There's an interesting article in one of the Eastern Shore papers about sensors that have been installed along Route 50 between the Bay Bridge and Ocean City. The thing that makes this interesting is the thought that vacationers would actually go online before they left the house to check on the speeds along Route 50. Do they really think that things will not have changed, one way or the other, before they actually get there? As to the use of the mobile devices to get the information on the fly I have always had a difficult time getting information-heavy websites to work well on my mobile device but that's just me. It would have also been nice to have put this up last spring when beach season was beginning rather than when it was over.
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I can't decide whether this is a good idea or not: An engineer has developed an audio recording that is supposed to take the stress out of driving. Drive Time RX uses subliminal messages embedded in "soothing" music to ease your angst during the commute. It sounds like the kind of stuff that used to be advertised back in the 1970's. The ad for this product states that: "The words are subliminally encoded so softly in the music that you usually can't hear them. Your subconscious mind does, however, and responds automatically!"
Here are some examples of what your subconscious mind might be subjected to: "I am relaxed and alert at all times. I exhale stress and tension and return to my center of calm. I check my rear view mirror frequently. I am in control of my emotional response to inconsiderate actions of other drivers."
Now, if one of our readers can come up with a transit version for the commute then we?ll have an entire region of peaceful commuters.
Seriously, though, if you are intrigued by this product you can get more information by following this link.
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I think it's wonderful that Metro is finally getting around to making changes in the door systems on the 1000 series rail cars. These are rail cars that date back to the time that Jimmy Carter was in the White House. These are rail cars that Metro was told several years ago to upgrade or put in a landfill. The system has made a number of decisions based on a lack of money that are now coming home to roost. Once again, all of this should be a huge wake up call to federal and local governments to pony up the money to fix this system before more people die.
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Yesterday was Car Free Day. Local officials were hoping to double the 5,000 plus that pledged to leave their cars at home last year. This year's event seems to have gotten a bit more publicity so maybe the numbers will go up. At the same time, the price of a gallon of gas is about a dollar less than it was last year so that big incentive is minimized. I also wonder if all of the negative press about Metro might have given people pause. We'll have to see where the numbers end up.
Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.
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