the glitz for a full view).

“Give us sports cars and make them sexy as hell,” MSN’s Matthew de Paula declared. “We want 10-mile-per-gallon Lamborghini Gallardos and 510-horsepower Aston Martins all the way.”

Closer to ground level, Consumer Reports plodded forward to give us the New York standouts. Cars.com patiently poked and prodded the show’s winners and losers.

It’s a lot to digest, sort of like trying to eat your way into a bargain at an all-you-can eat buffet.

I guess that’s why my thoughts keep drifting back to a more meat-and-potatoes Top Picks announced just before the noise revved up in New York. Using affordability, comfort and safety as criteria, AAA selected the best cars to commute to work in.

And topping AAA’s list is the …

2010 Honda Insight

Yeah, how’s that for a splash of vanilla?

Two of the other nine commuter workhorses on the list are also Hondas — the Civic and Accord, of which two older models sit in my driveway every night. 

My sandy-brown 2000 Accord isn’t sexy by a long shot, but it’s the best car I’ve ever owned, beating out makes by Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler and Oldsmobile, even — I almost hate to say — my beloved 1968 Volkswagen Beetle.

So, for predictably practical consumers, here’s AAA’s Top Picks of cars that balance gas mileage with just enough leg room.

1. Honda Insight
2. Ford Fusion
3. Volkswagen Jetta TDI
4. Hyundai Elantra
5. Subaru Legacy/Outback
6. Honda Civic
7. Chevrolet Malibu
8. Honda Accord
9. Mazda3