Burt Reynolds would have been lost without his CB radio in the movie Smokey and the Bandit. That was back in the 1970s when "citizens band" radios were all the rage. In 2011 truckers and enthusiasts still use the CB airwaves, but new communication tools could revolutionize the way truckers transport goods, alleviating road congestion around ports and terminals, and reducing air pollution, including the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause climate change.

One such tool was unveiled in October as part of a pilot project involving a partnership between MTC, the Port of Oakland and West State Alliance. Using a cell phone's texting feature, MTC's 511 system is alerting the pilot group of truckers about real time traffic congestion at specific locations throughout the port, along with Bay Area-wide incident and congestion information. This could help immensely, since no system currently exists to inform truckers of traffic congestion in the port, causing long wait times and excess GHG emissions from idling. This information will enable the truckers to alter their travel times to avoid congestion, reducing wait times and air pollution. (Of course, we encourage responsible texting, and will instruct the truckers to check texts prior to leaving on a trip or while stopped!)

If all goes well, we hope to launch the program to all truckers who frequent the port.

Return to Top 

Nearly 15 percent of Bay Area commuters take public transit to work. That's according to a new study released by the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey Reports, "Commuting in the United States: 2009." The only metropolitan region surpassing the Bay Area in transit ridership was the New York City area with about 30 percent. The Washington, DC area rounded out the top three with 14 percent of commuters riding transit to work.

The Bay Area did not make the top ten metro areas for commutes to work by bicycle or walking. The top biking/walking towns mostly had populations of less than 500,000 (compared to 7 million in the Bay Area!), and many were university towns with large numbers of college age students.

Some other highlights from the report:

• Surprise! The Bay Area did not make the top ten list of metro areas with the longest commutes. However, Bay Area workers' average commute time of 27.1 minutes was still longer than the national average of 25.1 minutes.
• Over three-quarters of the nation's workers drove to work alone.
• More than 81 percent of suburban workers drove to work alone, compared to about 72 percent of urban dwellers.
• About 16 percent of Hispanic workers carpooled, compared to nearly 10 percent for non-Hispanic workers.
• Public transit usage among African-Americans was the highest of any ethnic group; at 11.5 percent, it was more than three times the rate among non-Hispanic Caucasians.