Passengers on American Airlines found themselves facing confusion and long delays on Wednesday after the carrier canceled more than 1,000 flights, as its efforts to inspect and in some cases reattach wiring bundles in the wheel wells of its 300-plane fleet of MD-80s dragged on.

More cancellations are expected Thursday.

Oh, my... I do believe attached wiring bundles might be important, but what do I know. Glad I don't have a trip planned that requires a flight.

The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization is seeking input for its 2035 Knoxville Regional Mobility Plan.

You can fill out a short survey here.

Public meetings are being scheduled over the next few months. Check the KRTPO website for details as they become available.

Eying the nice boats motoring up and down the intercoastal waterway always leads a man's thoughts to selling everything, buying one, and living on the water. I went looking on the internets to see how much boat a fellow could buy for about what he could get out of his house. The first hit at this website was a little out of my price range.

...over at BlountViews

UPDATE: My observations.

It's been a long time coming, and the road has been rocky, but Tesla production car #1 has been delivered to company chairman Elon Musk. Photos at link to Treehugger.

There's still a long journey ahead for Telsa to become successful and toward making plug-in electric vehicles practical, but this is a major milestone. Congratulations to Tesla and to its former employees who helped realize this achievement!

The City of Knoxville has unveiled plans and drawings for the new Transit Center:

Major construction on the environmentally friendly, 108,000-square-foot station is set to begin with foundation work in the parkway during March of 2008.

Jeff Galyon, the PBA's project manager, said the estimated completion date is late fall of 2009 and the Knoxville Transit Authority would like to begin operations on January 1, 2010.

Presentation and drawings are here.

So as to not overburden those of you who don't have the time to read my long background explanation, I'll give you the great news here. In Sunday's Charlotte Oberver, there's an article Link... about Saturday's opening of their new LYNX light rail line. The public interest was astounding, with sixty thousand people standing in line (some for as long as two hours) to ride the system. That's equal to ten percent of the city's population! The public support and interest is overwhleming. Take note, Knoxville area leaders and decision makers. This isn't Portland or somewhere in California. It's Charlotte, just over the mountains from good old Knoxville. For those who say "It may happen in other places, but it won't happen in Knoxville", or "Knoxville won't have light rail for a long time" (to quote a certain top Knoxvile elected offical this week), I hope they open their eyes and see the possibilities. While Charlotte's bigger than Knoxville, it's very similar in many ways. Bottom line, it's another southeastern city a whole lot like us.

For those who would like more background, I'll share my recent experience with this Charlotte phenomenon. Monday before last, I was in the Queen City to attend the ribbon-cutting of the new light rail line. I went at the invitation of a friend who is on city council there, and had originally hoped to pull together (on short notice) a small contingent from Knoxville to go with me. I was only able to find one individual who could go, and unfortunately none of my fellow Knoxville City Council members were able to attend.

We left at 5:00 a.m., and arrived in time for the VIP breakfast, followed by the appropriate speeches from various political leaders and officials (inlcuding both US senators). Then came the ribbon cutting and the VIP rides on the system. We chose the ride to the end and back (ten miles one way), but others with less time took the fifteen minute round-trip excursion.

The system is absolutely beautiful, and is as good as any I've seen in any city in this country and abroad. It wasn't cheap, with a total price tag (including overruns) of around $300 million. That number carries with it the potential for sticker shock for those not used to the cost of big urban transportation projects (less than two miles of freeway in Knoxville's Smart Fix 40 project came in at a whopping $200 million). The system cost has to be looked at in the context of its total impact. Not only does it have the potential for taking huge numbers off the highly congested highways, but it has a wonderful impact on development patterns.

In Charlotte's case, as in the case of most cities that have built such systems, developers are eager to build higher desnity mixed-use projects adjacent to light rail stations. Prior to the opening of the LYNX line, they had already counted upwards of $1.4 billion in new real estate development in station areas along the line. Transit Orriented Development (TOD) is being recognized as a huge boon to cities, and a clear alternative to the typical (and costly) sprawl we've begun to be so concerned over.

What Charlotte has done is a model that deserves close attention. In 1997, they developed a regional vsion for transportation and land use that outlined an approach centered on rail transit spokes raidiating from the downtown core. The plan went to the voters in 1998 for funding in the form of a half cent sales tax dedicated strickly to transit. It passed by a narrow margin, and has funded a much improved and expanded bus system along with the beginnings of a great rail transit backbone.

The transit sales tax, and the great system it supported, faced a major threat this year. The LYNX light rail line that was under construction experienced major cost overruns, due mostly to forces beyond their control. In addition to a federal funding system that takes a decade now to get from initial plans and cost estimates to acutal construction (a situation that makes it impossible to budget), the skyrocketing costs of construction materials (resulting from Katrina recovery and new demand from China) hit them at the worst time. There was a backlash from anti-tax forces allied with anti-rail transit groups (who operate on a nationwide level). They got over 37,000 petition signatures and put a measure on the ballot to rescind the transit sales tax. Not only did their effort fail on November 6th, but it was denied by seventy percent of the voters. The transit advocates came out of that fight with the wind to their backs.

My friends in Charlotte have given an open invitation to bring as many people from Knoxville as will come, so they can share what they've learned with us. Stay tuned.

The KNS business section has an interesting article about Norfolk Southern's plans to upgrade 1400 miles of their rail system, and the possibility of an East Tennessee intermodal transfer terminal. The money quote:

Upgrading its freight lines from Louisiana to New Jersey would reduce highway congestion, reduce the cost of maintaining highways and reduce greenhouse emissions, [Norfolk Southern PR Manager Robin Chapman] said.

"We anticipate the entire project taking at least a million trucks off the highways annually throughout the system," Chapman said.

They're calling the $2 billion project the "Crescent Corridor."

Check out this site, www.knoxtransit.org, on the proposed Church Street location for the Transit Center.

From the site:

It is imperative that the proposed Knoxville transit center be intermodal. Passengers are more likely to use a system if it allows seamless movement from one type (mode) of transportation to another. Therefore, the only viable location of a new central bus station should be adjacent to the local rail network.

In 1998 TVA, at the request of the downtown Knoxville's Central Business District, studied the transportation needs from a local and regional perspective and concluded that West Jackson Avenue was the most desirable location for a intermodal transfer station.

The Nine Counties-One Vision Mass Transit Task Force and the Transportation Planning Organization studied the local and regional transportation needs, with an eye to both function and location. With the best information and minds available studying this subject, no better site has been proposed.

Bristol, Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis and the Tennessee Department of Transportation all are studying, planning for and/or developing passenger rail systems. Knoxville, on the other hand, is planning a bus station.

Some will argue that it is too late in the process and we may lose the federal funding if we do not move forward with the Church Street site. It is irresponsible to suggest we spend tax derived funds rather then lose them.

Do not allow political leaders to marginalize public transit. Do not allow a bus station to be built that will inhibit the development of a fully functional public transportation system. Mother Earth, our children, parents, grandparents and our wallets deserve better.

Please review TVA's proposed concept and location and let your views be known. Contact Mayor Bill Haslam at (865) 215-2040 or e-mail at mayor@cityofknoxville.org and the Knoxville City Council.

A short post on this because I didn't take notes.

Awhile back MPC did a study, with lots of input from a local task force (on which my spouse served) on improvements to the Chapman Highway corridor. These dealt with both strictly transportation issues, but also with land use issues. That study is available here. It was approved by MPC, City Council, and County Commission.

As the MPC website states, "Upon completion of MPC's study, the Tennessee Department of Transportation contracted with Palmer Engineering to conduct a transportation planning study that would make recommendations on short-term improvements to ehance the safety and operations of Chapman Highway."

The results of that second study were presented Monday night and tonight in two meetings in south Knoxville. Since this was a TDOT study, it addressed transportation issues only.

All ideas are for short-term improvements to Chapman Highway, basically "low hanging fruit," although Jeff Welch of the regional TPO stressed that as of yet no funding was available for any of them.

They included things like reducing the # of curb cuts, adding a turn lane to the section just south of Stone Road, improving road alignments with Chapman Highway (especially where there was a "jog" at the CH intersection), and adding to the existing street grid to make more "frontage" routes along the highway.

In general I was pretty impressed by what I saw.

I doubt this is available on the web anywhere because we were looking at info on some pretty large maps, but if you are interested, Rene Davis at MPC is the local contact for the Chapman Highway study and should be able to direct you to more info. I also hope there are others out there who attended and who might add to my brief synopsis.

As you may recall, the City of Knoxville announced selection of a site on the east end of the Church Avenue Viaduct for the new transit center.

See a sneak peek of the proposed design after the jump. Massive! But where's the monorail?

The Detroit Auto Show gets underway this week. I was looking forward to the new model announcements, hopefully some hybrids or other super-efficient cars. But no. Instead we get some new monster trucks and more of the same old same old.

Industry pundits predict that Toyota will soon take over GM's spot as the #1 automaker. Toyota has three mainstream hybrid vehicles in their lineup. GM responds by announcing an updated Cadillac CTS (258 HP, EPA 18/27, Consumer Reports 13/29), and updated Malibu (252 HP, EPA 22/30, Consumer Reports 14/31), and an updated Pontiac Torrent Crossover SUV (263 HP, EPA 19/25, Consumer Reports 12/25).

In their defense, GM also introduced a hideous electric plug-in/hybrid concept car called the Volt, and Toyota introduced two new monster trucks.

As for the Volt, I fail to see how plug-in electrics solve more problems than they create. The electrical grid is already running at capacity, and adding capacity will only generate more pollution and greenhouse gasses unless it's nuclear, and we can't seem to figure out how to build safe nuclear power plants or what to do with the waste. Plus it will take decades to bring any new nuclear plants online and by then it may be too late.

The only other new hybrid is the Mazda Tribute SUV, a re-badged Ford Escape Hybrid (EPA 33/29, Consumer Reports 22/29). We looked at an Escape hybrid, but our Ford Freestyle gets about the same mileage reported by Consumer Reports and hauls seven people or lots of cargo for less money.

Ford is missing the boat on hybrids. Their Focus and Fusion models would be perfect candidates for hybrid versions. Maybe they rode the SUV wave just a little too long, though, and no longer have the resources. Which would be sad, because Ford was the first and only U.S. automaker to bring a a hybrid to market.

DaimlerChryslerDodge's business plan appears to be planned obsolescence, with updated Avenger, Viper, and Magnum models for Real Men and the trusty old Caravan/Town & Country for the Mrs. Yawns all around.

But enough griping. There are a couple of cool new cars. Chevrolet introduces a retro Camaro convertible concept car aimed to compete with the rejuvenated Ford Mustang. The 400HP V8 Camaro looks cool, if it ever gets built, but I'll take the Mustang.

More appealing is the BMW 3 series hardtop convertible. Sweet! Except it adds 440 pounds which probably won't help its already underwhelming fuel economy. But still...

For a full roundup with articles, blogs, and photos, see the Edmunds Inside Line.

The Music City Star makes its inaugural run. Commuter train is now running in Nashville. Story and blog comments (part of most Tennessean headlines now) here Link...

NO TERRORIST ACTIVITY is suspected at this time. It does, however, raise questions about general aviation security.

As Redmondkr notes in comments, it appears KnoxViews has jinxed the Segway.

(Nice of Michael Silence to own up. At least KnoxViews had better photos.)

A cool new car and a downtown Knoxville art shop combine for a national promotion -  who would have thunk it?

Test drive the new Toyota Yaris in downtown Knoxville & get a $15
YEE-HAW! gift certificate.

The new Yaris is an environmentally friendly and inexpensive car for
the socially aware. Priced at $10,000-$14,000 and gets 34 to 40 miles to the gallon.

Support the arts by joining in our event.
PROMOTION IS THIS WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY & FRIDAY ONLY
11AM - 7PM
(AUGUST 30-31 & SEPT 1 ONLY)

FIRST FRIDAY SEPT 1: test drives will only last until 7 pm!!! get there early.

The test drive location will be in the parking lot at 427 Walnut Street
(West side of the street between Summer Place and Union Avenue)
across Walnut Street from the Market Square Parking Garage

see article & pictures:
http://www.familycar.com/RoadTests/ToyotaYaris/

http://www.yarisworks.com

It turns out to be an idiot who thought it would be cool to have some dynamite, so he brought some home with him from Argentina.

But the point is that while passengers are being screened for shampoo and nail clippers in their carry ons, you can just pack your dynamite in your luggage. Maybe they haven't heard about the ongoing problem of terrorism down there in Argentina?

Which is responsible for more American deaths last year?

(a) The terrorist who want to kill every one of us

(b) Motor vehicles

The Thought Police Invade Knoxville...

At airport security checkpoints in Knoxville, Tenn. this summer, scores of departing passengers were chosen to step behind a curtain, sit in a metallic oval booth and don headphones.

With one hand inserted into a sensor that monitors physical responses, the travelers used the other hand to answer questions on a touch screen about their plans. A machine measured biometric responses -- blood pressure, pulse and sweat levels -- that then were analyzed by software. The idea was to ferret out U.S. officials who were carrying out carefully constructed but make-believe terrorist missions.

the news-sentinel has done an excellent graphic on how the redflex system works:

Link...

i took a time-coded video of the intersection and the yellow arrow lasts for about 3 seconds. because drivers think the yellow arrow will last longer, there are significant numbers of vehicles entering the intersection after the light turns red. and then, occcasionally, it doesn't turn red, it turns green, so it in effect educates drivers (randomly) that it's ok to enter the intersection on a yellow arrow.

great system for making money ...

Yesterday's Knoxville News Sentinel had an update on the proposed I-3 project, which would create a $50 billion, 450 mile interstate highway from Savannah, GA, to Knoxville where it would connect to I-75. Here's an AP report. Here is KNS's map of the proposed route.

Read more after the jump...

Some people should stick to defending the indefensible. Or at least defend glaringly indefensible things like the Iraq War where everyone's hackles raise one way or the other.

Sprawl, and its defenders, miss the point time and time again about why it is not the American Promised Land. Reynolds talks about sprawl not necessarily being a problem until lower classes started moving out to where the rich were playing and also cites some historical trickery to set up a strawman on anti-sprawl advocates. This is the "we've always been sprawling" argument and forces urban studies folks onto the defensive because, as typical with libertarian arguments, it sounds so plausible on the surface. Sprawl exists because of the automobile. Before the automobile, no sprawl. Sure there was westward expansion or 'trolleyburbs', but no 'snout houses' or 'leapfrogging' until the mid-to-late 20th Century.

A couple of bills have been introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly that would crack down on speed traps.

HB3614 would declare that any municipality deriving 20% or more of its revenues from speeding tickets is abusing its police powers and would authorize the district attorney general and the TBI to investigate them. It would also apply to municipalities who issue more than 50% of their speeding tickets for exceeding the speed limit by 10 MPH or less.

HB3864 would require any municipality that derives 50% or more of its revenues from speeding tickets to post its speed limits using blue signs. This would presumably give new meaning to the term "blue highways". The corollary to this, of course, is that it's OK for a municipality to earn up to 50% of its revenues operating a speed trap.

On a somewhat related note, if you look at any local or state government budget under "revenues", they have an expected amount of income listed for fines. In other words, they expect people to break the law and depend on it as a source of revenue. When people don't break a particular law, they rewrite it or make up a new one. Like installing red light cameras and tweaking the traffic signal timings. And people wonder how kids learn to disrespect authority.