Posts Tagged: vehicles

News

California pedestrian deaths decline — finally

Pedestrians crossing Hollywood Boulevard. (Photo: Sean Pavone)

Pedestrian deaths are on the rise throughout the nation, but California is bucking the trend. Preliminary data by the Governors Highway Safety Organization shows an increase in pedestrian fatalities throughout the United States, rising 12 percent to 5,997 in 2016. Yet California, home to the highest number of pedestrian deaths for years, is finally seeing a drop.

Opinion

ZEV program running out of gas?

The state Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: David Monniaux)

OPINION: With the clock ticking down to the end of this year’s legislative session, our leaders in Sacramento are debating initiatives that will put more clean cars on the road, boost air quality and innovation, and improve the health of our residents. We must take advantage of this brief window of opportunity to recalibrate the state’s primary mechanism for encouraging electric vehicle adoption – the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) credit system.

Opinion

The push for zero emission vehicles

An electric vehicle powers up in San Francisco. (Photo: Dan Schreiber)

OPINION: Even though 2015 was a record sales year for automakers, the percentage of ZEV sales decreased eight percent year over year in California. The Northeast states lag in ZEV sales behind California – presently accounting for less than half of one percent of the regional market – despite some states’ offering consumer incentives and efforts to build convenient refueling stations.

Opinion

Vocational training key to skilled workforce, economic health

An apprentice engineer uses a milling machine at a training facility. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

As the uneven economy recovery continues in California, there is one area where jobs remain available: technical workers. Workers with vocational training are currently in demand. The hardest segment of the workforce to replace has been the skilled trades, due to a shortage caused by the exodus of highly-skilled baby boomers that are entering retirement.

News

Jean Shiomoto: From the Delta to the DMV

DMV Director Jean Shiomoto on the job. (Photos: Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly)

Jean Shiomoto, who grew up on a pear farm in the Delta, has one of the toughest jobs in California – she runs the Department of Motor Vehicles. In this car-happy state – by one estimate, L.A. County alone has 5.9 million registered automobiles, more than all but five states – anything do with with automobiles is a big deal.

Opinion

Clean air: Charging ahead with electric vehicles

A traffic jam in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: Prayitno, Wikimedia)

OPINION: Cleaning up the air is a big challenge, so everyone needs to be part of the solution. Now is the time for elected leaders and residents around the state to join the American Lung Association and charge ahead to electric cars instead of guzzling gas.

Opinion

Needed: Fewer roadblocks for electric vehicles

Electric BMWs charging at a Google complex. (Photo: Roman Boed)

OPINION: There are over 220,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on America’s roads today – more than double this time last year – and about a third of those are in California. EVs are exploding in popularity; they’re cheaper to drive and fuel, better for the environment and are a more thrilling drive.

Opinion

January countdown: Fuel policy good for health — and wallet

Smoggy air envelops downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: Shutterstock).

OPINION: Despite strong efforts to ratchet down on smog and soot pollution, California still has some of the worst air quality in the nation and most urban areas in California continue to struggle with polluted air.

News

Covered California targets voter registration

Into the ballot box: A man votes in a California election. (Photo: Vepar5)

Under the terms of a legal settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union, Covered California is sending out registration mailers to nearly four million people who sought health insurance. The mailings, which have already begun, are the first step in an ongoing voter registration effort that will include this year’s month-long open enrollment period in the fall, when people choose new coverage plans or switch existing ones, and then continue into the future.

News

California, home of high-tech, has tough time upgrading own computers

Steps taken to upgrade the state controller’s payroll computer system have stumbled in recent months.

 

The need to revamp critical technology is common throughout government, but making it happen for the controller’s office has been especially difficult. Authorities are grappling with decades-old technology as they have struggled to make a transition toward a new

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