Low occupancy? Look At Variable Speed ​​HVAC

Coupled with the need to increase outdoor air into the building, lower occupancies may present a challenge to facilities teams.

By John Sheff
From the October 2021 Issue

It’s a bit of an understatement to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work. Many offices are either totally empty or operating at a fraction of their intended occupancy. Remote work, once thought of as a drag on productivity, has proven so successful that it’s likely here to stay in some capacity irrespective of the pandemic. And, as people slowly return to the office, those spaces are experiencing major changes in how they operate. More than 18 months into the pandemic, masking, social distancing, and vaccines are still effective ways to mitigate the virus’ spread, but facility managers and building owners are also investing in new hardware to help that effort. Adding upgraded air filtration systems and ultraviolet lighting are recommended, but the most important mitigation feature is increasing the supply of outdoor air in the building, which helps increase air flow and disperse virus particles in the air.

(PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK – DENISISMAGILOV)

This combination of fluctuating occupancy coupled with the need to increase the flow of outdoor air present facility managers and building owners with an unusual challenge: How to maintain a steady flow of air to properly ventilate a space that only a small number of people are using.

The vast majority of US offices utilizes constant speed HVAC systems to heat and cool their occupied spaces. Whether we’re talking about large commercial office buildings using chillers and boilers or low-rise office suites with rooftop units, these systems are by and large fixed speed, meaning they operate at either 100% or 0% capacity with nothing in between. Just like your home HVAC system, these systems turn on when they condition the space to thermostat’s set point and click off when that set point is reached. When the system is off there is no air flow occurring.

This worked in the pre-pandemic world because offices were mostly full, and ventilating beyond what building codes required was unnecessary. In the middle of a pandemic, however, it presents problems. These constant volume systems are designed to heat and cool during the hottest and coldest days of the year, which occur roughly 2% of the time. The other 98% of the time, the system is oversized. Bringing more outside air into the building, which then needs to be heated or cooled, drives up system usage and utility bills. Not to mention that this oversized system is operating more than usual to condition outside air and ventilate the building for only a handful of people. In this context it makes sense that even as office occupancies have cratered by 70% or more, energy use in those offices has decreased by just 25%, according to a recent Greentech Media article.

Variable speed technology, which is available in office applications large and small, provides some solutions to this unique set of challenges. Unlike constant speed systems, variable speed ones can run between 20% and 100% capacity, effectively matching HVAC load to the building’s actual demand. And, as opposed to the on/off operation method of their fixed-speed counterparts, variable speed systems operate continuously, providing a steady stream of conditioned air.

These two features of variable speed systems give facility managers distinct advantages during this pandemic. First, as people slowly return to the workplace and while future lockdowns are possible, the ability to ramp a system up and down depending on demand is vital.

Even if an office is totally empty, many leases require tenant spaces to be minimally conditioned at all times. Many HVAC systems, particularly hydronic ones involving water, require regular usage to avoid corrosion. Variable speed systems can be run continuously at lowered speeds to match low demand and maintain system usage. When more people return to the office, the system ramps up to meet their needs.

Second, since a variable speed system is continuously operating, even at a lowered rate, it is also continuously ventilating the space. Facility managers no longer need to increase systems operating hours to increase ventilation. They need only increase the flow of outdoor air, which the system conditions and moves around the space, or raise the system’s minimum speed to allow for more air flow.

Under normal circumstances, variable speed HVAC systems offer attractive paybacks and low total cost of ownership. During this pandemic, however, these next generation systems prove essential. They provide facility managers and owners with the flexibility needed to manage in this very uncertain time.

Sheff is director of public and industry affairs for Danfoss in North America. Previously, he was business development manager, leading cross-business initiatives within buildings. Before joining Danfoss, Sheff worked as an energy and sustainability policy analyst in the office of Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley before earning an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park in 2014.

Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at [email protected].

Check out all the recent HVAC Factor columns from Facility Executive magazine.

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Here are your FOX Business Flash top headlines for March 25.

One expert is claiming that Facebook and Twitter are moving at a “slow speed” in their enforcement of Russian government propaganda and disinformation on social media.

After Russian forces bombed a maternity hospital on March 9 in Mariupol, the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom tweeted pictures from the blast captioned with the word “FAKE” over them, implying that the hospital only had military troops inside.

The embassy also targeted Ukrainian blogger Marianna Podgurskaya, stating that she “played” the role of a pregnant woman with “very realistic make-up,” that looked like blood.

“It’s the indeed pregnant [Ukraine] beauty blogger Marianna Podgurskaya,” the embassy tweeted, according to the New York Post. “She actually played roles of both pregnant women in the photos.”

UKRAINE CRISIS: KREMLIN BLOCKING RUSSIANS’ ACCESS TO TWITTER AMID PROTESTS, CRITICISM: RESEARCHER

IRPIN, UKRAINE – MARCH 07: Residents of Irpin flee heavy fighting via a destroyed bridge as Russian forces entered the city on March 07, 2022 in Irpin, Ukraine. Russia continues its assault on Ukraine’s major cities, including the capital Kyiv, more (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The posts were removed from Twitter, but only after government officials in the United Kingdom expressed outrage, according to the report.

Emerson Brooking, a resident senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council, told FOX Business that this is a prime example of social media companies moving at a “slow speed” to combat propaganda coming from Russian government accounts.

“What has troubled me most is the slow speed of enforcement in cases where Russia is using its government presence or it’s continuing the existence of government accounts clearly to spread disinformation,” Brooking said. “In the case of the Russian embassy that was personally maligning a bomb victim in Mariupol, claiming that this woman was a crisis actor and was an outrageous, personally directed attack and the attack lasted for several hours on Twitter before it was removed and got significant shares.”

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Facebook and Twitter have taken actions targeting the Russian government as well as some aimed at helping keep individuals informed.

UKRAINE WAR: META SAYS IT WILL RESTRICT RUSSIAN STATE-OWNED MEDIA RT AND SPUTNIK IN EUROPE AMID INVASION

In this photo illustration the Facebook logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Twitter suspended advertisements in Russia and Ukraine on Feb. 25 in an effort to ensure “critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it,” according to the company.

A Twitter spokesperson pointed to FOX Business to a blog post explaining their approach to the war in Ukraine, which includes de-amplifying content that isn’t associated with a risk for immediate harm but may be out of context and mislead people. If a tweet is in violation of the Twitter rules, action will be taken against it, the blog post states.

One day after Twitter made the announcement, Meta announced that it is banning Russian state media from “running ads or monetizing on our platform anywhere in the world.” Meta also announced the establishment of a “Special Operations Center to respond in real time.”

Meta also announced on Feb. 28 that it is restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the European Union.

TWITTER SUSPENDS ADVERTISEMENTS IN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AMID WAR

Brooking, however, says that there is a difference between that type of content and press releases or government statements that are shared on Russian government accounts.

“I want to distinguish that kind of content from press releases or government statements, or the things that are typically released via these channels,” Brooking said. “That’s the sort of content, even if we find it despicable, that I think should continue to circulate in the digital space.”

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FILE – This July 9, 2019, file photo shows a sign outside of the Twitter office building in San Francisco. Twitter posted solid results for the last three months of 2020, capping what CEO Jack Dorsey called “an extraordinary year” for the platform. ( (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu / AP Images)

Brooking says that social media companies face a constant battle to maintain balance.

“For these companies, it is always a balancing act. And if Russia continues to use its official voices to engage in such personal and repugnant attacks, then I think their access to these platforms should be totally removed,” Brooking said.

FOX Business’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — San Francisco Bay is playing host this weekend to a new sailing competition called Sail GP. The races are short, the boats are very fast and, if Saturday’s crowd was any indication, it may be the wave of the future.

This is only the second season for Sail GP, an international sailing competition that patterns itself on the Grand Prix auto racing circuit. The 50-foot catamarans ride up out of the water on foils, turn on a dime and can reach speeds over 60 mph.

“Sail GP is all about high-adrenaline, close-to-shore racing,” said chief marketing officer Erica Kerner. “It is the fastest boats on the water. It’s absolutely incredible.”

Unlike America’s Cup, which is as much a technology competition as a boat race, Sail GP boats are identical so the races are won or lost by the skill of the sailors. This weekend is the season’s last event and the prelims will decide who joins the US and Australia in Sunday’s final, single-race sprint for a $1 million.

“I think it’s a great idea, I do, and this is the best place to sail,” said racing fan Doug Roberts. “That’s why they’re going to end up here, because you’re not going to find any place like San Francisco Bay.”

San Francisco Bay is an ideal venue for watching a sailing competition. It features strong winds and provides an accessible waterfront giving people an up-close view of the action. The prospect of seeing boats moving so fast, so close to shore, brought out a huge crowd of spectators Saturday.

“It’s doggone thrilling! Who doesn’t want to be thrilled?” said Greg White, who traveled from Santa Barbara to watch the races. “This is pretty good stuff.”

White, who is an avid sailor, said Sail GP is already having an impact on the racing community. He said America’s Cup switched from single hulls to catamarans and are now also racing on foils.

“They realize they have to do something because this is here to stay,” White said. “There’s a little bit of, ‘I’m going to catch up with these other crazy fellows,’ and good on ’em for it.”

Sailing enthusiast Nate Bernardo thinks the shorter, 14-minute sprints of Sail GP may become more popular with the public than traditional yacht racing and the America’s Cup might be in trouble.

“The America’s Cup is more prestigious but Sail GP is a little bit faster-pace and I think it will appeal more to the younger demographic,” he said. “That is the future.”

There will be three races Sunday, two more qualifiers then the final, million-dollar race at 3 pm The event is centered at the Saint Francis Yacht Club and can best be viewed anywhere along the waterfront from Crissy Field to Marina Green.

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Written by

David Peter Alan, Contributing Editor

Amtrak’s new Alstom-built Acela II trainset, seen here testing on the Northeast Corridor, is expected to enter revenue service later this year. (Gary Pancavage)

RAILWAY AGE MARCH 2022 ISSUE: U.S. high-speed rail is a mixed bag, with some projects more likely to succeed than others.

As the Obama-Biden Administration began in 2009 and 2010, “High-Speed Rail” (HSR) became a buzz-phrase in transportation circles. The High-Speed Intercity Rail Program began, but quickly went nowhere. Democrats sponsored it; Republican governors in Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida killed proposed routes in their states. 

Only California planned a genuine HSR line, and that project was nearly dead three years ago. Today, it is alive again and making steady progress. So is Brightline in Florida and its subsidiary, Brightline West in Southern California and Nevada, at least as far as Las Vegas. What about the prospect of more fast and frequent service, which seemed possible for a brief moment about 12 years ago? How is the nation faring with efforts to establish high-performance passenger trains?

First, a definition. For the purposes of this article, “high-performance rail” includes passenger rail services that will achieve speeds of 110 mph or higher. This comports with the FRA’s standard for Class 6 track, where that is the top speed. Of course, it would also include faster trains on higher-tier track: Class 7 for 125 mph or Class 8 for 160 mph. The FRA allows Class 9 track with a speed limit of 200 mph, which meets the international standard for true HSR, as found in Europe, China and Japan. At this writing, there is no such track in the U.S., but a segment of it is under construction in California.

It has been a mixed bag for projects designed to deliver service at those speeds. There is an ambitious public-sector project in California, two that are being built by a private-sector company in different parts of the country, one that seems to be headed for the end of the line (not in a good sense), and some efforts to speed service on a few Amtrak routes. Every one of them is different, and some are more likely to succeed than others. Still, the prospect of high-performance passenger rail in the U.S. has moved beyond the realm of science fiction, even though it will not catapult the nation to the status of a world-class hotbed for HSR trains, like Japan, China or a number of countries in Europe.

A bit of recent history: When the Obama-Biden Administration was pushing its version of HSR, which was not as fast as the “real thing” running in Europe and Asia today, Joseph C. Szabo was Federal Railroad Administrator. Szabo “knew the railroad.” He had started on train and engine service in Chicago and had worked his way up, through his labor affiliation. The FRA sponsored a number of conferences about the Administration’s conception of HSR. Szabo remarked that it was easier to speed up a run by raising the bottom speed than by raising the top speed. Those of us who were familiar with the railroad knew this, while those who were not familiar with railroad operations probably did not, but it was Washington’s way of letting us know that applicants for grants should be looking toward what we are now calling “high-performance rail” rather than true HSR according to international standards.

Projects in Florida (Orlando to Tampa), Wisconsin (Milwaukee to Madison), and Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton, the 3C+D) received grants from the FRA, but Republican governors turned them down. Looking back at the projects, while it would have been good to have them added to the nation’s mobility map, it does not appear that they would meet the standard for high-performance rail. The money that would have gone toward them was spent elsewhere instead, but those projects have been proposed again in Amtrak’s Connect US plan for expanding state-supported trains and corridors by 2035, which was introduced in April 2021.

There was one other grant recipient: the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), a public-sector agency that started building a line with some true HSR mileage, the first in the nation. The project has had difficulties through the years, including three years ago, when the FRA said the project could not be completed by 2022, and “de-obligated” its $929 million grant to CHSRA. In an article on the Railway Age website, Whither (Wither) High-Speed Rail?, which expressed general doubt about the future of HSR in the U.S., I pronounced the project dead. Its circumstances have changed since then, and it is now doing better.

The proposed system would start with a spine between San Francisco and Anaheim, through Los Angeles (Phase 1), now slated to open in 2030. Trains will originate in San Francisco at a new station to be called the Salesforce Transit Center. From there, they will proceed along the present Caltrain line on the Peninsula to San José and Gilroy, turn left and go east through the Pacheco Pass to a point in the Central Valley (and near the current San Joaquin line on Amtrak) between Merced and Madera, and then from Madera south to Bakersfield. From there, the line would go to Los Angeles through the Tehachapi Pass and the Antelope Valley, through Burbank, and into Union Station. South of there, the last segment would go to Anaheim. 

Construction is well under way in the Central Valley, with the first segment to be built between Merced and a point 19 miles north of Bakersfield. When completed, it will be the first piece of Class 9 track in the country, with a top speed of 200 mph. Plans call for a three-hour running time between San Francisco and Los Angeles when Phase 1 opens for service. Phase 2 calls for two extensions: from Merced to Sacramento on the north end, and a new route on the south end; from Los Angeles east to San Bernardino and then south through Escondido to San Diego. 

The CHSRA is pursuing federal and state funding, including cap-and-trade credits. The FRA gave the CHSRA the money it started to take away three years ago, and the CHSRA is hoping to raise more money to complete Phase 1 and the two Phase 2 extensions. If the line is completed, it will be the first true HSR line in the country, possibly the only one for decades to come. If the CHSRA runs out of money, the line would not get any closer to Los Angeles than the existing San Joaquin trains, terminating at Bakersfield and requiring a bus ride to continue to Los Angeles. The cost of the entire project may be as high as $105 billion, but the CHSRA hopes it can all be built for less money. We are living in economically chaotic times, but the CHSRA expects to raise the funds.

A private-sector corporation is moving forward on two fronts to establish service in two places. Brightline, a passenger start-up company, has been running fast conventional trains between Miami and West Palm Beach along the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) and building an extension to Orlando Airport. Upgrades to the FEC main as far as Cocoa have been completed, and test runs are now taking place to familiarize crews with the railroad north of West Palm Beach. There is also construction in the area near Orlando Airport, with plans to connect to Cocoa with a new railroad built along Florida State Route 528. Brightline is looking to provide a three-hour ride, with a speed limit of 110 mph on the segment between West Palm Beach and Cocoa, and 125 mph from Cocoa until the last few miles near the airport. Plans call for service to start in 2023.

Brightline has plans for further expansion to Tampa and a station on Disney property called Disney Springs, between the two. This writer has suggested here in Railway Age that running some trains that would make additional stops between West Palm Beach and Cocoa, and eventually to Jacksonville for connections to Amtrak trains going north to New York and other Northeastern cities, would bring tourists to the east coast of Florida and increase mobility for people living there.

Brightline West

Brightline’s other initiative is Brightline West, formerly known as DesertXpress and XpressWest before Brightline bought it in 2018. The original plan was to run between a point in the Victor Valley to Las Vegas, a plan that was roundly criticized for lacking a connection to the Los Angeles Basin, a catchment area with millions of residents, many of whom do not have automobiles. Brightline West’s current plans solve that problem with a new segment that would run eastward from a park-and-ride station in the Victor Valley to Rancho Cucamonga, a stop on the San Bernardino Line operated by Metrolink, the regional/commuter rail system. Service on that line is the most-robust of all Metrolink lines; it would provide a two-seat ride between Las Vegas and Los Angeles Union Station. The top speed on the segment to Las Vegas would be 180 mph, the average speed would be 115 mph, and the trip would take two hours. With the 75-minute trip on Metrolink, trip time from the City of Angels to the gambling mecca would be 3.5 hours, faster than a trip on the highway. Brightline officials plan to run a train every 45 minutes, and service is slated to begin in 2026, an ambitious schedule for building a new railroad. There are also plans to serve the region north of Los Angeles with a line to Palmdale that would offer connections to California’s high-speed line and Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line.

While signals appear green for Brightline, both in Florida and for Brightline West, and yellow for the California HSR project, indications are red for Texas Central, a private-sector initiative that plans to build a true HSR line between Dallas and the intersection of two highways several miles from Houston, using Japanese Series 700 Shinkansen equipment and technology. The issues are land acquisition and the demands of people who live along the potential  line, but nowhere near a stop. Brightline was able to beat back a legal challenge from counties along with Florida coast where the trains would run but not stop, but Texas Central will probably not do as well. A lawsuit by a landowner may stop the line in its tracks.

James Frederick Myles, a landowner along the proposed line, objected to the railroad using his property and sued, in a case covered extensively on our website. The trial court agreed with him, the appellate court reversed and found for Texas Central, and the Texas Supreme Court turned down the case. Then, suddenly, the Court decided to take the case, invited the state to intervene, and has already held oral arguments. Republicans in the area have opposed the project vigorously, while Democrats in Dallas and Houston support it. All nine of the justices on the Texas Court are Republicans, either elected or appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. While courts can always come up with a surprise, it appears highly likely at this writing that Texas Central is coming to the end of the line, a casualty of the rough-and-tumble world of Texas politics. To make matters worse for Texas Central, Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Tex.) opposes the project and has introduced a bill in the House that would prohibit any HSR project from starting construction until it has acquired all the land it needs. It is unclear whether or not the bill would pass, but it could seriously jeopardize HSR, nationwide.

Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Tex.)

There are some plans for faster trains on some Amtrak lines, but it is unclear when the speed increases will occur. Parts of the line between Chicago and Detroit are being upgraded for 110-mph operation, as are parts of the line between the Windy City and St. Louis. Yet, running times on both lines have not decreased substantially in decades. It currently takes almost 5.5 hours to get from Chicago to either Detroit or St. Louis, although schedules on the latter line have been trimmed by about 10 minutes lately, for 90-mph operation. Higher speeds will require upgrades to the existing PTC (Positive Train Control) technology.

There are also places on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) where trains run at high-performance speeds. Acela trains can run at 150 mph on portions of the line in Rhode Island, while they can run at 135 mph on the Speedway in central New Jersey and at 125 mph in other areas. Conventional Northeast Regional trains run at 110 mph. There are plans for higher speeds under the proposed NEC Future initiative, an FRA process that issued a Record of Decision (ROD) in 2017, but no measures to increase train speed have been implemented. Today’s Acela trains average 78 mph between New York and Washington, D.C. and slower to Boston. The Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg is rated for 110 mph. 

— Moving toward a HSR future requires cultural change, not just faster trains on upgraded lines. —

Chicago advocate and railroad historian F.K. Plous raised an issue about the definition of “high-performance rail” in terms of providing enhanced mobility for riders. While speed is a component of high-performance, Plous contends that there are others, too: safety, frequency of service, reliability, and connectivity with other trains and local transit. Plous told Railway Age that true high-performance rail requires networks, not merely individual rail lines. He offered the Lincoln Service Amtrak line between Chicago and St. Louis as an example of a line where connectivity is weak. He stressed that a truly high-performance rail network is one that saturates the market by getting motorists off the highways.

Improving passenger rail performance enough to entice motorists out of their automobiles and onto the train would also improve mobility for non-motorists. The issue that Plous raises deserves serious thought, as elected officials, transportation officials, managers and rider-advocates prepare for a future that we hope will have more and better rail passenger service than the nation has today. Moving toward such a future would require more than merely planning and implementing faster service on selected rail lines. It would require cultural change. 

Categories: C&S, Freight, High Performance, Intercity, M/W, Mechanical, News, Passenger, PTC
Tags: Amtrak, Breaking News, Brightline, California High Speed Rail Authority, Texas Central Railway

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Seven busy corridors in San Francisco are likely to lower their speed limits to 20 mph in early January as the city uses its newfound power to reduce speeds under a new state law.

The announcement of the first speed limit changes the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is planning under AB43 comes less than a month after Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law. It reflects the urgency of the city to achieve its self-imposed goal of eliminating the death toll of pedestrians by 2024.

Seven corridors would reduce their speed limits according to the proposal that the Agency’s Board of Directors will vote on December 7th:

• Mission Valencia Street from Cesar Chavez to Market Street and sections of 24th Street between Diamond Street and San Bruno Avenue.

• Sections of Haight Street from Stanyan to Steiner Street.

• Polk Street from Filbert to Sutter Street.

• Sections of Fillmore Street between Chestnut and McAllister Streets.

• San Bruno Avenue from Silver to Paul Avenue.

• Segments of Ocean Avenue between Geneva and 19th Avenue.

Pedestrians and vehicles are seen near a 20 mph speed limit sign in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. The reduced speed limits are part of the city’s goal of avoiding fatal pedestrians.

Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle

For years, traffic officials and advocates have viewed speed reduction as an effective tool in making city streets more pedestrian-friendly and safer for pedestrians. Research has shown that even reducing speed by 5 mph increases the likelihood of someone surviving a vehicle accident.

But until now, at least, San Francisco and other California cities that wanted to reduce the speed limits on their streets said they were prevented from doing so because of the state’s bureaucratic process of setting speed limits, which historically was based on the average speed of most cars were traveling along a certain corridor.

Most of the city’s road sections have speed limits of 25 mph, and some proponents have called for the city to recognize 20 mph as a de facto speed limit, as San Francisco did on a smaller scale than a 20-quarter speed km / h limits introduced in the tenderloin this spring.

Don’t expect this to happen on AB43. The final version of the bill limited eligible road corridors to those belonging to business districts – including the first seven corridors – or the road network of cities where the greatest number of serious injuries and deaths occur. Cities cannot speed reductions on roads in the latter category until June 2024, and the state Department of Transportation is still in the process of rewriting road eligibility rules.

“We are delighted that the SFMTA is moving so fast to come up with a list of roads that will be speeded down on the AB43,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco. “Submitting seven corridors for immediate approval is a step in the right direction.”

Several other commercial corridors will be eligible for speed limit reductions under the new law, according to the transport authority. These include Irving, Noriega and Taraval streets at sunset; much of Mission Street; and Clement and Balboa Streets in Richmond.

The city is also looking into reducing speed limits in other neighborhoods such as Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, South of Market, Mission Bay, and the Financial District. Erica Kato, a spokeswoman for the agency, said several streets in these neighborhoods are eligible for speed reductions and the agency’s staff plan to make further recommendations to the board over the next year.

The speed reductions are part of the city’s wider efforts as part of its Vision Zero target to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists and prevent deaths within the next three years.

Progress has been persistent. Despite restrictions on on-site housing during the pandemic, San Francisco recorded 30 deaths in 2020, up from 29 deaths in 2019.

The San Francisco Transportation Authority is promising a more aggressive approach to road improvement as part of a strategic plan that the board will discuss Tuesday. The agency’s Vision Zero plan calls for the construction of more protected cycle paths, speed limits and measures to calm traffic and reduce lanes.

While the agency has not yet decided on the finer details, many of these changes would come as part of the “quick build process” that the MTA relied on to create a 20-mile network of transit-only lanes during the pandemic. This process aims to reduce bureaucracy that has hindered previous road change efforts by giving the city’s traffic engineer more power to make changes unilaterally.

If the city moves forward on the strategic plan, “we should see and reduce overall serious injuries, collisions and deaths,” Medeiros said. “This is what we asked for.”

Ricardo Cano is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByRicardoCano

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It’s been a little over four months since I took on the role of Head of Vehicle Information at Manheim. And during that time I thought a lot about light. Maybe it’s because we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with advances in COVID vaccines.

And maybe it’s because we’ve been moving at the speed of light in digital wholesale for more than a year.

Our customers have not been afraid to share their feelings about this transition to a more digital environment. I’ve heard appreciation for our quick response, and I’ve heard concerns about restricted access to personal viewing of inventory. The temporary loss of the ability to “kick the tires” and perform the “scratch and sniff” test detracted from customer confidence, who relied on their more traditional way of assessing inventory.

For some it was not easy to pull this rug out from under you right away. While the security of our customers, team members and industrial partners came even more to the fore, we also had to address the sudden lack of access that customers were used to.

With all of the challenges posed by COVID-19, what was positive was how quickly it accelerated technological innovation – and adoption – in wholesale. What would have taken the industry years, we achieved in weeks and months instead.

One of the areas that was most in focus, at least for us in Manheim, was vehicle information – from condition reports to pictures and beyond that, buyers get the information they need to make good purchasing decisions.

While I now ran vehicle information for Manheim, at the time of the COVID hit GM, I was in Manheim St. Pete, a location that specializes in cars under $ 5,000. Smaller independent dealers, who tend to tend to sell more physically, have been our main customers.

Working with them during the sudden transition to all-digital gave me so many valuable insights into what our customers really need to not just buy digitally, but prefer to buy that way. And it all comes back to giving them the same level of detail about vehicles online that they can get in person.

The great thing about digital is that it can give merchants even more information – more efficiently – than they can get in a physical setting. But the industry still has a little way to go to get there.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and improving the imaging is the first way we can give our customers the extra information they need. In 2020, we more than doubled the number of images in online health reports, introducing more angles of the vehicle inside and out.

We have also established an advisory board to meet our customers’ needs as we continue to develop our vehicle information offering, and have implemented a quality health report program that includes extensive training of inspectors and enhanced review of health reports.

Our customers have also noticed the difference. In a recent Manheim survey, around 60% of customers said they had noticed changes. In most cases, it mentions additional images, more consistency, and better descriptions. And a vast majority of them claim that these changes have made them more confident about understanding a vehicle’s condition.

But we don’t stop there.

Our acquisition of Fyusion, an incredibly innovative, industry-leading computer vision company based in San Francisco, will of course bring an unprecedented level of vehicle imaging and insight. In the near future, however, we are preparing to make some big changes to our digital platforms that we are sure our customers will celebrate. Things like better quality imaging and the collection of more mechanical and safety data – everything our customers want and need to know when buying wholesale vehicles.

Right now it’s no secret that condition reports are probably the most criticized thing in auctions these days. My goal in the near future is to get her to at least second place.

However, my ultimate goal is to make sure customers love health reports, rely on them for more insights than they can otherwise get, and ultimately shop online more safely than in person.

It may seem like a lofty goal right now, but I firmly believe it is achievable. That’s why I was excited to take the lead in vehicle information. And now, a little over four months into the role, I’m more certain than ever.

The work of improving not only the quantity but also the quality of vehicle information is an ongoing journey. But as long as we’re moving at the speed of light, we’ll be there sooner than anyone could have predicted a year ago.

Brad Burns is AVP for Vehicle Information in Manheim

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The development services department also has its own website for emergency repairs and permits.

AUSTIN, Texas – On Thursday, Austin City Council passed two ordinances to expedite repairs due to last week’s freezing weather.

The ordinances waive housing permit and development fees as well as certain requirements for sanitary permits.

The fees covered by the first waiver include permit, plan review, inspection, demolition, and deviation fees for repairing existing structures only and do not include re-inspection fees.

The second ordinance allows construction officials to exempt certain plumbing work from the permit requirements normally required by the city’s sanitary code. In addition, the deadline for submitting a permit application will be extended from one business day to five business days from the date of the start of the activity, and the registration requirements for work set out in the Sanitary Code will be waived.

Accelerated plumbing repairs: @ATXCouncil approves plan for faster repairs to plumbing damaged by winter storms – also by approving exemptions + extending application deadlines.

More information: https://t.co/K0IGoVOb7H pic.twitter.com/WYrNw2R67Z

– City of Austin (@austintexasgov) February 25, 2021

The Development Services Department has set up a dedicated website for emergency repairs and permits, including a live chat facility for quick responses and a hotline (512-974-1500) that operates Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In addition, the city of Austin launched a new website to help residents repair winter storms. The website contains information related to the safety of repairs, plumbers, electricians and other contractors. Code compliance and service requests; the city’s emergency approval process; Financial aid from the homeowner; as well as federal and local aid programs.

Governor Greg Abbott, who is weighing the end of mask order, other statewide coronavirus rules, says the announcement is “coming pretty soon.”

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Bloomberg

Yellen says the tax plan is getting $ 2 trillion in overseas profits back

(Bloomberg) – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen revealed a detailed sales pitch for the Biden administration’s proposed new corporate tax bill, a plan she said was fairer to all Americans and would remove incentives for businesses to move investments and profits overseas and more to raise money for critical home needs. As an extension of the tax proposals released in President Joe Biden’s $ 2.25 trillion economic package last week, the Treasury Department said the changes would put about $ 2 trillion in corporate profits in the U.S. over a decade -Tax Net Would Bring Back About $ 700 billion in federal revenue from ending incentives to shift profits overseas. In total, the additional tax revenue of about $ 2.5 trillion over 15 years would fund Biden’s eight-year spending initiative, which targets infrastructure, green investments and social networking programs that the Treasury Department said would support a larger workforce. Few large companies would be untouched, and technology giants like Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. would probably pay more. “Our tax revenues are at their lowest level in generations, and as they continue to decline, we will have less money to invest in roads, bridges, broadband and research and development,” Yellen told reporters during a telephone briefing, referring to research and development . “By choosing to compete in tax competition, we failed to compete for the skills of our people and the strength of our infrastructure. It’s a self-defeating competition. The Treasury Department released a 17-page report on Wednesday that is likely to serve as a roadmap for administrators and lawmakers looking to navigate Congress through the combined package of spending and tax proposals in the coming months. The Key Elements of the corporate tax plan include increasing the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and imposing minimum taxes on both foreign profits and domestic profits that companies report to shareholders. These changes would increase the taxes owed by corporations significantly more: Biden’s economic plan depends on the unity of the parties after winning the case The tax proposals are already meeting fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers and the backlash of some moderate Democrats. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has said he is opposed to corporate tax rates above 25%. With the Senate split between 50 and 50, Biden cannot afford to lose the support of a single Democratic Senator if he wants to push through part of the package. While most business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, have come in contrast to the tax hikes, some have acknowledged that higher corporate taxes could help fund infrastructure spending. Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc., said Tuesday that he would support a tax rate increase but did not provide a number. The proposal for a global minimum tax comes as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is holding talks with About 140 countries, including the US, have introduced a worldwide tax on corporate profits. A global rate has yet to be set, although previous proposals have suggested rates of around 12.5%. Biden’s plan for 21% would be significantly higher and could make negotiations more difficult. Read more: Gaining Global Minimum Tax Moments with G-20 Mid-Year The Financial Report The Treasury Report contained a number of data that supports the case of the administration. U.S.-based companies with global operations paid an effective tax rate of 7.8% in 2018, the first year that former President Donald Trump’s tax cut went into effect, according to the non-partisan Joint Tax Committee. In the previous year, companies paid 16%. In all member countries of the OECD, corporate tax receipts correspond to an average of 3.1% of GDP. In the US, it’s 1%, the Treasury Department said. This represents an unfair burden on workers, made worse by Trump’s 2017 changes that cut corporate taxes, according to the Treasury Department. The report cites research showing that companies are investing more of their savings from Trump’s tax cuts in share buybacks and dividend distributions than in new investments. Profitable companies could no longer use tax breaks to completely eliminate their federal tax burdens and would have to pay at least 15% on the profits reported in their financial statements, which are known as book revenues. That levy would apply to businesses earning at least $ 2 billion, an increase over a $ 100 million threshold included in Biden’s campaign tax plan. About 180 companies have reported revenues at these levels in recent years, and about 45 of those companies would have paid the minimum tax if Biden’s plan had come into effect, the report said. The average company exposed to the tax would have an increased minimum tax liability of approximately $ 300 million per year, according to the Treasury Department. Tech GiantsApple, Microsoft, Google parent company Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc. and Intel Corp. Realized tens of billions of euros in pre-tax income in the past 12 months with effective tax rates in the middle of the year, According to data from Bloomberg, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. were also teens with effective tax rates of around 22% to 23 during that period % Removed key elements of Trump’s 2017 corporate tax overhaul, including ground erosion and anti-abuse tax, or “BEAT”, according to Bloomberg. The measure aimed at punishing companies that move profits overseas has been criticized for taxing some non-abusive transfers while lacking tax avoidance strategies. The Treasury Department plans to replace the BEAT with the “SHIELD”, an acronym for stop harmful inversions and end low-tax developments. This would prevent companies from withdrawing payments to their affiliates in countries with tax rates below the 21% offshore profit rate. The plan would also include additional penalties for companies attempting to relocate their headquarters to another country in order to escape the US tax net. Biden’s plan also includes removing all oil and gas-specific subsidies that are included in tax legislation, including deductions for drilling costs. Treasury estimates that about $ 35 billion will be raised over the next decade. (Updates from affected companies from the third paragraph. An earlier version corrected corporate tax revenue levels in OECD countries.) For more articles like this, please contact us at bloomberg.com. Sign up now to stay with the most trusted business news source on the To stay up to date. © 2021 Bloomberg LP

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But the low prices for single-family homes on the vast New York City subway are skyrocketing 15%, fueled by fleeing Manhattanites?

By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.

The headlines are everywhere: the real estate market has gone crazy with ridiculous bidding wars and ridiculous price increases. Record low interest rates last year and $ 3 trillion from the Fed’s miracle moolah sparked this phenomenon, along with people leaving some large, expensive cities for the suburbs, outskirts and distant places whose prices rose under the influx while many Graduates Didn’t Still, they put their vacant old houses on the market in hopes of spurring price hikes and thereby reducing inventory for sale. But not all things are created equal, as we’ll see in condos and houses by price tier in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and the New York Subway, based on today’s S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Price Index for Homes.

Condominium prices in the San Francisco Bay Area are falling.

Condo prices in the five-county San Francisco Bay Area fell 1.2% in January versus December, the eighth straight month of monthly declines. The index is down 1.5% from January last year, 5.1% from its high in May 2020, and roughly back to February 2018:

The Case-Shiller Index for “San Francisco” includes the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo (northern part of Silicon Valley), Alameda and Contra Costa (East Bay), and Marin (North Bay). It does not include the southern part of Silicon Valley, including San Jose, and most of North Bay (wine country counties Sonoma and Napa) and Solano Counties.

In San Francisco County, condominiums make up the majority of the market. In the other counties, houses are the majority.

Quite a few people have moved from San Francisco to the outskirts of the Bay Area. The move to Marin County is canceled because it is in the index. But people have also moved to other counties not on the index, such as Sonoma County, whose real estate market is hot in part due to the influx of people from San Francisco.

The prices of all single-family homes in the five-county San Francisco Bay Area increased 0.2% in January versus December and increased 9.5% year over year. According to price levels:

• Low prices (black line) fell 0.4% in January from December, the first month-to-month decline since 2019, after rising the most in 2020. The decline in January reduced the year-on-year gain to 10.8% (from 11.4% in December)
• The high prices remained unchanged in Decemberand increased by 7.9% compared to the previous year.
• Average prices rose 0.4% in January from December and increased by 10.8% over the previous year.

Los Angeles condo prices left behind by real estate prices.

Single-family home prices on the Los Angeles subway rose 1.0% from December in January and 10.8% from January 2020. Different developments can be seen according to price levels:

Low house prices show by far the biggest rises during the booms and by far the biggest slumps during the busts, having collapsed 56% from the top of Housing Bubble 1 to the bottom of Housing Bust. Since then, they have skyrocketed 163% and have nearly quadrupled since January 2000. In January, low prices rose 1.4% compared to December and 10.4% year-on-year.

Senior real estate prices are the least volatile. They have “not even tripled” since January 2000 (that sounds crazy). During the real estate bankruptcy they only fell by “33%” and have increased by “only” 84% since then. In January they rose by 0.9% compared to December and by 8.7% compared to the previous year.

The prices for condominiums rose compared to the previous month by 0.6% and compared to the previous year by 5.2%, which corresponds to about half of the price increases for medium- and low-level houses compared to the previous year.

New York subway condominium prices are still tied to bandwidth.

The Case-Shiller Index for New York City includes New York City and numerous counties in the states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. This is a huge and diverse market.

Condominium prices in the area rose 0.5% in January versus December and rose 1.7% year over year. They’ve stayed in the same narrow area since January 2018, speckled with some major up and down movements:

Low-ranking house prices on the New York subway rose 1.4% in January versus December and 14.9% year over year. This includes homes in lower-priced areas of the market that Manhattan graduates have rushed to, causing prices to rise.

Average house prices rose 11.2% year-on-year. Senior home prices rose 11.3%; In the past few months, high prices have started to top Housing Bubble 1’s high. But condos didn’t participate in the price hikes that homes reveled in.

The map is on the same scale as the corresponding Los Angeles and San Francisco maps to show how much faster prices have risen on the two California subways over the years than the New York subway. But since 2020 real estate prices have been burning across the board in the New York subway, but condominiums are not:

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If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

This is the approach Congregation member David Chiu is taking to end road deaths and injuries.

Along with a chorus of city council members, heads of transportation agencies, lawyers and mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, Chiu passed legislation on Tuesday to control the use of automated cameras to capture license plates from high-speed vehicles in high-speed vehicles. Communities at risk to curb reckless driving and save lives.

“At some point we have to say that enough is enough because these deaths are completely and completely preventable,” Chiu said.

If passed, Caltrans would need to work with stakeholders to set guidelines for the speed safety program, such as: For example, how many miles per hour a vehicle would have to drive above the specified speed limit in order to trigger the radar of the speed cameras on dangerous roads and work areas.

Assembly Bill 550 is Chiu’s second attempt to codify an automated speed enforcement pilot program to slow cars down and reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths from traffic violence.

He tried for the first time in 2017, but the bill was ultimately shot down due to objections from civil rights and justice attorneys and law enforcement, among other things.

But Chiu said it was different this time: Thousands of Californians continued to be killed in traffic accidents; Science has advocated speed cameras to “stop these pointless deaths”. and a national conversation has emerged about race and law enforcement, including the disproportionate burden people of color carry during interactions such as traffic stops.

Tuesday’s legislation includes tough privacy restrictions, including a ban on facial recognition technology, equity parameters, and a mandate that the program be monitored by local transportation agencies rather than law enforcement agencies.

Violators would be punished with a civil quote capped at a fine of $ 125, with alternative diversion programs available to replace full payment. It wouldn’t add a point to a driver’s license either.

San Francisco supervisor Aaron Peskin called the nuances of the bill “the right formula” to balance the needs of everyone involved and said he plans to table a resolution in support of the entire board of directors as well as the county transportation authority.

“Let’s do that,” he said.

Around 30 people are killed and another 500 seriously injured on the streets of San Francisco each year. That staggering number has continued as The City nears the Vision Zero 2024 deadline.

Speed ​​is generally considered to be the determining factor in whether a person will live or die as a result of a vehicle collision.

As officials commonly quote, a person hit by a car traveling 20 mph has a 90 percent chance of survival, while someone hit by a vehicle moving 40 mph has only a 20 percent chance of survival Has.

“One thing we do know is speedkills,” said Chiu.

However, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Department and other local transportation authorities still lack the power to make the kind of transformative changes that could really slow vehicles down, most notably the power to use automatic speed monitoring to deter dangerous driver speeds.

“We need every tool we can to make this happen, and there is one thing we are missing at the moment,” said Mayor of London Breed. “The fact that we don’t have automatic speed controls is a problem that keeps us from saving lives.”

Officials stressed that the cameras themselves are mobile and will only be placed in the corridors of the community after rigorous data analysis on the frequency of high speeds and a robust neighborhood engagement process in cities that have opted for the speed safety program.

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