We publish a lot of stories every week on Gadling. Sometimes, you might just miss one or two. Don’t spend your entire weekend combing for the must-read stories. We’ve gathered everything that was popular from the last week. Here’s your one-stop, weekly roundup.
Most Read
Most Eye-Opening
Biggest “Good to Know” Moment for Frequent Flyers
Biggest Question of the Week
Best 48-Hour Trip This Week
Most Read on AOL Travel
Most Popular on Social Media
Traveling isn’t always about the “touristy” parts of your destination. Sometimes, you want to hit the side streets for a taste of the more gritty, local culture. Many urban areas and downtown alleyways feature explosions of color in the name of “street art” — aka, graffiti. Some cities hate it, others embrace it. Where have you seen the most interesting street art?
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The U.S. Travel Association (USTA) is battling what they believe to be the cause of problems at our airports; budget restrictions and poor planning. They believe the current system leaves airports unable to handle millions of visitor a year. They have some specific recommendations too.
Calling for a 50-percent reduction in peak the wait times, the USTA believes it should take just 30 minutes to process travelers. They want Customs and Border Protection staffing and participation in the Global Entry Program increased. Congress should be involved in an ongoing way, and should require periodic progress reports, says the association in a list of 20 recommended policy changes.
Back at the TSA, the new system is indeed a step in the right direction, classifying travelers into three tiers — expedited, standard or enhanced — with each level requiring different procedures and qualifiers. The current system treats all travelers the same and is exactly what the Travel Association wants changed.
In an Open Letter to the U.S. Congress, over 70 travel leaders even suggested ways to fund the additional programing necessary to address the problem and increase transparency in the entire process. It’s a lofty goal but one worthy of pursuit: the U.S. economy could lose $95 billion and 518,000 jobs over the next five years due to long security and customs lines at the nation’s airports.
Back in July we reported on a developer in Peru who bulldozed a 4,000 year old pyramid. Situated on the site of El Paraíso, a 4,000 year-old settlement pre-Inca near Lima, it’s one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. It’s also prime real estate.
That’s why developers decided to bulldoze one of the pyramids to make way for some new housing. The prehistoric monument was completely leveled, and they would have taken down three more pyramids if an archaeologist and some watchmen didn’t intervene.
Two private companies, Compañía y Promotora Provelanz E.I.R.L and Alisol S.A.C Ambas, claim to own the land, but the Ministry of Culture says it’s owned by the government. Both sides have put up signs at the site claiming ownership. After the bulldozing incident, the government doubled security.
Now Past Horizons reports that two months later, no charges have been brought against the companies or any individuals identified as being part of the work crew. It appears that the two companies have won this round.
This video shows what the pyramid used to look like, and the barren destruction that’s been left in the name of development.
Need more reason to be concerned? In some parts of the world, road accidents and highway deaths rank fifth as a leading cause of death. That’s more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and others.