Wall Street Journal (July 31)
“Once a lonely and largely impassable maritime expanse where countries worked together to extract natural resources, the Arctic is increasingly contested territory. As sea ice melts and traffic increases on the southern edges of the Arctic Ocean, governments are maneuvering in ways that mirror great-power rivalries in lower latitudes.”
Tags: Arctic, Contested, Governments, Great-power rivalries, Impassable, Lonely, Maneuvering, Maritime expanse, Melts, Natural resources, Sea ice, Traffic
Los Angeles Times (November 23)
“L.A.’s infamous Thanksgiving traffic gridlock” is “expected to return with vengeance” after taking 2020 off for Covid. “An estimated 3.8 million Southern Californians will be driving to their holiday destinations — up 9% from last year and only 1% less than in 2019, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.”
Tags: 2019, 2021, Automobile Club of Southern California, California, Covid, Destinations, Gridlock, Holiday, Infamous, L.A., Thanksgiving, Traffic
The Guardian (April 24)
“Amid the misery and chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there are some short-term consolations. The precipitous drop in road and air traffic has left the air cleaner and the skies clearer.” Hopefully, when it is finally “safe to emerge from economic survival mode,” we will reflect “on which kinds of productive activity actually enrich our lives – and which among these our planet can sustain.”
Time (December 18)
Online shopping may save individual shoppers from going out in the traffic, but overall it’s compounding traffic woes. “Our city streets and parking resources are being swamped by this new retail reality. Cities simply are not designed to handle the daily tidal wave of deliveries produced by our have-it-now online economy.”
Tags: Deliveries, Online economy, Online shopping, Parking, Reality, Retail, Streets, Swamped, Traffic
Wall Street Journal (November 8)
“New public-health studies and laboratory experiments suggest that, at every stage of life, traffic fumes exact a measurable toll on mental capacity, intelligence and emotional stability.” This toll is difficult to document, but improvements have been seen where traffic congestion has been alleviated. Premature births in areas around New Jersey toll plazas dropped 10.8% “after the introduction of E-ZPass, which eased traffic congestion and reduced exhaust fumes.” Improving traffic would also improve lives in other ways. U.S. workers spend nearly as much time stuck in traffic (140 hours) each month as in the office in the 10 most congested traffic areas.“New public-health studies and laboratory experiments suggest that, at every stage of life, traffic fumes exact a measurable toll on mental capacity, intelligence and emotional stability.” This toll is difficult to document, but improvements have been seen where traffic congestion has been alleviated. Premature births in areas around New Jersey toll plazas dropped 10.8% “after the introduction of E-ZPass, which eased traffic congestion and reduced exhaust fumes.” Improving traffic would also improve lives in other ways. U.S. workers spend nearly as much time stuck in traffic (140 hours) each month as in the office in the 10 most congested traffic areas.
Tags: Congestion, Exhaust, Fumes, Health, Traffic
