Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?

...is what Ken Avidor might have shouted, if he is familiar with Becket, upon reading this Avi-adoring reader comment on the recent Mountain View Voice article, Pod Cars have new champion in Silicon Valley (highlighting added):

Posted by Bill Hough, a resident of another community
on Sep 5, 2013 at 11:31 am

"Podcars or "Personal Rapid Transit" is an idea that's been around for decades yet never seems to actually get built or solve any real-world transportation problems. It basically combines the worst of both worlds: low vehicle capacity of the private automobile with the expensive infrastructure of a fixed guideway transit system.

This topic has been discussed at length. I recommend a couple of articles on the Light Rail Now website.
First, there's "Let's Get Real About Personal Rapid Transit" by Ken Avidor at Web Link

Avidor points out that, "PRT has a solid 30-year record of failure. Its main purpose in recent years seems to have been to provide a cover enabling its proponents to spread disinformation about real, workable transit systems. Except for the occasional laboratory-scale prototype, PRT actually "exists" largely in computerized drawings, in promotional brochures, and in cute, ever-successful animated simulations on the internet."

"The unsubstantiated claims of PRT proponents are always presented in the present tense as if the system is a proven success ... which, of course, it certainly is not. Promoters never seem to fail to bash real transit, such as light rail (LRT), as "old fashioned technology". Sadly, the media rarely check the veracity of PRT publicity and propaganda."

A longer, more technical article is "Personal Rapid Transit – Cyberspace Dream Keeps Colliding With Reality" and can be found here: Web Link

"Despite the persistent and fervent claims of its promoters, repeated attempts to implement a working PRT system, even in very small-scale scenarios, have invariably failed. Not a single PRT plan, during these promotional efforts over the past 40 years or more, has seen successful implementation even in a small test application, much less a major, heavy-duty, citywide rapid transit application. Early would-be PRT installations, such as the AirTrans system at Dallas-Ft. Worth Regional Airport, and the PRT at West Virginia University at Morgantown, eschewed any attempt to provide true PRT-style, small-vehicle, customized origin-destination service, and were implemented in effect as line-haul automated guideway transit (AGT) peoplemover systems with some innovative features (such as offline stations)."

And finally, the good folks at Light Rail Now have put up a helpful list of links to various Monorail, PRT, AGT, and "Gadget Transit" Analyses at Web Link

Council member Mike Kasperzak and the rest of the City Council need to realize that "podcars" are the latest manifestation of the PRT fad which has been around for decades yet never seems to get built.

Ken must have been so upset. I mean come on -- poor guy. Look at it from his perspective. He hides all of his hateblogs from the general public and enjoys a summer of peace and quiet, only to have this "Bill Hough, a resident of another community," remind everybody of the anti-PRT propaganda he helped write, but posted on websites not under his control.

"Hough" does make for fun reading though. It's as if zero time has passed since those execrable documents were written -- 'Heathrow Pod? Masdar PRT? Suncheon Ecotrans? What are they?'

Obviously the guy doesn't read the Laffable Luddite Chronicles or Get There Fast.



gPRT
Leave Ken Avidor alone! You're lucky he performs for you bastards!!!

Three little words

In which I report on a City of San Jose memo about its Automated Transit Network study, and correctly predict what words Ken Avidor would focus on.

Related:

The 6 Surrenders Of Vukan R. Vuchic

gPRT

Intolerance

Luddite fires his loose cannon, Part II

It was so predictable. No sooner had I alerted Ken Avidor to the existence yesterday of the Richmond Confidential's human interest piece on Cybertran's Eugene Nishinaga, than the Laffable Luddite picked it up. And today he blogs about it: "Faith-Based Pie-in-the-Sky Boondoggle Cybertran Partner's Right-Wing, Anti-Abortion Tweets"

Now, we know Ken shares our distaste for fundamentalist Christians, since it is a fixture of his work with Dump Bachmann (motto: "Dumping Bachmann since 2005 or possibly 2004").

But "Faith-Based Pie-in-the-Sky Boondoggle Cybertran Partner's Right-Wing, Anti-Abortion Tweets" takes him into smeary territory that is darker and intolerant. Because the Richmond Confidential article isn't about the right-wing partner (Allen Payton), the focus is on Eugene Nishinaga:

CyberTran: Small start-up has big dreams
By: Alexis Kenyon | October 31, 2011 – 4:05 pm

For Eugene Nishinaga, the chief technical officer at CyberTran International, ultralight rail is nothing short of a spiritual awakening.

"I was actually driving on the highway, right outside the [Richmond] field station," he said, "totally coincidence — and I felt the call of God."

The call was the impetus for a major shift in Nishinaga's life. At the time, he was a respected research and development manager for BART with nearly 40 years experience in transit. But in 2008, Nishinaga, 58, quit his job to take a position at CyberTran International -- an ultralight rail start-up based out of UC Berkeley's Richmond Field Station.

Avidor needs to discredit Nishinaga because the man is an expert in conventional transit who is now trying to make innovative technology a reality. Therefore Avidor uses the old bait-and-switch -- in the headline promising Payton, but leading with Nishinaga. Equating them.

I don't know what Nishinaga's political views are, but the way his religious views are characterized in the story (he felt a 'calling', he wanted to become a pastor and join the ministry) is so neutral as to reveal nothing that is inherently fundamentalist OR liberal.

The point is that Avidor doesn't know what Nishinaga's ideology is either. But because of Cybertran, Avidor goes ahead and smears Nishinaga anyway, because he needs Nishinaga to be just like Payton.

Today we also see Ken attempt to practice the journalism basic known as 'establishing a pattern':

It is not surprising to find faith-based jargon among supporters of Personal Rapid Transit. PRT is essentially a faith-based concept - check out Higherway PRT brought to you by the inventor of the Savior Cycle.

But the pattern here is that the person is religious, not how they are religious. Avidor is just indiscriminately (or discriminately) putting all religious people in the same basket.

He doesn't know anything about Higherway inventor Tad Winiecki, he just sees another Christian like Nishinaga who, in his mind, must be just like Allen Payton. And, presumably by extension, just like Michele Bachmann.

Except I happen to know that Tad Winiecki is definitely not like Bachmann:

On March 21st, 2007, Tad Winiecki said:

I have noticed what I consider far too much name calling, attributed motives by association, and denigration of opponents in most public forums and especially blogs related to partisan politics. I was trained to be a scientist so this is against my usual way of thinking. It bothers me when Republicans refer to the "democrat party" rather than the "Democratic Party". It makes me want to call them the "publican party"...

---

On June 19th, 2007, Tad Winiecki said:

"He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich – both come to poverty." Proverbs 22:16 (NIV)

Corporate welfare – gifts to the rich – bothers me. A bad example in Washington State (and many similar cases elsewhere) was tearing down the Kingdome in Seattle and building a new stadium. It cost us poor taxpayers and benefitted rich team owners and players. Uneconomic deals with extraction industries such as oil companies are also giving to the rich. The Republican Medicare prescription drug plan was a gift to rich drug companies. We could go on and on, couldn’t we?

Ken could have known this too. But he is not duly diligent.

Religious intolerance. Somewhat ironic for someone who is waging a holy war against new transit technology.

Earlier:
The Luddite Veto (September)

Luddite fires his loose cannon (October)

Update 1:

PRT Consulting reports Nishinaga has left CyberTran

gPRT

Luddite fires his loose cannon

We can't think of any other reason Ken Avidor would need to smear Richmond City Council progressives such as Dr. Jeff Ritterman, so the only reason, the Single Issue, is Personal Rapid Transit.

Apparently realizing his attack on Richmond, California's support for CyberTran conflicts with his Only Right Wingers Support PRT talking point, Avidor has doubled down on the smear.

Now he's blogging that the liberals on the Richmond city council aren't real liberals. No, apparently they're:

Self-described "progressive" members of the Richmond, California City Council

Source

And to deepen the smear, Ken uses the tried and true Sarah Palin tactic, Questionin' The Associations.  In Ken Avidor's universe, progressive Jeff Ritterman is a "progressive" (in airheadquotes) because of the involvement of one Allen Payton.

It's Ken's same old Cooties talking point -- he says if you're for PRT you're Just Like Bachmann, you're for Bachmann's Boondoggle, because she got her cooties on it in 2004. Never mind the DFL (Democratic)-dominated bipartisan agreement on PRT.

What Avidor means is: Councilman Ritterman's support for new transit technology means nothing because I say it has GOP cooties -- in fact it means Ritterman isn't a real progressive.

Yet inconsistent Ken (and his Twitter proxies who pretend to miss the point) remains in favor of light rail despite it being infested by Heritage Foundation founder Paul Weyrich's cooties. It's Ken's standard, not mine.

Not only does Ken Avidor want veto power over your local transit policies, he's also annointed himself the go-to litmus tester to vet your elected officials for you.

What a dick-tator.

Update 1 - Ken claims 2011 GOP-Green connection:

But the blog post "http://t.co/eb5eAKiU" contains no mention of Greens (23:09 PDT).
I don't care for U.S. Greens -- not enough experience in governance -- but that doesn't mean they deserve to be lied about. 

Update 2 (10/7) - He continues to push the Conservative Cooties angle in attempt to shame California Democratic elected officials. Basically, whether you call it a hotel project, economic development, or whatever, Ken Avidor is opposing transit-oriented development in Richmond.

• Archive: Against it before he was for it -- Avidor sides with opponents of Smart Growth in Alameda

He continues to try to suck up to Current TV (after attacking it) in the Comments:

• Only Avidor would call realism "dampening expectations." The reality is that ULTra's India partner is proceeding with a system in dense Amritsar, in the state of Punjab.
• Also, there is no nasty political battle in Richmond over Cybertran. The city is pursuing a lobbying effort, any controversy will be due to Avidor (or other out-of-town proxies) creating one. 

gPRT

The Luddite Veto

Something I've had a chance to write a lot about lately is the subject of transit as a public good -- meaning it's a service delivered by the public, not private, sector of the economy.^{1 2}

The public is highly familiar with the effects transit lines and stations have on land use and the community fabric. It is this public interest that has made transit a public good that is very much controlled at the local level.  Elected representatives and the agencies who work for them are responsible for planning, operating and maintaining our transit systems for all.

Transit is a highly visible and much discussed subject in our cities; transit attracts as much community attention as public safety, schools and property taxes.

Yet Ken Avidor does not respect the decisions that come out of these local processes. Correction -- he only respects local decisionmaking when it decides against personal rapid transit.

• He attacked consideration of PRT in Daventry, England even though the public process led to the planning process being stopped.
• He attacked consideration of PRT in Winona, Minnesota until federal funding applications were rejected by the local member of Congress -- even to the point of promoting a Tea Party city council candidate.
• As regular readers remember, he went so far as to claim Alameda, California residency to get a letter published by a news blog, and accidentally (I assume) wound up on the side of residents opposed to smart growth.
• Update 1- And he continues to call PRT a scam and boondoggle even as he revisits the unrealized 2001-02 Cardiff ULTra plan. Avidor ignores that it was another public process, and ended in local authorities deciding not to go forward, not spending £15 million in grants. No scam. No boondoggle.

Such has been the central part of Ken Avidor's (possibly) decades-long anti-PRT strategy: meddle in other communities' affairs.³ This is the action of someone who doesn't respect or trust citizens' abilities to make their own decisions -- Ken Avidor, the world's worst 'expert' at anything, wants veto power over your transit decisions.

And now today he's meddling in the affairs of Richmond, California:

Tragic Waste of Taxpayers' Dollars on Gadgetbahn in Richmond, California

...The latest suckers to fall for the gadgetbahn flim-flam is Richmond, California:

The City Council will spend $20,000 to lobby for a federal transportation grant to help light-rail company CyberTran develop 13 ultralight rail stations throughout the city — a transit system, in the words of city leaders and CyberTran’s CEO, that would be clean, efficient, and create 20,000 jobs in the next decade.

And where is the $$$ going?

[City Councilman Dr. Jeff] Ritterman went to Washington D.C. with CyberTran’s team this July to lobby for the federal transportation funding. The $20,000 approved by the city Tuesday will go to the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which will seek infrastructure funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s Surface Transportation Program.

See, when a city says Yes to PRT it's because their local planners and democratically elected leaders are suckers!

Three things here:

1. How does Ken think you get federal funds? I know, he doesn't know: he doesn't even know the difference between grants and earmarks. One of the ways you do it is you hire a firm with federal expertise; a partner in Manatt Phelps is Mickey Kantor (D) -- you know, Bill Clinton's (D) Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor. This makes Richmond's proposal stronger, and Ken hates that.

2. In the cosmic scheme of things, nothing is further from "tragic" than a city investment of $20,000 in an attempt to get 20,000 jobs. A reason Richmond is working with CyberTran (a frequent target of Avidor wrath) is that it is a local Richmond business. Ken, on the other hand, is a couple thousand miles away in Minnesota.

3. And who are the people Ken is calling "suckers"? Well, the bio of Councilman Jeff Ritterman (D) says, among other things, that he's a cardiologist, was a VISTA volunteer, and has organized and delivered medical supplies to victims of apartheid in South Africa and to refugees in Central America and Iraq. Ritterman is the one who introduced Richmond's resolution of solidarity with Wisconsin public employees. Wow Ken, you found a real villain lurking behind PRT!

Another example of a civic-minded progressive -- and a Democrat⁴ -- working for PRT. Ken Avidor keeps linking Michele Bachmann to PRT as though she invented it; but she has done zero for PRT in Congress. The last Republican to do anything federal for PRT was that liberal Nixon.

Archive (2007): Ken Avidor calls CyberTran's president "a cybertranny"

(What 'cybertranny' means)

Update 2 - Avidor thinks a host of California Democrats, including Sen. Boxer and Rep. Miller, are "suckers" like Jeff Ritterman

Update 3 - Ritterman retires from Richmond council

gPRT

Notes

1.

2.

3. The other part of his strategy is Shaming Liberal Opinionmakers Who Dare Support or Report Favorably On PRT, like Debbie Cook (D). Recent examples include Josh Marshall, Al Gore's Current TV, and 350.org
4.

Predictions, anyone?

The Podcar City 4 conference is underway in San Jose, California, ending tomorrow, October 29.

Or suggest your own!

gPRT

Look at who's a mindreader

First, read my Wednesday post and decide whether I am "[Insisting] on Misrepresenting Congressional Candidate's Position on PRT", as Ken Avidor 'insists' on claiming.

I have corresponded with Ms. Winograd, and what she told me is, "Until I know a lot more about the PRT, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline to support it."
That is a far cry from Ken Avidor's extreme claims, such as 'PRT is a right wing scam' as well as being 'impossible.' In fact, Ms. Winograd's position is perfectly reasonable, because I don't want people to support PRT either until they know 'more' about it! Just like I don't want them to oppose it until knowing more about it.

Ken is claiming to know what's in my head! The headlines he has written for the relevant blog posts are:

1. "PRT Promoter David Gow Spreads More Misinformation"

2. "PRT Promoter David Gow Insists on Misrepresenting Congressional Candidate's Position on PRT"

He's claiming I have the intention of misleading. Takes one to know one, Ken!

Dear readers, tell me if this is unreasonable: I get a Google Alert on PRT; it links me to a webpage that quotes Winograd praising the 1970s "Boeing" PRT (Morgantown), citing it as an example of how we should be putting aerospace workers to work. Isn't it then reasonable to assume she would support PRT today? Of course it is. But not if you're conspiracy-minded Ken Avidor.

I'll conclude my Winograd-related remarks by wishing her luck in the primary, we need fewer blue dogs and more true progressives in Congress.

Let's move on to the main part of the discussion: Ken Avidor's latest postings provide us material for another installment of--

What We Learned

What we learned this time is that Ken Avidor is so desperate to recover from the drubbing he took at Democratic Underground that he reverts to pattern -- he goes looking for another thing he can distort, in order to divert attention from his defeat. I won't just claim this, I'll provide evidence.

For example, after this defeat at Daily Kos, he constructed the "PRT = torture" lie.

After he failed to prove that only right wingers want PRT, he claimed persecution by a PRT company.

This time he decided to go after my list of pro-PRT people and organizations at Get On Board!PRT.

My mention of Winograd's documentable praise for "Boeing" PRT is notable because she is the only one on the list not making a specific, affirmative endorsement of the current generation of PRT technologies.

That Ken is picking on my listing of Winograd shows how desperate he is for cheap 'victories.' How about the others on the list, Ken?

• Are you going to claim World Wildlife Fund's pro-PRT video doesn't mean they support PRT?
  
• That the California Democratic Party didn't mean to put PRT in its 2004 platform?
  
• That Congressman Hinchey was talking about something else when he said government should focus on PRT?
  
• That Joan Bokaer's participation in the Podcar City II conference doesn't mean she's for PRT?
  
• That when Debbie Cook wrote"large-scale ramp-up of PodCars can significantly mitigate the impacts of climate change and peak oil, transforming ground transport from polluting fuels to clean solar energy," she didn't really mean it?

Want a good laugh? Imagine Avidor writing to everyone on the list, trying to grill them about PRT!

I hope you get a lot of comfort out of cheap 'victories,' Ken. They're the only kind you're going to get.

Also today: A grant is not an earmark, Ken! (and why is he surprised the Winona "PRT lab" is about economic development? It's what the city's Nov. 2009 pdf was all about!)

In the news: Minnesota Republican senate candidate Paul Ibisch is not on board with Winona PRT plan!
(and Democrat Steve Murphy of Red Wing "welcomes funding for PRT development in Winona or elsewhere.")Ken Avidor's biggest meme is wrong again

gPRT Imagine! - "Dear Rep. Hinchey: Why do you support Michele Bachmann? Sincerely, Ken Avidor."

J'Excuse Moi?

Fresh off his disappointing performance at Democratic Underground, Ken "Sketchy" Avidor is looking for blood. So he's off to the accusation races!

Is that right. Well, I have to withhold detailed comments until I know the exact question he asked Winograd -- Ken has claimed a lot of bogus things in the past.

All I can say at this point is when someone praises a Personal Rapid Transit program, I think it's reasonable to assume she supports Personal Rapid Transit.

Or at least doesn't oppose it! Hey, maybe Winograd doesn't have any current plans for PRT. Or maybe she has some other transit priorities. That's perfectly reasonable. Marcy Winograd is welcome to contact me through Get On Board!PRT, because -- unlike Ken -- I am always happy to correct or clarify anything I've written.

The more interesting question this evening is -- why is Ken Avidor of Minneapolis (the guy who only yesterday was telling me to butt out of Democratic Underground because I don't live in Minnesota) bothering a congressional candidate in California 36?



gPRT The answer starts with H and ends with ypocrite

The "Alameda fib" limps on

Editor's note: We continue beta-testing the change to one of the oldest editorial policies of "PRT is a Joke" IS A JOKE. For a limited time, The Name of the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist will be shown -- although special formatting will be used.

Of all the odd things Ken Avidor has done, one of the strangest happened at the Action Alameda blog on an Aug. 8, 2008 when he signed a blog comment "Ken Avidor, Alameda."

"PRT Is a Joke IS A JOKE" has had great fun publicizing this fib here and in other blogs' comment areas, as have other debunkers such as Atren/A.T.E.

Avidor has not seen fit to explain his geographic self-mislocation. Until now.

Avidor finally attempts to address the address issue in the recently concluded Streetsblog comment thread, attached to the brand extension of his Daily Kos diary "Michele Bachmann and the Right-Wing Libertarian Argument Against LRT / For PRT":

Ken Avidor

A.T.E.: "Avidor disciples - many of them are Avidor sock puppets anyways."

Avidor: Not true. I've posted here only under my own name. [Dodging the issue of whether he uses sock puppets elsewhere. -Ed.]

A.T.E.: "Ken Avidor was quickly on the scene, telling some local blogger he was an Alameda resident"

Avidor: I responded to a post on a form that automatically said I was from Alameda. I asked the moderator to correct it. No attempt to pass myself off as a resident.

Here are all the Action Alameda blog posts about the SunCal's PRT proposal.

June 8, 2009 at 7:25 pm
#135

Not only is the sock puppet denial evasive, but the rest of Avidor's explanation doesn't work either.

1. If you follow the link he gives for the list of SunCal posts, the date of his post is the earliest of the bunch. To what was he responding?

Maybe he'll claim he was responding to this post from the same day -- except it was posted at 8:55 pm, and Ken's piece was posted 11:59 am.

2. An examination of the Action Alameda blog reveals two ways to send them comments: an email address, or this form:



Where is the forced Alameda choice?*

As further evidence of Avidor's bogosity, this commenter was able to indicate that he's from Torrance, CA.

3. If he asked the moderator to correct it, why hasn't it been done? The Action Alameda blogmaster had time to correspond with Atren and write more about PRT and Avidor in a follow up piece -- and even notes Ken is in Minnesota.

And Action Alameda does write about other requests for corrections.

It sure looks like Action Alameda believes "Ken Avidor, Alameda" is something not needing correction.

Come clean, Ken. Everyone knows what you did: you sent Action Alameda an op-ed, omitting any mention of Minnesota and your three favoritest Minnesota politicians, and claimed Alameda residency so they would be more likely to run it. Admit it. It would be the first time you corrected something -- who knows, you might like it.



Recently: Ken thinks Reverse Psychology is "weird"


* And here's their FORM code, no hidden City field:

<form action="http://actionalameda.org/actionalamedanewsblog/wp-comments-post.php" method="post" id="commentform">

<p><input type="text" name="author" id="author" value="" size="22" tabindex="1" />
<label for="author"><small>Name </small></label></p>

<p><input type="text" name="email" id="email" value="" size="22" tabindex="2" />
<label for="email"><small>Mail (will not be published) </small></label></p>

<p><input type="text" name="url" id="url" value="" size="22" tabindex="3" />
<label for="url"><small>Website</small></label></p>

<!--<p><small><strong>XHTML:</strong> You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> </small></p>-->

<p><textarea name="comment" id="comment" cols="100%" rows="10" tabindex="4"></textarea></p>

<p><input name="submit" type="submit" id="submit" tabindex="5" value="Submit Comment" />
<input type="hidden" name="comment_post_ID" value="1682" />
</p>

</form>

gPRT

Against it before he was for it

Now he's an urban planner.

The city of Alameda (Kenwood claims he lives there) is working with the developer SunCal to redevelop Alameda Point, the site of the former Alameda Naval Air Station. Good idea? That's for the community to decide.

The Point is a sprawling 770 acre brownfield at the west end of Alameda's island.

One version of SunCal's proposal, option "B," was designed by reknowned planner Peter Calthorpe. The concept calls for 6,000 homes on 700 acres of the Point. This translates to 13,056 people on just over 1 square mile, nearly the density of San Francisco (16,634). Alameda's current density is on the order of 2500-ish per sq mi.

Calthorpe has designed it to have a PRT network, and SunCal wants to connect it to BART in Oakland. Therefore, Kenmore hates the "B" plan.

Kennel Ration says PRT is being put forward to get around environmental regulations that limit density, instead of offering "real solutions" for transit:

Is PRT also an Environmental Regulation-Busting Tool?[*]
. . .
PRT is being used to bamboozle citizens in Alameda into scrapping Measure A, a ballot initiative aimed to regulate development...

...The 1972 ballot initiative regulates lot size and forbids construction of housing units that would accommodate more than two families. The developer has put forward two potential options, both of which would require a ballot initiative, likely in 2009, that would waive Measure A at least at Alameda Point.

Instead of offering a real solution to the transportation needs of the people who move into those additional 2,000 units, Suncal offers an imaginary, snake-oil solution - PRT... CLEVER!!! Source

In other words, he is complaining the Point "B" plan ought to be using light rail. Here's his contradictory logic: with light rail, plan "B" would still be 13,056 people per sq mi. Hold on -- is that density "regulation-busting," or isn't it? Note also that Lubridor misrepresented Measure A's purpose -- it is not primarily to protect the environment, but to keep density low (no more than 2 families per lot). The slogan of the Keep Measure A campaign is "No Overcrowding."

But if the regulations aren't busted, that low density is not cost effective for light rail. And if you don't have density, the alternative is sprawl somewhere else. Humidor is either supporting Measure A against Smart Growth and higher densities that help any mass transit work better, or is fine with busting regulations if it is light rail doing the busting.

He's against Smart Growth before he was for it! He was a NIMBY until he wasn't!

Thermidor always thinks light rail is the solution and ignores the urban planning context. Now, I'm not an urban planner either. But I've looked at enough MUPs to notice some realities at Alameda that would render conventional, large-vehicle transit problematic, although not impossible.

It has to do with distance and cost. The most direct route for a light rail connection to BART is to go north about 1200 yards, to the West Oakland BART station.

Except there's something in the way: the Oakland Inner Harbor. This is a 300 yard wide navigable waterway. An expensive high bridge would be needed to cross it, in order to allow ocean-going freighters and the San Francisco ferries to pass beneath.

The alternative would be to run the light rail line east through the built-up area of Alameda. Not only would this create a beneficial transit connection to and for the rest of the city, but it would also allow light rail to cross the Inner Harbor channel at its narrowest point in the Fruitvale Bridge area, and then on to the Fruitvale BART station. These would be good results.

The problem is that it's about 4.8 miles to Fruitvale Bridge, and through the heart of town. Do you think Alameda or SunCal have $250 millionish for such a disruptive project? Light rail in this situation would be a non-starter politically. No redevelopment, no "busting" of regulations -- no Smart Growth. "CLEVER!!!"

* Notice his longtime and frequent use of the question mark. It's a classic cheat used by ignoramuses and propagandists -- a question mark turns a smear into a question. They don't really answer the question, they just present distortions, so to the casual reader it appears the smear is the answer to the question. Plus, if fact-checkers catch them lying, propagandists can use the excuse 'I was only asking a question.'

Update (11/23): Developer chooses the 4,000 home option

He's green until he's not (2012)

gPRT
Someone's knockin' on my Ken Avidor, somebody's ringin' the bell

The fibber's latest fibs

Bon jour gadgetbahners, I have indeed returned from a great holiday in France. So you can understand if I look down the list of the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist's smelly output of the past two weeks, and simply smile at how trivial it (and he) is.

Ken Avidor has been a busy boy though. For entertainment purposes, the most fruitful of his prating have got to be his contributions to the Action Alameda News blog. The blog about life in that San Francisco Bay Area community¹ had a post about Peter Calthorpe's pitch for redevelopment at Alameda Point (a, b; also here), and Avidor had to chime in with his usual Talking Points.

I'll skip over the old ones that have already been debunked, and focus on two interesting New Fibs. They are just as lame as New Coke.

1. Kenny-Boy wrote a letter to Action Alameda News, and signed it "Ken Avidor, Alameda." He lied so his smear job would gain the added legitimacy of local relevance. What do you call that -- a sock puppet address? But maybe he's really moved there! It's possible I guess. Advice: It's California, Kenwood, wear your sunscreen!

2. After his Minnesota residency is exposed by Atren, the Action Alameda author is intrigued enough to do a follow up. An interview with Ken is recounted, in which he talks about the origin of his PRT hatred:

...says that his opposition to PRT is rooted in his experience in 2004, watching the City of Minneapolis approve a study of a PRT system. Source

Interesting and moving, except for one thing: one of Kennel Ration's biggest claims to infamy, his seminal anti-PRT fearmongering cartoon, dates from April 23, 2003.

But wait -- on his own website, Kenwood wrote:

I first encountered the strange world of PRT in 1989, two years after I moved to Minneapolis from Manhattan. Source

C'mon Ken, which is it -- 1989, 2003, or 2004? Pick one and stick with it. Or are you doing that time-distortion thing you do so well???

Archives: He's ready for warmer climates in his Sonny Crockett blazer --

Related: Some of what I saw in France (@Viropop)



gPRT
Ken Avidor puts the IN in 'inaccuracy'
1. Hey Ken, have you picked up on the fact I was in the East Bay area in mid-July? Coincidence???

Game On (or, So Much For New Year's Resolutions)

Hello, disciples of accuracy and objectivity. It looks like Cartoon Boy has bagged the spending-more-time-on-his-art excuse that he whipped out last January, when he needed to run away from his embarrassing record of hack 'journalism.'

That's right -- the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist has apparently gotten over his hypocritical, amnesia-riddled promotion of the candidacy of pro-gun, anti-choice, anti-gay marriage, highway-promoting Elwyn Tinklenberg. Kenwood has popped up on Democratic Underground, attempting to interfere in the congressional campaign of Debbie Cook (CA-46).

The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) promoters usually have some publicity stunt to prop up their politicians just before an election.

They've just announced a "Podcar Conference" in Ithaca, NY.

One of the speakers scheduled is Congressional candidate Debbie Cook:

http://www.podcar.org/ithacaconference/sessiona.html

It's disappointing that Debbie Cook would support PRT.

Here's a recent Treehugger blog post about PRT:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/prt-techno-drea...

Not surprisingly, the rest of it is the same old shtick, repeating debunked talking points he originated, and trying to create the impression PRT is criminal.

Or "totally bogus." And how does a picture of Smoochy Bachmann planting one on Dubya do that? It doesn't, unless you're into Guilt By Association. Saying PRT is bogus because Smoochy supposedly supports it is like saying environmentalism is fascist because Hitler liked animals.

Making its debut is the hit piece in Treehugger. I bet Lloyd Alter thought that Ode to Cartoon Boy was just a one time thing. Sorry, but Kenmore has placed it firmly in his propaganda rotation. Treehugger's linkage to one of the most laughably erroneous fear/smear campaigns of recent times is here to stay. Congratulations, Lloyd.

Hello Debbie Cook & staff -- welcome fellow green progressives! Get started learning about the MN anti-PRT propagandist's long history of inaccuracy and odd notions by exploring our Fact Check category.

UPDATE (Aug. 22, 2011)- Lloyd Alter has changed his views!

gPRT
Ken Avidor is the April Fool

The worst conspiracy ever

Recently we discussed the reasons why Kentweed the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist might be using conspiracy to advance his anti-innovation jihad. This time we will approach the question from a different angle:

How would a real conspiracy advance its agenda?

To review, what Labridor is alleging is that Personal Rapid Transit is an old, far-reaching conspiracy, stretching back to the 1970s. He claims it is a front, a scam, a stalking horse, for highway construction and automobile interests opposed to light rail -- including the right wing forces of Creationism!

There are some problems with this theory, not the least of which are:

• Light rail has undergone a revival since the 1970s; in fact, no light rail project has been canceled in favor of personal rapid transit
• In the 12 years they controlled the U.S. House, the Creationist party did not enact personal rapid transit legislation; nor did the Creationist party include personal rapid transit in its national platforms (on the other hand, the California Democrats' state platform has)
• No criminal or civil case has ever been filed by a government or transit agency claiming PRT fraud (i.e. a scam)
  
• In Minnesota, the Hiawatha light rail line was built and opened during the term of Dean Zimmermann, an ex-city council member and felon, whom Kenwood attacks for supporting PRT; and Zimmermann' s felony was not about PRT (see preceding point)
  
• In 21st century Europe, PRT has been adopted as a tool for transport and energy policy by the EU and Sweden, and received regulatory approval from Britain; European PRTs are being built or implemented by major profit-seeking companies
• PRT has been endorsed by the founder of the Congress for New Urbanism, and is being included by Foster+Partners (architect Norman Foster) in the plan for the world's first zero-waste city; that city, Masdar, will pair PRT with a light rail line!
  

And so on. Some conspiracy, right?

But whatever a conspiracy did, the conspirators would not create informational profiles about themselves on a public and wide-open professional networking website, describing their support of PRT in black and white, and then create links to each others' profiles.

That would make things so easy for any truthseeking conspiracy theorist. Even a stupid one.

Also: Definition of "a stupid one" -- one who links to one of his own blog posts, where the best things about it are the Comments!
And: Google sponsors the Advanced Transit Association! Google owns Blogger; Humidor blogs on Blogger --why is Humidor supporting Michele Bachmann???

gPRT
Ken Avidor is a grassy knoll

How about John Garamendi?

Remember John Garamendi, the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of California?

He met with a delegation from Sweden's IST (the podcar people) in January 2007. IST's visit followed a June 2006 memorandum of understanding between Sweden and California for an exchange on renewable fuel, energy and green transportation. Garamendi had only taken office on January 8, so the IST meeting was one of his first official acts as lieutenant governor. In April, IST met with Garamendi a second time.

Just more evidence disproving the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist's Talking Point that PRT is a right-wing anti-transit scam.

Is it possible this got started back in 2004, when Personal Rapid Transit appeared in the CalDems' platform?

The Propagandist gave the January meeting prominent coverage -- although he devoted his smearage to Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren.

Oddly, Labridor seemed to steer away from attacking Garamendi -- other than posting a photo (above) of him with Carlgren. Maybe Rodiva thought that'd put the fear of goddess into him.

Some background on Garamendi:

• Peace Corps, 1966-68 (Ethiopia)
• State Assemblyman (1974-76) and Senator (1976-90).
• First California insurance commissioner, 1991-95 and again 2003-07; backs universal health coverage
• Bruce Babbitt's Deputy Interior Secretary under Clinton; on the Clinton Administration negotiation team at the Kyoto Climate Change Conference; was one of the officials who sounded the alarm about the dangers to New Orleans of global climate change.
• In run for lieutenant governor, at the time was only candidate anywhere to receive endorsement from Al Gore.
• Currently being talked about as the Democratic nominee for governor in 2010.

And in case there are still lingering doubts as to Garamendi's Democratic bona fides, here is a video of his appearance on MSNBC, in which he slams Dubya's showboating on the California wildfires.



Yet to date Garamendi has not denounced PRT as a right-wing anti-transit scam. Clearly he is either (1) dumber than the Minnesota anti-PRT propagandist, or (2) part of the conspiracy!

If he's not with Kenthorpe, he must be against him -- so Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is a PRTista, a tool of the anti-transit highway lobby! Is he one of those "left-wingers like Zimmermann"?

If so, shouldn't the Propagandist start smearing him straight away?

We're waiting!



gPRT
The Ken Avidor / soon we'll be making another run / the Ken Avidor promises something for everyone