• Aviation Safety: Better Data and Targeted FAA Efforts Needed to Identify and Address Safety Issues of Small Air Cargo Carriers. GAO-09-614, June 24, 2009 (55 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-614
• Highway Trust Fund: Options for Improving Sustainability and Mechanisms to Manage Solvency. GAO-09-845T, June 25, 2009 (14 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-845T
• International Aviation: Federal Efforts Help Address Safety Challenges in Africa, but Could Benefit from Reassessment and Better Coordination. GAO-09-498, June 16, 2009 (38 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-498
• Public Transportation: New Starts Program Challenges and Preliminary Observations on Expediting Project Development. GAO-09-763T, June 3, 2009 (16 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-763T
• Recovery Act: The Department of Transportation Followed Key Federal Requirements in Developing Selection Criteria for Its Supplemental Discretionary Grants Program. GAO-09-785R, June 30, 2009 (7 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-785R

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Home Screen RATP Apps	Welcome Screen RATP Apps
RATP Clickable Network Map	RATP Clickable Network Map: itinerary planning

RATP Clickable Network Map: itinerary confirmation	Itinerary Search
Itinerary Results	Itinerary Results: Options
Localisation using iPhone’s GPS	Traffic Information by Type
Traffic Information by Transport Mode	Traffic Information Details
Timetables Main Screen	Timetables: Buses (example)
Timetables: Search of a Specific Route	Timetables: Selecting Direction
Timetables: Selecting Departure Stop	Timetables: Display Time of the Next Buses

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• Aviation Security: TSA Has Completed Key Activities Associated with Implementing Secure Flight, but Additional Actions Are Needed to Mitigate Risks. GAO-09-292, May 13, 2009 (62 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-292
• Federal Transit Administration: Progress and Challenges in Implementing and Evaluating the Job Access and Reverse Commute Program. GAO-09-496, May 21, 2009 (52 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-496
• Freight Rail Security: Actions Have Been Taken to Enhance Security, but the Federal Strategy Can Be Strengthened and Security Efforts Better Monitored. GAO-09-243, April 21, 2009 (123 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-243
• Motor Carrier Safety: Commercial Vehicle Registration Program Has Kept Unsafe Carriers from Operating, but Effectiveness Is Difficult to Measure. GAO-09-495, May 12, 2009 (37 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-495
• Responses to Questions for the Record: March 18, 2009, Hearing on ATC Modernization: Near-Term Achievable Goals. GAO-09-718R, May 20, 2009 (14 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-718R

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The Jury of Globe Forum (www.globeforum.com) has selected 100 companies that offer the most exciting sustainable innovations and that are most likely to succeed, from more than 500 candidates from 16 countries. One of the companies selected is the Swedish developer of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems Beamways AB. Being a part of the Sustainable Innovators 100 will enable Beamways to market its concept to investors and decision makers from all corners of the world, many of whom act outside the specialist networks where the Beamways concept is already well established.

Beamways CEO, Mr. Bengt Gustafsson, welcomes this opportunity. “We are proud to be selected”, he says and continues, “PRT systems are after many years as a technology playground with fanciful demonstration projects finally emerging as a serious tool to help solve the traffic problems of our cities. Our technology addresses the individual needs for flexibility in time and efficient routing while also improving the environment and public safety. We can also show that PRT can be made financially efficient for all parties in competition with other public transport systems and individual automobile traffic.”

Gustav Gorecki of the Globe Forum organization says: “Beamways is exactly the type of company we want to help develop. Early, competent and with a concept that is both perfectly in line with the targets of our organization as well as making sense businesswise.”

About Beamways

Beamways AB is a privately owned company based in Linköping, Sweden. The Beamways concept for Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) system has been developed over two years.

Beamways is in a two year period where it will conduct a number of studies to verify that the basic concepts works. Patents for the main ideas will also be obtained. After this period further capital will be needed to prove the concept with a complete test track.

In parallel with this technical development project Beamways also engages in political lobbying activities to promote PRT, participates in PRT studies and research and conducts marketing activities.

More information is available on our home page www.beamways.com.

About Globe Forum

The annual business conference and networking event Business Innovation for Sustainable Growth, is where entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, investors and government from different countries and regions are invited to create relations and develop sustainable business.

Globe Forum brings together a large number of different interested parties to create the leading marketplace for innovation and business development by turning a vision of the future into market opportunities and by promoting sustainable innovations between our focus markets.

www.globeforum.com

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However, after a couple of months of operation, the viability of the system has been proven endangered by the cost of maintenance… Around 1,500 bikes are repaired every day and these costs are definitely not compensated by user’s fares. According to internal sources, every bike wocould cost around €2,500 to JCDecaux, whereas only €1,000 were included in the business plan and budget.

As of today, the estimates are impressive: up to 11,600 bikes vandalized, 7,800 bikes that disappeared, and more than 3,200 complaints filed by JCDecaux for theft or vandalization. These alarming figures should however be put aside the large number of daily users (78,000 in average) and the number of kilometers travelled per bike per year (estimated at 10,000 km/year!). The quality of bikes even if necessary for users to enjoy a pleasant ride is not only a matter of maintenance and people need to be conscious they have to care about the vehicle they use, as any other mean of public transportation, as if it was a train, a bus, or a subway…

References

• Article: Vandalisme : Vélib’, un service pour tous, à chacun d’en prendre soin !, Velib Newsletter : here
• Article: Le Vélib’, si populaire mais si cher, lefigaro.fr, June 24, 2008: here

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The LKW-Maut is the German global toll scheme applied to goods trucks over 12 tons since January 1, 2005. Haulers are charged for the distance they run on German motorways. The tax also depends on the number of axles and the CO2 emission category of the vehicle. Toll Collect is the organisation in charge of monitoring the whole scheme and collecting the toll.

Each driver has an on-board unit (OBU) installed in the truck. These electronic devices are paid by German Government and make possible to know the exact mileage made by every truck on German motorways.

When the system was launched, the average amount of the toll was €0.12/km. After 4 years of operation, Toll Collect deems the scheme a success since distances run by trucks with higher emissions rate had significantly decreased. Apparently, the cumulated mileage of trucks from S0, S1 and S2 pollutants rejection categories compared to total mileage has gone down from 48% in 2005 to 8% in November 2008.

A meaningful action to protest

Since January 1, 2009, toll fares have been increased. Basically, 4 axles and more vehicles will be charged between €0.155/km if they are Euro V and €0.288/km if Euro 0 and Euro I. This increase – supposed to generate about €1 billion in 2009 for the German Ministry for Transport (Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Sdadtentwiclung) -, was all the same hard to accept that it occurred as the freight sector is particularly impacted by the worldwide economic slowdown.

The BGL (Bundesverband Güterkraftverkehr Logistik und Entsorgung), an important workers organisation which is clearly against it, promotes initiatives allowing haulers to display their dissatisfaction about it. Here are pictures available on their website ! They can be found at the rear doors of some trucks in Germany and are also distributed as flyers.

Approximate translations are: “Billions for banks, euthanasia for transport companies” and “Wicked, Angela, since your toll increase, my daddy has lots of spare time for me during the day“.

Is this a glimpse of what we will see in France in a couple of years…?

As a reminder, France will implement a very similar scheme to the LKW Maut’s by 2012, and even earlier as a test in the Alsace region. Shall French politicians already prepare for this kind of actions in the future, then?

References

• website: Bundesverband Güterkraftverkehr Logistik und Entsorgung (BGL) here
• website: German Ministry for Transport (Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Sdadtentwiclung) here
• website: LKW-Maut fare structure here
• press release: Toll Collect, Quatre ans de péage poids lourds en Allemagne, 12/19/2008 here
• article: Financer aujourd’hui les infrastructures de demain, Transport Expertise, 04/07/2008 here

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• Coast Guard: Observations on Changes to Management and Oversight of the Deepwater Program. GAO-09-462T, March 24, 2009 (8 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-462T
• Commuter Rail: Many Factors Influence Liability and Indemnity Provisions, and Options Exist to Facilitate Negotiations. GAO-09-282, February 24, 2009 (66 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-282
• High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing Financial and Other Challenges and Establishing a Clear Federal Role. GAO-09-317, March 19, 2009 (102 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-317
• Highway Infrastructure: Federal Efforts to Strengthen Security Should Be Better Coordinated and Targeted on the Nation’s Most Critical Highway Infrastructure. GAO-09-57, January 30, 2009 (79 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-57
• Highway Trust Fund: Improved Solvency Mechanisms and Communication Needed to Help Avoid Shortfalls in the Highway Account. GAO-09-316, February 6, 2009 (23 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-316
  
• Next Generation Air Transportation System: Issues Associated with Midterm Implementation of Capabilities and Full System Transformation. GAO-09-481T, March 25, 2009 (20 pages). 
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-481T
• Next Generation Air Transportation System: Status of Transformation and Issues Associated with Midterm Implementation of Capabilities. GAO-09-479T, March 18, 2009 (21 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-479T
• Responses to Questions for the Record: February 11, 2009, Hearing on the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009. GAO-09-467R, March 10, 2009 (8 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-467R
• Transportation Programs: Challenges Facing the Department of Transportation and Congress. GAO-09-435T, March 10, 2009 (22 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-435T
• Urban Partnership Agreements: Congestion Relief Initiative Holds Promise; Some Improvements Needed in Selection Process. GAO-09-154, March 25, 2009 (93 pages).
  http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-09-154

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Dominique Bussereau, French State Secretary in charge of transport, and Magdalena Alvarez Arza, Spanish Ministry for transport infrastructure signed up a roadmap aiming at developing motorways of the sea services between both countries. They agreed on investing €30 million over a 5-years period. Nevertheless, if the maritime services to be put in place will benefit from State aids (€30 million), no financial supports will be allocated to transport providers who will use the ad hoc services. In order to be granted with European aids, operators will have to participate to the 2009 Marco Polo call for proposals which ends ont the May 8, 2009.

The services are expected to be in operation by late 2009. Following feedbacks from invitations to tender launched by the French-Spanish intergovernmental commission , two proposals were accepted: the Acciona Trasmediterránea and Grimaldi- Louis Dreyfus Armateurs services.

The Acciona Trasmediterránea service will operate two maritime lines: Nantes-Saint-Nazaire-Vigo (28 hours) and Le Havre-Vigo (36 hours). From 2010, another service will connect Le Havre, Vigo and Algeciras. On a weekly basis, the operator proposes 4 departures from French ports and will make them 7 in the mid-term. It is to note that these services are designed for trailers only.

The Grimaldi- Louis Dreyfus Armateurs service will provide a service between Nantes-Saint-Nazaire-Gijón available to accompanied transport. Four departures per week are planned (7 in the mid-term) are planned and the distance will be covered in 14 hours.

The creation of these services is expected to induce a modal shift of 100,000 trucks per annum. This objective, if so achieved, will not only address environmental issues but also significantly reduce road congestion on a corridor where international traffics are substantial. According to Magdalena Alvarez Arza, the economic impact of road congestion was 0.5% of GDP in 2001 and even reach 1% nowadays. Traffics going through the Pyrenees are however much higher than the expected modal shift. About 20,000 trucks per day cross over the Pyrenees via the two main alternatives, Perthus and Biriatou – although it decreased by roughly 5% in 2008 compared to 2007.

Even a couple of haulers deem this service pertinent, since the 14 hours long journey between Nantes-Saint-Nazaire and Gijón allow drivers to have their legal break on board. What’s more, 14 hours is also quite competitive with road’s travel times.

Why the Toulon-Civitavechia line closed down…

This announcement was made few weeks after the only Mediterranean motorways of the sea service was stopped. Reason put forward by the operator (GLD Lines, a combination of Grimaldi and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs groups) was the economic downturn that particularly affected the automotive industry. The drop in demand of vehicles to be carried led the operator to put an end to the service in February, 2009. For the first year of the maritime line (2005), 5,000 trucks were boarded. In 2006, they were 10,000 becoming 16,000 in 2007. However, with a decreasing demand and a price set to €330 per truck, GLD Lines did not manage to make profits in 4 years of operation. Overall, the service experienced a loss of €16 million. Yet, €4 million distinct financial supports from Europe and France : €2 million coming from the French State and €2 million from the Marco Polo programme (contrary to previously-made commitments, Italy apparently never paid the €100 per truck grant under the Eco-Bonus scheme intended to car-carriers).

Rolling road as a complement to motorways of the sea on western France

Besides, French Ministry recently announced the creation of a rolling road on western France. This new service is to be in operation by late 2011 and will connect Lille and Paris to Bayonne (South-West of France). Likewise the motorways of the sea schemes, this intermodal solution is expected to take trucks off the road on a corridor where international traffics are considerable. Invitation to tender will be soon released. Parameters of the service still remain to be set, but by 2020 the service is expected to propose about 10 departures per day from each end of the line.

Today’s freight transport policies definitely tend to encourage modal shift by promoting alternatives to road transport. These alternatives are all the more efficient and relevant that the transport infrastructures’ and services’ design matches the users’ needs. As a reminder two rolling roads already exist in France:

• one in the Alps, from Aiton to Orbassano; and
• one which connects Luxembourg to Perpignan

From haulers viewpoint, the existing Alps crossing-over rolling roads (not only in France, but also in Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia and Italy) have for instance proved themselves appropriate options when it is to go through the Alps where truck traffics are often both physically and legally constrained.

Contrary to most of the Alps schemes, the Luxembourg-Perpignan rolling road launched in October, 2007 which covers a 1,050 km long distance only carries trailers. In that sense, the concept is similar to combined transport, but instead of being shipped with swap bodies, the train is filled with trailers. However, one year and half after it was launched, the service is having trouble to make it profitable. The creation of a second daily departure mid-2009 is expected to draw additional traffic.

References

• Autoroute de la mer : Saint Nazaire Gijon bientot au large, l’Officiel des transporteurs n°2492, February 27, 2009
• Ligne maritime Toulon-Civitavecchia : un arrêt brutal qui fait jaser, l’Officiel des Transporteurs, N° 2493, March 6, 2009: here
• En bref : L’autoroute ferroviaire Luxembourg-Perpginan : bilan mitigé de la première année d’exploitation, February 27, 2009: here
• Press release: Lancement de 2 autoroutes de la mer entre la France et l’Espagne, February 27, 2009 : here

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