Irvin Dawid discovered Planetizen when a classmate in an urban planning lab at San Jose State University shared it with him in 2003. When he left San Jose State that year, he took with him an interest in Planetizen, if not the master's degree in urban & regional planning.
As a long-time environmental activist, he formed the Sustainable Land Use committee for his local Sierra Club chapter and served six years on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Advisory Council from 2002-2008. He maintains his interest in air quality by representing Sierra Club California on the Clean Air Dialogue, a working group of the Calif. Environmental Dialog representing business, regulatory and public health/environmental interests.
Major interests include transportation funding, e.g., gas taxes, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fees, road tolls and energy subsidies that lead to unlevel playing fields for more sustainable choices.
He hails from Queens (Bayside) and Long Island (Great Neck); received an AAS in Fisheries & Wildlife Technology from SUNY Cobleskill and a B.S. from what is now Excelsior College.
After residing for three years on California’s North Coast, he’s lived on the San Francisco Peninsula since 1983, including 24 years in Palo Alto. Home is now near downtown Burlingame, a short bike-ride to the Caltrain station.
He’s been car-free since driving his 1972 Dodge Tradesman maxi-van, his means to exit Long Island in 1979, to the junkyard in 1988.
Major forms of transportation: A 1991 'citybike' and monthly Caltrain pass, zone 2-2. "It's no LIRR, but it may be the most bike friendly train in America."
Irvin can be reached at [email protected]
Energy Transformation Predicted in 12 Years
By 2030, the world's consumption of oil will drop due to increasing electric vehicle sales, according to a report by Bank of America. Other researchers disagree on the timeframe. The report is useful for highlighting the term, "peak oil demand."
New York MTA to Spend $4 Billion for New Subway Cars
Over 1,600 new subway cars may be ordered, a minimum of 200 with open gangways, by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The first 500 will be purchased from the Japanese company, Kawasaki, to be assembled in Yonkers and Lincoln, Nebraska.
New York State, Not New York City, to Decide Whether to Toll Streets in Manhattan
While the city determines where to place parking meters and how much to charge, when it comes to charging tolls to drive in Manhattan, the city's elected leaders are excluded from the political process.
California Gas Tax Repeal Update: And Then There Was One
One of two initiatives to repeal last November's 12-cents per gallon gas tax increase failed to attract enough signatures by the Jan. 8 deadline. However, the other initiative has major backing and will likely appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Costs Jump on Central Valley Section of California High-Speed Rail
Costs for the initial construction segment, 119 miles from Madera to just outside Bakersfield, jumped $2.8 billion in what the consultant called the "worst-case scenario," to $10.6 billion, or over $89 million per mile.