Amazon’s plan involves building a trio of towers, each 38 stories high, a few blocks south of its still-growing South Lake Union campus. In order to do this, they would have to co-opt city-owned alley space. Additionally, many fear that the company’s 12,000 new employees might have a noticeable impact on area traffic as they make their way to the campus each day. Amazon hopes it can get at least 75 percent of those employees to use public transit instead of driving, but that could still lead to delays and crowded streetcars for locals who normally do the same.

To reduce this congestion, Amazon wants to help the city add a fourth rail car to its existing fleet. The company would foot the $3.7 million bill for the car, and help pay its operating costs for 10 years, allowing service every 10 minutes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Since Seattle’s a pretty bike-crazy town, Amazon figures lots of employees will want to try out their new fixies on the way to work as well. To that end, the company wants to pay an additional $250,000 for the addition of bike lanes on both sides of Seventh Avenue between its buildings, according to Marybeth Turner, a city transportation spokeswoman. Amazon would contribute $150,000 to a future triangular park nearby.

All in all, it seems that Amazon is taking a fairly benevolent route in hopes of getting its new campus approved. But some critics say the $5.5 million is nothing compared to what the company will profit from the new development. John Fox, leader of the Seattle Displacement Coalition, suggests that the city should charge the company more to offset the impact on traffic.

If you live in the Seattle area, and want to know more about how these changes could affect you, the Amazon proposal goes to a public hearing before the City Council’s Transportation Committee at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. A council vote is expected in mid-December.

Photo credit: sillygwailo/Flickr

The post Amazon Offers $5.5M to Improve Public Transit Near New Seattle Campus appeared first on REVMODO.

The previous version of Maps made it easy to find a train or bus; a click of a button would lead to simple public transportation directions in both a list and a map. Now, unfortunately, pushing the transit button leads to a list of third-party apps rather than directions. You need to choose an app, launch it, and wait for it to load before you can begin to get public transit info.

You’d need to do this for every city where you need directions, so if you’re visiting a friend or family member but want to get around town on your own, you’ll have to install new apps. There’s also no easy way to compare driving, walking or public transit options.

Why the change? The Apple Maps app used to use Google’s mapping service, but Apple has replaced it with their own map data. Over the last few years, as Google became more of a competitor, Apple acquired three mapping companies of its own. Apple either lacks public transit data or decided not to include it. Either way, it’s a giant step backward.

It’s hard to get people to switch to public transportation. Even for city-dwellers who don’t own cars, if public transit seems complicated, someone might choose to take a taxi. To receive mass adoption, public transit needs to be easy to use. The information needs to be at peoples’ fingertips fast, so they don’t miss the bus or train.

There are rumors that Google is planning to offer its own Maps app, separately, in Apple’s App Store. That would be welcome news — if Apple actually allows it. We’ll see what happens.

Main image credit: Kim Gunnarson/Flickr

The post New Apple Maps: No Public Transit appeared first on REVMODO.

According to a new poll by the Natural Resources Defense Council, three out of four Americans would prefer not to drive if they had public transportation capable of taking them where they needed to go. (Mitt Romney may want to rethink that plan to end federal support for Amtrak.)

Two out of three people polled want the government to improve and expand public transport, with the majority preferring those funds to support new modes of public transit – light rail, buses and trains – instead of highways.

Conducted by a bipartisan team of pollsters from Republican and Democratic backgrounds, the group asked 800 Americans about the current state of American transportation.

“Americans hate traffic and love transit,” said Peter Lehner, the NRDC’s executive director. “Investing in public transportation eases congestion but for too long most federal funding has limited people’s choices, leaving them sitting in traffic.”

As much as the car was once emblematic of so much that is American, many people these days would prefer to take the bus, if only there was a bus to take. Fifty-five percent of Americans want to drive less, but 74 percent say they have no other choice to get from point A to point B. And despite our national loathing for traffic jams, 63 percent would rather address the problem with better public transportation instead of building new roads.

The crucial question is: Are we willing to pay for it? Apparently, yes. In fact, many are willing to overpay for better public transport. Those polled guessed that their states spend an average of 16 percent of their transportation budget on public transport, and want to nearly double that number by bringing the percentage up to 28 percent. In truth, however, over the past three years, the average portion of transportation budgets spent on public transit was just 6.55 percent per state.

Main photo credit: Shutterstock

The post NRDC Poll: Americans Want More Public Transport appeared first on REVMODO.

At the Stapleford Miniature Railway in Leicestershire, engineering students from the University of Birmingham have successfully tested the first hydrogen-powered locomotive to operate in the country. The locomotive is a narrow-gauge hybrid, utilizing both a hydrogen fuel cell generating 1.1kW of power and lead acid battery packs generating 13kW to provide power. The fuel cell powers the train’s magnetic motors and as well as charges the electric batteries, used as boost when the engines are under heavy load. In addition, braking energy is captured and sent to the batteries, just as in the Toyota Prius.

In talking with The Engineer, team leader Stephen Kent explained how the two power sources work together to provide enough power.

“It is possible to run the motors at double their maximum rated current for short durations, as demonstrated at the Stapleford Miniature Railway, which can be very useful when accelerating a train from a standing start, for example. So, in effect, the locomotive can provide a peak power output of 8.8kW,” he said.

The prototype locomotive was built to be an entry in an engineering competition being held at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. And while hydrogen fuel cell technology isn’t quite ready to be installed on long-distance high speed trains zooming across Europe, it is encouraging to see the first one in the UK undergoing successful testing.

“We hope that our efforts will encourage the rail industry to take a closer look at this exciting technology,” said Stuart Hillmansen, faculty advisor to the team. We do too, Stuart.

Check out a video of the students and their hydrogen-powered locomotive:

[via The Engineer]

Image Credit: University of Birmingham

The post University of Birmingham Students Test UK’s First Hydrogen Powered Train appeared first on REVMODO.

Transit & Trails allows you to enter an address (for now, only in the San Francisco Bay Area, but more locations will be coming soon), and then view a map showing nearby trails and campgrounds. Clicking on the name of a trail shows more details, including the closest public transit; another link quickly opens up custom directions — both in a car and through public transportation. The driving directions even include an estimate of CO2 emissions, to further convince day hikers get on the bus or train.

Both iPhone and Android versions of the app are now available. Soon, the site and apps will also include reviews from users after visiting trails. The project is part of the Open Space Council, a nonprofit that promotes land conservation and works to bring nature in reach of all Bay Area residents.

Main photo credit: GuideGunnar/Flickr; graphic and video credits: Transit & Trails

The post Transit & Trails App Connects Hikers with Public Transit appeared first on REVMODO.