Transportation Transformation

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Explore the most dangerous intersections in Austin pg.9

Find out the differences between cars and bikes pg.5

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Spring 2019

BY JICHUAN LI, JOEY KIM, AND NOEL ARELLANO

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graphic by Joey Kim, Noel Arellano, and Jichuan Li

About the Authors Joey Kim is a student of LASA High School. He believes bowling is not a sport despite the fact that he thinks E-sports is a sport. He plays soccer, and his favorite soccer team is FC Barcelona.

He fairly enjoys working with his Ezine group and he is very satisfied by the fact that he got carried by his group.

Jichuan Li is a student at LASA High School. He is the lead graphics designer of the group. He plays the clarinet and very much enjoys being in the LASA band class. He enjoys skiing , hiking, running, swimming and playing games.

Noel Arellano is a student at LASA highschool. He enjoys playing games like Brawl Stars. He is talented in changing peoples mood in a quick second, and he brightened up the group’s mood several times.

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Michael Cantu unfortunatly had to leave LASA, but he definatly contributed to the group and helped lead the group to success.

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Table of Transportation Today & Tomorrow ----------Explore the different types of transportation in the 21st century

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Car vs Bikes ------------------------------------- 10

Compare the two major types of transportation

Maintain to Sustain------------------------------ 12

What car owners can do to keep their car in shape

Austin’s Most Dangerous Intersections -------Explore all the dangerous intersections in Austin

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Contents

Crash! Bang! Boom! ----------------------------- 16 Listen to professionals as they tell us what most people are doing wrong when driving and what the correct thing to do is.

Accidents and how to Prevent Them ----------Discover the different car crashing experiences

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Credits -------------------------------------------- 22

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Courtesy of Michael Cantu

Comparing Di fferent Types of Transportation and Exploring the Pros and Cons of Them PORTATION TRANSFORMATION

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eenagers in the 21st century, despite them not owning a car, are driven to most places by a car instead of walking or biking. There are several different types of transportation, but in 2019, the major route of transportation is definitely a car.

Although most people take all the types of transportation available to them as granted, professionals have a different way of viewing them.

access to it,” said Byun.

Even before he moved from South Korea, Byun has been a cyclist. He has been biking for about eight years, but ever since he moved to Austin, his love and his need for bikes grew. When he moved to Austin, his main way of getting to places was his bike. His experience made him realize Zach Baumer, climate program h o w manager at the City of Austin, said transportation is essential to our lives.

“It makes the world work,” Baumer u s e f u l said. “Transportation is really like the a n d blood or like the veins of the city.” essential transportation is Baumer explained the importance in his life. of transportation today in the 21st century.

In the 21st century, most people, including Baumer, “It gets everyone to and from, it consider car as their main way facilitates like, all learning, ‘cause of transportation. According to everyone has to go to school,” said the Transportation Transformation Baumer.”It facilitates all commerce, survey conducted to 32 high school because everyone gets to their job. students, about 60% of the students, And then it facilitates like all goods despite not owning a car, spent more and services, because everything in a time in a car than they did in any store, had to get there somehow, so it other transportation. Cars have been got there by truck.” one of the most efficient type of transportation for decades, and it is Colin Byun, a cyclist attending predicted to stay that way for a while.

Austin High School agreed with Baumer’s point.

“My main use, is a car,” said Baumer.

“In Austin in general, the main mode “Transportation is something we take of transportation is car. I think like, for granted, but most don’t realize over 80 or 90 percent of how blessed we are to have this much

vehicle trips, are single occupancy cars.”

Despite not being used as much as cars are, there are other types of transportation that is essential to some people.

Byun had to rely on transportations other than a car to get him to places since he didn’t have a

car.

“When I was little, I didn’t have a car or anything, so I had to rely on my bike to take me to places,” Byun said.

Bikes aren’t the only alternative of cars, but they are certainly a popular and efficient way of transportation.

They are most popularly used by kids and teengaers without a car due to young age. According to the Transportation Transformation survey conducted to 32 high school students in Austin, more than 30 percent of high schoolers spend more than an hour on bike each

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week. Byun, who rides around 3 Just as Baumer mentioned, bikes, he supported how people should use hours every week explained why he despite having several advantages, bikes instead of cars when traveling a started riding a bicycle. face many danger as well. reasonable distance.

“Back when I was young, my dad loved to ride bikes at the Zilker park with me,” said Byun. “Because of that I still cycle around my house and participate to the LiveStrong challenge every year.”

Cars are faster than bikes, but bikes are useful at young ages when they are not old enough to drive a car. Bikes are not only used as an alternative for a car but rather become the main source of transportation. Byun explained why he would still ride his bike even if he owned a car.

“Because I love to cycle, even though I have a car, I think I would use my bike when I have to go a short distance,” said Byun.

“It hurts my leg when I bike for too long.”

Bikes face disadvantages when traveling great distances, they seem to be far more dangerous than a car, and they face harsher consequences when encountering an accident.

“I mean biking’s awesome,” said Baumer. “It’s great for your health.

You’re outside, you get somewhere without using fossil fuels, you know, it keeps you in shape. I mean biking is like, the most fantastic thing.”

“A bicycle uses only the food the cyclist eats as fuel, and a bus uses only maybe twice as much fuel but can carry many people, where a car can only carry five,” Dieball said.

Although bikes have several Biking is also one of the most efficient advantages over cars, cars are still way of getting to one of the most efficient way of places in short transportation. It dominates the distance, and it transportation market, and it is doesn’t cost that used everyday by billions of people much compared around the world. to a car. Car is “Life as we one of know it, and the way that our city has been designed, it’s sort of like essential to have a car,” said Baumer.

“Like in Austin, in this day and age, you need cars to get around [to] all the places you need to go.” the most efficient type of Dieball agreed with Baumer, transportation when describing the financial challenges of traveling long distances, but there are having a car. more efficient ways to travel short or “Pros of having a car is that you can mild distances. go where you want, when you want Bill Dieball is a retired car mechanic without having to wait on a bus or who has been there to see all the train, or spending much time and changes that happened to the world of energy riding a bike,” Dieball said.

“Like, safety is a real issue,” said Baumer. “Like, people get hit by cars, people get hurt on bikes, because there’s so many more cars that bikes.

Yeah, it can be very dangerous. It has many many advantages, but it also has risks.” transportation over the past decades.

However, cars face even more Although he was a car mechanic, disadvantages. According to Baumer,

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Electric cars such as a Tesla need specialized stations to charge their cars. Courtesy of Blomst. they are one of the biggest factors of climate change, and it’s getting worse and worse each year. Global warming is a long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system, an aspect of climate change shown by temperature measurements and by multiple effects of the warming.

changers could be electric vehicles Electric cars don’t seem to be the that run on renewable energy.” solution to the climate change, but Byun believe that it is the only choice The only problem for getting an and that it will improve over time. electric car is the cost. Electric cars cost far lot more than a normal car, “Due to the technological advance, I people are genuinely not used to think there will be less emission per them, and there are not much stations car,” Byun said. “However, by the that support electric cars. increase of population, I think the emission would increase for a certain “I personally think there are not much “Cars run on gasoline, and they are point until an alternative source charging stations for electronically enormously wasteful and bad for powered cars would be common.” climate change,” said Baumer. “Or, powered cars,”Byun said. again, like one of the huge game PORTATION TRANSFORMATION

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In cities, since most of the buildings are close to each other, people tend to walk and bike more.

Courtesy of Davidlohr Bueso Dieball agreed that there will be down the climate change. According alternative source powered cars will to Baumer, the city council of Austin increase. has a climate plan that consists of hundreds of actions that is being “As people increase, cars will too,” taken right now and also will be Dieball said. “I suppose it’s possible taken in the future. for improvements in efficiency or more electric cars to offset the “We’re adding major percentages increase of drivers.” of our energy or renewable energy,”Baumer said.”We’re buying Austin is also taking actions to slow hundreds and thousands of electric

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vehicles. It’s a big change, and it’s a long, slow process.”

Dieball gave his personal idea to possibly slow down the Global Warming, “Make people walk everywhere or ride horses,” said Dieball. “Oh, no, horses expel gasses into the atmosphere. Maybe ride buses?”

Despite all the changes occuring

in the city of Austin and in other cities, the rate of global warming doesn’t seem to slow down by much.

As of 2019, there is too much carbon in the atmosphere that a certain amount of them can not be removed.

This can be changed by having everyone take small actions.

According to Baumer, utilizing alternative transportations to reduce car emission into the atmosphere is one of the best actions to take.

Although this doesn’t seem like much, Baumer and the other climate change scientists believe they can slow down the change through these small actions taken by

people around the country.

“If we’re successful at implementing our plan, and if all the things are successful, and if there’s global cooperation, and more federal action in the coming years,” Baumer said.

“Yes, I think we can slow the change.”

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Austin is trying to promote bicycles around the city. Courtesy of Paul Wasneski.

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Faster Higher Capacity Reliable Further Distance Cars are the main type of

transportation today, and it is only getting bigger. They can carry several people at once, travel long distance, and they are fast. But as the car industry gets bigger, the environment began to get polluted, and the traffic is only getting worse everyday. The car mechanics are trying to improve the status, but it will take a while to completely remove the environmental harm caused by cars.

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Expensive

Environmental Harm

Traffic Limited Fuel

Exercise Cheap Easily Accessible

Environmental Friendly Bikes are one of the main

Slower Bad weather Low Capacity Dangerous

types of transportations today, and they are one of the most accessible as well. It can only carry one person(usually), but it can travel a decently long distance at ease. It is a great way to exercise, it is cheap, and most importantly, it is environmentally friendly. It is a lot slower than a car and dangerous, but it definitely is better than a car in many aspects.

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Car owners should change their car’s oil regularly to keep their vehicle functioning properly

Graphic by Noel Arellano and Jichuan Li

Maintain to Sustain 012

What car owners can do to keep their cars in good shape

-by Noel Arellano

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When driving on the road, a driver must pay attention to their surroundings at all times to stay safe. However, many drivers only pay attention to the rules of the road rather than the overall condition of their vehicle. A poorly maintained vehicle may be more prone to mechanical issues which can cause the driver to fail to reach their destination on time and might even lead to a car accident. Things from too low or too high tire pressure, broken windshield wipers, and broken headlights can lead to an accident if they are not kept in good and functioning condition.

Fortunately, a lot can be done to fix and prevent these issues.

extremely hot to the point it warps vehicle is or what kind of make the engine and its parts leading to your vehicle is. costly repairs.

Winn Kasper from Auto Auto Works explains his top choices of According to a survey done by the car brands best suited for a first AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, time buyer.

87.5 of Americans ages 16 and “Honda and Toyota are by older have reported to have been far the most reliable driving as of 2016. A good you’re probably amount of drivers don’t spend the least know when or how long amount of they should wait in m o n e y between checkups or inspections at a mechanic.

“Pay More Atention to the mileage than the years [of your vehicle]“ - Eddie Strack

Eddie Strack, automotive mechanic at the Mechanic at Friendly’s Friendly’s Auto m a iRepair ntaining Auto Repair, believes that them and there is no set time of fixing them when a car should be seen with repairs. by a mechanic. A cars They’re just just a mileage says more really reliable car you get about the condition the oil changed and brakes of a vehicle and every couple of years and you its parts more should have a car for a really long so than its age. time.” Kasper said. According to H o w e v e r Insurify both Hondas and Toyotas since there are the most common brands in 23 are many states. The Hondas top cars being factors that the Civic which is the most common play a role in in 8 states and the Accord being the the lifespan most common in 13 states. Toyotas of a vehicle, are less common but they are most there is so set common in 6 states with Corollas time of when a car being most common in 2 states and should be checked the Camry being most common in out or inspected. Factors 6 states.

STOP such as the weather, temperature, distance traveled, speed, and the drivers habits can dramatically affect a vehicles life span.

According to cars.com, it is recommended that vehicles should be regularly maintained every couple of months or every 3,000 to 10,000 miles, depending on the car model and brand. According to the All Pro Servicenter, oil changes are one of the things people always do but they don’t know what they are for.

The oil’s primary purpose is to disperse the heat away from the motor as well as to lubricate the engine.

The All Pro Servicenter says oil needs to be replaced regularly because it carries debris that builds up in the engine and over time it becomes too dirty and contaminated to be effective. If it’s not changed The performance of a vehicle is when it’s due the engine can become very dependent on what brand your

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Austin’s Most

Dangerous Intersections

A number of things ranging from improperly marked lanes, suns’ glare,obstucted signs, poor roads, and even other drivers can lead to crashes, damage to property, and even death. That is why a driver must be properly trained before operating a motor vehicle

1. Butler Rd. and Lamar Blvd.

-69 crashes 6 lanes across 2. Riverside Dr. and S.Pleasant Valley Rd. -68 crashes 6 lanes across 3. Lamar Blvd. and Parmer Lane -56 crashes one fatal crash in 2015. $3.8 million gathered to modify the intersections in 2015.

4. Riverside and Willow Creek -51 crashes 5. W.Slaughter Lane and Manchaca Rd. -$1.5 million gathered for modification and new design 6. Lamar Blvd and Rundberg Lane -$525,000 gathered for modifacation and new design 7. I35 Service Rd. S.Bound and MLK -$375,000 gathered for modification and new design 8. 183 Sevice Rd and Cameron Rd. -$900, 000 gathered for modification and new design

Sources colleylaw.net and mcminnlaw.net

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CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

Crash test models how a car wll look after crashing into another. Photo courtesy of Marcel Langthim.

Current Safety in Austin and What You Can Do To Avoid Accidents -by Jichuan Li

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Traffic signs warn drivers to focus on driving instead of texting. Photo courtesy of Texas Department of Transportation.

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eading home after a long day, a driver might notice their phone buzz indicating that beautiful, mustread text. BOOM, a sudden crash.

Next thing he knows, he finds himself scarred for life in a hospital room. Fortunately, this could easily be avoided if people would pay closer attention when driving.

to the distractions people often face while driving. According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes every year, or an average of 3,287 deaths per day, as well as an addition 2050 million drivers who are injured or become permanently disabled.

While the common belief, according to a survey done by Jichuan Li, is that the people who die or get Transportation is a significant part severely injured are stupid people of the American society in the 21st who did not wear a seatbelt, that is century. Cars are efficient, easy to not true. use, and accessible all around the nation. However, car safety is often “We go through three impacts, the neglected, even with such a large car versus the car, you versus the population utilizing this vehicle. seatbelt, and then your internal People text and make calls while organs against your body,” said driving all the time, and this results in Robbie Barrera, the Austin DPS an unfortunate number of accidents Sergeant Texas Highway Patrol, in which people suffer injuries or “so when we’re in a crash, we have die. According to Insurance Journal, to go through three impacts.” over 3,500 lives were lost in the year 2018 and already over 533 lives These impacts are going to be very have been lost in the year 2019 as hard for anybody to withstand of March 20th on Texas roads due without receiving some sort of

injury. Let’s say someone is driving at 60 miles per hour on a highway and someone else who isn’t paying attention to the road drives into that person’s lane and hits his car head on at 60 miles per hour as well. That is a 120 mile per hour impact on his car, and since he isn’t nailed onto the car, he continues moving forward right into his seatbelt with a 120 mile per hour impact on his body.

His internal organs aren’t secured inside of his body and so they too suffer a 120 mile per hour impact; since internal organs are generally quite soft, after such a severe impact, the person would be very lucky to leave with intact organs that haven’t been crushed from the force of the crash. Sam King, owner of Blazing Saddles Defensive Driving School,

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said luckily this can be avoided in professionals in driving or driver’s most circumstances. education, agreed with Barrera’s tips.

Without distractions, a driver has a “Most accidents are preventable if higher probability of paying more people would just pay attention to attention to the road. Distractions their surrounding environment,” can also cause over speeding.

King said.

“Don’t drive too fast,” Barrera said.

The owner of 2 Cool 4 Driving “It just takes a little bit of speed and School, Jeff Adams, agreed. not being familiar with the roadway and you hit a curb and you can’t “It’s basically distractions,” make that turn and you crash. And Adams said, “I think if the kids just make sure that you look a can eliminate some of the long ways in front of you. distractions in the car, Don’t just look right in I think you’ve got a front of your vehicle. great chance of Look quite a ways not ever having down the road so a wreck” that you see that c a r coming” These outcomes can be minimized, if not prevented if more people could just Paying attention remember and follow to speed is just a the fundamental solid rule that i s rules they learned taught by many when they first received t h e i r instructors; driver ’s license. going too fast at any time when “It’s very driving could lead important that you to a loss of control and limit those distractions thus a crash. In rainy days, it inside your vehicle,” is even more important to pay Barrera said, “Don’t let the attention to the road. young adults in your car distract you, don’t be goofing off, keep both “If the roads are slick, meaning if it’s hands on the steering wheel, keep raining or recently rained, remember your eyes moving at all times when that you need to pay attention to stop you’re driving so then if the car in and distance and hydroplaning,” front of you stops that you can stop King said. in time.”

Cars are likely to slide on slick King and Adams, who are roads, so forgetting to judge the distance and stop accordingly happens very often and endangers the lives of new drivers who are not familiar with the roads and weather conditions yet. If this were added to bad safety regulations, the roads PORTATION and highways would be a disaster.

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Fortunately, this is not the case.

Graphic by Warren Wu.

“For the most part, I think Austin area has a pretty good program,” King said. “The safety areas, the roadways have good visibility and the intersections are pretty good, but most of our accidents occur at intersections because people either run the red light or they don’t stop for traffic signs and those things, those are the human errors and problems, but structure wise, things I would like to see, for the most part, I think they’re doing good.”

Transportation is not stable and is always changing according to King.

“It’s one of those things that continues to have to be monitored and has to be tweaked,” King said.

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Things you should not do while driving. Photo courtesy of Jichuan Li.

TIPS ON CAR SAFETY WHEN DRIVING

• Minimize distractions inside of car • Make sure you are actively protecting yourself by buckling your seatbelt • Maintain your car’s integrity • Be aware of the smell of oil if there is any • Look out for other drivers and pedestrians PORTATION TRANSFORMATION

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Number of Car Accidents High School Students Have Seen or Been In

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Survey of 74 Liberal Arts and Science Academy students

Student Opinions on Car Safety 1. “I’ve heard that the majority of car crashes are caused by the driver being distracted on their phone, so if phones could automatically lock when put inside a car that might help reduce car accidents. However, sometimes having your phone accessible in a car is needed, so I’m not sure how well this function would work realistically.” - Vivian Streber, Freshman 2. “More difficult drivers license tests and a shorter period in between drivers license renewals with the text being required again at each renewal” - Tyler Hill, Freshman 3. “Glass that is made of a strong plastic of glazed in something so that in the instance of a wreck, the glass debris is minimized, therefore causing little to no lacerations.” - Luke Jacobs, Freshman 4. “Obviously, people really need to wear their seatbelts. Of course there’s the concern of being injured by the seatbelt in the event of a crash, but people need to understand that a cut across the chest is better than being flung through the windshield”- Kaden Kerwick, Junior

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Zack Baumer Jeff Adams

Bill Dieball Wei Wei Colin Byun

Keith Washington

Sam King Robbie Barrera Winn Kasper

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Eddie Strack

Letter from the Editor

Thank you for reading our magazine. This

magazine was made by three highschoolars who just can’t live without being able to get to places. For as long as we can remember, we all have been dependent on transportation, and in this magazine, we wanted to point out the importance of transportation to the readers.

Our magazine covers the different aspects

of transportation, and we hope it would enlighten you with the imformation you have never encountered before. Transportation is one of the most important factor of today’s economy and globalization. That saying, we wish through this magazine, you would learn the importance of all the different types of transportation out there waiting for you.

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BE SAFE CHOOSE RIDE BOTH CAR BIKE DON’T CRASH

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