1st, Los Angeles

An event to show your vehicle, to spread the word and other Sustainable Transport News

Dear Green Activists:

Here is the Second newsletter from the Sustainable Transportation
Club.

I would be happy to include you in the future mailings but they will
be sent from a separate mailing system. Those of you who are interested can sign on to that list at www.Sustainabletransportclub.com.
Some of this information will come through the general mailings but if
you really want to be kept up on the activities of our Sustainable
Transportation Club. It is best for you to join the list.

Please feel free to forward this to as many people you know that

might be interested in being part of this. It is a way to connect to
your friends who have not yet registered Green.

Thanks

Russell Sydney

310-450-7419

Here is your Sustainable Transportation Club Newsletter.

Good to have you with us.

In this Sustainable Transportation Club newsletter:

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Get out your alternative vehicle and let it be seen –

The Doo Dah parade is a chance to make a splash!

Jumpstart Ford demonstration Nov 12th

Building a Steering Committee for the group - building the vision

Buss route on Lincoln Blvd needs support.

Bio Diesel Coop getting going

Preliminary results on New Generation of Electric Motor scooter

Reminder about the Calstart Event here in LA – James Woolsey featured speaker.

Get your friends and neighbors on our Sign up list at www.sustainabletransportclub.com

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You can find the subject you want by looking for the separator bars with

the row of XXX’s in this document.

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Get out your alternative vehicle and let it be seen –

The Doo Dah parade is a chance to make a splash!

We have another opportunity to let people know about our alternatives

to oil addictions by joining in with the Doo Dah Parade. The parade gets

lots of attention from viewers and from the media. This is an easy one as

other people are doing the organizing and it should be really fun.

Having other groups’ getting involved is a really exciting part of this.

There are related groups of people coming up with ideas similar

to ours and want to do a sustainable transportation event. This is

yet another way that what we are doing is reminiscent of the early

days of the farmer’s market movement. Our electric vehicle event

in Santa Monica reminded me of one of the first market openings

in Southern California and now this is a second similarity.

Part of what happened with the markets is that people near each

other would catch wind of good ideas and the idea would spread.

People started markets in Davis and Sacramento and before you

knew it the markets spread up and down the central valley.

Well that is happening here as well. The people involved with the

LA Greens have the same idea as us and want to promote

sustainable transportation. We can help them to get going by

joining in with their event. It looks like the Long Beach Greens

also have a similar idea so we can all join together to advance our

mutual interests. (Don’t worry; you do not have to register Green

to join in on Green events!)

We can show up with sustainable transport signs - fun stuff like

boasting about mileage, no pollution and no imported oil. That

way our message gets out while having fun and joining with other

like minded people.

That is how it happened with the farmer’s markets too. The

organizers in LA helped encourage my farmers in Coachella and

the farmers in Coachella came into LA to help make the LA

markets grow. That is how the first twenty markets in Southern

California got started and that is how this process works…

There is one difference. This looks like it is happening even faster

than it did with the markets so lets join in and enjoy the ride.

Please let me know if you want to join in on this. Emails to

DOODAH@rsydney.com or phone to 310-450-7419

Here is the information about what is happening.

Subject: Greens at Doo Dah Parade: Green Prix-

Ladies and Gentlemen STOP your engines-

-Save the Date, Nov. 20

Time again for the wonderfully wacky, infamous Doo Dah Parade. It's on

Sunday, Nov. 20 in Pasadena. Save the Date!

The Doo Dah Parade is the 29th annual parody of the Rose Parade.

Greens have participated three years. Look at all the fun we had last

year:

http://www.losangelesgreens.org/doodah/doodah04.html

Over 50,000 people line the parade route. This is one of best outreach

opportunities we have each year.

We pass out GP flyers along the route, have a blast and go out to a big

celebratory meal afterwords. Join us and connect with Greens from all

over LA County!

Our theme for this year:

THE GREEN PARTY GREEN PRIX:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, STOP YOUR ENGINES

All manner of alternative transportation: walking, bicyclists, tricyclists,

skates, skateboards, scooters, big wheels, wagons, recycling bins,

strollers, wheelchairs, etc. Linda will drive her Prius as the Pace Car

(Peace Car). We are inviting Critical Mass bikeriders, biodiesel, solar-

powered vehicles, etc. It's very inclusive, all greens can participate as

they wish, and it's very family friendly.

Decorate your mode of transportation as you wish. Create your own

contraptions, symbols (gas masks?) statements, whatever you want. It IS

the Doo Dah, so outrageous and over-the-top is encouraged.

We can have a couple of people with checkered flags, and make green

triangle flags for people to use. An announcer can say Ladies and

Gentlemen STOP your engines. Our flyers will tie in the GP values, plus

the high cost of using oil in transporting goods and food, as well as the

high cost of driving our cars.

There will be a planning meeting next week, email

lisa@losangelesgreens.org if you want to attend.

Check out details on the parade here:

http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.com/

Here is an article Linda wrote in GP national paper about us in the 2004 parade:

http://gp.org/greenpages/content/volume9/issue1/article4.php

thanks and see you at Doo DAh,

Lisa Taylor

LA Greens Volunteer Coordinator

http://www.losangelesgreens.org

The organizing meeting for this is tonight. I will be attending and you are

also welcome. I will report back to keep all of you updated.

Here is the meeting info:

We are meeting Tuesday, November 8 at 8:00 pm (after the polls

close) at my place, 2320 Glendale Bl. #4. Phone: (323) 660-9342.

Come one, come all, and let's get our Doo Dah on!

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Jumpstart Ford demonstration Nov 12th

Plug in America (formerly Don’t Crush.com) joining with RAN and Global

Exchange this Saturday to protest at Galpin Ford.

Join Us at the Largest Ford Dealer in the World on Saturday November

12 at 11am to Demand that Ford Break its Oil Addiction!

Stand In Solidarity with Thousands of Other Activists Across the World

on the International Day of Intervention

Insist that Ford Give Us Products, not Promises

WHERE: Galpin Ford, 15505 Roscoe Blvd, North Hills CA 91343

(Located just off the 405 in the Valley)

WHEN: Sat. November 12 11am-1pm

WHO: Anyone and everyone. It’s so easy to join in. Just give Sarah a

call at 1-800-989-RAIN to find out how.

WHAT: A large colorful demonstration with balloon banners, costumes,

an electric vehicle parade, and a variety of speakers on the war and

alternatives to gas-guzzlers.

For more info: http://www.jumpstartford.com./

* This demo will focus on the fact that Ford’s insatiable gas guzzling cars

and trucks are driving us into a war for oil.

* We’ll be uniting under a giant balloon lifted banner with the headline

“2000+ Killed in a War for Oil: Brought to You By Ford, Building Cars to

Die For.”

* Iraq War Veteran Jeff Key will be in attendance to bring the message

home.

* We will be showcasing the solutions, i.e. the cars that we want Ford to

build—zero gasoline, zero-emissions electric vehicles. Electric vehicle

owners representing Plug In America will also speak.

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Building a Steering Committee for the group – building the vision

This group has wonderful potential to become a point of connection

between all the alternative transportation enthusiasts in the area.

Realizing that potential can be achieved more quickly if we start to

develop the organization of the group. What better way to build a

transportation group than with a steering committee?

We could put together a steering committee meeting for the middle of

December. That would be between the Calstart event and the holidays.

The steering committee could have concerned activists on it and we

could even shoot for having people from other groups like the Bio diesel,

the bike, and the EV groups represented and working to build mutual

support.

We could do this in conjunction with a general gathering to show videos

at a public venue like a coffee house. We already have a half hour TV

program on DVD that addresses our group directly with footage from the

EV event etc. Is there another video we could add.

Please let us know your ideas on both the general event and the steering

committee.

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Buss route on Lincoln Blvd needs support.

In September, the Santa Monica City Council agreed to create through

bus and other mass transit lanes by reassigning parking spaces on

Lincoln Boulevard

during rush hours. This removed the parking on one side of Lincoln from

7 to 10 am and on the other from 4-7 pm. That parking was important to

local businesses, but the newly freed lane will allow the new "Rapid"

service of the Big Blue Bus Line 3 from downtown Santa Monica to LAX

to make significantly better travel time, encouraging increased rider ship.

Unfortunately, the bus lane now ends at the Santa Monica city limit.

Although the most congested parts of Lincoln lie within the City of Los

Angeles, L.A. has so far failed to designate a continuation of the mass

transit lanes.

Until some future date when roadway realignment of Lincoln Boulevard

or the extension of light rail from LAX to Santa Monica becomes

possible, the speedy option of Rapid bus service in dedicated mass

transit lanes is the best interim solution. Because most of the delays on

Lincoln happen within

Los Angeles, the potential benefits of Santa Monica's visionary action

have remained largely unrealized.

All people interested in mass transit and successful easing of the

intolerable congestion on Lincoln Boulevard should contact 11th District

Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl to urge him to act quickly to

extend the Rapid bus lanes through his district.

This is a good example of how we can work together to support different

transportation alternatives.

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Preliminary results on New Generation of Electric Motor scooter

The testing of electric motor scooters with the higher-powered 1500-watt

brush-less motors are moving forward. Here are some early results:

The brush-less motor is testing to be much more efficient in using

batteries. One test on a gel cell lead acid battery set shows that these

1500 watt brush-less motors are getting twice the range in actual street

use than their brushed 1500 watt counterparts. That could mean a range

of 40 miles with a new gel cell. The actual result on the ones tested was

25 miles when that same set of batteries was getting 12 mile with a well-

used brush based motor.

Additional tests with a second set of gel cells and with the new “Green

Power Batteries” will be forth coming.

These new motors have a two-gear system with a cable based shifting

system. Here we have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the low gear has really good torque off the line

and the high gear has good acceleration from 22 to 28 mph. It can also

go 35 with the right set up.

The other news is that the shifting is not well implemented and if not

done correctly can burn out the controller. There is also a flat spot with

less acceleration from 12 to 18 mph.

The other good news is that the factory is working on this and will

upgrade to an automatic shift soon. More on that when it gets here. In

addition the overall performance is definitely an improvement with faster

take off and a better high end. The range is the best news and the

Green Power batteries may just put that into a much stronger level. If we

can get a real 40 mile range then we are really getting to the right place.

This is a good example of how this newsletter can be used to exchange

information about the latest developments in sustainable alternatives.

You are invited to contribute information of this nature to this work.

sustain@rsydney.com to get in touch or call 310-450-7419.

Our mailings are going out to 120 people on this list and there is another

1800 people that can potentially be reached. – and we are just getting

started.

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Reminder about the Calstart Event here in LA –

James Woolsey featured speaker.

Early Registration saves you $50 – deadline is Nov 11th

Here is the information on the Calstart event:

1st, Los Angeles WESTSTART Sponsored EVENT! California’s

Transportation Energy Future

Soaring gas prices, geopolitical instability, economic detriments,

and global warming. The costs of petroleum dependence have

never been higher…

but the potential for change has never been greater.

Join us on December 1st as we chart a course towards a better,

more secure transportation energy future in California by 2020.

With a focus on action including:

• High Level Speakers

• Innovative Approaches

• Vehicles and Displays

• Blue Sky Awards Luncheon and Announcement of the 2005

Winners

• And more!

Contact: Matt Peak

Phone: (626) 744-5601

Email: mpeak@weststart.org

website: www.calstart.org

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Bio Diesel Co-op Launched

The Meeting last month launched a new Co-op to make it easier for

people to get their Bio Diesel here on the west side. This Co-op puts bio

diesel on the list of viable alternatives in our area.

The Co-op will have a high-grade biological diesel fuel available near the

Marina. This will allow us to drive with the close to zero fossil fuel in our

tanks. It is also a step toward being able to capture all our waste

vegetable and agricultural by product energy resources and use them as

alternatives to imported fossil fuel.

The group is running cars that get 40 plus miles to a gallon…

Please contact cbrooks@bigla.com. Or

Kent Bullard <kent@sustainableoptions.com> for more info.

Just so that you know – it was this sort of group effort in Co-ops that

helped lay the foundation of both the organic food movement and the

farmer’s market movement in California. Before food Co-ops there was

almost no markets for organics and for small farms. There were almost

no farmer’s markets either. Yes this is the process for creating large-

scale change!

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Anyone who would like to get on the mailing list to get this

newsletter can sign on at www.sustainabletransportclub.com. That

list will only be used for information about sustainable

transportation and is the easiest way to stay in touch. You can also

call 310-450-7419 for more information. Please forward this to

anyone you think might be interested in being part of

implementing the solutions to our oil addictions.