The purpose of this book is to enlighten the public of the tremendous potential of natural gas. America currently has an oversupply of cheap natural gas. And it has huge reserves, enough to take care of this country's energy needs for the rest of this century and more. Only a few other countries have more reserves than are found in the United states. There is a massive drilling campaign underway within the continental U.S. resulting from discovery of new shale oil fields or plays and the development of horizontal drilling techniques and fracturing. This has resulted in the production of more natural gas than the country can currently use. America is in position to be free of dependence on foreign oil, to be free of smog and pollution of air resulting from the exhaust of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles and relief from the high prices of gasoline and diesel at the pump. All the country needs to do is switch to natural gas to power its cars, buses, trucks and trains. But America needs to wake up to the fact of these new-found riches. Switching to natural gas can put millions of people to work, put extra dollars in every motorist's pocket and leave hundreds of billions of dollars in circulation in America instead of being sent overseas. The U.S. is way behind other countries in the number of natural gas vehicles on the road. Sixteen countries have more vehicles powered by natural gas than this country. There are two countries with 20 times as many natural gas vehicles on the road than this country, this despite the U.S. having nearly the most natural gas reserves and the most developed transportation system. Switching to natural gas on a wholesale basis in America is not happening. There are too many people in and out of Congress and too many entities preventing it from happening. This report seeks to answer whether and to what degree there are forces and entities that are maintaining the price of gasoline and diesel at artificially high levels, how fast can conversion to natural gas as a fuel for transportation be accomplished, what are the obstacles that must be overcome, are there people and entities standing in the way and what are the benefits of converting to natural gas as a fuel for transportation.

This report aims to help Bhutan think through various technical and policy issues of introducing electric vehicles in its own context. It analyses a variety of factors that will impact adoption of electric vehicles from technical, market and financial feasibility to consumer awareness and stakeholders' capacity. It also addresses several policy questions which are at the heart of public debate such as affordability of the government to undertake the program, economic costs and benefits, distributional impact, fiscal, and macroeconomic implications.

Urban transport systems are essential for economic development and improving citizens' quality of life. To establish high-quality and affordable transport systems, cities must ensure their financial sustainability to fund new investments in infrastructure while also funding maintenance and operation of existing facilities and services. However, many cities in developing countries are stuck in an "underfunding trap" for urban transport, in which large up-front investments are needed for new transport infrastructure that will improve the still small-scale, and perhaps, poor-quality systems, but revenue is insufficient to cover maintenance and operation expenses, let alone new investment projects. The urban transport financing gap in these cities is further widened by the implicit subsidies for the use of private cars, which represent a minority of trips but contribute huge costs in terms of congestion, sprawl, accidents, and pollution. Using an analytical framework based on the concept of "Who Benefits Pays," 24 types of financing instruments are assessed in terms of their social, economic and environmental impacts and their ability to fund urban transport capital investments, operational expenses, and maintenance. Urban transport financing needs to be based on an appropriate mix of complementary financing instruments. In particular for capital investments, a combination of grants - from multiple levels of government - and loans together with investments through public private partnerships could finance large projects that benefit society. Moreover, the property tax emerges as a key financing instrument for capital, operation, and maintenance expenses. By choosing the most appropriate mix of financing instruments and focusing on wise investments, cities can design comprehensive financing for all types of urban transport projects, using multi-level innovative revenue sources that promote efficient pricing schemes, increase overall revenue, strengthen sustainable transport, and cover capital investments, operation, and maintenance for all parts of a public transport system, "from the sidewalk to the subway."

As the U.S. population ages, access to safe and reliable transportation alternatives is critical to helping older adults remain in their homes as long as possible. HHS, DOT, VA, and other federal agencies may provide funds to state and local entities to help older adults access transportation. This book examines the federal programs that provide funding for transportation services for older adults and the extent to which the programs that fund these services are coordinated; and how state and local transportation agencies and aging network organisations in selected states coordinate transportation for older adults and the challenges they face in coordinating or providing these services. The book also addresses the federal programs that provide funding for NEMT services; how federal agencies are coordinating NEMT services; and how NEMT services are coordinated at the state and local levels and the challenges to coordination.

The increase in domestic supplies of natural gas has raised new interest in expanding its use in the transportation sector. This book considers issues related to wider use of natural gas as a fuel in passenger cars and commercial vehicles. This book is designed to help fleets understand the cost factors associated with fueling infrastructure for compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. It provides estimated cost ranges for various sizes and types of CNG fueling stations and an overview of factors that contribute to the total cost of an installed station; and describes how the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) used the VICE model to establish guidance for fleets making decisions about using CNG.

For some time, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the U.S. transit industry having been working to improve the understanding and practice of transit asset management. There is considerable evidence that this is a critical area of focus. Improving transit asset management is now a national policy. To advance transit asset management, this book provides a transit-specific asset management framework for managing assets individually and as a portfolio of assets that comprise an integrated system. The book provides flexible, yet targeted guidance to advance the practice and implementation of transit asset management. This book also examines the extent to which selected transit agencies follow leading asset management practices to prioritise capital investments, and challenges in using these practices, the extent to which these agencies measure the effects of capital investments, and FTA initiatives to support transit agencies' use of leading practices.

The Modern Silk Route is offering a potential land-bridge between China and Europe through Central Asia and Russia that offers a complement to existing shipping routes, and is attracting growing interest by a selected number of multinational companies. However, the main role of the Silk Route is to support the development and integration of the region. Connectivity to the east and west, over exceptionally long distances, is critical to the development of the Central Asian countries, when trading globally and between themselves. Facilitating trade and transportation across many borders, remains a major challenge more than twenty years since the breakup of the former Soviet Union. The book revisits trade and transport connectivity through the Central Asia countries along the old Silk Route, based on knowledge from project implementation and field research. It takes the modern perspective of supply chain efficiency and logistics performance, which depends not only on infrastructure but also markets and policies. Since the breakup of the Former Soviet Union connectivity of Central Asia is a prominent agenda. The focus has been on physical improvements of specific transport corridors. But logistics performance remains very low, caused by inefficiencies, at national levels, of services and of trade and transport agencies, as well as lack of cross-border integration of trade and transit. The book suggests that the policy focus should not be just on physical trade routes. Rather, it stresses the focus on supply chain reliability, and proposes policy packages and enabling implementation practices, consistent across countries in the region in areas such as transportation, customs and border clearance, trade or transit. It also highlights the complementarity of the current initiatives, including the recent development of the Eurasian Customs Union, or the rising of trade and investment from China.

This book is the collection of my own studies in logistics, targeted to a broad readership. The book consists of 4 parts and 5 chapters. The first part deals with the logistics services in developed and developing countries, while the second part covers global competitiveness and logistics performance. The third part is about the relationship between the logistics performance and education and, finally, the fourth part examines the relationship between the choices of transport mode and fuel type. All the chapters in this book are independent of each other, with each one reflecting my own experience, analyses and results. I hope you will find this book useful, informative and appropriate for your needs.

The "Top 25 Airports KPIs of 2011-2012" report provides insights into the state of airports performance measurement today by listing and analyzing the most visited KPIs for this functional area on smartKPIs.com in 2011. In addition to KPI names, it contains a detailed description of each KPI, in the standard smartKPIs.com KPI documentation format, that includes fields such as: definition, purpose, calculation, limitation, overall notes and additional resources. While dominated by KPIs reflecting cost performance and material handling, other popular KPIs come from categories such as transportation, time performance, delivery quality and warehousing. This product is part of the "Top KPIs of 2011-2012" series of reports and a result of the research program conducted by the analysts of smartKPIs.com in the area of integrated performance management and measurement. SmartKPIs.com hosts the largest catalogue of thoroughly documented KPI examples, representing an excellent platform for research and dissemination of insights on KPIs and related topics. The hundreds of thousands of visits to smartKPIs.com and the thousands of KPIs visited, bookmarked and rated by members of this online community in 2011 provided a rich data set, which combined with further analysis from the editorial team, formed the basis of these research reports.

A small federal agency, NMB facilitates labour relations in two key transportation sectors -- railroads and airlines -- through mediation and arbitration of labour disputes and overseeing union elections. Established under the Railway Labor Act, NMB's primary responsibility is to prevent work stoppages in these critical industries. This book discusses the national mediation board's strengthening plan and control to better facilitate rail and air labour relations.

The "Top 25 Airlines KPIs of 2011-2012" report provides insights into the state of airlines performance measurement today by listing and analyzing the most visited KPIs for this industry on smartKPIs.com in 2011. In addition to KPI names, it contains a detailed description of each KPI, in the standard smartKPIs.com KPI documentation format, that includes fields such as: definition, purpose, calculation, limitation, overall notes and additional resources. This product is part of the "Top KPIs of 2011-2012" series of reports and a result of the research program conducted by the analysts of smartKPIs.com in the area of integrated performance management and measurement. SmartKPIs.com hosts the largest catalogue of thoroughly documented KPI examples, representing an excellent platform for research and dissemination of insights on KPIs and related topics. The hundreds of thousands of visits to smartKPIs.com and the thousands of KPIs visited, bookmarked and rated by members of this online community in 2011 provided a rich data set, which combined with further analysis from the editorial team, formed the basis of these research reports.

Federal agencies (excluding the U.S. Postal Service) spend about $3 billion annually to acquire, operate, and maintain about 450,000 civilian and non-tactical military vehicles. Agencies may lease or buy vehicles from GSA, which also issues requirements and guidance on fleet management. In recent years, Congress and the President have raised concerns about the size and cost of federal agencies' fleets. In 2011, the President directed agencies to determine their optimal fleet inventories and set targets for achieving these inventories by 2015 with the goal of a more cost-effective fleet. This book discusses the notion of adopting leading practices and how they could improve management of federal vehicle fleets; overall increase in number of vehicle masts that some agencies decreased their fleets; and strategies needed to address aging delivery fleet.

Greening Growth in Pakistan through Transport Sector Reforms: A Strategic Environmental, Poverty, and Social Assessment identifies reforms that can help Pakistan manage its environmental priorities given transport s impacts on air quality, noise pollution, road safety, hazardous-materials transport, climate change, and urban sprawl. The policy options are contextualized in light of the government of Pakistan s 2011 Framework for Economic Growth and its strategic objectives. This analytical work examines the poverty, social, and environmental aspects associated with reforms that would increase the freight transport sector s productivity to meet the Framework s goals. It focuses on the following areas: Analyzing the policy and institutional adjustments required to address the environmental, social, and poverty aspects of increased transportation efficiency in Pakistan Identifying policy options for the government of Pakistan to better serve the population, to enhance social cohesion, and to foster equitable benefit sharing with low-income or other vulnerable groups Developing a broad participatory process to give a voice to stakeholders who could be affected by enhancements of freight transport productivity Making robust recommendations to strengthen governance and the institutional capacity of agencies to manage the environmental, social, and poverty consequences of freight transportation infrastructure The book also presents information on the economic and institutional analyses undergirding this report and details its methodology. Greening Growth in Pakistan through Transport Sector Reforms is intended for policy makers, civil society, the private sector, and academics who wish to participate in dialogues on Pakistan s trade and transport sectors priorities. It is hoped that this report will stimulate debate that steers these sectors and their participants in the direction of greening economic growth."

AirInsight's 2013 Newsletter Compendium

We're all familiar with the TSA by now - from the daunting lines to the X-ray machines to the curious three ounce rule governing liquids. But many question whether this strange assortment of regulations, meant to protect the two million people a day travelling through US airports, actually works. In this riveting expose, former TSA administrator Kip Hawley unveils the agency's ongoing battle to outthink and outmaneuver terrorists, navigating bureaucratic limitations and public disdain to stay one step ahead of catastrophe. Citing foiled terrorist plots and near misses that have never been publicly revealed, Hawley suggests that the fundamental flaw in America's approach to national security is the belief that we can plan for every contingency. Instead, he argues, we must learn to manage reasonable levels of risk so we can focus our near-term energy on stopping truly catastrophic events while, in the long-term, engaging passengers to support a less rigid and more sustainable security strategy. This is a fascinating glimpse inside one of the country's most maligned agencies and the complex business of keeping Americans safe every day.

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. The Latest Tools and Techniques for Managing Infrastructure AssetsFully updated throughout, this practical resource provides a proven, cost-effective infrastructureasset management framework that integrates planning, design, construction, maintenance, rehabilitation, and renovation. Public Infrastructure Asset Management,Second Edition, describes the most current methodologies for effectively managing roads, bridges, airports, utility services, water and waste facilities, parks, public buildings, and sports complexes. This comprehensive guide covers information management and decision support systems, including proprietary solutions and new technological developments such ascloud storage. The book discusses total quality management, economics, life-cycle analysis, and maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction programming. Up-to-date examples and real-world case studies illustrate the practical applications of the concepts presented in this thoroughly revised reference. This new edition features: Planning, needs assessment, and performance indicators Database management, data needs, and analysis Inventory, historical, and environmental data In-service monitoring and evaluation data Performance modeling and failure analysis Design for infrastructure service life Construction Maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction strategies, policies, and treatment alternatives Dealing with new or alternate concepts Prioritization, optimization, and work programs Integrated infrastructure asset management systems Visual IMS: an illustrative infrastructure management system and applications Available asset management system and commercial off-the-shelf providers Benefits of implementing an asset management system Sustainability, environmental stewardship, and asset management Future directions for infrastructure asset management