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]
Oregon To Introduce VMT Fee Legislation
Oregon was the first state to study replacing state gas taxes with a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee in 2007. Now Gov. Kulongoski is taking the next step - introducing legislation to replace the 24-cent gas tax with a VMT fee that applies GPS technology.
Rand: Best Congestion Strategies Are Price-Based
In 2008, RAND Corp. conducted a study on mitigating traffic congestion in Los Angeles. They studied two types of strategies: conventional, e.g. signal timing, and market-based, e.g. increased the price of driving. The results were surprising.
SUVs And Light Trucks Make Comeback
Cheap gas, great deals, and winter weather resulted in SUV and light trucks resuming their dominance in vehicle sales in December, climbing to 51% of all sales, as Prius sales dipped 48% in November.
NYT Editorial And Column Push Gas Tax
A NYT editorial and NYT columnist Thomas Friedman both arrive at the same conclusion - some type of gas tax is essential for both the auto bailout and Obama's goal of greening the U.S. economy.
Wood Burning Ban Saves Lives
Five years ago, the Central Valley became the first area of California to ban indoor wood burning when an 'alert' was called by the air district; other air districts followed in 2008. This study, released in Nov. shows that "no burn" days save lives.