Crazy Deaf Joe Blog

Deaf People and Amtrak

For these years, I wonder do deaf people ride Amtrak and do they like them? Do deaf people like long rides on Amtrak to travel? Do they prefer to fly instead taking Amtrak?

Many of my friends who goes to Gally that lives in south Florida always take Amtrak up to go school and it seems most of deaf people don’t have car so they have to use Amtrak. They do enjoy and it’s peace of mind for them.

I always ride Amtrak because it’s a good thing since I am putting cars off the road to reduce emissions and save the planet. I am ECO-friendly and I care about my country.

I think Amtrak will be growing and offer, frequently, reliable and easy to use transportation system 25 years from now. I do believe that we need to push the government hard and show we care about our country. Amtrak is the way to go if you want to travel across the country.

I am writting some important facts about Amtrak and why it’s useful for everyone of us and the nation:

Why Public Transit?

* Public Transit Provides Economic Opportunity
* Public Transit Boosts The Economy and Creates “Green Jobs”
* Public Transit Saves Individuals Money
* Public Transit Reduces Gasoline Consumption
* Public Transit Reduces Greenhouse Gases and Helps Our Environment
* Public Transit Eases Traffic Congestion
* Public Transit Improves Air Quality
* Public Transit Enhances Personal Opportunities
* Public Transit Offers Increased Mobility Options
* Public Transit Creates Community Benefits
* Public Transit Impacts Urban and Rural Communities
* Public Transit Fosters Healthy Lifestyles
* Public Transit Provides Safety and Security

Moving Green With Amtrak:

The United States is moving towards regulations to reduce its carbon footprint and help make our nation more sustainable. Transportation generates about 1/3 of the greenhouse gases emitted in the country. Read on to learn how freight rail, commuter rail and Amtrak train travel reduce transportation’s impact on the environment.

Rail service, a vehicle for a green change.

Amtrak rail service is about more than providing energy-efficient transportation. It’s a mode of transportation that will help protect the environment, in ways big and small.

From programs aimed at allowing individual passengers to offset their carbon footprints to recycling, from environmental spill prevention to industrial housekeeping, from energy-efficient facilities to wildlife protection, Amtrak is committed to being part of the “generation that could,” in terms of making the necessary changes to protect our planet.

Freight rail transportation is one of the most energy efficient forms of surface transportation. Each freight train can move one ton of freight 436 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel. It also helps control air emissions. If 10 percent of long-haul freight now moving by truck moved by rail, annual greenhouse gas emissions would fall by more than 12 million tons. American railroads move 40 percent of our nation’s freight, but account for just 2.2 percent of all transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, and just 0.6 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy Conservation

Rail travel is typically more energy efficient than car or air travel over the same distances. Intercity rail travel uses about 20 percent less energy measured in BTUs (British Thermal Units) of energy per passenger mile than car or air travel.

Freight railroads are three times more fuel-efficient than trucks and emit three times less carbon dioxide (CO2) than trucks for the same transportation service. In 2003 alone, railroads increased their efficiency by consuming 2.8 billion fewer gallons of fuel in the United States — and emitted 31.5 million fewer tons of CO2 — than they would have if their efficiency had remained constant since 1980.

To learn more about freight rail service and its contributions towards energy conservation visit:

http://www.bnsf.com/media/bnsffacts.html or
http://www.csx.com/?fuseaction=about.environment

Amtrak is also taking measures to reduce the use of petroleum products, improving efficiency and reducing air emissions. By reducing the amount of “idling” time on diesel locomotives; using dynamic and regenerative braking systems to return energy to the grid on electric locomotives; employing bio-lubricants in hydraulic systems; and using lighter and more aerodynamic vehicle carriers on the Auto Train®, Amtrak is moving toward a more sustainable transportation system.

Carbon Footprint

Amtrak is a charter member of the Chicago Climate Exchange. This organization uses a market based system to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. We’ve committed to reduce emissions from diesel locomotives by 6 percent from 2003 through 2010, the largest voluntary commitment in the United States. To date, Amtrak has exceeded all of the interim required reduction targets.

Amtrak’s partnership with Carbonfund.org gives customers the opportunity to purchase carbon “offsets” for their travel on Amtrak, making it easy and affordable to reduce the carbon impact of their personal Amtrak trip to zero. The offsets provided through this partnership have three areas of investment focus: renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation. By choosing rail travel and offsetting emissions at Carbonfund.org, Amtrak customers can travel carbon-neutral.

Environmental Management

Amtrak’s Environmental Policy expresses our commitment to improve environmental performance through operating procedures, facilities management, pollution prevention, communication and training. Examples of these efforts include:

* Recycling pilot programs for bottles, cans and newspapers on selected trains, in stations and in Amtrak facilities systemwide.
* Cleanup of historic railroad contamination. Some Amtrak sites have contamination that dates back to Amtrak’s predecessor railroads.
* Employee environmental awareness and regulatory training.
* An applied research program to mitigate train / bald eagle collisions and protect this species along the Hudson River in New York.

I hope you will learn something new that you didn’t know and if you never rode Amtrak, I suggest you to try and you will enjoy and that is a promise. If you use Amtrak alot, I suggest join Amtrak Guest Rewards because you can earn points and redeem them for free travel even free gift cards to more than 50 stores, free car rentals and also free hotel stays. Check them out at www.amtrakguestrewards.com and learn more about it.

I also operate a website called TransitRider ( www.transitrider.info ) and it has alot wonderful resources information about public transportation and Amtrak and how you can make a difference.

Thanks again and remember, Go Green = Ride Amtrak!

Video from CEO of Viable, Inc John Yeh

I was surprised to see this video about John Yeh announcing about his plans to fix Viable and promise to pay employee wages. Wait and see if he keeps his promise. I have been reading alot and know it’s still not finished and all former employees still are unpaid and I do feel sorry for them and I hope they will get the money. Viable had learned something, big time.

Here is the video of John Yeh’s press release announcement:

I hope SnapVRS will make right choice to buy Viable and make it better and I will see what happens within 6 months from now. But from my guts, SnapVRS is making a mistake to do this but let them do the dirty work.

FCC is in the works to make alot of changes with VRS business very soon, I’ll have the update soon when it’s available.

Stay tuned …