August 25, 200816 yr Some background: Governor Beshear was pushed last month to sign an executive order allowing the low-speed electric vehicles on Kentucky roads that have a speed limit of < 45 MPH. He passed it despite some opposition. BREAKING NEWS Electric car manufacturer commits to Kentucky; pledges 4,000 jobs By Jack Brammer, Pol Watchers Blog, August 25, 2008 FRANKFORT -- Simpson County will be the site of a new $84 million factory to build low-speed electric vehicles that is expected to employ 4,000 workers, Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday. Beshear said at a Capitol news conference that Integrity Automotive of Shelbyville will partner with the California-based ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) electric car maker to expand its manufacturing operations, which are currently based in China.
August 26, 200816 yr Sounds a lot like those NEV's I posted pics of a while back. Are there any pics/descriptions of these vehicles?
August 26, 200816 yr It was a tossup between Indiana and Kentucky, Originaljbw. Beshear was pressured by his Democratic colleagues -- and many Republicans, to pass a bill to allow the ZAP vehicles on the roadway. What puzzles me is why they are only allowed on roads with a speed limit less than 45 MPH. Amish buggies are allowed on 55 MPH backroads, provided they have reflectors, and they travel much slower than a ZAP car that can travel faster than 45 MPH. This isn't just a boon for Kentucky, but for the nation. We used to drool over the Japanese when they built automobile manufacturing plants -- remember that Georgetown, Kentucky was Toyota's flagship manufacturing facility when it came in in the mid-1980s. Now we are drooling over the Chinese. -- As a side note, there was an article in the Charleston Gazette two weeks ago (I wish I posted it here) about electric trucks becoming prevalent in West Virginia. While they are technically illegal on the road, there is nothing stopping you from owning one. Many are used for on-the-farm jobs, or for quick trips to the store or town, and by one count, there are hundreds that are actively being used. See more at -- http://www.zapworld.com/
November 13, 200816 yr Electric cars greenlighted for Ky. roads The Gleaner, November 13, 2008 Kentucky Transportation Secretary Joe Prather has signed an administrative order allowing so-called alternative electric vehicles to be registered and titled for the first time in Kentucky. Prather's order applies to alternative electric vehicles that meet federal safety standards for motorcycles. Their operation is restricted to roadways with posted speed limits of no more than 45 mph.
November 20, 200816 yr Plans for Ky. electric car factory stall By Jack Brammer, Bluegrass Politics (Herald Leader blog), November 19, 2008 FRANKFORT — Highly ballyhooed plans to build ZAP electric vehicles in Kentucky have stalled. A key investor has pulled out of the project and backers now say they need $150 million to $200 million in federal assistance. If additional funding for the $84 million factory — which Gov. Steve Beshear said in August would employ 4,000 workers — cannot be found, it may have to move to another state willing to provide richer incentives, one of its key partners said Wednesday.
November 21, 200816 yr Uh... GE Capital: There was no financing deal for electric car plant By John Stamper, Bluegrass Politics (Herald-Leader blog, now on their main page), November 20, 2008 FRANKFORT – GE Capital, the lending arm of General Electric Co., never had a deal to help finance a project to employ 4,000 workers building ZAP electric vehicles in Kentucky, a spokesman said Thursday. Stephen White, spokesperson for GE Capital in Connecticut, said Thursday that his company “never made a commitment” to California-based ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) or its partner, Integrity Manufacturing of Shepherdsville.
November 22, 200816 yr ZAP to begin production in Shepherdsville By Brent Adams, Business First of Louisville, November 20, 2008 Financing challenges are causing a fledgling electric vehicle manufacturer to change its business plan on the fly. Randall Waldman, CEO of Shepherdsville-based Integrity Manufacturing LLC, said GE Capital recently informed him that it could not honor its commitment to buy $125 million in bonds Integrity needed to sell to finance a planned 1 million-square-foot electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Franklin, Ky. GE Capital officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
November 25, 200816 yr I wish I knew about this sooner! I've been posting updates for years at newsgroup misc.transport.road. Ohio River Bridges: Will they ever be? Costs still make bridges a question after all these years By David A. Mann, News and Tribune, November 22, 2008 Amanda Bowyer believes the proposed Ohio River bridges will probably happen someday, but not anytime soon. “It seemed to be moving for a while there — then nothing,” she said. Bob Brewer goes out on a limb when he answers the question: Will the Ohio River bridges ever be built?
January 3, 200916 yr Bridge-site digging yields historic finds Artifacts offer a glimpse into Kentucky's past Courier Journal, January 2, 2009 LOUISVILLE - Pre-construction work by archaeological experts at the sites where two Ohio River bridges will be built has produced a wealth of information about people who lived there as long ago as 3500 B.C. Without the costly and extensive bridges project, Susan Neumeyer, an archaeologist with the Kentucky Department of Transportation, said the extensive archaeological work wouldn't have been done.
March 4, 200916 yr This is of interest, because Beshear is pushing for the tolling of new bridge projects in the state that are classified as "mega projects" -- or projects with a price tag of over $1 billion. A worthy venture! Beshear talks roads, bridges and incentives with House leaders By Ryan Alessi, Bluegrass Politics Blog, March 03, 2009 Gov. Steve Beshear made a rare trip to the third floor of the Capitol to huddle with House Democratic leaders about the road construction plan lawmakers are currently negotiating and a plan to create a bridge authority that would work with Indiana. Beshear also said he made a pitch for a complicated package of economic development incentives his administration is pushing that tentatively was scheduled to come up for a vote in the House Tuesday. That vote will likely be pushed back, House leaders said.
March 4, 200916 yr Another article... Senate to unveil proposed state road plan on Wednesday By Jack Brammer and Ryan Alessi, Bluegrass Politics Blog, March 3, 2009 Top lawmakers said they expect to unveil the latest draft of a major list of Kentucky road construction projects Wednesday. Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said senators have been in long talks with Gov. Steve Beshear’s Transportation Cabinet and will release their edited version of the plan, which the House worked on last week.
March 11, 200916 yr Former Toyota official takes over electric car builder By Kevin Eigelbach, Business First of Louisville, March 9, 2009 Randall Waldman has sold his interest in Integrity Automotive LLC to former Toyota Motor Corp. executive Gary Dodd, who plans to carry forward Waldman’s plans to make electric cars at a plant in Franklin, Ky. Dodd said Monday that he hopes that ZAP Motor Manufacturing of Kentucky Inc., the company he incorporated last week as Integrity Automotive’s successor, could start making electric cars as soon as six months from now.
March 11, 200916 yr New firm hopes to get plant into gear Plan to build electric cars taken over by Prospect company, but residents skeptical after delays By Jenna Mink, The Daily News, March 10, 2009 A new company has taken the reigns of the often-delayed ZAP electric car plant, and it plans to move forward with a project slated for Franklin. ZAP Motor Manufacturing of Kentucky, a start-up company based in Prospect, will take over the project after Shepherdsville-based Integrity Manufacturing closed its doors last week after it reportedly ran out of money.
April 14, 200916 yr I renamed the thread because Kentucky has now become the forerunner and choice for a lithium-ion battery manufacturer that will bring 2,000 jobs to the Commonwealth, but it is dependent on federal funding. Integrity Automotive is still hanging around, apparently, but they are awaiting for better economic movements here and in China. Battery manufacturing plant could bring 2,000 jobs to Kentucky Bluegrass Politics, April 13, 2009 FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear announced Monday that Kentucky will be the site of a car battery manufacturing and headquarters facility that could bring an investment of more than $600 million and create nearly 2,000 jobs. The National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries has chosen a 1,551 acre site near Glendale in Hardin County as the site for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant. However, the project is dependent upon the Alliance receiving an unspecified amount of federal funding. See the blog URL for more on this.
April 17, 200916 yr Kentucky considers upping incentives for proposed battery plant By Jack Brammer, Herald-Leader, April 17, 2009 FRANKFORT — The race to grab federal funding for an advanced battery manufacturing plant may get more expensive for Kentucky taxpayers. State officials are trying to find additional incentives to bolster their chances against Michigan in a cut-throat competition for $2 billion in federal stimulus dollars to help fund proposed lithium-ion battery plants.
May 11, 200916 yr My solution is that of 8664's: Tear down Interstate 64 along the waterfront, construct the East End Bridge and Tunnel to link Interstate 265 and number the bypass north of Interstate 64, Interstate 64. Interstate 64 west of the Watterson is only four-lanes and cannot be widened due to Cherokee Park and the Cherokee Park Tunnels, so it is unrealistic to add capacity when it will only be constrained mid-point. Toll the damn bridges and build it already. We can have it paid off sooner than it would take to start construction using the current funding mechanism, it seems. State to delay bond sales for bridges project By Marcus Green, The Courier-Journal, May 8, 2009 Kentucky has spent more than $108 million over six years planning the Ohio River Bridges Project, a review of state records shows. But without assurances of long-term funding for the project, state officials intend to delay spending an additional $232 million in bond money approved by lawmakers.
June 11, 200916 yr Sad, but interesting... http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/03/16/highways-to-nowhere-the-7-most-ridiulous-new-roads/
June 11, 200916 yr Does anyone from southern Indiana have an opinion on the I-69 project? Is there really a need for an interstate between those two cities or are local roads working out fine?
June 11, 200916 yr Does anyone from southern Indiana have an opinion on the I-69 project? Is there really a need for an interstate between those two cities or are local roads working out fine? Much of Southern Indiana is impoverished, especially along the new-terrain route, and some people there think the road will bring economic development in the form of industries as well as bringing more tourist revenue to French Lick and West Baden Springs. The people who want to build the road capitalize on those hopes while obfuscating the long-term property-tax implications and other local costs associated with the project. The people who really want the road are trucking companies, construction contractors, and possibly people who bought land in the right places when it was dirt cheap. In other parts of the state it's promoted as good for commerce because it provides a Great Lakes-to-Mexico expressway for trucks. As such, it's a case of Goverment taking taxpayers' money to build a corridor for the trucking industry and giving trucking a subsidized advantage over the railroads that build and maintain their own rights-of-way and then pay taxes on them. It subsidizes a transport mode that uses three to five times more petroleum energy per ton-mile than rail freight, but even if the trucks were to disappear overnight, it likely still would be built because Mitch Daniels wants it. He almost always manages to bully his way through to achieve his goals, no matter what public desires or long-term public good dictate. Long-haul freight belongs on steel wheels on steel rails, not on rubber tires on pavement. The Indiana I-69 extension, even if built, could well become a white elephant if other states wise up to the folly and don't build their portions to complete the link-up. Another thought occurred to me; if the whole road across all the states is built, it will connect Michigan with Mexico. I'm having a little difficulty seeing how that will benefit Michigan. If anything, it looks like it will make it easier for the few remaining industries to load up their equipment and inventories and head for the border.
June 11, 200916 yr The Louisville Bridges thing is extremely political. There was always the east end bridge, to connect the beltway through the Indiana suburbs with the outeberlt Gene Synder, thus with I-64 and I-71. It made a lot of sense from a through-traffic POV. But it was strongly opposed by the elite who lived on the fashionable Kentucky side (and their "Riverfields" environmental group, which became their NIMBY pressure group). So this I-65 bridge was added to the plan. Its not stated as such but there is hope that the two bridges would cost way too much, and when the tradeoff comes it will be the East End bridge that gets cut. The riverfront park would be sacrificed so the snobs won't have an interestate crossing in their neighborhood.
June 12, 200916 yr I have choice words for the ICC. I'll leave it as that. There are a lot of needs for the DC metro. DC is pushing streetcars, MTA is pushing the Purple Line, and the Silver Line will promote hopefully, as the Orange Line did in Arlington, some smart growth. Here's to the prudent projects in the DC metro, and down with the poorly thought out and short sighted projects. The only saving grace is that the ICC is a toll road, and in the future could be used to fund other transportation needs in the state, provided MD 200 is able to pay its bonds. As for the Louisville Bridges.... 8664. As for I-69, what an atrocious waste of money. Some things make it seem like it's still the early sixties. It's not. It's 2009, and we need to start thinking that way. Tie NEPA road projects to a cost benefit ratio, like they do for most rail projects. Perhaps then we'd see smart infrastructure, rather than politically motivated infrastructure.
June 12, 200916 yr Rogers might be well-intentioned, but the project is a disaster. The 420-mile route, connecting Paducah in the west to Pikeville in the east, lies directly between I-64 and I-40, which are only three hours apart. In this rural area, a freeway simply isn’t necessary. There is little traffic on existing roads. More importantly, neighboring states have abandoned work on connecting segments, meaning that the highway would effectively dead-end into local roads at both ends. But the the most dire effects would be on the environment. The road would tear through the Appalachians and the Daniel Boone National Forest, a fact conveniently ignored when the Bush Administration fast-tracked the proposal in 2003. If this is to incorporate the Daniel Boone Parkway and the Cumberland Parkway there already are highways on the route. I have to say the Cumberland Parkway is the oddest road to drive on. Four lane divided highway with full grade seperated interchanges. And nary a soul on it.
June 12, 200916 yr Is there any example of a highway to rural nowhere that have actually had any positive effect on economic development? Ohio 32 is useful only to make it faster for Cincinnatians to go to Washington D.C.. Kentucky gets lots of poorly thought out investment because it is so poor in so many places that money is thrown at them. If I had to pick investments near these projects but that would be more useful - 1. Making U.S. 27 a full four lane highway through to I-70. 2. Finishing making 460 through the back end of VA, WV, and KY into a full four lane highway to the Mtn. Parkway.
June 12, 200916 yr Interstate 66 is a waste of money. I remember as a kid, newspaper articles were toting this supposed west-to-east coast link that would connect Interstate 66 in Virginia to New Mexico. States began dropping out when the costs to construct the highway became extreme and funding pools dried up as maintenance expenses began to escalate. What's sad about it is that Interstate 66 was pushed heavily by Governor Ernie Fletcher ® and his cronies (e.g. Rep. Hal Rogers ®). It will use the Cumberland Parkway and the Western Kentucky Parkway -- both four-lane limited-access freeways that need improvements to become interstate-capable, and the Daniel Boone... er Hal Rogers Parkway, which is two-lanes and contains interchanges and at-grade intersections and would require substantial improvements. Furthermore, Interstate 66 would supplement an underused and fairly new Kentucky Route 80 by the Rockcastle River - a designated wild and scenic river. Further east, it would slide in between the recently completed US 119/Corridor G four-lane expressway and the under-construction US 460/Corridor Q expressway, so it is a complete waste of money. Three major east-west four-lane highways within a 40 mile span? And it wouldn't connect to anything in West Virginia. That state is constructing the Coalfields Expressway to connect Interstate 66 to the King Coal Highway (US 52/once proposed Interstate 73/74) near Welch, although its being built to four-lane corridor standards with interchanges and intersections, not as an interstate. Proposals once extended the highway west to Kentucky but the state has no money for that. Right now, Interstate 66 is being constructed as a bypass of Somerset, which replaces a four-lane highway with five at-grade intersections that had little to no congestion. It will connect nothing to nothing, and cost at least $2 billion. -- Interstate 69 in Indiana is a waste of money, in my opinion. The state would be better served by a four-lane upgrade of US 41. The states of Kentucky and Indiana are proposing a new bridge over the Ohio River at Henderson, which would supplement the twin spans that already exist at that site. Such a bridge would cost at least $1 billion. -- Interstate 65's Kennedy Bridge at Louisville over the Ohio River is needed now, but may not be once Interstate 265's East End Bridge is complete. The Ohio River Bridges project is a $4 billion development that includes completing Interstate 265 for a true bypass of Louisville, constructing a new Ohio River bridge and tunnel for that interstate, constructing a twin Interstate 65 span in downtown, and reconstructing the deficient Interstate 64/65/71 interchange. I don't think this is a waste of money, given that Interstate 65 has a level of service of D and F for much of the day, and that the tri-interstate interchange involves weaving, sharp curves and poor sight distances and is woefully underpowered. Completing the Interstate 265 bypass would give Interstate 64 and 71 drivers a true bypass around the city, and would allow for the removal of the Interstate 64 waterfront expressway when that through traffic is diverted.
October 31, 200915 yr Bridge authority members named By Tom Loftus, Courier-Journal, October 30, 2009 FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson on Friday named members of a new bi-state bridges authority — appointments that won the endorsement of groups with conflicting views of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
December 21, 200915 yr Louisville bridge plans move ahead $100 million in bonds sold; Brent Spence not part of plan Associated Press, December 18, 2009 LOUISVILLE - Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has announced the sale of $100 million in bonds for a long-sought project to build two new Ohio River bridges linking the Louisville area with southern Indiana.
January 11, 201015 yr Europe Slapping Rich With Massive Traffic Fines Switzerland, other European nations are slapping rich drivers with massive traffic fines By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press Writer GENEVA January 10, 2010 (AP) The Associated Press European countries are increasingly pegging speeding fines to income as a way to punish wealthy scofflaws who would otherwise ignore tickets. Switzerland and other European nations are slapping rich drivers with massive traffic fines. Advocates say a $290,000 (euro203,180.83) speeding ticket slapped on a millionaire Ferrari driver in Switzerland was a fair and well-deserved example of the trend. Germany, France, Austria and the Nordic countries also issue punishments based on a person's wealth. In Germany the maximum fine can be as much as $16 million compared to only $1 million in Switzerland. Only Finland regularly hands out similarly hefty fine to speeding drivers, with the current record believed to be a euro170,000 (then about $190,000) ticket in 2004. [read more ...]
January 19, 201015 yr :-o "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 20, 201015 yr Things like this make me love our country even more. I tend to see some of those countries/cultures as wiser and more mature than ours, and I think we would do well to learn from them instead of going around all smug and feeling superior and thinking we have a God-given mission to remake the world in our image.
January 20, 201015 yr I tend to see some of those countries/cultures as wiser and more mature than ours, and I think we would do well to learn from them instead of going around all smug and feeling superior and thinking we have a God-given mission to remake the world in our image. Exactly. I actually agree with this, and not because of some contempt for wealthy people. Fines are meant to be both a punishment and deterrent, just like jail time (they are just a less severe punishment than jail time). I feel all punishments should be equally punishing regardless of income. If you do something that causes you to have to serve a year in jail, you lose certain things based on that time in jail regardless of your income. They don't say, "well one guy has a $500k job so he should only have to spend a week in jail since he will lose out more monetarily". A traffic fine should work the same way. If we deem it unsafe and wrong to drive 100 MPH on the freeway, then people should be punished according with hopes it will hit them hard enough to deter them from doing the same in the future. A poorer person living check to check, barely able to pay a few hundred dollars rent a month, will surely feel the pain of a $150 fine and not want to speed again. However, what kind of slap on the wrist is this to a multi-millionaire? Why even pull them over? They surely won't learn anything from the fine or have any incentive not to go right out and do it again. And I also don't believe the Republican taxation argument (if you "work harder"/earn more money you shouldn't be penalized for it and have to give more of it up) applies here. These are punishments for wrong-doing. I don't see people purposely putting themselves in a lower income bracket so they can speed and pay lower fines for doing so.
January 20, 201015 yr ^okayyy... they may be more mature as a nation, but a $290,000 traffic ticket? That's insane. I could see some slightly progressive fine structure working to stop rich people from speeding at will simply because they know they can afford the ticket. However, most states have a points system or something like it that will take away someones license if they get too many tickets. Isn't that enough of an incentive to drive safely? The point of a police force on the road is to enforce traffic laws for the safety of everyone on the road. A police force should not be used as a revenue generator. Just my opinion.
January 20, 201015 yr ^okayyy... they may be more mature as a nation, but a $290,000 traffic ticket? That's insane. I think it seems as if they took the idea too far to the extreme. But to some people, a $290k fine may hurt less than a $150 fine to others. However, most states have a points system or something like it that will take away someones license if they get too many tickets. Isn't that enough of an incentive to drive safely? No, the point system is a joke in Ohio (and I assume in most states as well). It takes six speeding tickets in a two-year span (and all have to be 15 MPH or more over the speed limit or else they're 0 point violations, and that's assuming none of them are plea-bargained down to 0 point violations) before you go sit in front of a judge and then they either give you another chance or let you take a "class" to remove points from your license. But I guess part of this gets into the discussion of how our judicial system is too lenient when it needs to be more strict, which is probably a discussion for another thread.
January 20, 201015 yr I don't have a problem with fines based on income as long as it isn't done arbitrarily. For someone making $10,000 per year, a $100 fine is equal punishment to a $100,000 fine incurred by someone making $10,000,000 per year. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 20, 201015 yr This seems awfully draconian but I understand the logic behind the rich speeding because the fines are chump change. I think a better idea would be to take their license or put them in jail for wreckless operation. Joe Millionaire speeding and getting a huge fine isn't fair if he was just hustling to get somewhere. But Speed Demon Millionaire deserves a heftier punishment. Regardless the law should be blind. Why do I feel like Robert Taft speaking out against the Nuremberg Tribunal?
January 20, 201015 yr Regardless the law should be blind. The law should be blind. That's why I think monetary punishments are bad to begin with. Jail time hurts everyone the same. Obviously, jail time is real stiff for speeding, so there has to be some better punishments that fit the crime other than fines. Taking the license away or something like that seems like a more fair and fitting punishment.
January 20, 201015 yr I'd be happy if the rich were just slapped on occasion. No reason necessary. It should be the other way around!
March 29, 201015 yr Anti-toll groups form in Louisville By Marcus Green, The Courier-Journal, March 24, 2010 Architect Steve Wiser argues that charging tolls to cross the Ohio River will harm Louisville and “separate our states.” Financial planner Shawn Reilly views tolls as a tax that will hurt working-class residents and small businesses in Louisville and Southern Indiana. Both are part of a movement fueled by social networking sites like Facebook to oppose tolling area bridges to help pay for the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges project — and, in some cases, calling for a fresh look at the plan.
June 7, 201015 yr City may pave way on electronic tolling with cashless system By Marcus Green, Courier-Journal, June 6, 2010 They've done it in Stockholm and London, and Seattle plans to give it a try on a state road next spring. But Louisville would become the first U.S. city to convert interstates to completely "cashless" toll roads, if a proposal for helping pay for the Ohio River Bridges Project goes forward. Under the cashless plan, also known as open-road tolling, no tollbooths are used. Instead, motorists with transponders and prepaid accounts are charged when they pass under an overhead gantry. The system also captures the license plates of vehicles without a transponder, and the cars' owners are sent a bill.
June 7, 201015 yr ^ These are the issues where I go all wacko nutso libertarian. I'm quite outraged by the prospect.
August 24, 201014 yr http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129395326 China's Massive Traffic Jam Could Last For Weeks by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BEIJING August 24, 2010, 09:48 am ET massive traffic jam in north China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said. Bumper-to-bumper gridlock spanning for 60 miles (100 kilometers) with vehicles moving little more than a half-mile (one kilometer) a day at one point has improved since this weekend, said Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou city's Traffic Management Bureau general office. Some drivers have been stuck in the jam for five days, China Central Television reported Tuesday. But Zhang said he wasn't sure when the situation along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway would return to normal. ...
August 25, 201014 yr That's unreal! Being stuck in a traffic jam for five days?! That sounds downright life-threatening. Cause of death: starvation by traffic jam! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 30, 201014 yr I read a story about a massive traffic jam in Cleveland around 1960. Any Clevelanders know about this?
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