ANASTAS

Dear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,

I would like to know your position on the new Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) public transportation systems that have been raising a lot of discussion lately. London was the first city to utilize subways and now they are starting to implement PRT into their airport network among other cities around the world. I have looked into them on the website http://prtstrategies.com and they have some amazing advantages.

I have found the top reasons why our state would be interested in them.

1. Create an entire new industry based around localized distribution hubs for potentially thousands of neighborhoods. Whether this would be FedEx/UPS/USPS hubs or independently operated, they can find better use for electrically driven short range compact cars.

2. There cost is almost 1/30 the cost of subways and can be erected much faster than subway construction. This is due to their extremely light dead load and the need for only one way loops. The most recent Fee proposal that I am aware of came in at $14.5 Million / mile where subways in Los Angeles are estimated at $450 Million / mile.

3. No operator or user error that can cause damage or injury because the entire system is computer optimized which can also allow it to run 24 hours a day. In off-peak hours it can be used for silent, emission-free cargo system to minimize the need for truck transport within the city. When this becomes mainstream it could ultimately eliminate the need for car expenses and insurance all together for those who use it.

4. Probably the most critical factor of all is the usability by the public. This will cause the system to explode in demand as soon as the system begins to be utilized. For one the ease of use and operation by simply entering your destination and not having to stop until your destination or share your transporter pod with strangers would open up the opportunity for many elderly and wealthier class of public transportation riders.

5. As a implementation incentive the system could easily be supported by third party investment by car companies because the technology and mechanisms are so simple to create. Audi/Mercedes/BMW/etc./etc. could sponsor their own stations that would have dedicated cars that could automatically return back to their network of compact stations. In addition, private investors, such as Malls and high density housing developments could now afford to incorporate the network into their projects because the cost is so much more attainable than a cost prohibitive subway system. This is without mentioning the flexibility of the system to take very sharp turns and rise up into multi level buildings to provide second or third level integrated stations for office buildings or public events like concerts or sport games.

6. Alternatives implementation which could brand the system as a futuristic green city would be to put solar panels on the elevated tracks simultaneously with miniature wind turbines by our local http://pacwind.net.

I am sure our state would want to be the first to implement this new technology and lead the country and the world int his new direction. Although there are several cities around the world that have already begun to invest into this technology such as Heathrow Airport in London, Sweden and the Masdar Eco City in the UAE.

This technology is a no brainer, the flexibility and ease of implementation will allow a minimal investment to test the system out and once that happens the city that begins this global trend will be seen as a global leader in environmental progress.

I personally think this is the solution to many of our national challenges that we face today, including our dependence on oil, cost of our continuously more valuable time spent in traffic, stress of driving and the secondary effects on our social and family life, cost of gas which inevitably will go back up to above $4 / gallon, death from car accidents, and many more.

I am not affiliated with the company PRT Strategies, but they seem to be one of the most comprehensive and knowledgeable sources on PRT systems and will provide free presentations at your request. Please contact the website prtstrategies.com for more details and presentations on request.

Regards,
Edward Anastas
Urban and Architectural Design
R204 DESIGN

“Hey Michael”,

I just finished watching your new movie SiCKO and also some of your comments on CNN (via YouTube, thank god for YouTube!!! since I don’t watch tv too much). These comments are not about the new movie though… I have a great idea possibly for your next story that I think will really piss the American people off if they become aware of it…

You may have already figured this one out but if not I think I have a perspective on our situation that is fairly interesting.

In a nutshell what is happening in our country is that inflation is secretly going way up and our paychecks are staying pretty much where they are. In effect what this does is proportionately lower the salary of everyone in the country in one clean swoop! Let me explain a little further. I remember hearing about an independent report on the top 30 most consumed items in America and how they had increased 5.5% (in a year) as opposed the official inflation report of 2.5%. So who cares what the federal reserve claims is our inflation rate if it is costing everyone 5.5% more to survive! let alone the cost of housing increases. With the way things are going these days, I am inclined to believe this independent report was more accurate than our federal reserve and how it probably was that way for the previous several years… and everything started to make sense. So many people I know are gradually having a harder time paying their bills in recent years. In a separate report I discovered that health care had increased about 80% since early 2000 and the increase in housing costs, gas prices, etc. have been almost the same or much more. Looking at the 80% increase in health care compounding 5.5% (closer to true inflation) over five or six years comes close to that health care increase of 80% (actually about 60%), gas increase, housing, etc. It started to seem very obvious to me that what was happening was inflation appeared to be much higher than the federal reserve has been claiming. In fact I remember hearing recently about how back in March 2006 they no longer were required to publish the amount of money the federal reserve was printing!!??? All of a sudden they just stopped reporting it? and that was another clue for me. I am not too familiar with the process and all the names of these reports, but I had the common sense to put it all together.

Looking at it from a slightly more practical perspective and taking into consideration the cost of the war, and other things, I can see why it might be better to not really disclose the true cost of inflation… Imagine if every employer in the country had to pay their employees 80% more money! That is almost double. Needless to say, they would have to fire some people…. Maybe it is a good thing they are lying to us about inflation?, but on the other hand… maybe it is bottling up an inevitable economic crash (recession) that ultimately may be more damaging than allowing it to naturally carry out it’s course. I think we are a part of nature and natural flushing processes are healthy for our country and our culture as they are for our bodies. I am afraid this path we are on will ultimately cause us more harm.

I hope I was clear, and that by telling you these ideas and sharing in my frustration I could have the opportunity to inspire you for your next story, because I think this is a story that needs to be told.

[...]

Regards,
Edward Anastas

*********** cont…

While listening to the recent news of the farmer’s subsidy bill (and how it will remain in effect), It occurred to me that I forgot to mention a very significant part of the concept in the previous email….

I did a google search and found this article that explains the looming crisis regarding inflation. Disregard the fact that it is for the purpose of selling gold, just read the first few paragraphs and you will get the idea, which is exactly as I explained in the first email… (as a side note, the gold issue and the gold that was supposedly stored in building #7 at WTC is another very interesting topic when factoring in the inflation issue via low LOW interest rates controlled by the government).
–>http://goldinfo.net/austinreport2.html

Subsidies are key to this scheme because the government subsidizes farms for our main crops like wheat, water etc. We NEVER REALLY KNOW THE REAL COST OF THINGS, so we are all fooled very effectively. In fact I came across an amazing webpage ( http://www.crescentlife.com/dietnutrition/food_realities.htm) that claims that without subsidies beef would cost almost $90 per pound! and interestingly enough, that is what I understand it costs in Japan.

So, to the common consumer, it makes it very easy to believe that inflation is only 2.5% when milk is still very inexpensive.

We are not a stupid country, we are just too trusting of our government. Who would think that “the same” government that has gotten us this far would do something like this to it’s citizens? I am afraid of a very abrupt awakening that can produce an economic meltdown in this country.
–> Signs of the Times

[...]

Regards,
edward anastas

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In Reference to this article The Science of Traffic Jams which I encountered through completerss.com > sustainabilityzone.com: The Science of Traffic and Congestion Mitigation Strategies

I previously sent a suggestion to Los Angeles’ city transportation department, but as most government employment systems go… there was not much response to the idea.

I think the suggestion that I have come up with over the years of driving in LA is a similar solution that is achievable in a more reasonable time frame. It produces the same effect as an “Adaptive Cruise Control” system but without the need for retrofitting all cars with the technology. In fact since I first envisioned the idea it has been implemented around Lancaster California (for weather safety reasons), around Washington DC and I’m sure in other areas. It essentially turns each individual into “adaptive cruise controllers”, but requires a strict enforcement system (photo enforced speed sensors for example) to become effective.

The idea is to add “Variable Speed Limit Signs” throughout the inner urban freeway systems. What it will do from a technical point of view, is monitor the average traffic speed on the freeway within a certain span of freeway before and after the “Variable Speed Limit Sign” (approximately 3-10 miles). After sensors in the road (or other methods of speed sensing such as video motion detection) determine the average traffic speed. An average speed will be displayed on the “Variable Speed Limit Sign” which becomes the new speed limit (legally enforced). This will prevent the stop and go redundancy in freeway traffic which waists gas and increases traffic and driver stress, among other things mentioned in the article.

In order to implement this system, a strict regulation on the variable speed limits would need to be enforced. If the variable speed limits cannot be enforced, obviously the system cannot be effective. One advantage to this system is that it does not require a great deal of engineering of new freeway systems, it just makes the current system more efficient.

This system will not solve the Freeway Traffic problems entirely (that’s what removing corrupt lobbied politicians and adding public transportation is for!), but it will definitely make the current and future systems run more smoothly.