Results tagged “transportation”

We've been contemplating a jaunt to the old NYC all summer (mainly to see this geekalicious exhibit and have some chocolate), and back before the humidity fried all neural pathways we looked into how, exactly, we would get there. We're not fried too much to remember we’re on a tighter than usual budget, and when did a train ticket get that exorbitant? We resigned ourselves to bussing it, and were delighted, if a bit hesitant, to check out the challengers to the standard Chinatown Bus, which promised (reliable) A/C and Wi-Fi among other amenities, including hard-to-believe $1 fares. Luckily Sulina Gabale over at City Paper took the plunge for us, subjecting herself to four roundtrips to see if the newcomers lived up to her usual chariot, the 2000 New Century Travel Chinatown Bus. The take-away: the newbies deliver, and strange food odors are absent to boot. Excuse us, we're grabbing the laptop so's we can blog our way to the Met.

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For more than five years, Philadelphians have been ditching their own cars in favor of those owned by PhillyCarShare. The program's fleet of sedans, hybrids (which comprise more than 50% of the fleet), convertibles, and pick-up trucks has provided the right wheels for the job for thousands of part-time drivers in our fair city. Each car shared by PhillyCarShare members replaces about 23 individually-owned vehicles. The company itself has become a much-loved local success story and a tireless champion of green living.

href="http://londonist.com/2008/02/air_bound.php"> remove one man from Gatwick.

We love stories about local bureaucratic idiocy. They're always good for a laugh or two, but we do tend to forget about them five minutes after we've read them. And then there's the story of Edward Stanley Harris. By now, we're sure you all know the story. This guy had been hassled annually by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for 17 years over some parking tickets that his twin brother, Edwin Shelby Harris (insert plethora of jokes about the stupidity involved in naming your twin sons Edward Stanley and Edwin Shelby here), had racked up back in 1990 and '91, but never paid. Every year, poor Edward had to go explain to the Philadelphia Traffic Court that they weren't his tickets. Well, this year, when Edward received his annual notice that his license would be suspended if he didn't pay "his" tickets and went to make his annual visit to the court, Judge Willie Adams (!!!

Walking down Broad Street to the Allegheny stop one evening, Phillyist was deep in conversation about the psychology of cities. Discussing the El, when it is actually an El, one person remarked “No wonder people get depressed in Kensington, they can’t see the sun!” Philadelphia based artist Edward Epstein might agree. His new site-specific installation, City Without Expressways, presented by InLiquid.com at the Crane Arts Building, looks at the ways in which the building of our beloved highways has affected the city and its dwellers. Specifically, he is concerned with how the reshaping of public space that happened with the construction of the Vine and Schuylkill Expressways and Interstate 95 has made many parts of Philadelphia “inhospitable to humans” and seems to indicate that we are more focused on the comfort of cars than people (the title of this post is his quote). This installation includes printed images on large canvas with transparencies, which allow the landscape to be changed and morphed to reflect overlays of memories and meaning. We were thinking he should tackle public transport next, but he’s already beaten us to it with his Means of Transport series of drawings. We’d like to know what he’d say about Kensington though.

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Good morning, readers, from a Phillyist on a plane, killing time on the way to Louisville via Chicago. Yeah, I know that's really out of the way. But then, so is Louisville. Air travel is generally hated by most people. Strangely, though, today's experience has been almost pleasant. Here's why: (1) Tuesday afternoons in December are apparently an awesome time to fly. Business travelers are out of town, going about their midweek business, and...

We have a soft spot for things that are brilliantly stupid. These two sets of signs on the same block we recently stumbled upon in Chestnut Hill definitely qualify. As you can plainly see, there is an obvious conflict of parking instructions here.

When Richard Kelly's film Southland Tales was originally screened at Cannes, the buzz was extraordinarily negative. The word was that the movie was a great big mess - ridiculous and nonsensical. I didn't want to believe it. I really enjoyed Kelly's amazing indie/romance/sci-fi flick Donnie Darko. I thought maybe people were reacting to Southland Tales the way that some had reacted to The Fountain: they were confused by it because they hadn't looked hard enough...

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just in time for Halloween, the Chocolate Jesus is back.

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice and the press making the speaker of the California State Assembly, Fabian Nunez, run away when being asked hard questions about sketchy luxurious and worldly expenses.

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own such as "Operation Any Booking," where the object was to arrest as many people as possible within a specific 24-hour period (some might suspect these cops can be found on HotChicksWithDoucheBags). The crazy stories continue in an interview with Brandon D. Christopher, author of Dirty Little Altar Boy, and a Santa Monica College Professor being blamed for the Burma web blackout.

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline.

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and several smiles as well as lots of cash were raised by some plucky urban ironing. London is apparently full of lies and whales: one of these things is true. We leave that up to you to figure out.

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse.

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take her medicine and offered their own suggestions to how the city should capitalize on the local music scene. And everyone thinks that a suggested tax on bottled water is a great idea.

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When you go to New York or Princeton, are you tired of taking the R7 to Trenton? Do you find the schedule isn’t always convenient or the train gets so delayed you miss the New Jersey Transit train? If you don’t want to risk life and limb on a Chinatown bus, there is another option that is much cheaper and runs more frequently, but the downside is that you have to go to Camden.

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on.

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing!

The Megaloping guys might be SEPTA’s biggest champions these days. They’re firm believers in the power of public transportation, and they’re on a mission—to make it from northern Virgina to Portland, Maine using only subways, city busses, and commuter railways their entire trip. They’re passing through Philly tonight.

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Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed.

For the past month, I’ve been spending my mornings walking from the Norristown Transportation Center to a rehearsal space in Bridgeport. During this trek, I am consistently amused by a billboard for WFIL AM560, “Philadelphia’s Christian Radio.”