"The Pulse", the Citizens League issue scan looks at topics of interest to members of the Citizens League (www.citizensleague.net)

 
Transportation and Transit. If Not LRT, Then What? Bus Rapid Transit is a cost-effective alternative to light rail that is working on the ground in a number of countries. One of the longer standing systems is in Curitiba, Parana State, Brazil. Their system has a number of features including: exclusive bus lanes, signal priority for buses, pre-boarding fare collection, level bus boarding from raised platforms in tube stations, and a readily understandble network of routes. More detail may be found on the web (cut and paste this address into your browser: http://www.fta.dot.gov/brt/issues/pt3.html). There are also a number of advanced technology buses being launched in the US including a system in Las Vegas, Nevada. (See: http://www.fta.dot.gov/brt/issues/pt2.html). (10)




posted by Lyle at 10:58 AM

 
Metropolitan Governance. The Association of Bay Area Governments in California has a well developed website covering the greater San Francisco Bay area. The site includes a variety of resources including training and joint purchasing. The site address is http://www.abag.ca.gov/. (You can cut and paste this address into your browser to get to the site). (8)
posted by Lyle at 5:07 PM

 
Public Services: e-Government. A recent report ranked Minnesota's state government website in the bottom third of state's websites across the country. Since the use of the web has been found to yield 15-45% savings in delivering a number of public services, this ranking should be a wake up call for the state. (The full report is on the web and required the use of Acrobat software that is free from www.adobe.com and from other download sites: http://endowment.pwcglobal.com/pdfs/JohnsonReport.pdf. You can cut and paste this address into your browser to get the report). (7)

posted by Lyle at 11:10 AM