FEATURED ARTICLES BY NED EINSTEIN

12/20/2023· Transportation

Danger Signs Ahead For U.S. Transit And Motorcoach Sectors, Part 1

By: Ned Einstein

America’s worst transportation problems may be recent. But they had their roots in a century of serious mistakes, even if, in fairness, many were not foreseeable nearly that long ago. Compared to many countries with a fraction of our resources, America made no efforts to decrease traffic levels by creating new major cities – like Brasilia and Tel Aviv (the latter of which had recently been its nation’s capital; the former still is).

10/25/2023· Transportation

Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) Service and Wheelchair Tipovers

By: Ned Einstein

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that every wheelchair securement position have some type of floor hardware – and even specifies its longitudinal and lateral spacing (49 CFR 38.23(d)(2). It also requires that every position contain three sets of tie-downs – although the clear, irrefutable industry standard is four.

5/11/2023· Transportation

Leaving Money on the Table, Part 1: Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) Service And Brokers

By: Ned Einstein

This installment explains how the two major forms of wheelchair transportation were fragmented by oversight failures in the Johnson Administration. Not only did this fragmentation evolve into extraordinary levels of corruption, but the consolidation of these two types of programs was rarely, if ever, effected.

3/21/2022· Transportation

The Post-COVID Era Motorcoach Industry

By: Ned Einstein

In this article, I am merely explaining the consequences of cabinet and administrator choices being made in the passenger and freight transportation fields, and commenting on the overall challenges of running the labyrinth of variation and complexity which USDOT is.

12/1/2021· Transportation

Transportation Network Companies - Even Worse Than Expected

By: Ned Einstein

The “Bad Regulations” series noted above identified a litany of institutional and industry-wide failures to stop the incursion of TNC’s from gutting the taxicab industry. Alongside the successful decimation of that sector, and the near-collapse of tour and charter service caused by the COVID-19 (and our failures to mitigate it), few noticed that fixed route transit ridership had declined by roughly 10 percent during the two years preceding COVID-19.

9/17/2021· Transportation

Defending Public Transportation Contractors: The Whistleblower's Song (Part 3)

By: Ned Einstein

As we struggle to bounce back, limited stimulus funds notwithstanding, it would help to know what we are in for. Reducing bloated public sector transportation costs are likely a part of that future. In response, private contracting should explode. But this does not mean the operating environment will be rosy, or even coherent.

7/18/2021· Transportation

Defending Public Transportation Contractors: The History Of Contracting And Brokerage

By: Ned Einstein

In many cases, the negligence of lead agencies and brokers are the principal proximate causes of an incident; in some cases, it comprises the sole proximate causes. For this reason, understanding the dynamics among these three entities – private operating companies, lead agencies and brokers - is the key to

5/20/2021· Accident Prevention & Safety

Crossing Accidents: Who is Usually at Fault and Who is Usually Blamed

By: Ned Einstein

The most common crossing accidents are simple vehicle-pedestrian accidents where a car, SUV or pickup truck strikes a pedestrian. Because impact forces closely reflect the inverse of the square of the masses, no pedestrian is a remote match for even the slightest automobile traveling at a crawl. As a simple illustration, a 100-lb. pedestrian colliding with a 2000-lb. car will not experience twenty time the impact forces that the vehicle does.

4/12/2021· Transportation

Defending Public Transportation Contractors, Part 1: Lead Agencies and Brokers

By: Ned Einstein

For decades, motorcoach providers have provided commuter-express service, under contract, to transit agencies (and, occasionally, to municipalities, counties or regions which do not have formal transit agencies). Particularly in the past 20 years, this role has expanded:

2/13/2021· Transportation

COVID-19, Shenanigans and Liability Part 2: Making Money by Compromising Health

By: Ned Einstein

Amtrak, the heavily-subsidized enemy of the motorcoach industry, is now outdoing its airline industry colleagues. But as a quasi-government monopoly, the taxpayers will effectively cover the damages if problems develop. That Amtrak may not even belong in most parts of the country is …