Winging It

We have added a handy feature to philly.com that provides links to all of the key traffic and weather Websites in the Philadelphia region.Watch the traffic move -- or not -- or I-95, get the latest updates on highway conditions, check on mass transit or on the status of a flight to or from PHL. A link directly from this page can be found near the bottom of the right-hand column, under useful sites. Take a look here

AAA is known first for its roadside assistance when your car breaks down. But the regional Mid-Atlantic chapter of the national organization also does research on issues of importance to motorists, not to mention offering a steady stream of advice about safe and happy driving. Since most travel, business or otherwise, is actually by road, we need to put more emphasis on it in this space. We thought you might want to see some results of the AAA Mid-Atlantic's recent poll on what Pennsylvania motorists' biggest concerns are. The first link is for the AAA Mid-Atlantic Website.The second link is a news release on the survey. The Inquirer's story published Wednesday can be foynd here .

You may want to do what a Road Warrior who called me at home today (he's my brother-in-law so it was OK) did with his plans to spend a week doing business in South Jersey. His flight from DFW was canceled, and he put off the whole trip until next week. The heavy rain means delays at PHL are averaging an hour and a half, about 50 to 60 percent of flights are on time, and there are a handful of cancelations by a variety of airlines. Southwest is keeping more of its schedule intact than any other PHL major carrier. Check the phl.org Website if you're flying. Take care out there.

You may have seen a story in print today by Bloomberg News about gasoline prices, including the opinion of some that they could hit $4 a gallon this summer. AAA Mid-Atlantic, the regional motor club, which tracks prices in this region, says don't believe it. AAA spokeswoman Catherine Rossi said in a news release that prices may get to $3 a gallon but that the organization doesn't expect them to reach the average of $3 to $4 a gallon. And if oil refineries can catch up with demand in the next few weeks, "AAA believes motorists will actually see lower gas prices this summer than than they see right now," she said. "Given what we know right now, a $3-$4 average in most areas is unlikely."

Do you recall when a free breakfast, continental or otherwise, became standard for many mid-priced and even lower-priced hotel chains? In Europe, some offering of food in the morning has been expected of hotels for decades. In this country, we first recall Hampton Inns started the trend in the mid-1990s, although we're sure those in the hotel business will correct us if we're wrong. What was first just cofee and doughnuts has, fortunately, morphed into decent spreads in most chains.

So who can be surprised by the results of the YPB&R/Yankelovich Partners 2007 National Travel Monitor, an annual study by a longtime collector of travel industry data. The survey found getting breakfast included in the room rate influences the choice of hotel for 49 percent of leisure travelers and 53 percent of business travelers. In a different question, almost two-thirds of the Road Warriors found a hotel that includes breakfast in the rate was very or extremely desirable. If you stay in four- or five-star hotels, chances are breakfast won't be included but corporate travel managers with lots of business under their control often are able to negotiate rates that do include it. Coffee anyone?

Read the warnings about what to expect this holiday weekend and all summer on the roads and at PHL in today's Inquirer story

Remember the late-April predictions that gasoline could hit $4 a gallon this summer? As we reported at the time, the AAA Mid-Atlantic motor club said whoa, hold on, relax, it's probably not going to happen. More likely would be prices closer to $3, So far, AAA was absolutely right. The group's daily reports this week on gas prices in the region indicate a trend toward lower costs. Here's what AAA found in its overnight survey of area service stations:

National regular unleaded average for a gallon: $3.13; Pennsylvania, $3.05; Delaware, $2.99; New Jersey, $2.94. In the five-county Philadelphia area, it was $3.10, and in South Jersey, $2.89.

For anyone who drives in our region, two good stories appear in print this morning. Read about AAA's call for Pennsylvania to require testing of the octane level in gasoline. And who knew that a Philadelphia company has devleoped a way to make biodiesel from restaurant grease?

We want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday tomorrow, and leave you for at least a day with this good news: The price of gasoline in the Philadelphia region has been inching downward in recent weeks, according to AAA's daily survey of service stations, and is now 11 cents a gallon cheaper on average than it was last year at this time.

We're still wondering when -- or if -- gasolione prices will spike this summer. The AAA Mid-Atlantic motor club's daily cost survey keeps surprising those who predicted $4 a gallon. Here's an online brief based on today's survey.

Last week brought important developments at the airport, and we report on a recent road trip. Read all about it here

What a summer it's been for flight delays. Once again, airlines serving PHL have been able to operate less than half of their flights on time today because of the usual culprits: air traffic and the weather. For a change, several eastern and midwestrn airports in addition to PHL and those in the New York area are experiencing delays of 15 minutes or more. Check out a weather map online and you will see nasty weather in places across the eastern two-thirds of the nation.

We urge you to show patience with airline and airport employees on days like this one. Most of them dislike delays as much as you do.

At the start of a long weekend, when most Road Warriors will be off the road for a change, the good news about gasoline prices continues. Read details in this story based on AAA's daily survey. Have a good weekend, and we'll see you on Tuesday.

Philadelphia cab drivers have started a 48-hour strike that has created long lines at 30th St. Station. New York cabbies also are reported to be involved in a job action. Read what we know about the taxi strike.

Amtrak has restored service between Philadelphia and Wilmington that was suspended this morning. Delays are still possible because of restricted speeds on the line. The service was disrupted because of an overturned truck on I-95 that caught fire and spilled debris on the tracks below. Check with Amtrak.com for updates as the day goes on.

Some of our leaders have been trying to kill Amtrak for years. It's not working. The national passenger rail system had record ridership in the fiscal 2007 year that ended Sept. 30. Here's Amtrak's news release with lots of detail.

News about Amtrak today includes a release from the railroad about what happens when investments are made in infrastructure that speeds up service. More people ride. Amtrak's news release is here.

Also today, the U.S. Senate passed a bill sponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D.,N.J.) and Trent Lott (R, Miss.) that would give Amtrak $11.4 billion in funding over six years. The bill would provide funds for maintaining and improving the Northeast Corridor and make money available to states to start new rail lines or improve those they have. The bill would provide Amtrak more stable funding than it's ever had.

The Road Warrior column today adds to the abundance of the season, meaning an abundance of advice about coping with holiday congestion while traveling. Find it here.

Well, not a rest area, exactly. The Road Warrior needs to take a break from regular postings on this blog and doing other travel-related stories to work full time on another important topic. We expect to be back by Dec. 10 with regular postings. Other contributors will keep you informed of important breaking stories until we return on a daily basis. Thanks for your continuing interest.

Worried about global climate change? Here's something of that could be of great importance to your offspring. A major study of what America's rail network could look like in 50 years has called for investing hundreds of billions of dollars to create a better system. You may want to learn more about what a bipartisan panel of leaders recommended last week. We haven't found any comprehensive news stories by the mainstream media so you will have to see how the story was reported by organizations that advocate for better rail service. Here's a link to the National Corridors Initiative Inc. Website. Its very solid report on the study group's work is the second entry under "News items..."

Here's an update to the message below. As expected, US Airways and Delta on Tuesday issued advisories for travel from Oklahoma to Chicago, allowing for changes to restricted tickets without penalty. Stand by for further developments.. There is good news for Tuesday for PHL fliers: Arrivals and departures are better than average, above 80 percent for most of the day.

Remember last Valentine's Day, and a nasty Friday a month later at PHL? Ice pellets and freezing rain put a damper on air travel even faster than snow does, as anyone who experienced those particularly troublesome days last winter can attest. Today, an ice storm is moving across the heartland, from northern Texas northeastward to southern Michigan, Snow is falling to the north of the band of ice, and rain to the south of it. United Airlines already has issued the usual advisory about expecting delays and relaxing rules for ticket changes; other carriers will probably do the same. So be careful out there, and check on the status of your flight if you're traveling today or tomorrow.

When the words "cell-phone lot" come up in conversation these days, many PHL users probably don't know what you're talking about. That's because the cell-phone lot is hard to find, with only small signs directing you, on a circuitious route to it, on Bartram Avenue, also known as Route 291. Once there, you will find plenty of space, precisely because it's a challenge to use if you don't know the roads around the airport. PHL officials say they can't do what would seem logical and place big signs on the highway off ramps because PennDOT doesn't want to clutter up their own directional signs The result continues to be multiple vehicles parked along the entrance roads, a dangerous and illegal practice. Drivers apparently do that because: They don't know about the lot, short-term parking is expensive (more expensive than at most other airports) or their time is so important to them that they just have to save a minute compared with parking a little farther away in a safer place.

But to give credit where it's due, PHL was one of the first airports to have a cell-phone lot,.The lot is where it is because of a lack of space closer to the airport. Other airports have set up similar lots, as reported in this story from Tuesday's New York Times. The only aspect of the story that surprises us is that it treats airports' recognition of the need for cell-phone lots as if it were new.

We close this work week with good news from Amtrak. The railroad reached tentative agreements with nine unioins, averting a strike that could have seriously disrupted travel for both intercity passengers and commuters on SEPTA and New Jersey Transit trains.Some Amtrak employees have gone without a new contract for more than seven years. The unions were legally allowed to strike after Jan. 30, at the end of a protracted negotiation process that's governed by federal law.

We haven't been able -- yet -- to study the issue of the carbon footprint of air travel, a topic of growing concern because of its effect on global warming. We hope to report more on it as it becomes an issue that everyone needs to think about. Today we found one of the better treatments of the topic from Bill McGee, who writes a column for USA Today and is a contributing editor of Consumer Reports. We've respected Bill's reporting on airlines and aviation for years. He researched carbon footprints for Consumer Reports' February issue, and added his personal take on it in the newspaper column. Let us know if you find other published sources of intelligence on what air travelers can do to help reduce greenhouse gases and we will post them here as well.

Tomorrow is the day Homeland Security starts enforcing new rules requiring travelers by land and sea from Canada to prove their citizenship. They must have a passport, OR two documents, a birth certificate and a government-issued ID. The rule has been criticized because of the burden it could put on routine border crossings by those who work or travel back and forth regularly, and the long lines at entry points that are likely to develop. We haven't seen much written about this, but here is a recent AP story that has more details. This should serve as a reminder to go ahead and get a passport if you don't have one already.

Marriott, the biggest hotel operator in the region, had a drop in quarterly profit but not because you were paying less to stay in its rooms. The AP reports the details here.

Airlines are issuing their usual alerts about areas affected by what looks like a doozie of a winter storm moving across the Midwest and upper South toward PHL and other airports in the region. Wear your mittens, button up and prepare for a slog if your're on the road or in the air tomorrow..

The Road Warrior column looks at the safety of flyng U.S. airlines. Find it here.

We found a short but informative story about what is surely to be a topic of great concern and interest in the years ahead: the global effect on the climate of travel and tourism. Read the story here.

Change is a constant in life and so it is with what you are seeing at the top of this page today. Don't worry. What has for the last 16 months been the Philly Road Warrior blog has changed its name to Winging It, but the principal author is still the smiling guy whose face appears to the right. The Philly Road Warrior column that appears in the Monday Inquirer Business section in print and online will also be renamed Winging It. The change reflects the reality that this is primarily a space devoted to air travel.

In coming weeks, we also plan to switch to a different blog publishing platform, designed to make it easier for you to comment on what we post. Beyond that, the only other difference you're likely to notice is more comment and analysis on the news of the day, in both the blog and the column. We will still focus on news and information from around the world that is useful to the PHL flier. If you continue to visit here, we think you'll enjoy the ride. Or make that, enjoy the flight.

A slight decrease in travel, by both air and road, is expected this Memorial Day weekend and on into the summer. Read more in an Inquirer story this morning that looks at the predictions and what it may mean for the Philadelphia region's own efforts to attract visitors.

This story from a public radio program, should be of great interest to all those who wish more rail service was available as an alternative to air and road travel. Find it here.