World's most energy-efficient vehicle

"A man on a bicycle can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man's metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well."

~ Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity (full text online)

Waitin' on the train...

Atlanta has often found herself ranked in a desirable position at the top of lists. Having often ranked high in the nation's fastest growing regions, we now find ourselves at the unenviable top of "worst commute" lists. Aside from one of the longest and most expensive commutes in the country, we also rank high in poorest air quality and under-funded transit systems in the US.

GDOT has been sitting on approx. $87 million from the federal government designated for a commuter rail line from Macon to Atlanta over for over a decade. These funds are a "use 'em or lose 'em" position for Atlanta. If these funds go back unused it will seriously undermine future efforts to provide commuter and intercity passenger rail service in Georgia.

The Atlanta Chapter of the Sierra Club is ramping up an aggressive campaign to take action on this critical transportation solution including sponsoring a "Waiting for the Train" rally at the Griffin Welcome Center in Griffin, GA at 12:-00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19 which I plan on attending.

If you can't attend this or other future rallys being planned, please contact your State Representative and tell them that our region desperately needs transportation choices and they should start implementing passenger transportation service now!