The winning “Cybrid” design has been picked for the 10-12 new Gillig hybrids coming soon to CyRide’s bus fleet. Just over 80,000 people voted in an online poll on CyRide’s website to pick from three different designs, with a landslide majority win for the “Gold Leaf” design. CyRide received $1.6 million in 100% federal funding through the 2009 Recovery Act to upgrade diesel buses to hybrid. It has been common for transit systems across the nation to specially brand hybrid buses to promote “going green” and the environmental benefits of riding transit. The first nine Cybrids are scheduled to arrive in Ames by July.
I took this photo on my cellphone a couple weeks ago at the endpoint of Red West. This stop is in front of Ames Middle School, across the street from apartment complexes that house hundreds of college students. For certainly one of the busier bus stops in Ames, you’d think there would be a sidewalk.
The 2009 Solar Decathlon competition is underway in Washington, DC. Twenty teams from around the world, including Iowa Sate University, arrived last week to reassemble their solar houses along Decathlete Way on the National Mall. Public tours began yesterday and continue through next Sunday, October 18. All twenty solar houses will be closed to the public on Wednesday for judging and measurement purposes.
It has been interesting and exciting to watch the project progress from design to construction here at Iowa State. So far the Interlock House has been doing pretty well in the score standings, which are judged on ten categories and continuously updated throughout the week.
Seen above is Iowa State Project Engineer Tim Lentz working on the Interlock House roof on the National Mall in DC on Tuesday. The photo was featured on the White House blog this week. (Photo credit: Stefano Paltera / US Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon)
> Solar Decathlon
> Iowa State University Solar Decathlon
> Iowa State University Solar Decathlon Blog
> ISU Solar Decathlon (interlockhouse) on Twitter
I was in Ames this past weekend where my friend Eric Berkson, IT Coordinator for the Iowa State Solar Decathlon team, gave me a tour of their solar powered house under construction. Called the Interlock House, it utilizes a NanaWall system on the south facade to create a versatile sunspace that can be closed as a solar-collecting greenhouse in winter, a recessed exterior porch for summer, or completely open for cross-ventilation. It is a very cool system. The 2009 Solar Decathlon competition will be held October 9 – 18, on the National Mall in Washington, DC, where the Interlock House and 19 other competing solar houses will be reconstructed and open to the public. The Interlock House website includes an interesting photo blog, which I borrowed the following photo from.
CyRide has now published online the timetables for Moonlight Express Alpha (A) Shuttle. Previously the protocol for the late night weekend bus service, would be to call in to base for location and time of the fixed routes A – D. However, not everyone needing the bus on Friday and Saturday nights are drunk and are able to look up the bus schedule themselves. The schedule is only published until about 2am, even though service runs closer to 3am – this allows CyRide to adjust the schedule and service level as needed.
Timetables for Bravo (B) and Delta (D) shuttles, both serving Frederiksen Court, and Charlie (C Shuttle), serving Towers and Billy Sunday, remain unavailable to the public. Bravo and Delta alternate service to Frederiksen, providing continual 18 minute headways between Freddy and Campustown throughout the night. First campus-bound bus departs Freddy at 10:34pm, and then every 18 minutes after until end of service.
The February issue of CyRide’s Signals newsletter includes a list of what they have requested with anticipated transit funding in the national economic stimulus package. A specific wish list has been determined early so once funds are allocated, CyRide will have a chance to get orders in ahead of larger transit agencies, with arrival times for new bus orders typically around 18 months. Included are:
> 10 – 40-foot Heavy-duty Diesel OR Hybrid Electric expansion buses
> 3 – MD Low-floor buses (Full funding to upgrade minibuses 949, 960,961 to MD low-floor buses)
> 3 – MD low-floor bus upgrade (Add funding for 859, 938,939 at MD status as opposed to LD)
> 13 – 40-foot Heavy-duty replacement buses (926, 927, 933, 934, 941, 942, 943, 967, 980, 981, 983, 985, 990)
It is a priority of CyRide to upgrade its fleet and keep up with increasing service demand. However, the garage is basically at capacity and the roof is too low to fit hybrid buses, except for a few newer lanes, part of more recent additions. With no more room to expand on site, a satellite garage is rumored to be CyRide’s next step in facility expansion. It will be interesting to see what happens if all or even part of CyRide’s capital requests are approved and they have addition buses arriving in the next two years.
Additionally, the Ames City Council approved $93,000 from local option sales tax revenue, for city-wide fare free service this summer. The vote passed 4-2, with council members Riad Mahayni and Jami Larson voting no. Mahayni, a former CRP professor of mine, was concerned with the fairness to ISU students who regularly ride for free, but pay for it through student fees. Larson wondered about the consequences of offering a one-time fare free period and the implications when the free service ends in the fall.
Ultimately I think the initiative will get some additional residents on the bus and maybe persuade a few to continue when fares resume. I had not considered the fairness to students issue before, but the opportunity to increase long term ridership and community support is probably worth it. For the summer, CyRide will be unique among Iowa public transit agencies in providing fare free service to all, excluding Cambus which is operated by the University of Iowa and does not extend service beyond campus.
The Iowa State Solar Decathlon has debuted a webcam today, providing a live feed of the construction progress of the Interlock House. The building site is in a warehouse near the ISU Research Park. The house will be built in to module sections for transportation purposes and the whole house will be about 40 feet long by 20 feet.
My father George Dorman recently interviewed Iowa State’s Solar Decathlon team on “Clean Up Your Act” for KCCK radio in Cedar Rapids. Team leaders describe the challenges and benefits of designing a solar home for the general public.
Designing the Solar Home of the Future
> Full interview (11:09)
> ISU Solar Decathlon 2009
> U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon
How appropriate for the first day back in class at Iowa State… Here’s a short clip from NPR Morning Edition from August 19, about concrete sidewalks being replaced with rubber to stand up to the occasional dropped keg at Lincoln Way and Welch in Campustown. Doing a Google search, it appears the story was picked up across the country for the day’s light-hearted news story.
Edit: Apparently the rubber sidewalk has been installed along Chamberlain Street at Welch Ave next to the Campustown fire station (one block south of Lincoln Way). The sidewalk work at Lincoln Way and Welch appears to be for new traffic signals. The above photo I took Thursday, August 28.
> Morning Edition: Sidewalk Padded With Rubber For Keg Deliveries
New brickwork and barrier chains have been installed outside of Friley Hall and Union Drive Community Center (UDCC) on the Iowa State University campus. The new brick replaces large dead, dirt spots where years of heavy pedestrian traffic has done its toll. I am always happy to see new brickwork on campus instead of all concrete sidewalks. It gives the already beautiful campus added character and visual interest.
However I can’t say the same for the new metal chains. These pedestrian barriers are found all over campus restricting pedestrians to sidewalks as to prevent creating “cow paths” in the grass. A debate has sparked on campus after a Facebook group was created arguing over-use of these chains that many deem uglier than a few cow paths. I agree that some chains are necessary around campus but it now seems they are going up just anywhere and everywhere. These new chains between Friley and the UDCC look haphazardly placed amid a few small shrubs and a tree at either end. Mulch has been worn away around shrubs as thousands of students cut through daily going between Friley and the UDCC where a dining center is located.
In such a high traffic area the landscaping strip at UDCC would be more suitable as a small strip of brickwork, like what was just installed nearby. The two trees could easily be preserved and maybe even a third one added, with space in between finished in brick. This would allow pedestrians passage, require little maintenance, and enhance the entrance into the Union Drive residential community. Instead of restricting pedestrians from cutting through by erecting unsightly metal chains, the Department of Facilities Planning and Management should work to identify and respond appropriately to pedestrian movement around campus.
