The Chicago Architectural Club and the Chicago Humanities Festival announced the winners of the Union Station 2020 competition over the weekend. The winning team was composed of Michael Cady, Elba Gil, David Lillie and Andres Montana and prevailed over a field of 75 entries and will receive a $10,000 prize. The competition brief asked for, innovative solutions for the transformation of Union Station into a center of high speed rail traffic and related programs. It is not simply a question of designing an efficient and functional transit hub. How can this intermodal node become more than a mere knot of infrastructure?
It isn’t clear from the one rendering which is floating around the internets, how this winning entry is more than a mere knot of infrastructure; hopefully the Chicago Architectural Club will release a full series of renderings for public viewing.
A broader point should be noted that there will be more of these competitions in the near-term as the viability of high speed rail, both economically and politically, is increasing with the incoming Obama administration.

People Queuing to Buy a Copy of Today’s Times, originally uploaded by Khoi Vinh

0041
Now: Transition.
And waiting by the phone for that job offer (or not).
2316
Florida and Colorado for Obama
2301
President-Elect Obama
2134
Buckeye State called for Ohio. CA+WA+OR+HI = 272 EV. Barack Obama is the President-Elect.
2101
Empire State speaks: Go Obama
2027
Watching CNN, so MSNBC/NBC/CBS calling PA for Obama was a surprise . Prior to this, he only needed 170 EVs (CA/WA/OR going to Obama) so with PA he only needs 146 EVs.
2015
Obama is up in Ohio but Columbus and Cincinati are not counted yet. Watch for Hamilton County to drag down the numbers as well as the other rural counties. Akron/Canton could be a wash but Cleveland will offset other counties in Ohio.
Note no calls for PA or VA.
1930 Update
Nets don’t call WV
1925
This might be McCain’s only lead of the night – 8-3 EVs
1913
VT & KY called – big surprise.
1804 Update
Exit polls already leaking.
Ignore them.
1745 Update
We are only 15 minutes from parts of Indiana and Kentucky closing, but no network worth its salt will call these polls as western Kentucky and Gary Indiana polling stations don’t close until 7pm. Confused on poll closing? Check out my 2008 Poll Closing map.
Twitter Updates

1622 Update
Could this whole election be over at 8:00pm EST? Two hour-by-hour Talking Points Memo & Nate Silver. But I doubt it will be over that soon as I am sure that there will be court orders to keep polls open in PA, OH & FL.
1547
Dont forget my 2008 Election Poll Closing Times maps when you watch tonight’s coverage!
West Wing Quotes Update 1540
So we have a little over three hours until we can start seriously watching the polls. Why not sped those hours watching West Wing or posting my favorite quotes?

Sam Seaborn: Well over three and half centuries ago, strengthened by faith and bound by a common desire for liberty, a small band of pilgrims sought out a place in the new world where they could worship according to their own beliefs – and solve crimes.
Toby Ziegler: Sam…
Sam Seaborn: It’d be good.
Toby Ziegler: Read the thing.
Sam Seaborn: By day they churn butter and worship according to their own beliefs, and by night they solve crimes.
Toby Ziegler: Read the thing.
Sam Seaborn: Pilgrim detectives.
Toby Ziegler: Do you see me laughing?
Sam Seaborn: I think you’re laughing on the inside.
Toby Ziegler: Ok.
Sam Seaborn: With the big hats!
– Shibboleth (2000)

Update – 1419
I wonder how much money businesses lose on election days? This is like Christmas Eve when you were a kid.
Update – 1337

Please vote!
Update – 1253
Now that I have some time, let me describe my voting experience. I have voted in enough New York elections, to expect the organized chaos which exists due to the combination of older poll volunteers and small voting areas located in surplus spaces. I was hardly surprised to find a line at my polling place when I arrived at 8:30am. Luckily some friends were waiting outside so I could speak with them before going down the flights of stairs to the basement gym of the local Catholic diocese’s parochial school. Luckily I had my Board of Elections pamphlet telling me what election district I was in, so I could jump to the next line, my election district line. Which then I waited to sign in to go into the next line to vote.
My time came, and I was eye to eye with the red lever of democracy; I made my choices and pulled that red-lever of freedom over, and my vote was cast with the sound of mechanical levers, screws, gears and punches, noting my choice. The polling location contained a reflection of modern Greenpoint, with older Polish women, young professionals, couples with newly born children in tow; the changing face of the neighborhood showed up to vote, and that face is decidedly young, white with distinctive leans toward hipsterdom.
Update – 1226
Aren’t there any exit polls out yet? If you see them, run and promptly forget the, Nate Silver has Ten Reasons Why You Should Ignore Exit Polls.
Update – 1151
Photos from my polling location.



Update – 1148
Just in case you needed to know who I voted for.

Update – 1136
I just want to note that, besides for New Yorker’s vote counting less than other’s vote, we don’t get the ubiquitous “I Voted” stickers. Double Injustice!
Update – 0920
I became the 127th person to vote in my district. At this rate there will be 456 more voters by the time polls close. I saw 5 friends at the polling and waited about 40 minutes.
Update – 0735
Long lines throughout NYC, full of people who’s vote counts less, but wanting to run up the popular vote score.
Update – 0010
Dixville North New Hampshire votes Obama over McCain 15-6 (out of 21 votes).

New York City’s Office of Emergency Management has plans and procedures for sudden flooding caused by natural forces such as hurricanes. Does OEM have plans and procedures for a the gradual and sustained flooding, caused in part by Global Climate Change, of coastal New York City?
What sections of neighborhoods will have to be abandoned by the rising mean water level by 1′-0″? 5′-0″? 10′-0″?
What will be the system and procedures for triaging, and analyzing what we can save along what time period, for the following city services:

• NY Subway
• Long Island Rail Road & Metro North
• Waste Treatment (water, sewer & solid)
• Power Generation
• Hospitals
• Police & Fire Relocations & Staffing

Finally, at what point will the populace at large be forced to abandon large segments of New York City, and what is the mechanism for this decision and the methods of evacuating affected citizens?
Should we rebuild?

The Swingstate Project has an interesting Nov. 4, 2008 Poll Closing Times & Key Races map up, which is nicely done, but a bit confusing. For those of us who want to only watch the topline race of the night, the Presidential Electoral Votes, I have taken their data and reformatted it into another map series shown below.

And now onto the hour-by hour synopsis.

7:00pm EST Polls Close

VT, VA, SC, GA, KY, IN
58 EVs Awarded (58/538)

7:30pm EST Polls Close

OH, WV
25 EVs Awarded

8:00pm EST Polls Close

ME, NH, MA, CT, NJ, DE, MD, PA, TN, FL, AL, MS, IL, MO, OK
171 EVs Awarded

8:30pm EST Polls Close

NC, AK
21 EVs Awarded

9:00pm EST Polls Close

NY, RI, MI, WI, MN, KA, TX, KS, NE, SD, WY, CO, NM, AZ
155 EVs Awarded

10:00pm EST Polls Close

IA, MT, UT, NV
20 EVs Awarded

11:00pm EST Polls Close

ND, ID, WA, OR, CA, HI
84 EVs Awarded

1:00am EST Polls Close

AK
3 EVs Awarded

NYS BargeCanal lock 17, originally uploaded by Ojiisan44

Hints of Comeback for Nation’s First Superhighway:

After decades of decline, commercial shipping has returned to the Erie Canal, though it is a far cry from the canal’s heyday. The number of shipments rose to 42 so far this year during the season the canal is open, from 15 during last year’s season, which lasts from May 1 to Nov. 15.
Once nearly forgotten, the relic of history has shown signs of life as higher fuel prices have made barges an attractive alternative to trucks.
…
The canal still remains the most fuel-efficient way to ship goods between the East Coast and the upper Midwest. One gallon of diesel pulls one ton of cargo 59 miles by truck, 202 miles by train and 514 miles by canal barge, Ms. Mantello said. A single barge can carry 3,000 tons, enough to replace 100 trucks.

• Countries Overlaid onto the Contiguous 48 States
• What If Italy Had Won the War?
• Offshoring Audacity
• Why San Francisco Needs Subways
• Times letters reject Brooks’ highway focus
• Hybrid Taxi Law Blocked by Federal Judge
• AIG Collapse Leaves Transit Agencies in the Lurch
• Bob Harris’ photo diary of a trip to the North Korea border

And now for the political links:

• What A McCain Win Looks Like…
• Proof that John McCain has reached the “acceptance” stage
• The SNL Wars
• Imagine if Everyone’s Votes Counted
• Federalized Voter Registration
• McCain’s Dismal Get Out The Vote Campaign

Sky Bridge, originally uploaded by plemeljr

Airports Grow Apace, but the Timing Seems Off:

The biggest miscalculations in new construction occurred in hub cities where airports spent billions to meet the needs of a single carrier, only to see the airline drastically shrink its presence.
In St. Louis, the airport authority spent $1.1 billion on a new runway that opened in 2006, even though traffic is down 53.9 percent since 2000. American Airlines dropped many flights following its acquisition of Trans World Airlines, which had been the main carrier there.
The Pittsburgh airport authority spent $1 billion on a new terminal in the early 1990s for US Airways. But passenger traffic there is down by almost half this decade because of cutbacks by US Airways.
And in Cincinnati, the airport authority spent $500 million in the mid-1990s on construction that included a new terminal for Delta Air Lines. And it added a third runway in 2005, its busiest year. Since then, passenger traffic has fallen 36.4 percent as Delta cut back. On a recent weekday morning, half the parking spots were empty in the airport’s main garage, which was expanded only months before 9/11.

All of those cities are in the Midwest and easily connected with High Speed Rail; the $2 billion spent in the pull quote above would have qualified for matching grants from the FTA (even if Ma Peters was still in power). Now with Delta and Northwest merging, much of the infrastructure built in the last five years will lay dormant until the next surge in air traffic. (if there is another surge).

The NYC Marathon is perhaps the happiest day in New York City, with seemingly the whole city cheering the runners on.