Word: use
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Since traffic jams are almost synonymous with urban growth, they have been building for a long time. (The term gridlock apparently came into common use in New York City during a transit workers' strike in 1980, when a surge of commuter autos paralyzed Manhattan's street grid.) Congestion on two-lane highways in the 1950s hastened construction of the 42,797-mile interstate system, which will be officially completed in 1991 (estimated final cost: $108 billion). But the interstates eased overcrowding only temporarily. Says Transportation Secretary James Burnley: "It's not a problem that will be resolved in a final...
...Angeles, Chicago and other metropolitan areas have installed electronic sensors in the pavement to get a continuous reading of traffic speed and volume. When a highway becomes clogged, controllers can adjust the timing of stoplights on the on-ramps to reduce the flow of vehicles. In Virginia traffic supervisors use remote TV cameras installed along stretches of I-66 and I-395 to spot breakdowns, to which they immediately dispatch tow trucks that dispense free gasoline if a motorist needs it. Chicago's highway authority operates a huge mobile crane, dubbed Mad Max, that can lift up to 60 tons...
That is the inevitable consequence of the shortage of airport capacity. Such facilities as New York's LaGuardia and Boston's Logan were built in an era of smaller, propeller-driven planes, which could use relatively short runways. Hemmed in by development, such airports will have trouble handling any significant increase in traffic. As a result, "we're heading for one of the most dramatic cases of peacetime rationing this country has ever seen," declares Philip Bakes, president of Eastern Air Lines. Says Clifton Moore, chief administrator of Los Angeles International: "There may be a time when you will have...
...weather. Some airports are building high-speed runway turnoff lanes so that a jet can move out of the next plane's way before coming to a full stop, thus boosting a runway's capacity. The FAA is exploring the possibility of opening military airfields for civilian use, among them El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, near Los Angeles. Boeing and Bell Helicopter are developing aircraft that can take off vertically from a landing pad, then fly like an airplane on trips of up to 300 miles...
...loaded with eggs and sugar. Moreover, oat enthusiasts are mistaken if they think scarfing down oats allows them to gorge on steak and French fries. Says Dr. Kenneth Cooper, author of Controlling Cholesterol and head of the Aerobic Center in Dallas: "It reminds me of the people who use artificial sweeteners and then drink a soda loaded with sugar...