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]
Amtrak Receives $2.45 Billion Federally Secured Loan for New Acela Trains
Amtrak will replace, rather than overhaul, aging Acela trains with new, 186-mph trains from French manufacturer, Alstom, though they won't exceed 160 mph. The agreement was announced Friday by VP Joe Biden at Biden Station, Wilmington, Del.
Air Pollution from Natural Gas Industry in Pennsylvania on the Rise
With a 32 percent increase in natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, it is no surprise that emissions are increasing as well, particularly sulfur dioxide. However, the increase was dwarfed by decreases from the power sector.
Ride Hailing to Replace Former Bus Route
A small public transit company serving the East Bay will be the first in California to conduct a pilot project to use transportation network companies and taxis to service low density areas of Dublin in Alameda County.
With Help from The White House, Key California Climate Bill Advances
SB 32, the bill that continues the Golden State's rigorous carbon-cutting agenda, had failed last year and looked like it would do the same this year. It cleared the Democrat-controlled state Assembly on Tuesday, receiving one, lone Republican vote.
Americans Continue to Drive More, Reports Federal Highway Administration
New driving totals are out for June and and the first six months of 2016, and the news is not good for those who want to see a reduction in what is now the greatest source of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.