In addition to accumulating 100,000 bicycle commuting miles,
Mark Capron has a master's degree in structural and ocean
engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, five
patents, four U.S. Navy Technical Disclosure Bulletins, and a
California Water Environment Association award for engineering
achievement.  Your editorial about transportation departments
granting long-term toll road operating concessions to foreign
firms like Australia's Macquarie Infrastructure Group (April
2007, “Leased to the highest bidder!”) asks a good question: “If
operating public infrastructure makes good business sense, why
are we getting out of the business?”  We don't have to. The
public sector can improve full-spectrum service—not just transit
time, but safety, costs, air quality, aesthetics, noise, and the
environment—by implementing “intelligent” vehicle technology
that's available today. Transportation planners could go beyond
scratching the surface of technology's potential to, as your
editorial suggests, chargin