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We search billions of words in our phrase dictionary on how commonly used they are to identify the proper sentence structure. This helps improve the use of collocation, diction and syntax in your writing when choosing the appropriate sentence pattern. Our wording tool acts as a correct sentence structure checker, e.g. by associating correct examples of prepositions with common language usage to give you the best suggestions for the proper preposition. Our tool can help teach wording, grammar, and expressions, which helps you identify the proper word choice and word order.

Why the Bike Lane is the Golf Course of the 21st Century Posted on January 26, 2012 Hello Dear Readers, The Sightline Daily, a blog affiliated with a Northwest policy think tank, published an article I wrote about my Stevens Fellowship experience. You can read the article here! A funny story about how the opportunity with Sightline came about. I was waiting at a stoplight near Mercer Street in Seattle in late November and this guy pulled up to me (on his bicycle) and commented on how bad the bicycle infrastructure was at that particular intersection. He noticed that I had no "biking clothes" on and asked me if I'd ever heard of Copenhagen Cycle Chic.  "Copenhagen Cycle Chic is my favorite blog!" I told him. Then we started talking bike politics and eventually I realized he was Alan Durning, the founder of the Sightline Institute. I've been reading the Sightline blog and using their research in my work for years. I really like that this Sightline article came about because of a conversation that started on the bike lane (or..errr…lack of bike lane).  Who needs the golf course when you cycle! Cycling is such a social form of transport. Sean and I were biking in to work a few days before Christmas and bumped into our friend Jed who I hadn't seen in almost a year.  (Jed and his wife recently had a baby!) We rode together along the cold, but sunny, shores of Westlake for about ten minutes and caught up.  It was a great way to start the day and I was happy to know that Jed was doing well. Then, the next morning, Sean and I bumped into Jed again-in almost the same place as the day before-and we shared another pleasant commute together while joking about how we were becoming a bike commuter gang. The morning before I left for Copenhagen I biked downtown alone after saying goodbye to Sean. I was feeling the weight of the goodbye and also some anxiety about professional challenges ahead.  I pedaled slowly along Dexter, my pace matchi

Parent directory Job Description/                18 Jan 12 11:15        12.0Kb A Practical Methodology for ..  17 Oct 07 19:58       125.9Kb Alternative Approaches to Di..  15 Oct 10 13:56       478.0Kb Belize - Agril Transport Eng..  24 Apr 09 14:23         2.2Kb Bicycleambulance.pdf            17 Oct 07 19:59         1.4Mb CV Template ITT.doc              6 Apr 09 15:31        86.0Kb Case Study of  Road Funds in..  17 Oct 07 20:00       619.5Kb Completed Projects.xls          17 Oct 07 20:00        74.5Kb Construction Industry Transp..  11 Mar 08 16:21       197.6Kb Cost Comparison Study - Ugan..  17 Oct 07 20:00       491.2Kb Cost Comparison Study in Moz..   8 Jan 09 16:04       651.7Kb Engineering_a_better_world_G..  15 Oct 10 14:53       422.5Kb Escalating roads costs in Za..  15 Oct 10 13:56       142.0Kb Final Report NRIDMP SEM&..  22 Oct 07 09:31         1.2Mb Final Report Value of Time S..  17 Oct 07 20:01       733.1Kb Final Version June 04 _Chapt..   1 Nov 07 11:16         1.3Mb Footbridge Brochure.pdf         22 Apr 08 15:23       261.0Kb Footpath manual.pdf             17 Oct 07 20:05         2.3Mb Force Account Paper IP45-And..  17 Oct 07 20:05       233.0Kb Force Account Paper IP45-And..  17 Oct 07 20:05       146.5Kb Ghana Cost Comparison Report..   8 Jan 09 16:05       230.5Kb Guidelines EPRIRP August 200..   2 Nov 07 16:50         1.3Mb Guidelines for CPR.pdf          17 Oct 07 20:05       135.5Kb Guidelines.pdf                  17 Oct 07 20:05       396.2Kb IMT Hire Centres.pdf            17 Oct 07 20:05        58.0Kb ITT Standard CV Template Oct..  14 Oct 09 10:53        86.5Kb Inception Report VOTA.pdf       17 Oct 07 20:06       705.4Kb Manual - Final Version June ..  17 Oct 07 20:07         2.6Mb Mozambique Cost Comparison S..  17 Oct 07 20:07       524.5Kb Nyanza

Frame Analysis: Theoretical PreliminariesThomas KönigFrame analysis is neither a full-fledged theoretical paradigm, nor a coherent methodological approach. Rather, frame analyses are a number of related, even though sometimes partially incompatible methods for the analysis of discourses (Scheufele 1999: 118). What unifies these analyses is a (fairly loose) theoretical connection to Goffman's (1974) work on framing. These pages will overview: the theoretical development of frame analyses;the measurement of frames;important conceptsin frame analysis;software suitable to aid frame analysis;a bibliography of frame analysis.Theoretical DevelopmentInitially frame analysis was initially predicted to become a niche method at best. One Contemporary Sociology reviewer complained that Frame Analysis is cumbersome to read (Davis 1975: 603), the other one wondered, if an adequate systematization of frame analysis would be feasible (Gamson 1975: 605). 1Probably the single most important factor for the success of Goffman's frame analysis despite this initial skeptical assessment is its unorthodox appropriation by scholars from very different traditions. Frame analysis is no longer Goffman's frame analysis, but is frequently only loosely connected to the original formulation. Notwithstanding the recurrent symbolic nods to Goffman, today's "frame analysis" spans a number of disparate approaches (D'Angelo 2002; Fisher 1997; Hallahan 1999; Maher 2001: 81f; Scheufele 1999: 103, 118). Three subject areas stand out in the development of frame analyses since Goffman: Management and organizational studies, social movement studies, and media studies. Each subject area has, of course, focused on different areas of framing theory and has approached the subject with different methods. Following the the work of 2002 Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and his associate Amos Tversky (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), management and organizational studies have focused on the behavioral effects of different

CALL FOR PAPERS RETHINKING URBAN INCLUSION: SPACES, MOBILISATIONS, INTERVENTIONS to be held in Coimbra, Portugal, 28-30 June 2012 With almost half the world's population living in cities, questioning the urban dimension of social inclusion and exclusion is imperative. Urban inclusion is increasingly influenced - and often constrained - by intertwined processes of economic globalization, state re-articulation, polarization and diversification of (local) populations and the political practices they add to the city. Educational, health and environmental inequalities, segregation, unemployment, lack of political participation, discrimination and the inability to deal with different forms of participation are all phenomena of exclusion with a local dimension but a multi-scalar nature. At the same time, acting towards social inclusion is developed around ideas, knowledge(s), experiences, resources and capacities which are (dis)located across an array of arenas and distributed among different actors. While traditional concepts and practices of urban inclusion centered on institutions and top-down decision-making seem inadequate to tackle this complexity, new ones are often in their infancy and may be in tension with more established policies. Contesting the centrality of the state and market pervasiveness, a new variety of counter-hegemonic positions and projects, and alternative visions of urban democracy and justice that inform bottom-up and participatory approaches to urban inclusion, have become popular in the Global South, while their transposition to cities in the Global North have met resistance or hardly gone beyond theorization.  The Conference aims to understand and ultimately rethink social inclusion at the urban scale, as the product of broader dynamics and the interaction of different actors and languages. How can we trace, define, and challenge the new subtle forms of social and territorial exclusion, trying to reinvent urban in

The projections fallacy Blog post by Charles Marohn on 23 Jul 2012 feature development highways policy streets Charles Marohn, Better! Cities & Towns We spend billions every year in this country on our transportation network, large percentages of it based on traffic projections. This despite the fact that we have a long record of not being able to accurately project traffic. The answer isn't better projections but a better transportation system, one that is robust to modeling error. If you are in Pennsylvania and would like to have the Strong Towns message brought to your community, we have an ongoing fundraiser to help us visit your state and hold 8 to 10 Curbside Chats. Please consider supporting this effort and pass it along to those you know in PA. We'd love to bring this message back to the Keystone State and change the conversation on growth statewide.  My home town newspaper recently ran the standard repeat-what-the-engineer-says article on traffic projections. Essentially, the report indicated that we're going to be inundated with traffic. As things continue to "full build out" (it was in quotes so I'm assuming it is an engineering term), traffic is going to increase by 75 percent, an astounding amount since most locals will attest we are already drowning in traffic (we're not, but most would attest that we are). The recommendation for dealing with all this traffic seems sensible: make some prudent investments today to acquire more land for future road expansion and then, as they are built, oversize the roads to meet this future demand. A lot of the rationale for these projections - as well as the public's acceptance of them - comes from the fact that growth has been robust. In fact, if you go back decades and look at the projections that were made for the present time, they are laughable in how dramatically they underestimated the amount of traffic. We projected out based on what our experience had taught us to anticipate, but we were wrong

Capital markets: an alternative financing avenue for the shipping industry 28 February 2012 Introduction Corporate Bonds Convertible Bonds Covered Bonds and other structured bond financing solutions The Islamic finance alternative - Sukuk Conclusion View individual pages Introduction Traditionally, shipping companies have relied on bank debt to finance their operations and the acquisition of vessels. The recent credit crisis and the tightening of credit conditions, particularly in Europe, are now prompting them to seek other forms of funding. One such alternative source of finance that has become available to shipping companies in recent times has been the international debt capital markets. Indeed, there is evidence of an increasing number of bond issuances by shipping companies from the end of 2009 and through 2010 and 2011. Shipping companies have opted for a variety of bond instruments, depending on their needs and market conditions. These have ranged from relatively straight forward "plain vanilla" corporate bonds through to more complex instruments such as convertible bonds and structured bonds. One alternative capital markets instrument that is now also emerging is the Shari'ah- compliant bond, the Sukuk. This article will consider the advantages and disadvantages of these forms of financing in more detail. Back to top Corporate Bonds The use of bonds by shipping companies to raise finance is certainly not a new development in the shipping industry. Historically bond issuance by shipping companies has been less frequent and bond issuances typically have involved relatively small tranches which have been used to supplement much larger bank debt facilities. However, the end of 2009 and the first half of 2010 saw a surge in larger bond issuances by shipping companies, including several repeat issuances. For example, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (O.S.K.) issued several series of bonds between 2008 and 2011 (including two issuances in 2009 and one in 2011 of ¥20 b

A charrette is a method of organizing thoughts from experts and the users into a structured medium that is unrestricted and conducive to the creativity and the development of myriad scenarios. The word charrette may refer to any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem. While the structure of a charrette varies, depending on the design problem and the individuals in the group, charrettes often take place in multiple sessions in which the group divides into sub-groups. Each sub-group then presents its work to the full group as material for future dialogue. Such charrettes serve as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people. Compare this term with workshop.

Active Transportation Alliance News and Events Get a Member in December! Our members are our power - the more members we have, the more successful we will be in creating better conditions for biking, walking and transit in our communities. If you're an Active Trans member, you have an assignment - get just one new member to join Active Trans during the month of December! We're sure you know people who ride bikes, take transit and appreciate walkable communities - we need them to join us in action. And for those of you who are not members of Active Trans, please demonstrate your dedication to better transportation by joining now! Meet Ald. Solis at the Active Trans Social in Pilsen - Dec. 7 Join Active Trans as we celebrate all that has been accomplished over the past year to put Chicago on the path to building a world-class bike network. Ald. Danny Solis will discuss his recent educational trip to one of the most bicycle-friendly countries in the world - the Netherlands! Learn about Dutch approaches to city cycling that could be applied in Chicago: Dec. 7, 6 -7:30 p.m., Simone's bar, 960 W. 18th St., Chicago. The event is free and open members and nonmembers. Come to the Active Trans Social in Logan Square - Dec. 8 Calling all Logan Square Active Trans supporters! Join your friends and neighbors at Cole's tavern to connect with others who have a deep and abiding affection for biking, walking and transit. Local authors Greg Borzo and John Greenfield will be celebrating the release of On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life, 8 -10 p.m., Dec. 8, Cole's, 2338 N. Milwaukee, Chicago. The event is free and open members and nonmembers. Active Trans Volunteer Appreciation Party - Jan. 18 If you've volunteered for Active Trans during the past year, we're throwing you a party. We want to recognize all of the dedicated individuals who make our events, campaigns and programs successful. The evening will include light appetizers,

Increasing returns in transportation and the formation of hubs Tomoya Mori*,**,† + Author Affiliations *Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8501 Japan. **Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), 11th floor, Annex, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), 1-3-1, Kasumigaseki Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8901 Japan. ↵†Corresponding author: Tomoya Mori, Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan. email Received February 22, 2011. Accepted September 9, 2011. Abstract The spatial structure of transport network is subject to increasing returns in transportation, distance and density economies. Transport costs between locations are thus in general endogenous, and are determined by the interaction between the spatial distribution of transport demand and these increasing returns, although such interdependence has long been ignored in regional models. By using a simple model, the present article investigates the characteristics of viable hub structures (in terms of spacing and hierarchical relations) given the presence of density and distance economies in transportation Key words Formation of a transport hub distance economies of transportation density economies of transportation

This page shows you real ways you can get hit and real ways to avoid them. This is a far cry from normal bicycle safety guides, which usually tell you little more than to wear your helmet and to follow the law.  But consider this for a moment: Wearing a helmet will do absolutely nothing to prevent you from getting hit by a car.  Sure, helmets might help you if you get hit, but your #1 goal should be to avoid getting hit in the first place.  Plenty of cyclists are killed by cars even though they were wearing helmets.  Ironically, if they had ridden without helmets, yet followed the advice on this page, they might still be alive today.  Don't fall for the myth that wearing a helmet is the first and last word in biking safety.  In truth, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  It's better to not get hit. That's what real bicycle safety is about. TIP: The Uninsured Motorist clause on your auto insurance may pay if you're hit & runned while bicycling. Check your policy. The next most common bike safety advice after "wear a helmet" is "follow the law," but most people are already aware that it's stupid to race through a red light when there's cross traffic.  So the "follow the law" advice isn't that helpful because it's too obvious.  What you'll find here are several scenarios that maybe aren't that obvious. The other problem with the "follow the law" message is that people may think that's all they need to do.  But following the law is not enough to keep you safe, not by a long shot.  Here's an example: The law tells you to ride as far to the right as is practicable.  But if you ride too far to the right, someone exiting a parked car could open their door right in front of you, and you'll be less visible to motorists pulling out of driveways and parking lots, and motorists coming from behind may pass you way too closely in the same lane because you didn't make them change lanes.  In each of these cases you were following the law, but could still ha

For more than a decade, Atlanta has been among the fastest-growing regions in the country, but the road and rail system in a state that ranks 49th in per capita transportation spending just could not keep up. Hourlong commutes are common, and more than 80 percent of commuters drive alone. Only 5 percent make use of the region's limited train and bus systems, according to research by the Brookings Institution. This month, Atlanta-area voters are being asked to approve an ambitious fix that would ultimately raise $8.5 billion by adding a penny to the sales tax for 10 years. The proposal, which bundles 157 projects in 10 counties, is part of a July 31 referendum that will allow voters across the state to decide if they want a new tax for transportation specific to their region. Voters in the Savannah area, for example, will decide on a $229 million package of road and transit improvements. The complex regional voting scheme could bring in more than $18 billion in new tax money, plus additional federal money, making it the largest package of its kind in the country, transportation experts said. The approach is also an attempt to thread the political needle in an era when the recession and smaller government sentiment have made any effort at new public spending, especially one with the word "tax" attached, a Sisyphean task. "It's not a good time to be asking people for money," said Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, which is at the forefront of the campaign to promote the tax. Brent Buice, executive director of Georgia Bikes!, said, "A lot of states are looking at it very carefully to see what happens because it's a politically safe way to get transportation funding." "Essentially, this is a way to make people tax themselves," added Mr. Buice, who will be voting for a package of projects in the Athens area. "It's a way for the Georgia legislature to kick the can down the road and not have to rai

The Only Hope for Reducing Traffic Eric Jaffe Oct 19, 2011 34 Comments Reuters Share Print Email In 1962, transportation researcher Anthony Downs suggested that U.S. cities suffered from a fundamental law of highway congestion: "This Law states that on urban commuter expressways, peak-hour traffic congestion rises to meet maximum capacity." What was the case half a century ago remains true today. Except worse. In a research paper published in this month's American Economic Review, a pair of economists from the University of Toronto confirm the fundamental law of highway congestion, but argue it doesn't go far enough. By analyzing traffic data and road capacity in U.S. cities from 1983 to 2003, they also provide evidence for a fundamental law of road congestion - one that extends beyond interstate highways to include a "broad class of major urban roads." In other words, no matter how many lanes of road you build in and around American cities, you can't stop cars from jamming them up. Despite the claims of highway advocates like the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, urban congestion can't be addressed by increasing road capacity. That's always been a tough fact for people to accept; as Lewis Mumford wrote back in the New Yorker back 1955: "People, it seems, find it hard to believe that the cure for congestion is not more facilities for congestion." The next logical solution is to increase public transportation capacity, but the Toronto researchers found "no evidence" that this impacts road congestion either. There is such an enormous latent demand for road space, they believe, that whenever a driver shifts onto public transportation, another one quickly grabs the open lane. That leaves just one solution to the traffic problem plaguing American cities: congestion pricing. "We cannot think of any other solution," says Gilles Duranton, the paper's co-author. "As soon as you manage to create space on the roa

Transit: Economic development for the 21st Century Blog post by Robert Steuteville on 05 Apr 2011 feature codes development economy highways transit/transit-oriented dev. Graph 1 Source: Center for Transit-Oriented Development Graph 2 TOD by year in Denver. Source: Center for Transit-Oriented Development Robert Steuteville, New Urban Network A study of development around three recent light rail transit lines in Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Charlotte found 24 million square feet of residential and commercial construction (see Graph 1). That's a tremendous burst of transit-oriented development (TOD), especially given that much of it occurred after the US housing market began to collapse (see Graph 2). The development was largely focused near downtowns and other employment areas of the three cities. Factors besides transit contributed to this construction, but transit was a major impetus to growth. If the construction industry throughout much of the US had behaved as it did within a half-mile of these new transit stations, we would have had no recession in real estate. Therein lies a way out of our economic malaise. The US building industry is currently on pace to add a quarter-million new houses this year, the lowest since records have been kept for nearly 50 years. That figure will rise substantially only with the right kind of transportation investments, which have historically spurred new housing and commercial development. Since World War II, new infrastructure has consisted mainly of highways. The massive highway construction fueled growth through the first half of the last decade, but that approach won't work anymore. When highways were built through countryside close to compact cities, they spurred huge amounts of construction. That, however, was when gas was cheap and the room to spread out was plentiful in rapidly growing metropolitan areas. Highway-oriented development tends to be low-density development, because nobody wants to live in a compa