Transportation

Time to Worry About Thieves Stealing Your Car’s Catalytic Converter

|

Time to Worry About Thieves Stealing Your Car’s Catalytic Converter

The past couple of weeks have not been good for catalytic converter thieves in California. Last week, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department raided four locations, arresting 19 people and seizing 250 stolen catalytic converters. This week, sheriffs in neighboring San Bernardino county raided a home and recovered 400 stolen converters. Meanwhile, in nearby Anaheim, a would-be converter thief died when he was crushed by the Toyota Prius whose converter he was trying to pillage.

What Your Car Might Say About How You’ll Vote – Forbes Wheels

|

Vehicles And Voting: What Your Car Might Say About How You’ll Vote – Forbes Wheels

Democrats also are less likely to be new-vehicle buyers because they skew younger and are more likely to get a used car, according to Edwards. They also are open to foregoing car ownership in favor of public transportation or ride sharing, and if they do own their own vehicles, it’s for a longer period of time, he said. “Republicans are more likely to own a vehicle for only three to six years,” Edwards said. The average car on the road is nearly 12 years old, according to industry research firm IHS Markit.

Remembering the ugliest thing San Francisco ever built

|

‘A monstrous mistake’: Remembering the ugliest thing San Francisco ever built

 

The plan was simple: Connect the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge via a freeway. It was the 1950s and everyone loved freeways. What could go wrong? Nearly everything.

The Embarcadero Freeway is widely considered one of the biggest mistakes the city ever made. For 32 years, a concrete monstrosity barricaded San Franciscans from the bay waters, shrouded the iconic Ferry Building in smog and made lots of residents very mad. Photographs of it now look like a very different, unsightly city. And while (nearly) everyone hated it, it took an earthquake to tear it down.

The real story behind the demise of America’s once-mighty streetcars – Vox

|

The real story behind the demise of America’s once-mighty streetcars – Vox

The decline of the streetcar after World War I — when cars began to arrive on city streets — is often cast as a simple choice made by consumers. As a Smithsonian exhibition puts it, "Americans chose another alternative — the automobile. The car became the commuter option of choice for those who could afford it, and more people could do so."

But the reality is more complicated. "People weren't choosing to ride or not ride in some perfect universe — they were making it in a messy, real-world environment," Norton says.

The real problem was that once cars appeared on the road, they could drive on streetcar tracks — and the streetcars could no longer operate efficiently. "Once just 10 percent or so of people were driving, the tracks were so crowded that [the streetcars] weren't making their schedules," Norton says.

While I think battery technology has progressed a lot in recent years, for long-haul trucking and even long-distance bus transportation, I think trackless trolleys along interstates and major highways

|

While I think battery technology has progressed a lot in recent years, for long-haul trucking and even long-distance bus transportation, I think trackless trolleys along interstates and major highways. I know a lot of people discount the possibility — after all it is expensive to run thousands of miles of electrified wires along with all the substations required to supply the wires, but it could provide a an economical source of power on go, beyond what even a large battery bank could provide.