Overweight Truckers (the trucks- not the truckers themselves) Fined

Some truckers and the companies they work for are getting some BIG fines because of the damage their trucks can potentially do to roads, crews on the Five Mile project are working to beat the weather, and Kettle Falls is looking out for its' pedestrians.

Here's what's happening this week in transportation from the Spokesman's 'Getting There' column.

Fog & Slick Roads Cause Traffic Accidents

Fog and dew freezing on the roadway made for some slick roads this morning and caused several traffic accidents, including one involving a pickup and a logging truck.

Here's the latest from the Spokesman-Review.

SRTC Monthly Board Meeting Is Thursday

It's one of those weeks where we have a lot of meetings, including our monthly Board meeting. Here's the Board agenda and packet so you can see if there's anything that interests you on the agenda. If there is, feel free to attend the meeting. It's Thursday at 1 p.m. Before that though, we'll be hosting a workshop for the Board regarding climate change and how it's going to affect the way we all get around. That workshop is open to the public to observe, but only Board members will be able to participate.

The workshop and meeting are in our conference room at 221 W. First Ave., on the third floor.

Planning Assumptions Meeting Tomorrow

A reminder that we're hosting our annual 'Planning Assumptions' public meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) evening from 4-6 p.m.

Planning Assumptions is a meeting to explain the process of transportation planning. We don't discuss projects we're working on, funding, or the politics of transportation, just how we do our jobs and what 'tools' (such as computer programs, census data, etc.) go into it.

The meeting is pretty informal and consists of a presentation and question and answer session. Everyone is welcome, so come down and pick our brains about how the whole thing works. We're located at 221 W. First Ave. in the Intermodal Center. We're on the third floor so you have to take the elevator up, there's no stair access.

I Found My New Car

I had been planning to buy something a little more fuel efficient, but this car combines my love for Hello Kitty and large old cars. I saw this in one of those 'People of Walmart' emails that goes around.

SRTC Board Changes On The Way

With the recent elections pretty much in the books, we can let you know that the makeup of the SRTC Board will change due to election results. Two SRTC Board members were up for re-election; City of Spokane Council member Nancy McLaughlin and Spokane Valley Council member Diana Wilhite.

McLaughlin won her race and will stay on the Board, as long as she's interested in doing it, anyway. I've been hearing that there may be other council members from the City of Spokane who are interested in transportation and being on our Board. My understanding is that they can work it out amongst themselves to decide who sits on the Board.

Diana Wilhite is the Vice-Chair of the SRTC Board. She was defeated at the polls, so the City of Spokane Valley will have to decide which council member (or the Mayor is eligible too) should sit on the Board.

That means the lineup of Chair and Vice-Chair will change too. Had Diana won, she would have been our Chair in 2010. Because the incoming Spokane Valley Board member will not have any experience on the SRTC Board, it wouldn't be wise to put them directly into a Chair position, so the position will go to the next jurisdiction in the rotation. Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you who that is, but once everything is formalized I will do an update about the changes.

For more information, here's a link to the SRTC website where you can see the entire list of SRTC Board members and find out more about how they oversee our activities.

New Technology Scans License Plates As Police Drive

So remember in a lot of sci-fi movies how a camera or sensor is used to scan a person's face or eye for recognition before admitting them to a building or giving them clearance? Well that's kind of what some new technology does that Spokane police are using to recover stolen cars. With a spike in car thefts lately, they're hoping the camera, which reads license plate numbers and checks them against a natiowide database of stolen vehicles, will help recover stolen cars quicker.Here's the story from the Spokesman-Review.

And on a related note, customs agents in Los Angeles got a big surprise recently when they opened a shipping container and found a vehicle reported stolen in Spokane- 35 years ago! Here's that story.

A Couple Items From The City Of Spokane

- Eighth Ave. from Sunset Blvd. to Government Way has reopened to traffic. The street was closed as part of the Fish Lake Trail project, which is substantially complete.

- The leaf pickup schedule for Nov. 9 through Nov. 13 is as follows:

Monday, Nov. 9— Northwest Boulevard Area: South of Northwest Blvd. north of Maxwell Ave., east of Pettit Dr., and west of Monroe St.

Clark Park Area: south of Wellesley Ave., north of Garland Ave., west of Division St., and east of Wall St.

Indian Trail Area: South of Johansen Rd., north of Francis Ave., west of Cedar St., and east of Nine Mile Rd.

Northwest Terrace Area: South of the north City limits, north of Wellesley Ave., west of Assembly Rd./Nine Mile Rd., and east of the river.

Tuesday, Nov. 10— Northwest Boulevard Area: South of Northwest Blvd. north of Maxwell Ave., east of Pettit Dr., and west of Monroe St.

Clark Park Area: south of Wellesley Ave., north of Garland Ave., west of Division St., and east of Wall St.

Northwest Terrace Area: South of the north City limits, north of Wellesley Ave., west of Assembly Rd./Nine Mile Rd., and east of the river.

Westview Area: south of Francis Ave., north of Wellesley Ave., west of A St., and east of Assembly St.

Wednesday, Nov. 11— West Central Area: South of Maxwell Ave., north of Bridge Ave., west of Washington St., and east of the river.

Hillyard Area: South of Francis Ave., north of Wellesley Ave., west of Greene St., and east of Perry St.

Westview Area: South of Francis Ave., north of Wellesley Ave., west of A St., and east of Assembly St.

Thursday, Nov. 12—West Central Area: South of Maxwell Ave., north of Bridge Ave., west of Washington St., and east of the river.

Hillyard Area: south of Francis Ave., north of Wellesley Ave., west of Greene St., and east of Perry St.

Friday, Nov. 13— West Central Area: South of Maxwell Ave., north of Bridge Ave., west of Washington St., and east of the river.

Hillyard Area: South of Francis Ave., north of Wellesley Ave., west of Greene St., and east of Perry St.

Would You Buy Car Insurance By The Mile?

The way, and amount, you drive is changing. With the emphasis on greenhouse gases, pollution, and congestion lately, there is going to be a strong push in the very near future to get people to drive less. Along with that change may be a change to the way you buy car insurance as well. Economists are predicting that you will be buying insurance by the mile very soon, instead of as a blanket policy.Here's an article from MSN Money, and believe it or not, this isn't a new concept.

I kind of like this idea. Not only does it encourage people to drive less and ride the bus, ride their bike or walk more, but it also gives them a financial incentive to do so. What do you think?

Five Mile Rd. & Park and Ride Lot Closed Thursday

Five Mile Rd from Ash St. to Wedgewood St. will be closed for paving tomorrow(Thursday). Additionally, Austin Rd. from Strong to Five Mile roads will be closed to traffic and the STA park and ride lot at Five Mile Rd. and Ash St. will be closed. Drivers will be detoured to Cedar St.

The closure is part of the Five Mile Rd. from Austin to Lincoln roads rehabilitation project. The base paving for the remainder of the project is expected to be done the week of Nov. 16.

This project will widen and rebuild the street to include curbs and a continuous sidewalk on the west side, a 5-ft. bike lane north and shared-use bike lane south on Five Mile Rd. from Austin to Lincoln roads.

Here's A New Law Enforcement Tool- Have Drunk Drivers Report Themselves

I realize that people do stupid things when drunk, but this one takes the cake. A woman actually called the police- to report that she was driving drunk. Now she's facing DUI charges. At least she's honest I guess.

Here's the rest of the story.

Tell The WSDOT How They're Doing

So how do you feel about transportation lately? How's about the Washington State Department of Transportation? The WSDOT is asking for your opinion on how they're doing and would like you to take a quick survey to fill them in. The feedback from this survey will help WSDOT staff learn more about how they can improve their performance.

Here's a link to the survey.

A Couple Ideas For Area Bus Stops

Got an old defunct bus and a bus stop with no shelter at it? We may have a love match! Designer Christopher Fennel is making bus shelters out of old buses. Here's more pictures and information on his one-man movement to provide cool, recycled bus shelters.

And while we're on the subject of bus stops, I'm using this platform to launch my campaign to place burn barrels at bus stops. This is actually Jeff's idea but I'm running with it. It's only November, but when we were waiting for the bus last night, we passed the time by complaining how cold it is. Jeff mentioned how great it would be if we had a burn barrel to stand over while waiting for the bus and- wa la- an idea was hatched. So what do you think, are you behind me on this?

Speaking Of Planes And Flying...

Boardings at Spokane International Airport declined 6.5% in September, the best year-over-year results since Express Jet Airlines shut down service.

Airport spokesman Todd Woodard said Express Jet's low-cost flights, and the response from competitors, inflated traffic numbers during the 17 months the airline served Spokane. High fuel costs forced Express Jet out of business in September of 2008.

Since then, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines or its regional partner, SkyWest Airlines, have added or restored flights to Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago and Denver.

In September, 123,618 passengers boarded in Spokane, compared with 131,771 a year earlier.

Fog Slowing Down Morning Commute

It's slow going out there because of the fog. According to the National Weather Service, the abrupt changes in visibility are creating hazardous driving conditions. In some areas, the water on the roadway is freezing and making for slick conditions.

The fog is expected to dissipate after 10 a.m.

Tweetin On A Jet Plane

I heard this song on the radio this morning and it made me laugh. It's in reference to the pilots fired from their jobs last week for using their laptop computers in the cockpit and overshooting their landing target by 150 miles. It's an epidemic- it's not just texting in cars anymore, but now tweeting on planes.

I found this picture while digging around the internet and thought it was funny.

WSDOT Travel Alerts Web Update Starts In 24 Minutes

This is last minute on my part I know, but a warning that the Washington State Department of Transportation will not be providing traffic information for close to an hour today, starting at noon. The outage is scheduled so that technicians can upgrade the data-entry system that feeds WSDOT’s real-time statewide and regional traffic information Web sites and the 5-1-1 travel information phone system.

During the upgrade, a banner at the top of WSDOT’s Travel Alerts Web pages will keep drivers advised of how to find information on any critical highway updates.

Here's a link to the WSDOT travel alert website.

Here's Your Chance To Get Into Our Heads... Although That Would Probably Be Scary

Ever wonder how the transportation planning process works? Or what 'tools' we use to do the planning? Well here's your chance to find out wwwaaaayyyyy more about SRTC than you ever wanted to.

On Tuesday, Nov. 10 from 4-6 p.m., we'll host our annual 'Planning Assumptions' public meeting. The meeting consists of a presentation and question and answer session about the planning process and explains about the travel demand model that we use, the data that is used to make it work, and where we get our direction as to what projects, studies, etc. to conduct.

Myself and Anna, our Transportation Planning Supervisor, will be conducting the meeting and, while the topic has the potential to be somewhat boring, we try to jazz it up a little and make it fun. I may even be able to talk Anna into a little song and dance number about air quality monitoring.

So come on down, everyone's invited. The meeting is in our conference room at 221 W. First Ave., Suite 310.

End Of The Line For Trolley Buses

It's the end of the line for the trolley buses in downtown Spokane. Plus, STA is holding workshops to talk with the public about maintaining service levels while tax revenues decline, and a busy Spokane Valley street will be closing for a couple days. Here's what's happening this week in transportation from the Spokesman-Review's 'Getting There' column.