From Here To There By Bike

Look what Google has done: Biking directions added to Google Maps

and as The Atlantic explains: Why Google Maps' New Biking Directions Could Be Huge

I tested it to see if it would put me on the Leelanau Trail for a trip from Traverse City to Suttons Bay:

Thoughts On Free Community Internet Service

this post originally appeared at my site TC Tech Notes: Free Internet*

(*there's no such thing as a free lunch)

Traverse City Light and Power is planning on becoming an ISP for the Traverse City area with a mix of WiFi, WiMax, and fiber to the premise (FTTP). See: Utility moves forward with free Internet

and: getting wireless broadband here – Feb 10

and: Traverse Bay EDC Regional Broadband Initiative Update (beginning on pg 15)

The service provider offering to help with this is Cherry Capital Connection.

They have set up a web site in conjunction with their partners: Coalition 4 Limitless Broadband

And they are offering help to many of the communities in northern Michigan due to the amount of money the federal government is offering to establish broadband in rural areas.

However, it seems that it wasn't too long ago that Traverse City was considering their own cable service to compete with Charter but a consultant told them it was crazy due to the costs and so the project was abandoned.

Now TCLP is considering entering into competition with the current broadband providers (basically Charter and AT&T) with a product coordinated through Cherry Capital Connection. It is easy to complain about Charter and AT&T, yet Charter offers a 25 Mbps x 3 Mbps cable modem and AT&T launched 3G cellular service last summer. And by the end of this year Charter will be offering 50-100 Mbps connections for most customers thanks to DOCSIS 3.0. By the end of next year Verizon will offer a wireless 4G service and AT&T will be right on their heels.

According to the TCLP report, the wireless service for the greater TC area would be based on WiMax. This immediately seems like a problem as the industry is moving to LTE for 4G service even though WiMax was first.

For more on this topic see:
GigaOm: LTE vs WiMAX: A Little 4G Sibling Rivalry"

NetowrkWorld: Cisco exiting WiMAX

"It's obvious now that mobile carriers are going to deploy LTE," says Laurence Swasey, principal of Visant Strategies. "There are no economies of scale with mobile WiMAX. Mobile WiMAX never materialized like many thought it would. Cisco is just staying on top of where the market is going."

Computerworld: LTE speeds faster than expected in Verizon trials

As the commercial wireless industry is planning on using LTE instead of WiMax I wonder about the cost and long-term viability of WiMax as a 4G service. The world's largest cellular manufacturer, Nokia, compared WiMax to Betamax. And if a company as big and dominant as Cisco is leaving the WiMax business should Traverse City be getting into it?

Additionally, other technical issues include:

- does Cherry Capital Connection have experience with fiber deployment? Do they have the engineers who are familiar with multimode, singlemode, GBIC's, SFP's, and attenuation? There is a reason Charter installed Munson's dark fiber - this is complicated work and needs experienced fiber engineers to deploy and maintain.

- will it be explained to city residents and visitors that they will need special equipment to connect to the WiMax service since WiFi enabled devices like laptops and iPhones won't work with WiMax? I think it is important to point out that if Traverse City chooses to use WiMax for community Internet, and all the wireless companies choose LTE, then when we buy our 4G iPhones and other Smartphones we won't be able to use the 4G service from TCLP.

- will TCLP be leasing or selling WiMax connection equipment so city residents can connect? Will there be any companies manufacturing this equipment five years from now?

- who will assist city residents with technical issues and who will fix the system when it breaks?

- who will pay for antenna removal if this venture fails? Portland, OR recently tried offering free wireless Internet in the city and after the project failed there was no one left to pay to dismantle the system. See: Portland set to dismantle, donate abandoned Wi-Fi antennas

And to be honest, the whole rush to get community Internet service just seems a little "off". For example, in the TCLP report, Wireless 2020 (the company whose model was used to select an Internet provider) is listed as an independent company and Rob Franzo as a consultant at Mitten Communications "in Traverse City". However, Mr. Franzo is listed on the Wireless 2020 web site as part of the team. The phone number he gives in the TCLP report is a number for C4LB so is there a conflict of interest there if the company he works for, Wireless 2020, selects a firm owned by his friend? And if you do a web search for Mr. Franzo's "Mitten Communications" nothing is found. Wouldn't a Communications company have a web site and a list of clients?

Overall this seems like another example where TCLP is rushing into a decision that is not in the best long-term interest of the community.

The fact is, anyone who wants fast Internet can get it. Mr. Moore may complain, but fiber will cost a lot more when it has to be run for one person versus simply plugging in another fiber to a Cisco switch - that is what happens in rural areas without economies of scale. As more businesses get fiber connections from Charter the price will plummet. Plus, with Charter coming out of bankruptcy and rolling out DOCSIS 3.0 for most customers it is likely that within two years anyone with a cable connection will be able to order 100 Mbps Internet service. Rather than complain about Charter why not complain about AT&T refusing to offer their U-Verse service in northern Michigan, or complain about Verizon not rolling out their incredible FIOS product?

Competition will bring improved Internet service, but I do not believe it is something TCLP should get into as if they choose the wrong technology then it is the city residents who will have to pay for the mistake making free Internet a huge loss.

New York Found Closing Broadway Was A Success

A year ago I posted: To Speed Up Traffic New York City Is Closing Broadway Avenue

NYC is making this a permanent change and looking to expand the concept.

See: Broadway Pedestrian Plazas in New York City Made Permanent

A Nice Time To Focus On Good News

Since there has been plenty of complaining about biomass and other unresolved issues, here is some good news to celebrate:

@DowntownTC: Old Town Parking Deck anticipating to be Platinum LEED certified. Includes solar panels, green roofs, electric car outlets & bike lockers.

The Traverse City GIS Department is using ESRI software to make available the Tax Parcel Viewer.

And this news which will have a big impact in my life: TC to get year-round flights to Denver (now I am hoping for a Rockies - Tigers World Series)

[update 3/06/2010] New eateries, stores move in downtown


A Renewed Excitment[sic]

What makes Northern Michigan such a perfect place to own a restaurant? Everything. I think those who have lived up for many years may have become numb to what is up here. Often I am asked somewhat incredulously why I would leave Vegas and the enviable position I held to move to "this". I answer the same every time, "because it is world class up here." The jobs our farmers and produces do warrants, no demands, of us excellence. It falls on all of us to take the embarrassment of riches we have up here in terms of raw product and present it as perfectly as it is given.

The Traverse City Biomass Debate

Or, the energy debate.
Or biomass no, biogas from biomass yes.

If northern Michigan is going to have a thriving economy then cheap and plentiful sources of electricity are a necessity. For example, large technology companies such as Google, Amazon, eBay, FaceBook, Yahoo, and Apple are searching for cheap, dependable, reliable, and clean sources of energy for their data centers. Likewise, if the Michigan economy is going to scale up in any way then it needs reliable sources of electricity.

Mayor Bzdok did a great service for the community when he listed his Pros and Cons for energy sources. See: biomass: my 2¢. Feb 22
Kudos to him for having an opinion yet staying open to the facts and community opinion.

The Record-Eagle reports that City Commissioners are likely to support the plant: Officials largely in favor of biomass plant

My view is that biomass is a locally renewable resource but the burning of straight biomass has issues. Both in terms of environmental pollutants and source materials. Plus, the direct burning of biomass only has about 10% efficiency. For comparison, the best natural gas power plants have an efficiency of around 65% (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_efficiency_of_a_thermal_power_plant). There are people who don't want to burn anything to create energy. This is obviously the future - energy without combustion - but how do we get there? TCLP can't be expected to install huge solar arrays and wind farms immediately. What we need is a low cost and reliable transitional energy source.

Every thing I have read so far indicates TCLP is considering the direct combustion of biomass. This is very old technology and really is not that far removed from burning wood in your fireplace. (See How Biomass Energy Works). But TCLP getting into the biomass business is not a bad thing. There is great potential in biomass for cellulosic fuel production and other technologies currently in development. If TCLP were to become a biomass broker they would be well placed for future technological developments.

What I want to see is biogas made from biomass and then that biogas burned to create electricity. This is the cleanest and most efficient approach.

My recommendation to TCLP would be to take a multi-part multi-phase approach. Begin by building a small natural gas power plant. This is a clean, proven, and efficient energy source. But, I would future-proof it by requiring the power plant design to allow the direct injection of biogas into the natural gas stream. Have anaerobic digesters and the ability to pyrolyze biomass on-site. The power plant design would begin operation as a natural gas plant and in the next 10 years or so bring the biogas components online and to fully replace the natural gas component by 2030. This approach allows flecibility as the gas component can be bought from whatever is the cheapest source at the time.

Right now that might be natural gas. But as this fossil fuel peaks other sources of biogas include landfills, dairy and pig farm holding tanks, wastewater treatment plants, and vegetable matter from forests or fields. Plus, biogas is mostly methane which is a much more effective heat trapping gas than carbon dioxide, so by capturing methane from living organisms and burning it to produce heat and CO2 you can actually decrease the climate impact that this byproduct would normally have.

And also as a first step offer subsidies (up to $5000 for example) to commercial and residential customers to install their own smart meter appliances and renewable energy sources including solar, wind, or home fuel cell (e.g., bloom box, or the Panasonic home fuel cell) in order to distribute the energy making capacity of the grid.

As a second phase of energy production I would like TCLP to look at creating electricity without having to burn anything. This means solar, wind, and hydro in the form of slow-moving lake currents. University of Michigan professor Michael Bernitsas will be testing his device this summer in the St. Clair river. Are the water currents across the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay or between the mainland and the Manitou Islands great enough to generate electricity? Not sure, but what is known is that the Straights of Mackinac could be a tremendous generator of clean energy. Wind turbines are already up in the area to harness the natural squeeze of wind through the Straights. The water currents work in the same way. TCLP could partner with the electric Co-Op there to use the Michigan developed technology VIVACE technology to harness the slow-current through the straights and power perhaps much of the area.

For more information see:
The research progress of biomass pyrolysis processes

Anaerobic Digestion and Bio-Gas

Roasting biomass may be key process in bioenergy economy

Wood Biomass for Energy

'Fish technology' draws renewable energy from slow water currents

Bio Gas Recovery

Vortex Hydro Energy

Urban Mountain Bike Park

Grand Rapids is doing it. See MLive: Urban mountain bike park makes Grand Rapids that much cooler

Could Hickory Hills ski area be used in this way during warmer weather and thus became a year-round destination and thus stop being a money losing operation for the city?

More Trail Economics

In Michigan, hunters spend $916 million. Snowmobilers have a $245 million impact. Anglers and bird watchers are estimated to inject $1.6 billion each. But no one knows how much non-motorized trails are worth.

See Mlive: State leaders miss mark by ignoring economic impact of non-motorized trail recreation

For comparison, a recent study in Wisconsin showed bicycling had a $1.5 billion economic impact plus possibly millions of dollars more in health care costs due to a healthy biking population.

See TheNorthWestern.com: UW study: Bicycling has huge economic impact