Rapid transit systems are designed to provide an efficient and convenient mode of public transportation within cities. Most frequently used by commuters unwilling to face city traffic, transit cars move at speeds up to 130 km/hr (80 mph). A given system may transport as many as 40,000 passengers per hour in one direction.

Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Program

Audience: transit professionals, frustrated commuters, automobile technology buffs

Click to connect: http://www.its.washington.edu/

What if you could be alerted to traffic problems along your typical route before you began your drive home? Or what if you could send e-mail to get a ride home, instead of waiting for a bus? Creating smart travel choices is the focus of research being done by the Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Program at the University of Washington College of Engineering.

Most of the program's intriguing research projects focus on providing real-time transit information via such avenues as Internet video, e-mail, car radio, or small computer. At the site you can also read abstracts of the projects or see a demo of the University's on-demand carpooling system (called Seattle Smart Traveler). You can also find abstracts outlining various transportation research programs in the Publications section, or click on Transportation Sites for more links to online transportation resources.3

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1"Rapid Transit Around the World," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

3 Microsoft® Bookshelf® Internet Directory 98 © 1996-97 by Microsoft and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved.

Major Merchant Fleets of the World

(1) Includes combination passenger & cargo ships and other type of vessels not listed separately

Source: Maritime Administration, U.S. Dept of Commerce	TOTAL (tonnage in thousands)			TYPE OF VESSEL (tonnage in thousands)
								General cargo			Bulk carriers			Tankers
		No. of	Gross	Dwt	No. of	Gross	Dwt	No. of	Gross	Dwt	No. of	Gross	Dwt
		ships	tons	tons	ships	tons	tons	ships	tons	tons	ships	tons	tons
All countries1	25,608	444,909	695,698	10,991	71,050	88,029	5,474	148,905	260,528	6,080	166,801	293,668
United States	509	13,318	18,585	145	1,927	2,529	20	533	925	181	6,283	11,028
Antigua & Barbuda	357	1,632	2,120	258	847	1,100	8	103	165	11	27	40
Australia	66	2,351	3,336	4	45	59	29	1,010	1,683	24	1,117	1,413
Bahamas	930	22,739	35,689	419	4,544	5,722	140	4,440	7,741	243	11,165	20,747
Bermuda	65	2,993	4,754	13	168	151	9	247	436	32	2,411	4,009
Brazil	198	4,881	8,332	34	176	248	60	2,096	3,709	83	2,249	3,973
Bulgaria	108	1,108	1,595	45	258	330	33	501	781	16	222	356
China	1,454	15,286	23,311	768	4,818	6,799	337	6,487	10,877	216	2,299	3,738
Cyprus	1,473	24,076	39,683	611	4,565	6,365	566	12,943	22,669	161	4,710	8,726
Denmark	333	4,835	7,001	166	508	622	12	507	941	82	1,857	3,278
France	65	1,564	2,583	11	121	175	2	11	17	33	1,137	2,127
Germany	404	4,961	6,170	192	900	1,102	8	235	393	38	318	509
Greece	952	28,615	51,758	146	1,185	1,767	461	12,868	22,889	275	13,555	26,201
Hong Kong	239	8,697	14,947	47	696	842	131	6,389	11,849	21	711	1,263
India	299	6,591	11,076	70	553	782	134	3,168	5,303	87	2,775	4,875
Indonesia	432	1,906	2,948	282	901	1,393	17	208	321	112	699	1,117
Iran	119	2,763	4,856	42	456	622	47	1,024	1,700	27	1,278	2,527
Isle of Man	85	2,026	3,270	20	201	226	10	415	774	29	1,015	1,910
Italy	389	5,470	8,071	61	207	281	37	1,533	2,829	220	2,476	4,043
Japan	762	15,705	23,478	154	914	721	189	5,372	9,916	305	7,310	11,250
Korea, South	417	6,098	9,700	149	616	728	124	3,661	6,658	87	492	888
Kuwait	45	2,016	3,228	14	277	364	—	—	—	28	1,652	2,772
Liberia	1,584	59,328	97,015	263	3,808	3,823	464	16,488	28,736	648	33,595	59,950
Malaysia	254	3,064	4,540	100	415	647	39	980	1,752	83	1,276	1,690
Malta	1,006	16,939	28,542	396	2,719	3,780	315	6,748	11,668	244	6,779	12,458
Marshall Islands	78	3,067	5,101	23	151	163	31	719	1,213	10	1,503	3,005
Netherlands	406	3,909	4,544	282	1,349	1,752	6	168	262	66	1,101	1,397
Norway	630	18,352	29,385	173	2,051	2,259	115	4,006	7,124	285	10,785	19,149
Panama	3,692	70,246	107,030	1,507	11,189	12,051	924	26,804	46,645	826	22,772	39,712
Philippines	516	8,185	13,127	198	1,482	1,666	224	6,186	10,876	60	158	245
Poland	131	2,149	3,194	50	501	569	69	1,452	2,400	5	105	186
Romania	220	2,257	3,477	161	956	1,341	39	853	1,412	10	375	670
Russia	1,426	8,990	11,847	1,090	4,640	5,215	83	1,775	2,859	190	2,019	3,197
Saint Vincent	640	5,787	9,155	395	2,000	2,778	113	2,356	4,036	89	1,152	2,067
Saudi Arabia	65	1,034	1,316	20	282	355	1	12	20	30	344	571
Singapore	655	13,032	20,132	163	1,873	1,955	111	3,562	6,224	280	5,562	9,777
Sweden	184	2,311	2,171	61	478	335	9	42	61	64	637	1,068
Taiwan	202	5,898	9,092	44	165	244	53	2,429	4,526	19	957	1,657
Thailand	251	1,538	2,403	148	909	1,372	28	388	651	67	176	299
Turkey	475	5,754	9,733	227	802	1,269	160	3,878	6,776	68	868	1,563
Ukraine	428	3,707	4,807	312	2,312	2,894	39	826	1,387	31	93	127
United Kingdom	148	3,140	3,493	30	85	111	7	69	109	63	1,306	2,042
Vanuatu	112	1,728	2,149	51	487	386	39	861	1,436	15	155	228

3 Microsoft® Bookshelf® Internet Directory 98 © 1996-97 by Microsoft and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved.

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