Carmageddon Was a Bust. Will Viadoom Create Havoc?

Over the summer, the worst fears associated with Los Angeles's Carmageddon -- the traffic jams expected when I-405 was closed for a weekend -- proved to be overblown.

Efficient commuting? From the Seattle Times.

Now Seattle is facing Viadoom: The closure of the crucial Alaskan Way Viaduct as workers demolish a portion of the downtown elevated highway as part of the controversial tunnel project.

The Seattle Times has provided all kinds of maps, guides and other resources for drivers looking to avoid the potential traffic snarls cause by the project.

While we were standing in the rain competing in a pumpkin race, several thousand Seattleites turned out this weekend to pay tribute to the roadway and stroll about without fear of getting hit by a car.

Tomorrow will be the big test to see if Seattle's already tough traffic gets exponentially worse. Stay tuned.

Crumbling Roads, Bridges, Railways Suck Time and Our Economic Future

Most of America's top 10 transit regions are seriously in arrears in vital maintenance and upgrading, writes Neal Peirce in his nationally syndicated column. That's dangerous because today's congested roadways have made transit indispensable to people's movements and the regions' economies.

As someone who loves cars and driving -- as well as trains, scooters, motorcycles, trucks, etc. -- I'm concerned about the state of the roads I drive on every day. It's clear that decades of neglect and penny pinching by either incompetent governments or those feeling the unending wrath of taxpayers has left things in bad shape today and the future looking grim.

Road and transportation building is one of the key things that a government should accomplish. The idea of having most highways, bridges and tunnels privatized and then tolled so that only those who use them, pay for them seems unrealistic.

What do you think? Should we prioritize the repair of the U.S. transportation infrastructure over other investments in our economic future? How should that work be paid for?

Great Pumpkin Race Yields a Surprising Trophy

This year we discovered a new type of Halloween competition -- the pumpkin race. The fun involves decorating a pumpkin, adding two axles and wheels and then competing in a gravity-powered race. This is much like the Cub Scout's Pinewood Derby.

The Blue Flame pumpkin racer

We signed up for the The Great SBCC Pumpkin Race (first annual) held just down the road from our house. I also lined up a friend -- who just happens to be an engineer -- to compete with me.

We got together at our place on Friday evening with the kids to decorate our pumpkins and add the wheels. Thankfully, my engineer had done a ton of thinking and brought over a bunch of parts, tools and hardware to get the pumpkins built.

As for the design, I had a moment of inspiration and created an homage to The Blue Flame, a record-setting rocket-powered vehicle that went just over 630 miles an hour at the Bonneville Salt Flats on October 23, 1970.

I had a surprising number of parts laying about the house and even a can of blue spray paint. The design came together beautifully -- as you can see from the slideshow below. We gave the car a second name "Fuego Azul" to honor my son's Spanish skills.

Unfortunately, race day dawned cold, dark and rainy. And I mean rainy. It was so wet that they actually ran the races a little early.

The Blue Flame didn't win on the track. Actually, it lost it's heat due to a misalignment that sent it off the course. (Video) Just about all the racers had the same problem. The only racer to make it to the bottom bent its axle when it hit the haybales and traveled only one inch in the final heat.

The shocker was that my design inspiration and remarkable (for me) fit and finish garnered us a trophy for best decoration and a $25 gift certificate to Jamba Juice (nice sponsorship.)

My engineer friend and I are already plotting new designs for next year and will hope that the rain will hold off so we can really see how a proper pumpkin race can go.

The Mother of All Automotive Podcasts

Good news for auto makers -- their economists believe that car sales are going to be stronger in 2012. Despite the concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy, the aging of America's fleet is likely to drive people to dealers.

Meanwhile, those aging vehicles are good news for repair shops like Monro Muffler Brake, which is posting strong earnings as owners keep their rides on the road by replacing parts. But it might be that there will be fewer cars on the road overall in the future.

Car dealers like AutoNation are also posting strong gains as they make more money on their sales because inventories are tight.

Luxury-car sales are expected to outperform the market next year. BMW might benefit the most because its new 3-Series is hitting the market.

Fisker's Karma extended range electric vehicle finally received its EPA certification and will be reaching garages, but will drivers be disappointed by weaker than expected mileage and range?

Perhaps they can track their performance with some of the new apps that are available that allow drivers to gauge the horsepower and braking power.

One thing that people should track better is their drinking and driving, which remains a problem especially for men.

Finally, check out the Hot Wheels track video below that is jaw-droppingly awesome.

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GM Gets Pwned at their own Event

I know this story is a little old but i thought i would put it up here anyway since we missed last week and weren't able to podcast. We'll hopefully be back on Thursday.



In the meantime, check out this piece at WSJ.com about GM getting pranked at Chevy event.

The joys of technology.

GM officials said computer technicians found an unauthorized software program had been installed on a wireless router, and the program was altering the way Web pages were displayed to insert the word "sucks" after any mention of certain rivals on computers linked to the network.

I can't help but think the subcontractor who did this will not be working for any major corporations anytime soon.

This Podcast Is Driving Itself by Reading Our Minds

The U.S. auto market is back to a level playing field now that Toyota and Honda have almost overcome the inventory issues that hurt their sales. Meanwhile, buyers turned out during September, pushing sales up to recent highs and signaling that economic concerns might not dent sales in the coming months.
Many shoppers are those who need a car, as in their previous ride has worn out. And they are finding that used car prices are not friendly so they are taking the plunge into brand new cars and trucks.

Mind reading cars coming?

Luxury auto makers have seen strong sales in recent months as buyers choose the high-tech gadgets and more customer friendly shopping experience that the dealers and manufacturers have invested in.
GM has seen strong sales rebound. But it's stock is sliding, down 40% since it's IPO last year and the U.S. government, which has 500 million shares, is holding off selling for a while.
The investment might be a bit distracting but drivers aren't paying much attention. Nor are they heeding their own advice.
Perhaps it will get better when cars will be able to read our minds, which may be coming sooner than you would think.
Finally, we go to the police blotter with two stories about thievery, one a clever key switcheroo and the other a Facebook snafu.

Programming note: We thought the iPhone news was not worthy of a mention and check out this book excerpt of Bill Vlasic's "Once Upon a Car: The Fall and Resurrection of America’s Big Three Automakers — G.M., Ford and Chrysler.” We'll talk about it next week.

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