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India, a land steeped in history and culture, also boasts a modern tapestry of engineering marvels that stand as testaments to human ingenuity and perseverance. Among these, the country's <keyword id="142777" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tunnels" source="Orion">tunnels</keyword> weave a story of connectivity, innovation, and the triumph of engineering over challenging terrains. From the Himalayas to the Western Ghats, these tunnels not only reduce travel time but also facilitate year-round access, providing crucial links for transportation and connectivity. Let's delve into the fascinating world of 10 famous <keyword id="19482362" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tunnels-in-India" source="Orion">tunnels in India</keyword> that encapsulate the nation's spirit of progress. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Rohtang Tunnel, Himachal Pradesh: A Gateway to the Himalayas" comment="subhead" text="Rohtang Tunnel, Himachal Pradesh: A Gateway to the Himalayas"><keyword id="166207" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohtang-Tunnel" source="Orion">Rohtang Tunnel</keyword>, Himachal Pradesh: A Gateway to the Himalayas</cmsannotation> Nestled in the breathtaking Himalayas, the Rohtang Tunnel, also known as <keyword id="8486907" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Atal-Tunnel" source="Orion">Atal Tunnel</keyword>, is a marvel of engineering connecting Manali to Lahaul-Spiti Valley. Stretching over 9 kilometers, it traverses the Pir Panjal range, providing year-round access and significantly reducing travel time. This engineering feat has not only enhanced connectivity but has also become a symbol of perseverance in the challenging Himalayan landscape. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Jawahar Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: Bridging Regions with Innovation" comment="subhead" text="Jawahar Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: Bridging Regions with Innovation">Jawahar Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: Bridging Regions with Innovation</cmsannotation> Situated in the Pir Panjal Range, the Jawahar Tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway has been a vital link between Jammu and the Kashmir Valley since its construction in the 1950s. This remarkable achievement in connectivity has played a crucial role in uniting regions, showcasing the resilience of Indian engineering in the face of challenging terrains. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: A Railway Odyssey through the Himalayas" comment="subhead" text="Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: A Railway Odyssey through the Himalayas">Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: A Railway Odyssey through the Himalayas</cmsannotation> Embracing the challenges of the Himalayan terrain, the Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel is a standout feature of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project. Spanning over 11 kilometers, it stands as one of India's longest railway tunnels, providing a scenic and efficient rail route through the picturesque landscape. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: All-Weather Connectivity in the Valley" comment="subhead" text="Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: All-Weather Connectivity in the Valley">Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: All-Weather Connectivity in the Valley</cmsannotation> Connecting Banihal to Qazigund, the Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel is a vital link for transportation in the Kashmir Valley. Its construction aimed at reducing travel distances and ensuring all-weather road connectivity, thereby enhancing accessibility to the picturesque valley. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Konkan Railway Tunnel, Maharashtra: Engineering Elegance Amidst Western Ghats" comment="subhead" text="Konkan Railway Tunnel, Maharashtra: Engineering Elegance Amidst Western Ghats">Konkan Railway Tunnel, Maharashtra: Engineering Elegance Amidst Western Ghats</cmsannotation> The Konkan Railway Line, with its numerous tunnels through the Western Ghats, stands as a testament to engineering elegance. These tunnels not only facilitate smooth train travel but also offer breathtaking views along the scenic Konkan coast, turning a journey into an aesthetic experience. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: Redefining Road Connectivity" comment="subhead" text="Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: Redefining Road Connectivity">Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, Jammu and Kashmir: Redefining Road Connectivity</cmsannotation> Spanning over 9 kilometers, the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is a beacon of modern infrastructure and safety features. Its construction aimed at reducing travel time and enhancing connectivity between regions, making it a notable engineering achievement in India. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Karbude Tunnel, Maharashtra: Navigating the Western Ghats" comment="subhead" text="Karbude Tunnel, Maharashtra: Navigating the Western Ghats">Karbude Tunnel, Maharashtra: Navigating the Western Ghats</cmsannotation> As part of the Konkan Railway route, the Karbude Tunnel is strategically located to ensure seamless train travel through the mountainous landscape of the Western Ghats. Its presence is integral to the efficiency and success of the railway network in Maharashtra. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Khowai Tunnel, Meghalaya: Carving Through Rocky Terrain" comment="subhead" text="Khowai Tunnel, Meghalaya: Carving Through Rocky Terrain">Khowai Tunnel, Meghalaya: Carving Through Rocky Terrain</cmsannotation> Carved through the rocky terrain of Meghalaya, the Khowai Tunnel plays a vital role in connecting the northeastern state with the rest of the country through the railway line. Its construction was a significant undertaking, showcasing the commitment to connectivity in even the most challenging landscapes. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Chennai Port-Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway Tunnel, Tamil Nadu: Urban Connectivity Elevated" comment="subhead" text="Chennai Port-Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway Tunnel, Tamil Nadu: Urban Connectivity Elevated">Chennai Port-Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway Tunnel, Tamil Nadu: Urban Connectivity Elevated</cmsannotation> The Chennai Port-Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway, featuring a tunnel section, serves as a crucial link between Chennai Port and Maduravoyal. This infrastructure marvel not only facilitates efficient transportation but also eases traffic congestion in the bustling city of Chennai. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Karwar Tunnel, Karnataka: Navigating the Western Ghats in Karnataka" comment="subhead" text="Karwar Tunnel, Karnataka: Navigating the Western Ghats in Karnataka">Karwar Tunnel, Karnataka: Navigating the Western Ghats in Karnataka</cmsannotation> Serving the Konkan Railway, the Karwar Tunnel in Karnataka is a noteworthy part of the railway network. It exemplifies the engineering prowess required to navigate the challenging Western Ghats, connecting regions and contributing to the efficiency of the railway network in the state. These 10 famous tunnels in India not only showcase the nation's commitment to connectivity but also highlight the engineering excellence that has overcome geographical challenges. From the Himalayas to the Western Ghats, these tunnels stand as symbols of progress, linking regions, and providing efficient transportation routes. As India continues to forge ahead in its development journey, these tunnels remain as shining examples of human ingenuity and perseverance in the face of formidable terrains.

Unveiling the marvels: 10 engineering triumphs in India's tunnel landscape

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rep. Mike Garcia touted $14.9 million in federal funding that he brought to his district this year.</li><li>But most of it came from a must-pass spending bill that he and other Republicans voted against.</li></ul>It was late December 2022, and Republicans were furious about the 2023 omnibus spending bill, a sprawling piece of legislation designed to avert a government shutdown and keep federal spending flowing for the next 9 months.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-vacationing-in-costa-rica-omnibus-zelenskyy-2022-12">dubbed it</a> the "omnimonster." Kevin McCarthy, then the speaker in waiting, even pledged to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/which-18-republican-senators-voted-omnibus-kevin-mcarthy-block-pledge-2022-12">block the bills</a> of any senator who voted for it. In the end, just <a target="_blank" href="https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2022/roll549.xml">9 Republicans</a> voted for it, only 2 of whom remain in Congress.Republicans who voted against the bill cited the nearly $1.7 trillion price tag, disagreements with the process through which the bill was produced, or their preference that the matter be punted until their party officially assumed control of the House just days later, when they would have more leverage to enact their preferred policies.Rep. Mike Garcia of California, a member of the House Appropriations Committee that oversees government spending, was among those Republicans."I'm voting no on this bill, obviously," Garcia said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/RepMikeGarcia/status/1606056428673716224">Twitter post</a> at the time. "It's too big, it's too expensive, we can't afford it as Americans."Garcia also made that argument — protesting not just the size of the bill, but the haphazard way that it was thrown together — in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpUwFeDUocg">floor speech</a> and in an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdsjCSmLMf0">interview on Newsmax</a> that week.<h2>'Delivering results'</h2>Just over half a year later, a <a target="_blank" href="https://frankingfiles.house.gov/28-32410-8.pdf">mailer from Garcia's congressional office</a> landed in mailboxes across his congressional district, which covers northern Los Angeles county.The announcement: Garcia had brought home nearly $15 million in federal spending to the district."As a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, I work hard to secure critical funds for our community every year," the mail reads.$2 million for a nonprofit that aids the homeless. $1.5 million for the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. $1.1 million for traffic cameras in Lancaster. These were among the projects that Garcia touted in the mailer generating <a target="_blank" href="https://signalscv.com/2023/01/elected-leaders-secure-1-3-million-for-citys-safe-routes-to-school/">positive local headlines</a> in the process."Congressman Mike Garcia was absolutely instrumental in securing these dollars specifically to support the Connecting to Success program," Kathy Norris, the President and CEO of the Valley Industrial Association, told a <a target="_blank" href="https://scvnews.com/via-receiving-675k-to-expand-connecting-to-success-program/">local outlet</a> after her organization received $675,000 in federal funding.Yet almost all of the funding that Garcia touted in the mailer came from the omnibus spending bill that he made a show of voting against the previous December.<div type="image" title="A mailer Rep. Garcia sent to constituents in the summer of 2023." height="1486" width="2200" msid="107091583" hostid="261" sizebytes="288134"></div>Specifically, $12.9 million of the $14.9 million came from Community Project Funding — known colloquially as "earmarks" — that ended up in the 2023 omnibus.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/THUD_DISCL_20221216.pdf">Congressional documents</a> from December 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/LHHS_DISCL_20221218_2.pdf">confirm</a> that Garcia requested that funding, even though he ultimately voted against the bill that delivered it.The other $2 million, allocated to College of the Canyons for an aircraft technician training program, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canyons.edu/administration/pio/news/2023-01-18-funding.php">came from</a> the annual defense authorization bill, which Garcia did support.Taken together, it's one example of a phenomenon that Democrats in particular have dubbed "vote no, take the dough" — referring to when Republican lawmakers and other officials celebrate government funding or programs that they actually voted against.In recent years, there have been a wide litany of other examples.Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law, nonetheless <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tommy-tuberville-federal-broadband-funding-voting-against-bipartisan-infrastructure-2023-6">celebrated</a> billions in broadband funding that it brought to his state. Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona, who voted twice against a veterans' benefits bill, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/david-schweikert-vote-against-pact-act-veterans-benefit-sign-ups-2023-8">encouraged his constituents</a> to sign up for a resulting program. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, who also voted against the 2023 omnibus, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maria-elvira-salazar-650000-federal-funding-small-business-voted-against-2023-12">recently posed</a> with a giant check that was funded by that bill.Spokespeople for Garcia did not return Business Insider's request for comment, but in the past, Republicans have generally argued that when it comes to earmarks, they can have it both ways."I can celebrate this victory because I fought for it and put my name on this Community Funding project," Salazar <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maria-elvira-salazar-650000-federal-funding-small-business-voted-against-2023-12">told BI</a>, even as she blasted the underlying omnibus bill for bringing "reckless spending for an already bloated federal government."Garcia wasn't the only Republican to secure earmark funding in the 2023 omnibus, only to vote against that bill — in fact, over 100 Republicans did the same thing, <a target="_blank" href="https://rollcall.com/2022/12/23/gop-omnibus-opponents-bring-home-billions-of-earmarked-dollars/">according to</a> Roll Call.And Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who secured nearly $20 million from the omnibus bill, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aoc-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-lone-democrat-oppose-omnibus-bill-2022-12">also voted against</a> it, citing the bill's funding of the Department of Homeland Security and an increase in military spending.Yet the case of Garcia and others appears to undermine one claims made by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/12/16873520/case-for-and-against-earmarks">proponents of earmarks</a> — that they can encourage lawmakers to take tough votes for major bills, or at least be less willing to tank legislation that stands to benefit their district.In this instance, Garcia was able to secure almost all of what he requested for his district — just two of his earmark requests for Fiscal Year 2023 were denied, according to congressional documents — but that didn't stop him from ultimately trashing the bill.

How Republicans rail against government spending on TV — only to brag about its benefits back home

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The DoNotPay app uses AI and ChatGPT tech that consumers can use to do things like challenge bills.</li><li>DoNotPay wants to put AI to the courtroom test, and plans to use it to advise defendants in traffic cases.</li></ul>Judges rarely tolerate defendants appearing before them wearing earpieces, much less AirPods secretly feeding them lines in court.But DoNotPay's founder Joshua Browder plans to put his app's AI "robot lawyer" to just such a test in an upcoming traffic court case in February, according to a <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.newscientist.com/article/2351893-ai-legal-assistant-will-help-defendant-fight-a-speeding-case-in-court/">report in the New Scientist</a> that heralds the first AI-powered defense in court.To sweeten the deal for its guinea pig defendants who, unbeknownst to the court, will be reciting the AI program's advice, DoNotPay will also pay any fines they get stuck with, according to the report.The case could create bizarre scenarios and open up defendants to potential contempt of court charges, legal experts told Insider.For instance, what happens if a defendant takes too long to answer a question while the AI program is coming up with a response, or if they can't explain an argument they just parroted to the court? What happens if the court suspects mischief afoot and instructs the defendant to take off the earpiece, and they refuse to comply? "If this device is picking up what the judge says, and analyzing it, and proposing what to say to the judge, that's going to take time," said Richard Marcus, a professor at the recently renamed <a href="https://www.uchastings.edu/new-name/">UC College of the Law, San Francisco</a>. "The traffic court judge might have questions about who's really doing the talking here." Browder did not respond to Insider's LinkedIn message and Twitter DM seeking comment on Monday. States also have what are known as "unauthorized practice of law" rules that restrict who can provide official legal advice and represent parties in court.State bar associations, which can enforce such rules through lawsuits, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-26-fi-32788-story.html">have previously grappled with</a> whether certain legal advice books and computer programs took their help too far. Judges can also refer issues that come up before them to bar associations to pursue, Marcus said. As Browder courted headlines with the bold move to take DoNotPay's "robot lawyer" to court, he also tweeted an incredible offer on Sunday. "DoNotPay will pay any lawyer or person $1,000,000 with an upcoming case in front of the United States Supreme Court to wear AirPods and let our robot lawyer argue the case by repeating exactly what it says," he tweeted. It's one thing to experiment with defendants, but for lawyers using such a program in court — any court, let alone the highest in the land — the reputational and professional stakes could be severe. Attorneys are required to represent clients to the best of their ability, and keep client information private. "If there's a third party getting involved, are you breaching your obligation to your client because you're no longer using your ability?" said Morgan Stringer, an attorney in Charlotte, N.C. "When you're disclosing facts to this service, would that go into violating confidentiality?" "I don't know any judge that would permit me to have airpods in while doing oral arguments," she said. "I would never in a million years do that."

It might be possible to fight a traffic ticket with an AI 'robot lawyer' secretly feeding you lines to your AirPods, but it could go off the rails

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Former <keyword id="11908743" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacex" source="Orion">SpaceX</keyword> engineers are building self-driving, electric <keyword id="11984206" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="freight" source="Orion">freight</keyword> train cars, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/parallel-systems-ex-spacex-engineers-design-electric-train-cars.html">CNBC reported</a>.</li><li>The LA-based startup, Parallel Systems, raised $50 million in a Series A funding round.</li></ul>Three former SpaceX engineers are teaming up to build autonomous and battery-electric freight train cars. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/parallel-systems-ex-spacex-engineers-design-electric-train-cars.html"></a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/parallel-systems-ex-spacex-engineers-design-electric-train-cars.html">CNBC </a>and other outlets reported on the <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword>. The trio consists of CEO Matt Soule and co-founders Ben Stabler and John Howard. They have named their new Los Angeles-based startup Parallel Systems and it has raised $50 million in a Series A funding round, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90713785/former-spacex-engineers-raised-50-million-to-build-a-tesla-for-freight-trains">according to Fast Company</a>. In an interview with CNBC, Soule highlighted the energy efficiency of freight trains in comparison with trucks. He told the outlet that rail does have "operational and economic limits," because of "the way that it is architected." But, he added, "if you can break through those barriers and allow rail to serve more of these markets — that's the opportunity."In an interview with <a href="https://www.designboom.com/technology/former-spacex-engineers-50m-autonomous-freight-trains-01-21-2022/">Design Boom</a>, Soule said: "Our business model is to give railroads the tools to convert some of the $700 billion US trucking industry to rail. The parallel system can also help alleviate the supply chain crisis by enabling low cost and regular movement of freight in and out of ports."The system is made up of self-driving electric rail cars, which work in pairs to transport standard shipping containers, <a href="https://moveparallel.com/product/">according to the company's website</a>.Each unit can also join up with others or split off to their destination alone, which offers a key advantage in reducing waiting times that are linked to loading long freight trains, per Design Boom. Parallel Systems isn't the only company recently created by former SpaceX engineers. Benson Tsai, who worked at <keyword id="11897862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword>'s company for five years, said in an interview with Insider that he launched a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-former-engineer-stellar-pizza-robot-cheese-explosion-elon-musk-2022-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">pizza-making robot startup</a>, Stellar Pizza, with two former colleagues.

Former SpaceX colleagues join forces to build autonomous freight train cars, which aim to boost efficiency and ease supply-chain pressures

Someday, maybe, you'll be driving like usual, and you'll stop at a red light, as usual. You'll take the opportunity to sneak a peek at the car next to you, and the guy behind that wheel — if there's a wheel at all — will be watching Netflix. His car will be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-feel-unsafe-around-self-driving-cars-survey-2022-9">driving itself</a>, as will many of the others around you. It'll be a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-americas-widest-highways-why-expanding-wont-help-traffic-2023-2">bumper-to-bumper jumble</a> of robots and humans.If all the cars were robots, maybe you wouldn't even need the traffic light. The self-driving vehicles would just ping their vectors at each other, and collective computation would choreograph their passage through the intersection in a nimble, mechanical ballet. But throw a few meatbags in there jockeying for pole position, and — well, every flicker from green to red becomes a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/21/business/tesla-fsd-8-car-crash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">car crash</a> waiting to happen. You might be able to get out of the way of a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/road-rage-speeding-driving-traffic-large-expensive-cars-suv-2022-5">testosterone-fueled human driver in an SUV</a>, but the self-driving cars will <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-self-driving-cars-work-and-their-safety-2023-2">never see him coming</a>.Unless, that is, you're in the digital paradise conjured by Ali Hajbabaie, a civil engineer at North Carolina State University. Hajbabaie envisions a state of complete harmony between humans and machines, a chimeric intersection where we all just get along. It relies on a single technological trick — an ingenious hack of the traffic ecosystem. When the light changes, it's not red, or yellow, or green. It's white — and white means: "Robots, go! Humans, follow!" The big idea here is that self-driving cars aren't the problem. It's not their fault that they <a href="https://www.insider.com/tesla-autopilot-crashes-into-police-car-2019-12">crash into police cars</a>, manifest <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/dead-end-sf-street-plagued-with-confused-waymo-cars-trying-to-turn-around-every-5-minutes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weird flocking behavior</a>, and <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/cruises-robot-car-outages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">go on strike</a>. What autonomous vehicles need, the thinking goes, are smarter roads. Our streets are designed for human drivers. Hajbabaie wants to rewire the traffic infrastructure to control the flow of both people and robots. "The end goal," he says, "is to bring connected self-driving-car technology into traffic-control systems, to make intersections safer and more environmentally friendly." Lots of traffic lights and their timing are already computer-controlled. But in Hajbabaie's futuristic vision, cars — especially the self-driving ones — would wirelessly communicate with those computers, with one another, and maybe even with people's cellphones. That's known as "<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9497103" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vehicle-to-Everything</a>," or <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/global-market-for-v2x-vehicle-to-everything-communication-and-technologies-historic-data-from-2020-market-estimation-for-2021-2023-and-2025-and-cagr-projections-through-2026-1030682618">V2X</a>, and it's the key to Hajbabaie's plan. His "<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2020.102659" target="_blank" rel="noopener">white-phase intersections</a>" would trigger robot cars to take the lead. They would enter the intersections first, updating one another on their trajectories and altering course as needed to avoid collisions. Human drivers would trail behind in what traffic-flow theorists call "platoons," comforted that the white traffic light was telling everyone — and everything — when and where to move. And if things start to go off the rails, whether it's the humans or the robots messing up, the whole thing just defaults back to red light/green light.In simulations, the benefits of white lights <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10038635" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kick in</a> when as few as 10% of the cars on the road are robots. (Hajbabaie and his team don't just create digital models — they also have 15 toy-size cars, each about a foot long and equipped with cameras and lidar, that they can put through white-phase paces.) "In our tests, we observe 3% or so reduction in travel time," Hajbabaie says. As more self-driving cars enter the market, speed through Hajbabaie's intersections goes up and fuel consumption goes down. Greenlight the white light, and we're merging onto the road to the future.<h2>Red/green vs. blue/orange</h2>Maybe — but it's not quite that simple. The <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2021.710478/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elaborate regulatory system</a> that has risen up around cars is a product of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">societal priorities and policies</a>. Green lights and speed bumps — all the furniture of our built environment — are as much politics and culture as design and tech. That's why it can feel impossible to build a <a href="https://jalopnik.com/its-not-the-bike-lanes-fault-youre-a-bad-driver-1850269918" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protected bike lane</a> on a popular shopping street or permit a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-pandemic-might-have-redesigned-cities-forever/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">parklet outside a restaurant</a>, much less build a new trolley line or a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-speed-rail-project-greenlit-vegas-la-brightline-10-billion-2023-3">high-speed rail system</a>. A radically redesigned traffic light? Good luck getting that approved by your city transportation department before automobiles are replaced by flying cars.The color of Hajbabaie's robot light, to be clear, is arbitrary. He doesn't actually care whether it's white. That's just for convenience in his team's papers. "We want to let human-driven vehicles know that self-driving cars are controlling the intersection," he says. "If it's hard for someone to distinguish between colors, we don't want to put a color there that's problematic."In fact, red means stop and green means go only because people foisted those meanings on them. As the historian Clay McShane wrote, <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/carscultureplace2010/files/2010/09/McShane-traffic-signals-1999.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">early traffic-light engineers</a> chose red and green because railroad signals used them. Railroads got the idea from ships; coastal lighthouses used red (the most transparent stained-glass color in 1806) so mariners could tell lighthouses apart from the sea, and green was the color the British admiralty decreed for the starboard side of ships in the 1850s. The thing is, about 8% of men of European descent and 5% of men of Asian descent have <a href="https://opg.optica.org/josaa/abstract.cfm?uri=josaa-29-3-313" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trouble distinguishing red and green</a>. (The incidence is lower in women.) But in 1923, when a traffic engineer proposed switching the 500 or so traffic lights in the US to blue and yellow, his colleagues nixed the idea. They thought drivers wouldn't be able to make the switch, and worried that acknowledging the problem would make them look dumb.A few hyperlocal radicals tried to defy traffic standardization. In Manhattan, Broadway had the familiar red/green setup, but Fifth Avenue used orange lights to mean go, green lights for the cross streets to go, and red to mean caution. No problem, except that Fifth and Broadway intersect at Madison Square. There, McShane <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/carscultureplace2010/files/2010/09/McShane-traffic-signals-1999.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, "chaos would eventually ensue." Fifth Avenue, like the rest of the world, soon yielded to the red/green hegemony.What ultimately shaped all the new traffic rules, as with every question of public policy, was power and privilege. "The way our roads are built — the things that changed the 1890s city to the kind of city we have today — a lot of that came out of conflict between the rights and responsibilities of different kinds of road users," says Cameron Roberts, a sustainability and transportation researcher at the University of Wisconsin. The people who could afford cars were a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/road-rage-speeding-driving-traffic-large-expensive-cars-suv-2022-5">rich and powerful constituency</a>. They eventually got what they wanted: speed and "freedom." People build roads, new tech fills them up, and then the road builders have to figure out how to respond. That's how we wound up redesigning cities that favored cars and suburban sprawl. In the battle between the Model T and pedestrians, the pedestrians never stood a chance.The same will be true of proposals like white traffic lights for self-driving cars. "If we're talking about this new kind of infrastructure, a fourth phase of light, you might say it solves a problem," Roberts says. "But the real question is: solves a problem for whom? And what interests and power do they have to motivate that in practice?" If self-driving cars ever move beyond shared services like taxis and deliveries, the first vehicles are going to be owned by wealthy people. Should they get a privileged lane, or a special traffic light devoted to their convenience? "There's going to be a certain social set using these things, and they will be much like the earliest motorists — powerful and well-connected," Roberts says. "I would not have a lot of confidence that something like this would be implemented in a way that is considerate of the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and public-transit users."<h2>The world of tomorrow</h2>For the moment, cities are in no danger of being <a href="https://www.insider.com/self-driving-cars-fully-autonomous-vehicles-future-prediction-timeline-2019-8">overrun by self-driving cars</a>. The technology seems to have stalled. Investor reports still quote bullish numbers for the eventual size of the autonomous-vehicle market, but the Google-derived robot-car company Waymo, once valued at about $200 billion, now idles at <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2020/03/06/waymos-30b-valuation-shows-the-new-reality-of-automated-driving-is-sinking-in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about $30 billion</a> — in line with its competitor Cruise. "I would love a self-driving car, even for double the price of my car," says Greg Shill, a law professor at the University of Iowa who specializes in transportation. "But the tech is just not there. These things don't exist, and you can't even persuade investors that they're going to exist soon."Yet even as a hypothetical, there's something delightfully science-fictional about the idea of slapping a fourth light on traffic signals to make way for robots. (I think this actually happens on the reliably predictive TV show "Futurama," but I can't find the episode.) It's the kind of thing you'd see on a planet covered by a single giant city, swarming with flying cars. Maybe a truly multimodal intersection could have as many colors as an LED screen can manage, one for every kind of thing that might pass through it — with an algorithm making way for drones, delivery trucks, robot cars, people using wheelchairs, unaccompanied 6-year-olds, ducklings, whatever. As a thought experiment, the idea of a white-light intersection also forces us to reconsider the automotive infrastructure we take for granted. Our traffic regime is an old one, originally designed for horses and carriages, not for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/road-rage-speeding-driving-traffic-large-expensive-cars-suv-2022-5">F-150s</a> or self-driving vehicles. In recent years, cities have begun to <a href="https://slate.com/business/2023/03/paris-car-ban-bikes-cycling-history-france.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">change their car-centric ways</a>, carving up streets and changing the rules of the road to favor bikes and pedestrians and public transportation over gas-guzzling, climate-warming, street-clogging vehicles. Do we really want to reverse all that progress and re-reshape our surroundings for robots?Hajbabaie knows his sci-fi-sounding proposal is up for debate. It assumes the communication among cars will be nearly perfect and instantaneous, which will ring false for anyone who has tried to get their printer connected to their WiFi. V2X, the network of vehicle interconnectivity it would depend on, has <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/08/v2x-is-finally-dead-as-court-refuses-to-stop-fccs-5-9-ghz-reallocation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">never really worked</a>. And Hajbabaie's team has yet to publish its findings on what happens when they introduce pedestrians into their simulations. (Yikes.) "We are engineers," he says. "All we can do is do a lot of education and outreach, show what kinds of changes people can expect to see. Show the benefits, show the drawbacks, be honest, and let them decide." It's not just a matter of how well the new technology performs. White traffic lights signal more than whether to stop or go — they also signal our values, and illuminate the kind of world we want to build.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/adam-rogers">Adam Rogers</a> is a senior correspondent at Insider.

The wild traffic hack that could pave the way for self-driving cars

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Los Angeles' transit system isn't very reliable, so most people drive cars around the expansive city.</li><li>Here are tips from a local on ways to get around LA, as well as to and from LAX airport.</li></ul>I live in a two-bedroom house smack dab in the center of LA. I'm aware that I could have a larger home for my family if I moved to the 'burbs, but I'm just not interested. From my home, I can walk to world-class museums, parks, restaurants, and shopping centers — places that would be agonizing to reach by car in heavy traffic. All of that is to say: The LA-traffic struggle is real. The city is so spread out and it can feel like it's always rush hour, so if you don't make a strategic plan for getting around, it can ruin your trip fast. For scale: The distance from the beach to a concert downtown might be just under 15 miles, but that could add up to a frustrating 90 minutes in bad traffic.I advise travelers to plan ahead and create reasonable itineraries based on transportation time, and most people who want to be nimble should plan on getting around by car. Here are the best options for getting to and around LA.Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)<div type="image" title="Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8 takes off from Los Angeles international Airport on July 30, 2022 in Los Angeles, California." height="3402" width="4536" msid="94503325" hostid="261" sizebytes="512118"></div><a href="https://www.flylax.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow nofollow noopener sponsored sponsored">LAX</a> is a huge international airport, served by all major carriers — 69 airlines in all. In that sense, it's easy to get in and out of town. But with ongoing construction and gridlock traffic, traveling through, to, and from LAX can require patience.My pro tip: The LAX ride-hailing lot for Ubers and Lyfts currently requires a shuttle ride, which is fine if you're prepared for the extra step. But if you're coming in after an arduous journey, traveling with young kids, or have accessibility needs, I recommend calling an <a href="https://www.ridealto.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Alto</a>. This carrier — and other black-car services — can pick you up curbside or at baggage claim.Other local airportsWhile LAX is likely to be the best bet for many travelers given its size and scale, other smaller local airports can streamline the experience for certain visitors. The <a href="https://www.hollywoodburbankairport.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Hollywood Burbank airport</a> hosts carriers including Southwest and JetBlue, as well as Avelo, a new ultra-low-cost airline. American Eagle, Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest all serve <a href="https://www.longbeach.gov/lgb/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Long Beach Airport</a>. Traveling through <a href="https://www.ocair.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">John Wayne Airport</a> in Orange County might also be a cost- or time-saving option depending on your route — I recently made the trek to fly out of this airport as it offered a nonstop flight to Missoula, Montana, while LAX did not.Public transportationLos Angeles does have a vast public transportation network including buses, railways, and subways, but visitors should be warned that it may not take you everywhere you want to go, given the city's size and sprawl. Most locals like me depend on a car to get around town more easily.If you do choose to take public transit, the <a href="http://socaltransport.org/tm_pub_start.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Metro Trip Planner</a> tool can help you figure out your route, and I recommend downloading the <a href="https://www.metro.net/riding/mobile-resources/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Go Metro Los Angeles</a> mobile app for help navigating the system on the go. All transit rates start at a base fare of $1.75. Day passes are also available for $7, and weekly passes for $25. Note that on the Metro Rail and the Metro Orange Line, you must load your fare into a reusable <a href="http://www.taptogo.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Metro TAP card</a>, which you can buy at any station.Car rental<div type="image" title="Los Angeles, California" height="1338" width="1784" msid="94503326" hostid="261" sizebytes="399532"></div>I don't necessarily recommend that all visitors to LA rent a car. But I do recommend everyone have access to a car to make certain outings more feasible — ride-hailing will typically do, but it can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars over several days if you want to cover any real ground.If you do plan on renting, all the major players in the car rental business — Hertz, Enterprise, Sixt, and more — have outposts in Los Angeles, so you can pick up and drop off your rental at the airport or various other locations in town. I recommend renting a car that interfaces with your phone's map tool so you can navigate unfamiliar freeways and streets with ease.App-based ride-hailingHistorically, it's been easy to get an Uber or Lyft in Los Angeles. But pandemic circumstances have made this a somewhat more expensive and less reliable proposition — so if you do use a ride-hailing service, allow more time. Car services like Alto, which employs its own drivers and owns its own fleet, can make for a more comfortable and more reliable app-based option, but it's also more expensive.<a href="https://www.insider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-traveling-to-los-angeles-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">View Insider's comprehensive guide to visiting Los Angeles, California.</a>

Los Angeles is sprawling and traffic is always a problem. Here's how a local recommends getting around town with relative ease.

New Delhi, The <keyword id="61705" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-Metro-Rail-Corporation">Delhi Metro Rail Corporation</keyword> (<keyword id="45312" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="DMRC">DMRC</keyword>) has been facing a financial stress with the losses to the tune of ₹1,500 crore during the heydays of the pandemic induced lockdown. Metro operations were halted during lockdown for a period of roughly six months, which drastically affected revenue from passenger travel. At the same time, operating expenses including Operation and Maintenance (O&amp;M) costs had to be continuously paid for the upkeep of the metro network which spans 285 stations and a total track length of 389 km. Additionally, there had been a decline in the non-fare revenue garnered from advertisement as well as shop rentals for the months when metro operations had been suspended. The DMRC has around 400 retail outlets at its stations. Owners of these retail shops have expressed their inability to pay rent to the DMRC on account of no sales. Even now, when the metro services have been resumed, it has been done with sub optimal capacity on account of following strict social distancing norms. In addition, the Delhi Metro had taken a soft loan of ₹35,198 crore from <keyword id="6395487" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="japan-international-cooperation-agency">Japan International Cooperation Agency</keyword> (JICA) at a concessional rate of 1.2-2.3 per cent for 30 years. For the financial year 2020-21, DMRC is required to pay ₹1,242.8 crore of which ₹434.1 crore is the interest while ₹808.7 crore is the principal amount. However, till July 2020, DMRC had been able to pay only ₹79.2 crore as interest payment. In the wake of <keyword id="392283" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-distress">financial distress</keyword>, the DMRC has turned to seek financial assistance from the <keyword id="6357307" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Central-Government">Central Government</keyword>, Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments. It is learnt that the DMRC has written to the Central and state governments requesting financial help. It is yet to be seen whether the Central and the state governments come to the rescue of the DMRC since they too are reeling under high fiscal deficit. This is for the first time that the Delhi Metro is facing operational losses. Since 2002, the DMRC has never faced an operational loss owing to efficiency in operations and world class service standards. To tide over its financial stress, the Delhi Metro is brainstorming innovative methods of revenue generation. The DMRC is following a two pronged strategy of curtailing expenditure wherever possible and deferment of non-essential expenditure. It has decided to reduce perks and allowances of its employees to about 50 per cent in the coming financial year and also requested the Centre to defer the payment of its loan instalment to JICA for the year 2020-21. A Parliamentary Committee report had suggested innovative methods of revenue realisation for the DMRC. The average non-fare revenue of Metro, across the world, comprising of revenue from advertisements, property leasing and consultancy is close to around 40-50 per cent of total traffic revenue. However, for the DMRC, non-fare revenue accounts for only 15 per cent, which is abysmally low. In order to tackle this challenge, the committee suggested leasing of existing assets i.e. track and rolling stock, leasing of commercial spaces at stations, advertisement fee, parking fee as well as revenue generation by levying a cess on residential property development of nearby areas which have seen enhancement in value owing to metro operations. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/analysts-explain-why-indigo-paints-shares-fell-with-a-thud-just-like-burger-king-and-mrs-bectors-and-what-to-do-with-it-now/articleshow/80704864.cms">Indigo Paints joins the league of Burger King and Bector's — frenzied IPOs that fizzled out</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/the-india-stack-that-bill-gates-and-sundar-pichai-so-love-is-set-to-get-much-bigger-thanks-to-the-indian-governments-new-blockchain-strategy/articleshow/80718403.cms">The India stack that Bill Gates and Sundar Pichai so love is set to get much bigger – thanks to the Indian government’s new blockchain strategy</a>

Delhi Metro facing financial distress with losses of ₹1500 crore due to COVID-19 pandemic

This continues to be a solid sign that the economy is doing okay.
Per <a href="http://pragcap.com/intermodal-rail-traffic-hits-new-high">Cullen Roche</a>, <keyword id="65465" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rail-traffic">rail traffic</keyword> growth has hit a 7-month high. Shipping of commodity products across the board are strong, indicating that the underlying pace of US economic activity remains steady.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://pragcap.com/intermodal-rail-traffic-hits-new-high">Pragmatic Capitalism</a></div></div></div>

Rail Traffic Continues To Boom

In recent days we've received plenty of evidence that the economy is accelerating.
Here's the latest: Rail traffic.
The American Association Of Railroads <a href="https://www.aar.org/newsandevents/Freight-Rail-Traffic/Pages/2014-07-03-railtraffic.aspx#.U7gHPo1dV5E">put out its latest weekly look at industrial rail traffic on Wednesday</a>, and it showed that activity is surging.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported increased U.S. rail traffic for June 2014, with both carload and intermodal volume increasing compared with June 2013. U.S. Class I railroads originated 1,177,655 carloads in June 2014, up 3.6 percent (41,310 carloads) over June 2013. Year-over-year monthly carload growth averaged 4.9 percent from March 2014 through June 2014, the highest average for any four-month period since December 2010 through March 2011. Total carloads averaged 294,414 in June, the highest weekly average for June since 2008.
This table shows nicely, how in a range of industrial categories, rail traffic growth is on fire.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="https://www.aar.org/newsandevents/Freight-Rail-Traffic/Pages/2014-07-03-railtraffic.aspx#.U7gHPo1dV5E">AAR</a></div></div></div>

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Rail Traffic Continues To Boom

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