More Fun!  "The U.S. lost more jobs than forecast
in August and the unemployment rate climbed to a five-year high,
heightening the risk that the economic slowdown will worsen.

     Payrolls fell by 84,000 in August, and revisions added
another 58,000 to job losses for the prior two months, the Labor
Department said today in Washington. The jobless rate jumped to
6.1 percent, matching a high reached in September 2003, from 5.7
percent the prior month."

on buses.  http://www.urbanhabitat.org/node/344  The buses run 
frequently—some as often as every 90 seconds—and reliably, and the stations 
are convenient, well-designed, comfortable, and attractive. Consequently, 
Curitiba has one of the most heavily used, yet low-cost, transit systems 
in the world. It offers many of the features of a subway system—vehicle 
movements unimpeded by traffic signals and congestion, fare collection 
prior to boarding, quick passenger loading and unloading—but it is above 
ground and visible. Around  70 percent of Curitiba’s commuters use the 
BRT to travel to work, resulting in congestion-free streets and 
pollution-free air for the 2.2 million inhabitants of greater Curitiba.  
Mass transit would replace the car as the primary means of transport 
within the city, and the development along the corridors would produce 
a high volume of transit ridership. The wide boulevards established in 
the earlier plan would provide the cross section required for exclusive 
bus lanes in which an express bus service would operate.

A Hierarchical System of Bus Services

Curitiba’s bus system is composed of a hierarchical system of services. 
Minibuses routed through residential neighborhoods feed passengers to 
conventional buses on circumferential routes around the central city and 
on inter-district routes. The backbone of the system is composed of the 
Bus Rapid Transit, operating on the five main arteries leading into the 
center of the city like spokes on a wheel hub. 

Buses running in the dedicated lanes stop at cylindrical, clear-walled 
tube stations with turnstiles, steps, and wheelchair lifts. Passengers 
pay their fares as they enter the stations, and wait for buses on raised 
platforms. Instead of steps, buses have extra wide doors and ramps that 
extend out to the station platform when the doors open. The tube stations 
serve the dual purpose of providing shelter from the elements, and 
facilitating the simultaneous loading and unloading of passengers, 
including wheelchairs, efficiently. This system of same-level bus 
boarding, plus the pre-boarding fare payment, results in a typical 
dwell time of no more than 15 to 19 seconds at a stop. 

Passengers pay a single fare equivalent to about 40 cents (U.S.) 
for travel throughout the system, with unlimited transfers between 
buses at terminals where different services intersect. Transfers 
occur within the prepaid sections of the terminals, so transfer 
tickets are not needed. Also, located within these terminals are 
conveniences, such as public telephones, post offices, newspaper stands, 
and small retail facilities. 

Ten private bus companies, which run the actual buses, are paid by 
distance traveled rather than passenger volume to allow a balanced 
distribution of bus routes and eliminate clogging of main roads. All 
ten bus companies earn an operating profit. The city pays the companies 
about one percent of the bus value per month. After ten years, the 
city takes control of the buses and uses them for transportation to 
parks, or as mobile schools.

Foreclosures accelerated in the second
quarter to the fastest pace in almost three decades as interest
rates increased and home values fell, prompting more Americans to
walk away from homes they couldn't refinance or sell.

     New foreclosures increased to 1.19 percent, rising above 1
percent for the first time in the survey's 29 years, the Mortgage
Bankers Association said in a report today. The total inventory of
homes in foreclosure reached 2.75 percent, almost tripling since
the five-year housing boom ended in 2005. The share of loans with
one or more payments overdue rose to a seasonally adjusted 6.41
percent of all mortgages, an all-time high, from 6.35 percent in
the first quarter.

The Challenge of Man's Future (Paperback)
by Harrison Brown (Author)