PE.com - Commuting Blog

Despite a drop in the amount of imported goods that entered the country through the port of Long Beach in 2007, port traffic remained roughly the same for the year, thanks to an increase in exports, port officials say.

That's a big change from past years, when soaring imports from Asia have fueled huge growth at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and increased congestion on the freeways and at railroad crossings throughout the Inland area.

The increase in exports is good news for the ports because it means activity is roughly the same, despite economic ills that set in during the latter part of 2007. But is also means that even a drop in imports did not translate into any less congestion for drivers trying to navigate the same roads as truckers and get across railroad crossings flooded with more and more trains.

The number of metal containers moving through the ports rose about 0.3 percent in 2007, despite a 0.4 percent decrease in imported containers. That decrease in imports was more than offset by a 22 percent increase in exports, mainly for raw materials produced in the U.S. for use in manufacturing plants overseas.

Part of the reason for the increased exports, economists say, is that the weak U.S. dollar has made American products more economically appealing to overseas buyers. Either way, don't hold your breath waiting for a smoother commute in 2008.

Posted by Phil Pitchford at 10:52 AM, January 17
Comments: Add/View (0)
Permalink

Like most commuters, you probably recoiled in horror at the idea that the federal gasoline tax could be raised by as much as 40 cents per gallon over a five-year period to stabilize the failing national Highway Trust Fund.

But it gets even better. Federal Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, a member of the 12- member commission that studied ways to revamp the transportation funding process, says the devil is actually in the details.

In addition to the five annual increases to the gasoline tax called for in the commission's report, the group also called for indexing the federal gas tax to account for inflation. This is potentially an even bigger deal, since the federal gas tax has not been raised in 15 years and, as we know, inflation tends to do that for you every year.

How's an extra 91 cents per gallon sound? That's Peters' estimation of how the inflationary index would drive up the gas tax during the next 20 years. Granted, we ostensibly would get some benefit through improved roads -- or would we? -- but that would drive the price of gas well over the $4 mark and well on its way to $5 a gallon.

That could be why Peters was one of three members of the commission who declined to sign the report released yesterday. Then again, Peters is an advocate of solving gridlock through another fundraising tool loathed by many commuters -- toll lanes.

Some days it just doesn't pay to back the car out of the driveway . . .

Posted by Phil Pitchford at 9:40 AM, January 16
Comments: Add/View (1)
Permalink

Corona is the first Inland city to take a position on the proposed extension of Highway 241, the toll road in south Orange County. The City Council voted unanimously to support the idea, which has been opposed by some environmentalists.

The 16-mile extension of the 241 between Rancho Santa Margarita and Interstate 5 at Camp Pendleton is designed to relieve traffic on heavily-congested Interstate 5. The California Coastal Commission is expected to vote on the project at a meeting next month in San Diego.

Posted by Phil Pitchford at 8:32 AM, January 09
Comments: Add/View (0)
Permalink

Nice to know the Inland area isn't the only region trying to figure out the cost/benefit ratio associated with being a major recipient of container cargo imported at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The same exercise apparently is underway in Arizona as well.

Like Riverside and San Bernardino counties, only less so, Arizona is on the major trade route between the ports and the rest of the country, as noted in this story in The Arizona Republic. Many of the pros (jobs, development, economic vitality) and cons (air quality, rail congestion, freeway traffic) seen here are showing up in Arizona as well.

Posted by Phil Pitchford at 7:55 AM, January 08
Comments: Add/View (1)
Permalink

News out of Detroit is that General Motors is claiming that cars will drive themselves within a decade. GM officials were quoted recently as saying most of the technology already exists, including motion sensors and satellite mapping. We've already got cars that parallel park themselves, so I guess this is the next step.

Maybe I'm a Luddite, but is this really a good idea? Can you imagine driving down the 91 freeway secure in the knowledge that NOBODY IS DRIVING ALL THESE OTHER CARS.

Then again, maybe that's just the ticket, given all the crazy driving that goes on every day. A Stanford professor, while skeptical that driverless cars will be available by 2018, points out that human error is the cause of about 95 percent of the 42,000 traffic fatalities that occur each year in the U.S.

Posted by Phil Pitchford at 9:31 AM, January 07
Comments: Add/View (3)
Permalink

The long wait for additional lanes on Highway 60 between Rubidoux and Ontario appears to be almost over.

Crews were out this morning working on the striping necessary to complete the carpool lanes on either side of the freeway. The eastbound carpool lane has been mostly available for a few weeks now, although work remained to tie that new chunk of carpool lane to the existing one just west of Interstate 15.

Final work on the westbound side got delayed by a Caltrans policy that calls for no lane closures during the holidays. That lane looks mostly, but not completely, ready at this point, although that did not stop a few drivers from jumping in this morning.

Once the work is completed, carpoolers will have continuous access to carpool lanes between the Inland area and Highway 57 in Los Angeles County.

Posted by Phil Pitchford at 10:42 AM, January 03
Comments: Add/View (0)
Permalink

Hey, I'm back from a few days off and trying to catch up with stuff on the transportation beat.

As you may be aware, Caltrans has opened the sweeping flyover ramps built as part of the revamp of the 60/91/215 interchange in north Riverside. In a nutshell, one ramp makes it a whole lot easier to transition from the westbound 60/northbound 215 to the westbound 91. The other ramp affects drivers moving from the southbound 215 to the eastbound 60/southbound 215.

It's a quantum shift forward in terms of being able to negotiate that interchange without being nearly sideswiped by an 18-wheeler. The old cloverleaf design was quite an innovation when it was conceived back when cars had tailfins. But it's been a mess for years and the growth of Moreno Valley and other cities to the south and east have made it much worse.

So, what's the new solution like from a driving standpoint? Well, I'm not sure I've ever spent a full minute on a transition ramp before without being stuck in traffic. Yet, that's what you get when driving from, say, Moreno Valley to downtown Riverside.

You get on the ramp and start driving. And you keep driving. And then you drive some more and, voila, you're in downtown Riverside. It's a weird feeling being on a transition road that long. Driving the other ramp on a trip from, say, Colton to UC Riverside offers the same experience, just not as long.

One final word: the views up there are pretty spectacular, especially this time of year when the air is pretty clear. But if you want to avail yourself, finds somebody else to drive. When I took a look, a fellow motorist nearly drifted into my lane while staring out the window.

Posted by Phil Pitchford at 10:58 AM, January 02
Comments: Add/View (0)
Permalink