Within the Town of Markham, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), Viva (a type of bus rapid transit), and York Region Transit (YRT) offers public transit services for the local residents. Since 1973, Markham has been providing a public transit of its own, namely Markham Transit, and was funded by the municipal government. In 2001, the York Regional government “merged” the Markham Transit with 4 other municipal-managed transit systems to form York Region Transit. In 2005, York Region Transit launched Viva, which operated in parts of Markham on Yonge Street and Highway 7. In addition, GO Transit provide passenger trains and shuttles to help commuters to get to their work.

GO Bus

As GO trains only offer train services during rush hours, and that GO trains are only available in certain locations (primarily the centre portion of the town), GO shuttle buses are bound to serve as an alternative. During non-rush hour, GO shuttle buses departs from stations across town and will transport passengers to Downtown Toronto (As all GO train lines does). GO shuttle buses also connect with other YRT routes and TTC routes.

GO buses are developing, like Viva, a bus rapid transit. This plan has already started by launching an express bus route on Highway 407 ETR.

GO buses also extend the service area of the GO trains. In Markham, there are only 2 lines, one operating on Highway 7, linking Brampton and Markham, and the other one is the York University express, operating on Highway 407.

Toronto Transit Commission

Due to Markham’s proximity to Toronto, some bus routes in Markham are operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). They are called the “TTC contracted routes operating within York Region”. These buses all connect to subway or RT stations in Toronto, and thus help to connect Markham (or the whole York Region) with Toronto.

There are a total of 8 TTC contracted bus routes operating within Markham (that is 47% of all 17 TTC routes operating in York Region). There is a special fare policy to go with this special contracted bus program. If a passenger boarded a TTC contracted bus route in York Region, and only travel within York Region, the passenger must pay according to the YRT’s fare policy. The passenger is entitle for another free ride of other York Region Transit/Viva operated bus routes, or TTC contracted bus routes (and that is, if the passenger does not travel into Toronto). If a passenger boarded a TTC contracted bus route in York Region and travel into Toronto, the passenger must pay an extra fare (YRT’s fare and TTC’s fare). The passenger is entitle for a free ride on the subway or RT or streetcars, or TTC bus routes operating within Toronto. If the passenger enters York Region again, he or she must pay another fare for the YRT.

York Region Transit

A merged system of Markham Transit and 4 other municipal-managed transit systems, forming York Region Transit (YRT) in 2001. The York Region Transit is now serving all over Markham with over 40 routes. The system operating system operates in a grid-like system. Most of its bus routes are operating on the main routes throughout Markham, which is laid in a grid-like system. Transfers between bus routes are available at major intersections. Passengers are required to pay a flat fee of $3.25, no matter of age. Unlike travelling on TTC contracted routes, travelling on the YRT and entering Toronto does not require an extra fee. The York Region Transit allows Markham residents to travel around York Region, Toronto, Brampton (YRT Route#77 travels to Bramalea City Centre), and Hamilton (YRT connects to GO shuttle)

Other than that, YRT offers 4 express routes (80% of 5 YRT express routes—not counting the Bayview Express, which is scheduled to be discontinued in September 2007). The express travels on higher speed limit roads, such as Highway 407. The express routes include # 300 (Business Express), 301 (Markham Express), 302 (Unionville Express), and 303 (Cornell Express). All of the express routes connect to the Finch Bus Terminal.

YRT hosts 2 major terminals in Markham: Unionville GO Terminal and Markham Stouffville Hospital Bus Terminal.

Viva

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Transportation in Markham, Ontario, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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imeem is primarily written in C#; while most of the front-end web servers run under Windows, the rest of their servers run the Linux operating system. The website heavily uses Ajax and Flash to deliver the content and allow users to access it.

Video and audio are both encoded as FLV files, audio is delivered as 128kbit quality MP3 data. Video is encoded to mp3 audio at 96kbit and Sorenson video at > 700kbit with resolution resized to 400 pixels wide and preserving its aspect ratio. While the video quality and resolution is significantly better than other video sites (youtube uses 300kbit video) the video sharing aspect of imeem has been largely eclipsed by the audio sharing component. In 2008 imeem upgraded the video quality further and has become one of the first media sharing sites to offer video encoded with the H.264 codec and at the original source resolution.

Recent complaints have showed that Myspace music has done a very poor job in importing the playlists from imeem including but not limited to; missing songs, incorrect artist info, garbled tracks and does not plan on restoring the complete list of songs on imeem users playlists. Myspace music now plays commercials in between songs which was less frequent on imeem.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Imeem, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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The class was well liked by crews in most regions of British Railways, with especially glowing reports from those operating them from Stratford depot on the Eastern Region, where its lower weight and high power transformed motive power over the restricted East Anglian lines. However, negative feedback was received from various operating departments, most notably on the Western Region. The criticism was primarily out of partisan preference for GWR-designed locomotive stock among Western Region staff.

For this reason, the Western Region locomotive depots at Old Oak Common and Plymouth Laira declared that the class was surplus to requirements. However Cardiff Canton depot displayed its liking for the class (despite being part of the former GWR empire) and managed to obtain good results on South Wales passenger traffic.

The Midland Region also had favourable reports, but a marked consistency in losing time on the longer runs between Holyhead and Euston was recorded, although all complaints were down to the individual techniques of the operating crews. This was compounded by the irregular allocation of the class to depots all over the network, meaning that few crews ever had a great deal of experience in driving them. The Southern Region also had an allocation of seven in May 1953, when all Merchant Navy Class locomotives were temporarily withdrawn for inspection after 35020 “Bibby Line” sheared a crank axle on the central driving wheel.

Repairs to the class were undertaken at Crewe, Swindon and Doncaster Works until the financial constraints of the British Railways Modernisation Plan in terms of expenditure on steam began to preclude the regular overhaul of locomotives. During the mid-1960s overhauls were carried out exclusively at Crewe Works. The first locomotive to be withdrawn from service was number 70007 “Coeur-de-Lion” in 1965, and the entire class was gradually transferred to Carlisle Kingmoor and Glasgow Polmadie depots as steam was displaced by the dieselisation of British Railways. A succession of bulk withdrawals began in 1967, and the last, of number 70013 “Oliver Cromwell”, took place in 1968, at the very end of steam operation in Britain. Subsequently that locomotive was selected to represent the class in the National Collection. Only 70000 “Britannia”, which was privately preserved, saw main line service during the preservation era – until 2008, when 70013 “Oliver Cromwell”‘s restoration was completed, and she worked part of the “15 Guinea Special” – a special train run to commemorate the final BR steam working in 1968. 70013 is now to be found operating main line railtours over the Network Rail system.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article BR Standard Class 7, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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On March 16, 1955, the United States Air Force had officially ordered the development of an advanced reconnaissance satellite to provide continuous surveillance of “preselected areas of the earth” in order “to determine the status of a potential enemy’s war-making capability.” The result of this order was the creation of a then-secret USAF program known as WS-117L, which controlled the development of the first generation of American reconnaissance satellites. These included the Corona series of observation satellites and the still-classified SAMOS. Lockheed Martin, which had been contracted to build the two series of satellites, suggested several other satellite programs to fill supporting roles, including a satellite that would use an infrared sensor and telescope to detect the heat produced by jet bombers and long-range missiles. In response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik and the appearance of the ICBM threat, Subsystem G was added to WS-117L before the end of 1957. With the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), Subsystem G was taken over by that organization and given the codename MiDAS in November 1958.

In February 1959, ARPA submitted an initial project development plan to the Air Force. As defined in the initial proposal, MiDAS would use infrared sensors from high above the Soviet Union to detect missile launches and give early warning of an attack. The plan called for a 10-satellite research and development program between November 1959 and May 1961. After that time, a full-scale operational system would be deployed.

Because the information collected by the MiDAS satellites was extraordinarily time-sensitive, the designers of the system couldn’t use the film-dropping technique pioneered by the Discoverer/Corona series of satellites. In that system, the cameras aboard the satellites used film canisters that physically reentered the atmosphere before being retrieved by aircraft in flight. The MiDAS satellites would instead beam their signals earthward via radio signals. Actual images wouldn’t be transmitted due to the limited bandwidth available. Instead, the satellite would simply send notification that it had detected a launch as well as the time and location of the launch.

Multiple satellites would be needed to provide round-the-clock coverage of the Soviet Union. A rocket capable of reaching geostationary orbit had not yet been designed, and potentially would not be able to cover all the missile launch sites within the Soviet Union. Satellites in a polar orbit would be needed to detect launches from across the Soviet Union, but due to the nature of the polar orbit, each would have only a brief period of time above the Soviet Union. As the planned capabilities of the satellite changed during the design process, so did the plans for their deployment. A January 1959 plan recommended an operational constellation of twenty spacecraft operating at an altitude of 1,000 miles while a revised plan, produced later that year, envisioned a constellation of twelve spacecraft at 2,000-mile altitudes.

Implementing a complete system, estimated in 1959, was put at between $200 million and $600 million ($1.35 billion to $4 billion in 2006 dollars). Because of this enormous cost and the fact that several “unanswered questions” remained, the scientific advisory council in charge of advising President Eisenhower on Early Warning systems recommended that a program of research be conducted but that final word on implementing a complete system be delayed for at least a year.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Missile Defense Alarm System, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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The subject of sustainable transportation has several areas to review.

Fuels

Alternative fuel cars can save the organization significant funds, there are several different fuel types available.

*Ethanol: Normally blended with conventional gasoline, ethanol reduces the amount of greenhouse gases your car emits by up to 10%.

*Natural Gas: burns more cleanly, efficiently and completely than gasoline or diesel fuel, producing far fewer toxic pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

*Autogas (aka LPG, propane) : has extremely low sulphur content and therefore contributes very little to acid rain.

Operating a vehicle

Fuel efficient operation of vehicle.

*Leave the car at home;

*Use Alternative Fuels;

*Keep to the speed limit;

*Plan your travel; and

*Stop idling.

Maintenance

Ensure proper maintenance of vehicles.

*Maintaining the vehicle according to the manufacturer’s recommended schedule;

*Keeping records of the preventive maintenance that is done;

*Having the exhaust system inspected regularly;

*Having older vehicles tuned up as required;

*Maintaining and reviewing fuel-consumption records; and

*Inspecting regularly for leaks.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Sustainable Development Strategy in Canada, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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The Emergency Management Act declares its purposes:

The Emergency Management Act:

* Created of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM)

* Authorized of the creation of local organizations for emergency management in the counties and incorporated municipalities of this state

* Provided for the formulation and execution of an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for the state

* Conferred upon the Governor and upon the executive heads or governing bodies of the political subdivisions of the state emergency powers

* Provided for the rendering of mutual aid among the political subdivisions of the state and with other states to cooperate with the federal government with respect to carrying out emergency management functions and hazard mitigation

* Provided sufficient organization to meet, prevent or reduce emergencies in the general interest and welfare of the public and the state.

The Emergency Management Act declared the policy of Oklahoma to be that all emergency management and hazard mitigation functions of the state are to be coordinated to the maximum extent with the comparable functions of the federal government, of the other states and localities, and of private agencies of every type, to the end that the most effective preparation and use may be made of available workforce, resources and facilities for dealing with disaster and hazard mitigation. Each state agency, board, commission, department or other state entity having responsibilities either indicated in the state Emergency Operations Plan must have written plans and procedures in place to protect individual employees, administrators and visitors from natural and man-made disasters and emergencies occurring at their work place. All such plans and procedures are made in concurrence with OEM, which is responsible for establishing a OEM Guidebook titled the “Emergency Standard Operating Procedures”. Each state agency, board, commission, department or other state entity must provide an annual report on the status of their emergency management program to OEM. OEM then must compile and integrate all reports into a report to the Governor and Legislature on the status of state emergency preparedness.

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is officially declared to be the standard for incident management in Oklahoma. All on-scene management of disasters and emergencies shall be conducted using the Incident Command System (ICS).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Oklahoma Emergency Management Act of 2003, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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On September 27, 2006, the racetrack was awarded a conditional slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, allowing construction to begin on the casino. Final approval of a permanent license came on December 20, 2006, the following day the casino opened. Bally’s was chosen as the casino management system. The name of the casino -””Parx”” – a modified spelling of the racetrack name – was unveiled following a fireworks display on July 4, 2009.

The plan for the site:

*Phase 1: Renovation of the Grandstand, building of the Parx Casino & Parking Garage. (Complete; opened December 18, 2009)

*Last Phase: Renovation of paddock. (Complete; opened in May 2010)

So far, Parx has 3,300 slot machines. Electronic table games, such as roulette, blackjack, and poker, are also available.

On December 18, 2009, the casino building opened, with 3,300 slot machines.

On July 18, 2010, the casino began operating table games.

Parx Racetrack and Casino currently has the following dining and entertainment venues:

*Foodies

*Parx Grille

*Club 360

*Jax

*Chickie’s and Pete’s (Grand Opening: July 28th 2010)

Players Club

The Players Club consists of three levels: Players Club, Premium, and Elite.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Philadelphia Park Racetrack, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Below are some of the authorities operating in and around the New York City metropolitan area.

Battery Park City Authority

Fully titled the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority [http://www.batteryparkcity.org/], according to its official web site, the authority is:

:a New York State public benefit corporation whose mission is to plan, create, co-ordinate and maintain a balanced community of commercial, residential, retail, and park space within its designated site on the lower west side of Manhattan.

Battery Park is located at the bottom tip of Manhattan.

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) was formed after the September 11 attacks to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan. It was founded by Governor George Pataki and then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. The LMDC is a joint State-City corporation governed by a 16-member Board of Directors, half appointed by the Governor of New York and half by the Mayor of New York City.

The Development Corporation is a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation.

Long Island Power Authority

The Long Island Power Authority or LIPA ["lie-pah"], a municipal subdivision of the State of New York, was created under the Long Island Power Act of 1985 to acquire the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO)’s assets and securities. A second Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), a wholly owned subsidiary of the first, acquired LILCO’s transmission and distribution system in June 1998.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority [http://www.mta.info] manages public transportation in the New York Metropolitan Area (this includes the New York Subway and public bus systems, as well as MTA Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road).

The MTA includes the following subsidiaries:

* Excess Loss Trust Fund

* First Mutual Transportation Assurance Company

* MTA Capital Construction Company

* MTA Capital Program Review Board

* Long Island Rail Road Company

* Metro-North Commuter Rail Road Company

* Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority

* New York City Transit Authority & Manhattan & Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority

* Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority

* Tri-borough Bridge and Tunnel Authority — famously once a fiefdom of Robert Moses, it had performed, as an independent entity, the collection of tolls and the maintenance of the Triborough Bridge. It today operates all intrastate toll bridges in New York City, and is now a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Overcoat Development Corporation

The Overcoat Development Corporation was founded in the 1980s to lure a men’s outerwear company to New York City. It continues to exist today due to a favorable real estate lease it got.

Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s [http://www.roosevelt-island.ny.us/] responsibility is to develop Roosevelt Island, a small strip of land in the East River, part of the borough of Manhattan.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article New York state public-benefit corporations, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Aviator Sports and Events Center [http://www.aviatorsports.com] is a concession for the National Park Service[http://www.nps.gov/] operating in New York City’s historic first municipal airport, Floyd Bennett Field, which opened its hangars in 1931 and was decommissioned in 1972. Floyd Bennett Field (FBF) in Southeast Brooklyn is now part of the 4th most visited unit of the National Park System: Gateway National Recreation Area. Many of the original airport structures and runways are listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places for their contribution to the nation’s early aviation history. In the late 1990’s the National Park Service (NPS) was seeking private partners to help revitalize the field.

Aviator Sports and Events Center and the NPS have established a plan to improve a favorite destination for early pilots such as Amelia Earhart and Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan. Aviator and the NPS officially began their relationship in 2003 to adaptively reuse 4 of FBF’s original hangars in the historic district (making them into one building) and surrounding land, creating a sports complex totaling 25 acres.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Aviator Sports and Recreation, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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The Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation first revealed its intention to develop a new generation of fighter-trainer to replace its own JJ-7 fighter-trainer at the 2001 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition to meet new PLAAF trainer requirements to prepare pilots for China’s newest generation of fighter aircraft such as the Chengdu J-10 and Sukhoi derived aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-27SK, Sukhoi Su-30MKK and Shenyang J-11. The ‘FTC-2000′ designation indicates an interest in exporting the JL-9 to the international market, likely to countries already operating Guizhou’s FT-7 (the export designation for the JJ-7) fighter-trainers. In order to reduce both, the development time and development costs of designing an entirely new aircraft, it was decided that the aircraft would be based on the existing Guizhou JJ-7, which itself is based on the Soviet MiG-21U (NATO reporting name “Mongol”) fighter-trainer. The JL-9 made its maiden flight on December 13, 2003, only two years after the start of the project, making it the shortest development time for an aircraft in Chinese aviation history, while successfully keeping costs down. In June 2005, Chinese newspapers have stated that the JL-9 would be part of the People’s Liberation Army’s 11th five-year procurement plan. In 2006, Guizhou reported that five production aircraft have been accepted into PLAAF service. Trials continue on the JL-9 and in 2006 an improved JL-9 with a stability control augmentation system and microwave landing system were tested. In Sep 2009, JL-9 passed all technology certification tests, which clears the way of entering series production for both PLAAF and PLAN.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Guizhou JL-9, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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