March 10, 201015 yr This needs to come out in 3-C debates and other rail discussions when people complain that conventional-speed rail is not good enough. We need to tell them that the feds put that limit on Amtrak.
March 10, 201015 yr The feds put limits on highway speeds at one time, too, but the speed restrictions have been removed and are now set by the states.
March 11, 201015 yr I like that. If the states have to develop the rail projects, then the states should be allowed to set the speeds for them, and the conditions necessary for various speeds. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 14, 201015 yr Nah. You do it! :-P "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 14, 201015 yr First chance I get. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 19, 201015 yr I was just in a meeting where a woman had a sticker on her computer that said "Live Free or Drive." I like that.
March 19, 201015 yr Last Updated: March 18. 2010 1:00AM Car culture: Fix roads to handle high-speed travelers John McCormick From President Barack Obama on down, there has been a lot of bold talk lately about reviving our decrepit national railway system with high-speed trains to rival the world's best. As a car guy and a fan of high-speed train service, this new impetus leaves me conflicted. On the one hand, the attractions of truly fast trains are hard to deny. Having traveled in business class comfort on such trains in Asia and Europe at sustained speeds of well over 200 mph, I'm convinced that for certain distances and certain locations, train travel makes more sense than going by plane or car. But the car enthusiast in me doesn't want to sacrifice individual mobility and the freedom to travel where I want, at speed, on a good road system. And I'm sure many American consumers feel the same way. READ MORE AT: http://detnews.com/article/20100318/AUTO03/3180381/#ixzz0if1XziPp "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 27, 201015 yr Usually I agree with LaTourette. Perhaps he would feel differently if a bicycle manufacturer was in his district (I'm assuming there isn't). Or perhaps he doesn't realize roadbuilders also create jobs building bike paths.... March 26, 2010, 10:03 am Transportation Department Embraces Bikes, and Business Groups Cry Foul By LEORA BROYDO VESTEL ....At a House appropriations committee hearing last week, Congressman Steven LaTourette, Republican of Ohio, brought up the new policy and asked a Transportation Department official to clarify what Mr. LaHood means by “equal treatment.” “If we’re going to spend $1 million on a road, we’re not going to have half of it go to a bike lane and half of it go to cars?” he asked, according to a transcript of the hearing. “My interpretation of that would be equal in the eyes of policymakers as what is the expenditure you make, what is the benefit you get,” responded Roy Kienitz, D.O.T.’s under secretary for policy. “And if the freight project offers the best bang, great, but if the bike project offers a good bang, great for them.” “I don’t even understand how you get a bang for the buck out of a bicycle project,” Mr. LaTourette subsequently commented. “I mean, what job is going to be created by having a bike lane?” READ MORE AT: http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/transportation-department-embraces-bikes-and-business-groups-cry-foul/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 27, 201015 yr So, when it's a roads-to-bikes comparison, job creation is a key metric. But when it's roads-to-rails, job creation plays third fiddle (to number of users and speed). If all transportation options had exactly the same benefits, we really would only need one kind. The thing is, they all have their own strengths, and shouldn't be judged by their failing to live up to the others' strengths. That seems so simple and obvious, yet many, many people don't seem to get it.
March 28, 201015 yr Scrabble: Duplicate post. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 28, 201015 yr Usually I agree with LaTourette. Perhaps he would feel differently if a bicycle manufacturer was in his district (I'm assuming there isn't). Or perhaps he doesn't realize roadbuilders also create jobs building bike paths.... March 26, 2010, 10:03 am Transportation Department Embraces Bikes, and Business Groups Cry Foul By LEORA BROYDO VESTEL [ ... ] “I don’t even understand how you get a bang for the buck out of a bicycle project,” Mr. LaTourette subsequently commented. “I mean, what job is going to be created by having a bike lane?” Safer alternatives for cycling, like bike paths/lanes, can provide access to jobs for people who otherwise would experience considerable difficulty finding jobs they can get to because they don't drive/have access to cars. Many cities, like mine, don't have late-night public transportation, and yet many of the jobs available to the working poor (cleaning crews, etc.) are late at night in locations distant from the neighborhoods where the workers live. The jobs don't pay enough to justify cab fare, and the only cars they can afford to buy, if at all, are old and unreliable. A local study some years back showed that Fort Wayne's working poor spend sixty per cent of their incomes, after food and shelter, for transportation.
March 30, 201015 yr There are a number of cities where existing rail corridors for planned Ohio Hub/Midwest Regional routes pass near commercial passenger airports -- Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Erie, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Toledo.... http://durbin.senate.gov/showRelease.cfm?releaseId=323320 Durbin: Senate Approves Durbin Amendment to Study Partnerships Between Air and Rail Travel Monday, March 22, 2010 [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – The U.S. Senate today approved an amendment authored by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study ways to increase coordination between air and passenger rail travel. Durbin’s amendment was approved as part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act. The amendment specifically identifies codeshare agreements as one way that airlines and passenger rail providers can better coordinate travel. “Today, code sharing is very common among airlines looking to sell travel to cities that it may not otherwise serve,” said Durbin. “Expanding this service to include passenger rail providers would increase the options available to take travelers to their destinations. These types of connections between air and rail service would also bring smaller towns and cities closer to major hub airports where they can travel to almost any destination in the world.” A codeshare agreement between two airlines allows customers access to both airline networks which directly benefits the consumer through a streamlined ticket purchasing process, combined frequent flyer programs and increased destinations and flight choices. “With $8 billion announced earlier this year for high speed rail nationwide – $1.2 billion for Illinois – this is the right time to explore the best way to integrate air travel and passenger rail service,” said Durbin. Currently, there is only one codeshare agreement between an airline and a passenger rail provider. Amtrak has service directly to Newark Airport, a key hub of Continental Airlines. The arrangement between Amtrak and Continental provides air travelers with connecting rail service on Regional and Keystone trains to Philadelphia, Wilmington, Stamford and New Haven. Conversely, Amtrak travelers on these trains can travel Amtrak directly to Newark Airport and then travel anywhere Continental Airlines flies. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 31, 201015 yr New poll shows Americans strongly support public transportation; more walking & biking March 30, 2010 By Stephen Lee Davis American voters overwhelmingly support broader access to public transportation and safe walking and biking, according to this new national poll conducted for Transportation for America and released to the media today this afternoon. With the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ramping up efforts to draft a new long-term transportation bill before the end of the year, the results should be instructive to Senators. http://t4america.org/blog/2010/03/30/new-t4-poll-shows-americans-strongly-support-public-transportation-more-walking-and-biking/
March 31, 201015 yr Great editorial cartoon from USA Today: http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Editorial-Cartoons/G373
March 31, 201015 yr Awesome. I see Jeff Stahler from the Columbus Dispatch drew it. Double awesome. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 31, 201015 yr Good one to use if the tea-baggers ever show up here to protest rail & transit funding.....
April 1, 201015 yr DOT Stimulus Payouts Hit $10 Billion John D. Boyd | Mar 31, 2010 4:09PM GMT The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story About $38 billion has been made available for state-administered projects The Department of Transportation has paid out $10 billion to states for highway repairs and other transport project work completed under last year’s stimulus package to shore up the economy. The DOT also reported through the Recovery.gov Web site that it has made nearly $38 billion available to states, backing ongoing projects and allowing more to be planned. It disburses the funds once work is completed. Full story at: http://www.joc.com/government-regulation/dot-stimulus-payouts-hit-10-billion
April 6, 201015 yr Know thy enemy. Yep, that European transportation system - what a horror. Smooth, fast highways. Walkable and bikeable town centers. Tens of thousands of trains in France, Germany and the UK, some of which exceed 125 mph. Extensive transit. And oil consumption that's half the per-capita consumption of America. Terrible.... A Son of Portland, Ore., Tries to Puncture the Myth of 'Smart Growth' By SAQIB RAHIM of ClimateWire Published: July 15, 2009 Randal O'Toole thinks riding the train damages the climate more than driving an SUV. And he thinks his numbers prove it. It's just one of the nuggets that have made O'Toole a regular gadfly for the "smart growth" movement. When gas prices spiked last year, drivers flocked to mass transit, and urban planners took note. They knew it would lend credence to visions they had long imagined: dense urban neighborhoods, with transit veins that would make cars almost obsolete. It would be a "smart growth" model far more gentle for people -- and the climate -- than suburban sprawl. READ MORE AT: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/07/15/15climatewire-a-son-of-portland-ore-tries-to-puncture-the-52412.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 6, 201015 yr Charolette at least seems to realize they reached a tipping point. http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/01/infrastructure.rebuild/index.html Americans rebuild for the 'new urban century'By John Blake, CNN April 1, 2010 10:21 a.m. EDT In Charlotte, North Carolina, commuters zip along a sparkling new light rail system into a booming downtown district. "We're creating infrastructure for human beings, rather than automobiles," says Michael Smith, CEO of Center City Partners in Charlotte, a group of business leaders that has helped lead a revival of the city's downtown. Creating a new infrastructure means new rules, experts say. What's on the way out: sprawling interstates, suburban living, long car commutes. What's now in: light rail, green space and vibrant downtown districts
April 6, 201015 yr Cross-posted from the 3C thread.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 8, 201015 yr The coming impact on DOT budgets... Fuel Efficiency Up! Revenue Down? Adie Tomer April 2, 2010 | 10:09 am Finalizing a deal between major auto manufacturers and federal officials, the two sides announced new fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles beginning in 2012. The goal is to increase the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks sold in the United States, thereby lowering the country’s emissions from the personal transportation sector. The changes have been long overdue. While engine-efficiency technology has continued to improve, the country’s fuel-efficiency standards have not followed suit. The standard for cars has been stuck at 27.5 mpg since 1990, while the light-truck standard rose from 20.0 mpg in 1990 to just 23.5 mpg in 2010. Due to these minimal increases the country’s average fuel efficiency has barely risen in the past two decades. In the case of today’s announcement, the increases to 39.5 mpg for cars and 29.8 mpg for light trucks—all by 2016—mark a drastic about face. And there are quite a few reasons to like the change. First, it will reduce auto-sourced environmental pollutants. Second, it will reduce both our national consumption of oil and purchases of foreign oil. Third, it will save American households a projected $3,000 in gas purchases over the life of a new vehicle. Source URL: http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-avenue/fuel-efficiency-revenue-down
April 8, 201015 yr I'm always intrigued about how people come up with these statistics. Why is this going to reduce our consumption of oil rather than allow us to buy more of it to take longer trips? Increases in efficiency often lead to increases in consumption of whatever has been made more efficient, because, as against the universe of other ways to spend one's money, the value of the good or service just went up due to the efficiency improvement, ceteris paribus. Counterintuitive thought exercise: What do you think would happen to the auto industry and to Americans' driving habits over the long term if the government mandated a maximum fuel efficiency of 10 MPG?
April 8, 201015 yr We had a maximum average efficiency of about 10% in the past. Everyone drove fewer miles. There in an unintended consequence of fuel efficiency standards: drivers switch from cars to trucks to because the standard for trucks is lower. Before the CAFE standards, station wagons were very popular family cars. When the CAFE standards mandated better fuel economy for cars, drivers switched to pickup trucks and vans, formerly the preferred vehicles for farmers and contractors. Pickup trucks and vans were manufactured with more luxery features, the van was scaled down to a minivan and the pickup truck was enclosed as an SUV. Station wagons all but disappeared. Fuel efficiency does not "save" petroleum! It just leads to more miles driven.
April 10, 201015 yr New Climate Bill Proposes Motor Fuel Fees - Transit and Transportation Funding Uncertain APTA Members Urged to Contact Senators Immediately! Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) have drafted a new climate and energy bill that they hope to bring to the Senate floor this year. The three Senators have announced plans to limit carbon emissions from the transportation sector by including a fee on motor fuels based on the price of carbon dioxide under a cap-and-trade system. This proposed fee is being referred to as a "linked fee," which would raise the price of motor fuels. The linked fee would act similar to a gas tax, but it is unclear if the bill will provide any significant transportation investment. Last week, APTA helped organize a coalition letter with 26 national transportation groups to call on Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman to dedicate revenues from any new fees on motor fuels to investment in transit and transportation under a multi-year authorization bill. APTA and the other groups, including the American Association of the State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), are very concerned that the enactment of a "linked fee" without resulting transportation investment would present a very serious obstacle to completing a surface transportation bill. To view the coalition letter, click here: http://www.apta.com/gap/letters/2010/Pages/100401_kerrygrahamandlieberman.aspx?Site=MyAPTA A “linked fee” on motor fuels would generate tens of billions of revenue annually, and those revenues could be used to fund a new authorization bill. At present, the current Kerry-Graham-Lieberman proposal is believed to use those revenues for numerous other purposes such as consumer relief for increases in electricity prices, deficit reduction, and technology investment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The three Senators have indicated they will release legislative details as soon as Earth Day on April 22. Climate and energy legislation remains a priority of the Obama Administration, and the new bill is intended to be a bi-partisan alternative to previous climate bills. If it advances to the floor, it would supersede the bill approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last fall (S. 1733, “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act”), which would have provided dedicated investment for public transportation. Action Alert APTA members need to contact their Senators regarding the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill. When you talk to your Senators and their staff, please ask the following: • Urge the Senator or their staff to contact Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and other Senate leaders to express support for transit and transportation investment in a climate bill. • Ask your Senator to support the user fee concept: new fees on motor fuels should be returned to the transportation sector and invested under a multi-year authorization bill. • Remind your Senator of the environmental benefits of transit service in your community from current federal funding and point out that a new authorization bill is needed to maintain and expand service. Sample Letter and Electronic Messages: To view a sample letter to your senators, click here: http://images.magnetmail.net/images/clients/APTA/attach/Kerry_Graham_Lieberman_ClimateBill_SampleLetter.doc To use the APTA Action Center to send an electronic message to your Senators, click here: http://capwiz.com/napta/issues/alert/?alertid=14918111 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 12, 201015 yr Cross-posted from "What other states are doing with rail"... A Southern Success Story for Public Transportation Offers Lessons in Livability By JOSH VOORHEES of Greenwire Published: April 5, 2010 When Charlotte's new light rail line opened, it vastly exceeded anticipated ridership figures. As the city plans an extension of the system, the federal government is revising how it distributes funding to avoid making the same mistake again. "Now, as the city plans the second phase of its light-rail project, a three-car, 11-mile extension of the existing line from Uptown into northeast Charlotte, it also must retrofit the existing track to carry the longer trains. That means not only buying more rail cars, but also lengthening platforms and boosting power distribution. Estimated price tag of the retrofits: an additional $67 million. The Obama administration has taken notice, vowing to prevent what happened here from happening again. DOT is in the early stages of what it has dubbed its "livability" initiative, a comprehensive rewrite of the nation's transportation strategy that includes an overhaul of how road and transit projects are picked to receive federal funding." By including economic development opportunities and environmental considerations in the selection process for federal funding, the DOT is hoping to get the right amount of funding to projects in order to ensure their success. READ MORE AT: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/04/05/05greenwire-a-southern-success-story-for-public-transporta-52742.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 13, 201015 yr Someone just sent me an e-mail with a great line in it: "If we don’t pay for our own transportation infrastructure, China will." "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 16, 201015 yr Cross-posted from the tea party thread... Andrew Winston Environmental Strategist, author of Green Recovery, co-author, Green to Gold Posted: April 16, 2010 10:39 AM The Serious Problem With the Tea Party "Philosophy" This perspective is making it hard to do anything of scale in our country, such as building and investing in infrastructure (e.g., a new energy grid) or pass broad legislation to tackle as big a problem as climate change. Imagine a Congressman proposing that we spend what China is laying out on high-speed rail ($300 billion in the next three years) or even the hundreds of billions we need to spend on crumbling infrastructure. He or she would be pilloried by Fox and likely run out of office. I could easily be wrong, but I don't think we used to debate whether we needed things like roads, bridges, sewers, and rail. Republican President Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System after all. Without infrastructure, led by government, we can't grow and evolve (but that's the point of the movement isn't it?). So now we've got a rising portion of people thinking government equals bad, full stop. READ MORE AT: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-winston/the-serious-problem-with_b_540207.html?ref=email_share "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 20, 201015 yr Cost, efficiency issues squeeze auto designers By Alisa Priddle, The Detroit News, April 15, 2010 Detroit -- Americans may want their Motor City muscle, but global industry watchers say squeezing into smaller vehicles may be inevitable. "Over 15 years in Europe, the fleet size has gotten smaller," said Eric Fedewa, vice president of global powertrain forecasts for CSM Worldwide in Northville, at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress conference Wednesday. He expects the U.S. to follow Europe's lead as automakers struggle to meet government-mandated fuel efficiency ratings, and as consumers react to higher gas prices.
April 21, 201015 yr OneRail Coalition: Climate change bill needs to consider transportation ramifications The OneRail Coalition recently sent a letter to Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph Leiberman (I-Conn.) urging them to “carefully weigh the implications” of proposed climate change legislation on transportation modes. Legislators should consider the ramifications of raising funds from the transportation sector, or at a minimum ensure that such funds aren’t “misallocated to the detriment of sustainable, environmentally favorable and energy efficient transportation solutions,” coalition members wrote. Additional investments in clean transportation infrastructure would create jobs, cut transportation costs for consumers, and help meet the nation’s energy and climate goals, they believe. Full story at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=23082
April 21, 201015 yr However, most trains in Europe aren't high-speed rail. They travel at 80-125 mph on the much larger "classic" rail system as it is called... One Winner in the European Air Disaster: High Speed Rail Posted on Tuesday April 20th by Melissa Lafsky A commenter on yesterday’s post The European Air Shut-Down: A View From the Front Lines brought up an excellent point: Was the complete failure of aviation in Europe a boon for high-speed rail? With all those continental Europe flights canceled, it was certainly a golden opportunity for passenger rail to step in and save the day. And to a certain extent, it did. Progressive Fix reports that the U.K.’s Eurostar added more trains to its daily roster of 32 trains from London to and from Paris, and 18 trains to and from Brussels. And since so much of travel in Europe is already covered by rail, PF notes, the aviation disaster had a silver lining for trains: In fact, if there’s any winner in the crisis that began when a cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano drifted over the continent, it’s Europe’s railways. They have operated with few disruptions at the same time air flight was grounded by authorities over safety concerns. Since trains handle a large portion of commercial traffic between many cities, the average European has not been hurt by the “transportation tsunami”…. READ MORE AT: http://www.infrastructurist.com/2010/04/20/one-winner-in-the-european-air-disaster-high-speed-rail/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 21, 201015 yr So how/where would we travel/live if these subsidies were eliminated and fossil fuels cost a lot more to consume? Fossil-fuel subsidies hurting global environment, security April 21, 2010 A comprehensive assessment of global fossil-fuel subsidies has found that governments are spending $500 billion annually on policies that undermine energy security and worsen the environment. The study, titled "The Politics of Fossil-Fuel Subsidies" by David Victor, a professor of political science with UC San Diego's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS), was one of five released April 22 by the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). GSI's goal is to reform, reduce and ultimately eliminate fossil-fuel subsidies, which are highest in Iran, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, India and Venezuela. The reform effort received a boost September 2009 when President Obama and other world leaders met in Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Group of 20 Summit. They agreed in a non-binding resolution to phase out fossil-fuel subsidies, but the measure didn't attempt to resolve difficult political issues such as how governments would actually achieve a phaseout. Victor's study addresses the political challenges. READ MORE AT: http://www.physorg.com/news191072674.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 28, 201015 yr CSX’s Ward: U.S. needs to make ‘aggressive’ commitment to modernize infrastructure The United States must make a “renewed and aggressive” national commitment to modernize its infrastructure in order to maintain its leading position in the global economy, said CSX Corp. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward during a panel discussion yesterday on “Investing in Global Infrastructure” at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. “The quality of America’s infrastructure has long been one of the key reasons for its stunning success in the global marketplace,” said Ward. “Other nations are making serious forward-looking investments. The U.S. needs to do the same and do a better job of maintaining the strong but aging systems we already have in place.” Full story at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=23142
April 28, 201015 yr Lousy Roads Cost You $335 Annually By Chuck Squatriglia Email Author April 28, 2010 | 3:09 pm | Categories: Infrastructure That bone-jarring, suspension-shaking pothole you hit on the way to work each day is more than a hassle. It’s a drain on your wallet. U.S. roads are in such lousy condition that motorists spend an average of $335 each year repairing the damage all that potholed pavement inflicts on vehicles. That adds up to $67 billion dollars annually, according to a report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Read More http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/04/road-work-ahead-report#ixzz0mR68T5o8
April 28, 201015 yr And yet Ohio's General Assembly backed legislation to allow heavier trucks on Ohio's highways: many of them the same legislators who now oppose funding transportation options (transit and rail) that would take some of the crushing load off of our roadways. They will yelp and yowl about how Ohio can't afford $17-million a year to help support passenger rail, but you can hear crickets chirp while waiting for these same legislators to say a critical word about the annual cost (in the billions) of maintaining our highways or the soaring cost of building fixes for highway bottlenecks.... $1.7-BILION estimated to build the I-70-71 split in downtown Columbus and that project hasn't even begun.
April 29, 201015 yr They increased the weight for trucks but didn't increase their taxes to pay for the damage they cause. So we'll have to borrow that tax money from our children. Another dose of phony fiscal conservatism. And the I-70-71 split is just one 3C Corridor road project. There's more than $7 billion of road projects concentrated in less 15 route miles -- that's more than $467 million per mile! Is it any wonder ODOT's operations and maintenance budget will jump 40% from $2 billion in 2010 to $2.8 billion by 2017? And at least half of that is from general fund subsidies according to FHWA, Pew/Subsidyscope and others. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 29, 201015 yr And then there's this..... Note that the phony fiscal conservatives, who are so concerned about how the state can afford the $17 million for 3C and show no interest in funding transit, have no concern where $26 million per year will come from to pay for the highway patrol! Consider..... The highway patrol's budget for 2010-11 biennial is $636 million or an average of $318 per year for the two years. My research shows there are three sources of funding for the Ohio State Highway Patrol: Wholesale and Retail Motor Fuel Evaporation Tax Credits - $18 million per year Drivers license/registration late fee - $26 million per year (based on final three months of 2009) General revenue fund - $274 million http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/state_lawmakers_interested_in.html COLUMBUS, Ohio - Irate motorists have state lawmakers in both parties in full backpedal as they consider rolling back a new $20 fee for drivers more than seven days late renewing their driver's licenses or registering their cars. More than three dozen House lawmakers, most of them minority-party Republicans, are sponsoring a bill that would repeal the $20 late fee -- which netted $6.4 million during the final three months of 2009. However, the legislation offers no way of raising the $19 million to $30 million a year for the State Highway Patrol that the fee was expected to generate. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 29, 201015 yr And then there's this..... Note that the phony fiscal conservatives, who are so concerned about how the state can afford the $17 million for 3C and show no interest in funding transit, have no concern where $26 million per year will come from to pay for the highway patrol! Consider..... The highway patrol's budget for 2010-11 biennial is $636 million or an average of $318 per year for the two years. My research shows there are three sources of funding for the Ohio State Highway Patrol: Wholesale and Retail Motor Fuel Evaporation Tax Credits - $18 million per year Drivers license/registration late fee - $26 million per year (based on final three months of 2009) General revenue fund - $274 million http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/state_lawmakers_interested_in.html COLUMBUS, Ohio - Irate motorists have state lawmakers in both parties in full backpedal as they consider rolling back a new $20 fee for drivers more than seven days late renewing their driver's licenses or registering their cars. More than three dozen House lawmakers, most of them minority-party Republicans, are sponsoring a bill that would repeal the $20 late fee -- which netted $6.4 million during the final three months of 2009. However, the legislation offers no way of raising the $19 million to $30 million a year for the State Highway Patrol that the fee was expected to generate. In answer to a question posed on another thread about how much of this is offset by fines, I found this on the patrol's FAQ site: "Ohio State Highway Patrol operations are funded primarily through license plates and driver license fees, so the Patrol receives no benefit from traffic fine money. While the state of Ohio receives some fine money, the majority is retained by the municipality and/or county in which the offense occurred." http://statepatrol.ohio.gov/FAQ.stm The most recent annual report online (2006), however, says that 34% of the Patrol's revenue comes from "fees and fines" lumped together. Here's how they break down the fines: "We collected $449,937 in OVI fines from 165 county and municipal courts, and received $63,000 through the Immobilization Act. Revenue from drug fine money totaled $225,171, and $715,912 in forfeited funds was received through the efforts of our criminal patrol teams." http://statepatrol.ohio.gov/doc/2006annualreport.pdf See page 14. Rough estimate is about $1.4 million. So the fine revenue seems like a pretty small proportion of the overall budget.
April 29, 201015 yr Good info. Feel free to share your find in response to the question posed in the 3C thread. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 29, 201015 yr Lots of fines do go to municipalities, though, right? Why are we discounting this money? If we count revenue made by businesses and local taxes as benefits for rail transit, we must also count revenue generated for municipalities when it comes to analyzing highway spending. Money for taxpayers is money for taxpayers, however you cut it. This smacks of a double standard. I think it would be more honest to just count all revenue generated by the highway patrol as off-setting the cost of the highway patrol, regardless of where that money actually ends up.
April 29, 201015 yr http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/29/copy/now-is-time-to-raise-gas-tax-voinovich-says.html?adsec=politics&sid=101 For new roads and bridges Now is time to raise gas tax, Voinovich says Thursday, April 29, 2010 2:55 AM By Jack Torry THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH WASHINGTON - Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio has called for an increase in the federal gasoline tax, saying the money raised would inject a spark into the economy by paying for road and bridge construction. Appearing yesterday before a group of public and private officials from Ohio, Voinovich, a Republican, said the gasoline tax would let Congress approve a multiyear transportation bill to replace the old five-year law that expired in 2009. "We need to get this done now," Voinovich said in a breakfast meeting hosted by the Dayton Development Coalition. "We can't wait." Pointing out that President Barack Obama has considered a second major package to stimulate the economy, Voinovich said he told the president: "You want to get a real stimulus bill? Reauthorize the surface transportation act." Voinovich urged those in the audience to lobby lawmakers about the need for new roads and bridges in their communities and "to get them to understand that if we're going to get this done, we're going to have to increase the gas tax." More at above link:
April 29, 201015 yr Congress wants a smaller role in the highway biz April 26, 2010 Congress may shrink its historic role as the main funding source for building new highways, and officials from several states worry that the result could be crippling traffic across America. “In Washington, D.C., we’re hearing voices say we’re done investing in highways and we can’t build our way out of congestion,” said John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The group on Monday released a report, Transportation Reboot: Unlocking Gridlock, which warned that demand for car travel is far outpacing the available space on the nation’s roadways, and an infusion of new federal highway dollars is needed to avoid a level of gridlock that will choke the economies of dozens of cities. The report identified more than 100 urgently needed road projects, including one in Texas — U.S. 290 in Houston. But members of Congress, who are expected to debate a five-year transportation bill later this year, are showing little appetite for raising the gas tax or other funding sources to pay for new road work, Horsley said. Even if a new revenue source is identified, the money is more likely to be spent on public transportation such as buses and rail. Read More At: http://startelegram.typepad.com/honkin_mad/2010/04/congress-wants-a-smaller-role-in-the-highway-biz.html#ixzz0mVZji6KM "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 4, 201015 yr The Road Gang Roadbuilding Lobby Wary as Livability Advocates Gain Momentum By Matthew Lewis | April 28, 2010, 9:53 am Bob Schafer just laid off another worker. Schafer is a manager at Ranger Construction, a Florida-based company that builds roads in a state famously fueled by its own growth. For more than three decades, Ranger Construction helped connect all that development, but the economic recession has forced the company to cut more than one-third of its staff, which has dwindled to under a thousand. Looking ahead, Schafer worries whether state funding cuts might eventually mean laying off even more workers. “It could shut the lights out,” Schafer says. At more than six feet tall, Schafer makes an imposing figure at construction sites. He appears as focused as he is bald — which is to say completely. Full story at: http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/transportation_lobby/articles/entry/2052/
May 4, 201015 yr Very interesting article. Thanks. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 5, 201015 yr DOT Plan Would Reshape Freight Planning John D. Boyd | May 4, 2010 9:33PM GMT The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story Long-term vision targets multi-state spending, carbon reductions A proposed long-term vision to guide the Department of Transportation would focus on major freight system corridors, curb carbon use by freight operations and use more multi-jurisdiction planning instead of letting states decide how to spend much of the federal money budgeted for them. Those are elements of what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called “a new strategic plan that returns the focus of transportation decisions to the people who use the transportation systems and their communities.” As LaHood and other DOT officials have indicated in recent months, the “Transportation for a New Generation” concept would shift more freight out of trucking and onto railroads, build community “livability” concepts into freight facility planning and put greenhouse gas considerations firmly into freight funding and regulatory strategies. Full story at: http://www.joc.com/government-regulation/dot-plan-would-reshape-freight-planning
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