Air Travelers Avoided 41 Million Trips

According to the Travel Industry Association (TIA), deep frustration among air travelers caused them to avoid an estimated 41 million trips over the past 12 months at a cost of more than $26 billion to the U.S. economy.

The study, conducted by the polling firms of Peter D. Hart Research Associates and The Winston Group, demonstrated that air travelers express little optimism for positive change, with nearly 50 percent saying that the air travel system is not likely to improve in the near future.

Roger Dow, President and CEO of TIA, said "… more than 100,000 travelers each day are voting with their wallets by choosing to avoid trips."

Dow noted that the 41 million avoided trips during the last 12 months rippled outward across the entire travel community:

• Costing airlines more than $9 billion in revenue
• Hotels nearly $6 billion
• Restaurants more than $3 billion
• Federal, state and local governments lost more than $4 billion in tax revenue

Additional findings of the study:

• 28% of air travelers avoided at least one trip over the past year (2.1 trips on average) due to the problems in the air travel process.
• Over the past 12 months, approximately 112,000 trips were avoided per day; a total of 12 million business trips and 29 million leisure trips.
• More than 60% believe the air travel system is deteriorating
• 33% of all air travelers are dissatisfied with the air travel system, and 48% of frequent air travelers (5+ trips per year) are dissatisfied
• 39% of all air travelers feel their time is not respected in the air travel process, and among frequent air travelers that number surges to 51%.
• Nearly 50% of all air travelers do not think it is likely that the air travel system will be improved in the near future.

Travelers tend to appreciate the convenience and safety of air travel, but at least as many passengers say air travel is frustrating

Attitudes About Traveling By Air and Airport Experience
Attitude	All Travelers	3+ Trips/Year	5+ Trips/Year
Frustrating	40%	48%	52%
Convenient	40	37	32
Safe	32	29	30
Efficient	18	15	15
Unreliable	16	21	26
Relaxing	15	13	14
Infuriating	10	11	11
Broken	5	6	10
Source: Peter D. Hart Research & The Winston Group, May 2008

The statistical margin of sampling error is ± 3.2 percentage points

Allan Rivlin, a partner at Peter D. Hart Research Associates, said "…Inefficient security screening and flight cancellations and delays are air travelers' top frustrations."

For additional information about the study, please visit TIA here.

IBM, Nokia, Sony, Others to Share Their Green Patents

Jan. 14, 2008 IBM and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development are teaming with Nokia, Pitney Bowes, and Sony to release dozens of environmentally responsible patents into the public domain. The portfolio, called the "Eco-Patent Commons," aims to encourage researchers, entrepreneurs, and companies to develop greener products and services.

Patents pledged to Eco-Patent Commons feature innovations focused on environmental matters and innovations in manufacturing or business processes where the solution provides an environmental benefit. For example, Nokia submitted a patent on creating new electronics products such as clocks, calculators, and PDAs from old
cellphone components.

Any individual or company may pledge one or more patents, to be included in the Eco-Patent Commons at the organization's discretion.

Innovation to address environmental issues will require both the application of technology as well as new models for sharing intellectual property among companies in different industries, says Dr. John E. Kelly III, IBM senior vice president and director of IBM Research. In addition to enabling new players to engage in protecting the environment, the free exchange of valuable intellectual property will accelerate work on the next level of environmental challenges."

For more information visit the Eco-Patent Commons website, download this brochure (PDF).

To view a video highlighting some of the patented innovations IBM has pledged, click here.

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Freecycling

By Sally Deneen

Buzz up!

Let’s say you have a perfectly good fish tank or swing set or computer you no longer want, but it’s too much of a hassle to drag it to a thrift store – where it may be turned away, anyway.

A fun way to find new homes for stuff is posting your items at Freecycle.org, a grassroots, volunteer-driven Internet movement committed to the notion that one person's trash is another person's treasure. Think of it as an on-line message center that connects people who want to get rid of stuff with those who can use it. Members of the free web site can give and receive items for free.

It’s a "free cycle" of giving, which keeps good things out of landfills, reduces waste and saves resources. Begun in 2003 when Deron Beal sent out an e-mail announcing the Freecycle Network to about 30 or 40 friends and a handful of nonprofit organizations in Tucson, the Arizona-based nonprofit organization since has spread around the world. So far, there are more than 4,000 local Freecycle Network groups (reachable via Freecycle.org). Among rules: All items must be completely free with no strings attached. No illegal or adult-themed materials are allowed.

No item is too big or too small to post at Freecycle. Offerings have included comforters, beds, mattresses, a 10-year-old glider rocker that rocks smoothly but its arm joints are broken, a working dryer, clothing of all kinds, a satellite dish, Halloween costumes, jogging strollers, file cabinets, computer stuff, picture frames, vases, kids’ stuff, an avocado green refrigerator that must be picked up the next day, coupons for infant formula… You get the idea. Imagine if all of that ended up at the dump. The network estimates that it’s daily keeping more than 300 tons of stuff out of landfills.

If you’re in the market for an item, you can browse the listings or tell the community what you’re seeking. You never know what people have tucked in the attic. You sure can’t beat free!

article found on thedailygreen.com