"Mortgage interest tax credits and massive highway investments are artifacts of our outmoded industrial age; in fact, our whole housing-auto complex is superannuated." --- Richard Florida

 

(Quote from the op-ed: The Roadmap to a High-Speed Recovery

 

Full op-ed at: http://www.tnr.com/print/article/economy/76961/richard-florida-reset-recovery-economy-future

California, Pennsylvania governors stump for more federal transportation infrastructure funding

 

On Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell toured BNSF Railway Co.’s diesel shop in Commerce, Calif., to observe retrofitted locomotives and discuss how their states and the Building America’s Future (BAF) coalition promote additional federal infrastructure investments to improve the nation’s air quality and economy.

 

The state of California estimates that for every $1 billion spent on infrastructure, 18,000 jobs are created.

 

“Investment in our roads, bridges, highways and railways will lead to job creation and further our competitiveness in the global economy,” said Schwarzenegger in a prepared statement.

 

Full story at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=24134

Cross-posted from the 3C thread. Use this the next time you hear someone says public funding for rail is not a conservative value......

 

William F. Buckley Jr. on Railroads on National Review Online

June 14, 2002 2:15 p.m.

Yes to the Railroads

A national endowment of the railroads is defensible.

 

...Now, the argument against federal financing of rail travel begins with the axiomatic rule: Let the rail passengers pay for their own conveniences.

 

A pretty fair rule, but it's not a violation of it to remark the complexities.

 

The first of these is that the government is heavily involved in subsidizing traffic of every kind. The motorist can hardly drive around the block without driving over asphalt primarily financed by town and county, but also with contributions coming in tangentially from the federal government. When you debouch from I-95, you travel from road surface 100 percent paid for by the federal government, down the ramp to cutoffs toward the construction of which the feds made a lesser contribution, but a contribution nonetheless, onto roads paid for by the state, and by lower echelons of government, county and city. It takes hardy pioneering into highly exclusive warrens before the user runs into the driveway he actually paid for himself.

 

The same holds true, of course, for the airlines, an intimation of whose problems was given us by U.S. Airways last week, when management said that service could not continue until $1 billion was raised.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://old.nationalreview.com/buckley/buckley061402.asp

Note where this study was published....

 

Public Transit Systems Contribute to Weight Loss and Improved Health

New Study of Light-Rail System Users in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

 

San Diego, CA, June 29, 2010 -- Increasing the availability of public transit systems is one among a number of modifications to the built environment that offers opportunities for increasing physical activity and reducing the prevalence of obesity and its associated problems. In a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the RAND Corporation found that construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity (walking) and subsequent weight loss by people served by the LRT. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood environments and increasing the public's use of LRT systems could improve health outcomes and potentially impact millions of individuals

 

Public policy implications of the study are significant. The built environment can constrain or facilitate physical activity. Understanding ways to encourage greater use of local environments for physical activity offers some hope for reducing the growth in the prevalence of obesity, commented lead investigator John M. MacDonald, PhD, University of Pennsylvania. Given that perceptions of neighborhood environments are independently associated with improved health outcomes, and that individuals who choose to use LRT obtain some relative weight reduction, it would be prudent to encourage public policies that improve the safety and attractiveness of pedestrian environments that link home, work and transit stops to increase use of public transit for commuting to work. Public policy investments in transit should consider potential increases in physical activity as part of the broader set of costbenefit calculations of transit systems. Land- use planning and travel choice have a clear impact on health outcomes. Public transit systems can generate positive health impacts by encouraging greater numbers of users to walk to station stops and maintain more physically active lives. An added benefit of public policy investments in LRT, on top of the general transportation benefits accrued, is the potential reductions in obesity in the population.

 

Using two surveys, one collecting data prior to the completion of an LRT in Charlotte, North Carolina, the second after completion, investigators found that using light rail for commuting was associated with reductions in body mass index (BMI) over time. Specifically, LRT reduced BMI by an average of 1.18 kg/m2 compared to non-LRT users in the same area over a 12-18 month follow-up period. This is equivalent to a relative weight loss of 6.45 lbs for a person who is 55. LRT users were also 81% less likely to become obese over time.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authored_newsitem.cws_home/companynews05_01573

More Transit = More Jobs

 

What would happen if 20 metropolitan areas shifted 50% of their highway funds to transit? They would generate 1,123,674 new transit jobs over a five-year period - for a net gain of 180,150 jobs over five years - without a single dollar of new spending.

 

That's just one finding of TEN's new study, More Transit = More Jobs, conducted by the Public Policy Research Center.

 

Click here to read more on the report....

http://www.transportationequity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=304:more-transit-more-jobs&catid=63:feature

 

Findings

 

First, the study looked at how much cities currently spend on public transit. As a percentage of total transit spending, the top five cities are...

 

1. New York, NY

 

2. Honolulu, HI

 

3. Portland, OR

 

4. Philadelphia, PA

 

5. Kalamazoo, MI

 

The report then goes on to project the potential job creation of shifting 50% of present highway funds to transit. The shift was create 1,123,674 new transit jobs over five years, for a net increase of 180,150 jobs - all without a dollar of new spending.

 

The top five potential job creators were:

 

1. New York, NY

 

2. San Francisco, CA

 

3. Atlanta, GA

 

4. Washington, DC

 

5. San Diego, CA

 

 

The report also examines the job-creation potential of passing a transit-friendly federal Transportation Authorization Act, as supported by Transportation for America (T4A) and TEN. The study projects that the T4A proposal would create 1,291,431 new jobs in the transit sector over five years - an increase of almost 800,000 jobs over the current federal transportation law, SAFETEA-LU.

 

As the report illustrates, public transit spending has the potential to revive local economies across the country.

 

For more results, including transparency ratings for how open local transportation officials are about how they use your tax dollars, click here....

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OLNyrhr46kGlQAW4F0T%2B5HmElNgxFjX4

 

For those of you on Facebook, please visit the TEN Facebook Page and share the report with your friends!

 

http://www.facebook.com/TransportationEquity

Factbox: Obama proposes $50 billion for road, rail, airways

MILWAUKEE | Mon Sep 6, 2010 7:01pm EDT

 

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama would spend $50 billion on revamping highways, rails and airport runways to create jobs in the near term and improve the long-term U.S. transportation network.

 

 

WHERE THE MONEY WOULD BE SPENT

 

The White House said it would:

 

-- Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads and bridges while expanding capacity on some of them.

 

-- Construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail lines, both high-speed rail and commuter lines. The plan also would "invest in a long-overdue overhaul of the Amtrak passenger fleet."

 

-- Rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of airport runways and put in place a NextGen air-traffic control system. Among improvements would be use of a satellite-based surveillance system, which would be more accurate than ground-based radar.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6853DB20100906

 

Here's what Obama is proposing...

 

WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET:

 

Renewing and Expanding Americas Roads, Railways, and Runways

The President today laid out a bold vision for renewing and expanding our transportation infrastructure in a plan that combines a long-term vision for the future with new investments.

 

A significant portion of the new investments would be front-loaded in the first year.

 

This plan would build on the investments we have already made under the Recovery Act, create jobs for American workers to strengthen our economy now, and increase our nations growth and productivity in the future. At the same time, the plan would reform the way America currently invests in transportation, changing our focus to enhancing competition, innovation, performance, and real analysis that gets taxpayers the best bang for the buck, while moving away from the earmarks and formula debates of the past. In prior years, transportation infrastructure was an issue that both parties worked on together, and the Administration hopes the same can be true now.

 

Some of the tangible accomplishments of the Presidents plan over the next six years include:

 

+ ROADS: Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads renewing our commitment to the backbone of our transportation system;

+ RAILWAYS: Construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail enough to go coast-to-coast;

+ RUNWAYS: Rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of runway while putting in place a NextGen system that will reduce travel time and delays.

 

 

The Presidents plan would accomplish this through:

 

+ An up-front investment. The President will work with Congress to enact a new up-front investment in our nations infrastructure an investment that would help jump-start additional job creation, while also laying the foundation for future growth. This initial investment would fund improvements in the nations surface transportation, as well as our airports and air traffic control system.

+ A vision for the future. The President proposes to pair this with a long-term framework to reform and expand our nations investment in transportation infrastructure. Since the end of last year, when the last long-term surface transportation legislation expired, these investments have been continued on a temporary basis, even as the trust fund to finance them has fallen into insolvency. If we are to enjoy the benefits that come from a world-class transportation system, Congress must enact a long-term reauthorization that expands and reforms our infrastructure investments and returns the transportation trust fund to solvency. To jumpstart job creation, this long-run policy front-loads through a $50 billion up-front investment a significant share of the new infrastructure resources. As with other long-run policies, the Administration is committed to working with Congress to fully pay for the plan.

 

 

The long-term framework includes meaningful reforms:

 

+ The establishment of an Infrastructure Bank to leverage federal dollars and focus on investments of national and regional significance that often fall through the cracks in the current siloed transportation programs;

+ The integration of high-speed rail on an equal footing into the surface transportation program to ensure a sustained and effective commitment to a national high speed rail system over the next generation;

+ Streamlining, modernizing, and prioritizing surface transportation investments, consolidating more than 100 different programs and focusing on using performance measurement and race-to-the-top style competitive pressures to drive investment toward better policy outcomes.

+ Expanding investments in areas like safety, environmental sustainability, economic competitiveness, and livability helping to build communities where people have choices about how to travel, including options that reduce oil consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and expand access to job opportunities and housing thats affordable.

 

 

Specifically, the President proposes to make the initial up-front investment in the following areas:

 

+ Roads. The nations highways serve as the backbone of our transportation system. Many roads and bridges are in need of repair and expansion and many of the Americans who want to do this work face high unemployment right now. Our investments would be focused on modernizing the highway systems critical assets while providing much-needed jobs.

 

+ Rail. Many parts of transit systems have been allowed to fall into a state of ill-repair. The Presidents plan would help address this by making a major new investment in the nations bus and rail transit system. The Administration is also committed to expanding public transit systems and would dedicate significant new funding to the New Starts program which supports locally planned, implemented, and operated major transit projects. In addition, the Administration is committed to building on its investments so far in high-speed rail constructing a system that will increase convenience and productivity, while also reducing our nations dependence on oil and cutting down on pollution. The Presidents plan would also invest in a long-overdue overhaul of Amtraks fleet.

 

+ Runways & NextGen. The Administration proposes to invest in our nations airports by improving their runways and other equipment and facilities. We also propose a robust investment in our effort to modernize the nations air traffic control system (NextGen). This investment will help both the FAA and airlines to install new technologies and, among other improvements, move from a national ground-based radar surveillance system to a more accurate satellite-based surveillance system the backbone of a broader effort to reduce delays for passengers, increase fuel efficiency for carriers, and cut airport noise for those who live and work near airports.

 

+ Infrastructure Bank. The President proposes to fund a permanent infrastructure bank. This bank would leverage private and state and local capital to invest in projects that are most critical to our economic progress. This marks an important departure from the federal governments traditional way of spending on infrastructure through earmarks and formula-based grants that are allocated more by geography and politics than demonstrated value. Instead, the Bank will base its investment decisions on clear analytical measures of performance, competing projects against each other to determine which will produce the greatest return for American taxpayers.

Highways to rail???  (News release from the Governor of Maryland)

 

Governor O'Malley Breaks Ground on Removal of West Baltimore's 'Highway to Nowhere'

MARC Station improvement plan reunites West Baltimore communities

 

 

BALTIMORE, MD (September 10, 2010) – Joined by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, other local officials, community leaders, and construction workers, Governor Martin O’Malley today broke ground on the demolition of a segment of Baltimore’s infamous “Highway to Nowhere” to make way for an expansion of parking at the West Baltimore MARC Station.  The demolition of the roadway will reunite the communities of West Baltimore that have been physically separated since the highway’s construction in the early 1970’s.  The full improvement project is scheduled for completion in fall of 2010.  Demolition of the “Highway to Nowhere” will support 35 jobs.

 

“The communities of West Baltimore have been frustrated and divided by this concrete wall for nearly four decades,” said Governor O’Malley. “It is time to remove the unnecessary divider, reunite communities and make neighborhood-friendly improvements to the MARC station while creating jobs.  With the Red Line and our transit oriented development vision for the area moving forward, the future of West Baltimore holds great promise.”

 

Nearly 700 homes were taken, displacing working-class families, by the time construction of what was known as I-170 got underway in 1974.  Public opposition by civil rights leaders, community activists and others to a network of urban highways that were planned to cut through the city eventually stopped construction of I-170 but not before a 1.4 mile section was completed through West Baltimore.  Today, the roadway is marked as US 40 with roughly one mile open to the public leading eastward to Martin Luther King Boulevard.

 

“In the coming months, an artificial barrier to the progress of communities in West Baltimore will be removed forever,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake.  “Once cleared of this blight, we can begin the dramatic renewal and transformation that will make these neighborhoods better, safer and stronger.”

 

The West Baltimore MARC Station improvement project consists of two phases.  Phase I involves the $2.8 million demolition of the “Highway to Nowhere” between Fulton Avenue and Pulaski Street, including ramps, pavement and the retaining walls. Phase I is funded by President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Design of the demolition project was funded by the City of Baltimore at a cost of approximately $100,000.  Demolition will be completed in Summer 2011.

 

Phase II of the project valued at $6.1 million involves the construction of two new parking lots from Pulaski Street to Monroe Street  providing an additional 335 parking spaces, doubling the total number of parking spaces available to 660.  The parking expansion project will also accommodate the future Red Line as well as transit-oriented development in the area.  West Baltimore will be a key stop on the 14-mile Red Line that will operate between Woodlawn and Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.  Transit oriented development is envisioned for areas adjacent to the West Baltimore MARC station. The current West Baltimore MARC Station was constructed in the early 1980’s.  It serves more than 700 MARC passengers a day, exceeding the capacity of the current parking lot.

 

An important component of Phase II will be the reconnection of Payson Street between West Franklin and West Mulberry Streets.  Payson Street has been blocked by the “Highway to Nowhere” since its construction, restricting pedestrian and vehicle access between communities.  The Payson Street reconnection and the construction of the additional parking areas will include pedestrian-friendly features such as landscaping and ornamental fencing and will be coordinated with the City of Baltimore’s Pulaski Street streetscape project.  A goal of the project is to connect with the surrounding neighborhoods and create a space that beautifies the area. Adjacent neighborhoods include Midtown-Edmondson, Penrose, Rosemont, Evergreen Lawn, Bridgeview/Greenlawn, Mosher, Harlem Park, Franklin Square, Boyd-Booth and Shipley Hill.

 

Consistent with the Red Line Community Compact signed by MTA, Baltimore City and many community organizations, MTA is taking preventative measures to ensure the safe travel of people and vehicles throughout the area during the demolition process. Demolition work will be restricted to ensure limited disruptions for the surrounding communities. No demolition work will be allowed after 8 PM or before 7 AM on weekdays. Saturday work will be limited to the hours between 8 AM and 4 PM. No Sunday demolition work will be allowed. No contractor parking will be allowed on neighborhood streets. Contractor vehicles will access the work site via the closed US 40 westbound bypass at Martin Luther King Blvd.

 

Traffic on westbound US 40 will be diverted to Franklin Street for the 10-month duration of demolition work. Eastbound US 40 traffic will be diverted to Mulberry Street for the final two to three months of demolition. Access to the existing parking lots and bus service in the area will be maintained. Community events will continue as planned, including the Farmer’s Market. However, some of the area roadway and sidewalk closures may result in new, temporary access points to those events. Signs will be posted to direct people to these access points at the MARC station parking lots.

 

Further information and updates are available on the project website, www.wbmarcproject.com.

 

Not sure where to put this.

 

<b>Generation Y Giving Cars a Pass</b>

By Jim Ostroff

 

Selling cars to young adults under 30 is proving to be a real challenge for automakers. Unlike their elders, Generation Yers own fewer cars and don’t drive much. They’re likely to see autos as a source of pollution, not as a sex or status symbol.

 

Motorists aged 21 to 30 now account for 14% of miles driven, down from 21% in 1995.  They’re more apt to ride mass transit to work and use car sharing services...

 

 

 

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1523/generation-y-giving-cars-a-pass/

How about in the 3C thread??

How about in the 3C thread??

 

I was thinking about that after i posted it. another reason to invest in rails on not highways. hey can someone move this the the 3C thread?

Nothing wrong with cross-posting. So I posted it at 3C, too.

That article may have up-played the pollution aspect. While people in that age bracket do think pollution issues are important, I think the main things that are on their minds is "driving sucks, dude" and "walking rules". I imagine the writer was mainly looking for a quick way of explaining it, but didn't quite grasp what's on their minds or used their own view on the issue.

That article may have up-played the pollution aspect. While people in that age bracket do think pollution issues are important, I think the main things that are on their mind is "driving sucks, dude" and "walking rules".

 

The article touched on a big factor by mentioning they'd rather spend the money on fun fancy gadgets.  What's more important though is that they can't USE those gadgets while driving.  You can't text or fiddle with your iPod or post Twitter and Facebook updates while driving.  So on top of having other priorities for the money in the first place, younger folk don't want to be cut off from their gadgets and communications. 

I hate driving. If possible I always walk or

take the bus. I would guess I walk several miles a

day and take the bus atleast twice a day mostly. The less time I'm driving the happier I am. I hope this generation retains their anti driving opinions once thy get a little older.

^ They may not have a choice anyway due to energy issues.

U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Announces Next Step in Development of National Rail Plan

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  U.S.Department of Transportation

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, D.C.

www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm

News

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FRA 17-10

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Contact: Warren Flatau

Tel.: (202) 493-6024

 

 

A long-term commitment is needed to help freight and passenger rail accommodate future U.S. economic and population growth. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced these findings of a new report, Moving Forward: A Progress Report, that updates the U.S. Department of Transportation’s efforts to develop a first-ever comprehensive National Rail Plan (NRP).

 

“America’s economic vitality has been driven by investments in transportation,” said Secretary LaHood. “Giving rail a greater role in our national transportation system will help us meet the 21st century challenges of population growth, increasing energy costs, reducing carbon emissions, and ensuring the nation remains competitive in the global economy.”

 

“Ensuring higher-performing freight and passenger rail systems is the key to integrating surface, air and waterway transport,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo, adding that “a balanced and fully interconnected transportation network allows for the safe, efficient and seamless movement of people and goods.”

 

The progress report released today builds upon the Preliminary National Rail Plan mandated by the Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act of 2008 (PRIIA) and submitted to Congress in October 2009. It outlines the numerous factors, past, present and future that make a compelling case for improving rail infrastructure.

 

Its findings reveal that current demographic analyses and forecasts anticipate continued population growth, especially in urban areas. Coupled with corresponding increases in freight shipments, such growth will place additional burdens on transportation systems that are already working at or beyond capacity. The resulting traffic congestion translates into lost productivity, not only harming commerce, but degrading quality of life for citizens. Since rail is one of the safest and most fuel-efficient modes of transportation, it is well positioned to make a significant contribution to accommodating this forecasted growth.

 

Click here to view the Progress Report.

http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/NRP_Sept2010_WEB.pdf

Several place I could have posted this, but this seemed the best...

 

We have a drive to drive

Efforts to put central Ohioans on bikes and buses haven't paid off: Commuters are driving to work more than ever, and often alone.

Monday, October 4, 2010  02:48 AM

By Doug Caruso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The car remains king in central Ohio despite years of "car-free" days, "bike-to-work" weeks and other programs that encourage commuters to get out from behind the wheel.

 

Columbus-area commuters were more likely to drive to work alone in 2009 than they were in 2008, according to numbers the U.S. Census Bureau released last week from its American Community Survey.

 

Rates of carpooling, bicycling and riding public transit to work all declined slightly.

 

Full story at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/04/we-have-a-drive-to-drive.html?sid=101

^The city just doesn't have the infrastructure in place yet for large scale reductions in commute times, and everything is still very spread out.

Yep. It's all about land use. Columbus is one of the few cities in the U.S. where driving is on the rise.

Not only is it spread out, but it seems to be exceptionally multi-nodal. If OSU was actually nearer to downtown, it would be much easier to construct a system, but otherwise you'd probably need to feed any system through campus and then dt, but that takes time, through in Polaris, Easton and east, plus Dublin and the general NW and it is hard to imagine a system that works effectively.

The land-use angle was absent from this story. As a former Dispatch transportation reporter, I would suggest digging deeper. Where are the jobs that people are driving to? Where are the stores and services? Are those things moving to areas less conducing to walking, biking or transit? What are the patterns and trends elsewhere? Are they different in places that have invested more heavily in transit, particularly rail?

By the way, what is the source of the info in the article on Gen Y foregoing on cars?

By the way, what is the source of the info in the article on Gen Y foregoing on cars?

 

Kiplinger's Magazine.  Looks like they compiled the results of s number of surveys, but didn't state which ones.

 

BTW: Wish you were back the Dispatch. We could use a good transportation journalist.

 

Now's the time to invest in infrastructure, but U.S. plan is too modest

By Ezra Klein

Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, October 2, 2010; 8:24 PM

 

People say that the government should be run more like a business. So imagine you are CEO of the government. Your bridges are crumbling. Your schools are falling apart. Your air traffic control system doesn't even use GPS. The Society of Civil Engineers gave your infrastructure a D grade and estimated that you need to make more than $2 trillion in repairs and upgrades.

 

Sorry, chief. No one said being CEO was easy.

 

But there's good news, too. Because of the recession, construction materials are cheap. So, too, is the labor. And your borrowing costs? They've never been lower. That means a dollar of investment today will go much further than it would have five years ago -- or is likely to go five years from now. So what do you do?

 

Full sory at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/01/AR2010100103123.html?hpid=topnews

By the way, what is the source of the info in the article on Gen Y foregoing on cars?

 

The article quotes William Draves, president of Learning Resources Network, an association that studies consumer trends and provides education and training services. I've heard from others that his organization's research resulted in the findings.

 

Transportation drives land use. Land use drives transportation. Private capital follows public capital, both in terms of form and location. For example, the real estate investments made along Cleveland's HealthLine bus rapid transit corridor probably would have been made anyway, but they might not have been there or in the same high-density manner. Had the public investment in the transit corridor instead been spent for more roadway capacity in a non-urban setting, the private real estate investment might have been made at a suburban highway interchange and in a more dispersed manner instead.

Now's the time to invest in infrastructure, but U.S. plan is too modest

By Ezra Klein

Washington Post Staff Writer

 

Full sory at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/01/AR2010100103123.html?hpid=topnews

 

I had those same thoughts almost two years ago:

http://bwilli910.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/what-is-stimulus/

 

By the way, what is the source of the info in the article on Gen Y foregoing on cars?

 

The article quotes William Draves, president of Learning Resources Network, an association that studies consumer trends and provides education and training services. I've heard from others that his organization's research resulted in the findings.

 

I was wondering about the source so we could use more data and more-specific info to make the case even more strongly for more investment in rail and transit. The Kiplingers article gave tantalizing snippets, but I want to know more.

Here's more of the land use-transportation interrelationship...

 

News Headlines

 

Transportation Research Helped Create Sprawl, New Report Says

Oct 3, 2010 -- Streetsblog

We've been measuring traffic congestion all wrong, a new report shows, and that's been making more highways look like the solution to long commutes. They're not.

» http://www.planetizen.com/node/46214

 

New Study Reexamines Causes and Costs of Congestion

Sep 30, 2010 -- Driven Apart: How Sprawl Is Lengthening Our Commutes and Why Misleading Mobility Measures Are Making Things Worse

Analysis indicates that compact development reduces the time urban residents spent in traffic and requires less spending on highways.

» http://www.planetizen.com/node/46210

 

Sprawl and the Long Commute

Oct 1, 2010 -- Good

Sprawl affects the length of commutes, according to a new study from CEOs for Cities. GOOD visualizes the data with this infographic.

» http://www.planetizen.com/node/46224

 

Misconceptions About Commute Times

Oct 2, 2010 -- KALW

Perceptions about the amount of time transit trips take have been found to fall significantly when people actually take transit, according to a new report.

» http://www.planetizen.com/node/46226

Not only is it spread out, but it seems to be exceptionally multi-nodal. If OSU was actually nearer to downtown, it would be much easier to construct a system, but otherwise you'd probably need to feed any system through campus and then dt, but that takes time, through in Polaris, Easton and east, plus Dublin and the general NW and it is hard to imagine a system that works effectively.

How about a Bus Rapid Transit system up and down High Street?  I could originate at the south end near the Capitol, stop at the 3C train station near Nationwide Arena, and then head north through the campus serving a huge population.

I think the generational issue is part choice but also part economic reality. In a booming economy, a lot of that generation would have good jobs and money to spend and cars to buy and operate, but not so much now. I also think this generational has been coddled and told never to do anything dangerous except on skateboards, and they been told that cars are scary and will kill you for their entire lives.

Failing U.S. transportation system will imperil prosperity, report finds

By Ashley Halsey III

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, October 4, 2010; 1:15 PM

 

The United States is saddled with a rapidly decaying and woefully underfunded transportation system that will undermine its status in the global economy unless Congress and the public embrace innovative reforms, a bipartisan panel of experts concludes in a report released Monday.

 

U.S. investment in preservation and development of transportation infrastructure lags so far behind that of China, Russia and European nations that it will lead to "a steady erosion of the social and economic foundations for American prosperity in the long run."

 

That is a central conclusion in a report issued on behalf of about 80 transportation experts who met for three days in September 2009 at the University of Virginia. Few of their conclusions were ground-breaking, but the weight of their credentials lends gravity to their findings.

 

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/04/AR2010100402269.html?referrer=emailarticle

I think the generational issue is part choice but also part economic reality. In a booming economy, a lot of that generation would have good jobs and money to spend and cars to buy and operate, but not so much now. I also think this generational has been coddled and told never to do anything dangerous except on skateboards, and they been told that cars are scary and will kill you for their entire lives.

 

Cars were sexy because they were an escape. Now we waste so much time in our cars that young people see them as something to escape from.

I think the generational issue is part choice but also part economic reality. In a booming economy, a lot of that generation would have good jobs and money to spend and cars to buy and operate, but not so much now. I also think this generational has been coddled and told never to do anything dangerous except on skateboards, and they been told that cars are scary and will kill you for their entire lives.

 

Cars were sexy because they were an escape. Now we waste so much time in our cars that young people see them as something to escape from.

 

And you can't post Twitter updates, tag photos on Facebook, or watch YouTube videos while driving.  The many gadgets and social media outlets that have become so commonplace in the last few years require time and attention that is incompatible with driving. The money to pay for those gadgets also competes with the ever increasing amount of money required to buy, insure, and fuel cars.  So while there's still a big desire for mobility among teenagers and young people in general, it's becoming much more of a double-edged sword than it used to be.  Time and money are two things which we have less of to throw around nowadays than we did just a few years ago, and spending those on owning and driving a car is being viewed more and more as a waste of both. 

A new normal: Putting the brakes on suburban freeway expansion

By Steve Berg | Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010

 

Eight years ago, a conservative administration came to power clinging tightly to an idea that had characterized American greatness in the post-1945 era: expansion on the suburban edge, fueled by cheap gasoline and the laying of new pavement.

 

The new governor, Tim Pawlenty, went so far as to select his running mate, Carol Molnau, as his transportation commissioner, knowing well her "concrete-in-my-veins" reputation and her advocacy for a second beltway to further extend the much idealized "crabgrass frontier."

 

But now the administration has run out of gas, or, more accurately, out of money to pay for new roads. This is a coming-of-age story for Minnesota, a realization that suburban expansion can no longer be sustained in quite the same way and that the Twin Cities must find more efficient ways to grow.

 

 

Full column at: http://www.minnpost.com/steveberg/2010/09/29/21858/a_new_normal_putting_the_brakes_on_suburban_freeway_expansion?utm_source=MinnPost-RSS&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+minnpost-steveberg+%28MinnPost+-+Cityscape%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#18-21858

Awesome article. The "new normal" could become even more pervasive from oil shortages starting after 2012.

I think it is interesting that the best car show in the world is Top Gear from England and the best cars in the world are made in Germany and Italy. They invest in rail to avoid crappy time in cars, so that when they drive places it can be worth it. Japan similarly has a vibrant car culture and they have great rail. I don't like using China as a model for anything, but they are buying cars in ginormous numbers and investing in rail. Why can't we do both too?

... the best cars in the world are made in Germany and Italy. ...

German cars are overpriced gas hogs.  They were not on my list on any account because they are selling image.  One exception might be the Volkswagens with the TDI diesel.  However, I do know that diesel takes more crude oil than gasoline to produce one unit of fuel.  Before cleaner diesel was mandated by the government, their smog emissions made them unmarketable in LA and the eastern megalopolis.

The Germans and Italians make plenty of fuel-efficient cars, but for a variety of reasons don't bring them to the US market (#1 our diesel rules). We'll see some major impact of Italian engine design going forward in a bunch of small Chryslers, plus the Cinquecentro. Europe uses a different method of making fuel from crude that produces more diesel and less gas than the US system, plus somehow they manage to survive w/ less strict diesel rules.

  "I do know that diesel takes more crude oil than gasoline to produce one unit of fuel."

 

    Each barrel of crude oil is refined into various finished products including gasoline, diesel fuel, and others including asphalt. Refinery operators have some ability to adjust the percentages somewhat in an attempt to match the market, but they do NOT have the ability to convert the barrel of crude into 100% of any one product.

 

    President Obama's administration had the idea to convert the nation's trucking fleet from diesel to natural gas, thinking that the demand for diesel fuel would be reduced. However, it doesn't work that way. Diesel fuel is a "by-product" of gasoline production in the same way that gasoline is a "by-product" of diesel fuel production.

 

    So, on the world market, diesel fuel tends to flow toward Europe because they have a lot of automobiles that burn diesel fuel, while gasoline tends to flow toward the United States.

Obama Says `Crumbling' Infrastructure Hinders Growth

By Roger Runningen and Angela Greiling Keane - Oct 11, 2010 1:54 PM ET

 

President Barack Obama proposed a $50 billion transportation spending program that he said would boost jobs in the construction, manufacturing and retail industries and help rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.

 

“Crumbling” roads, bridges, airports and rail lines are hindering U.S. economic growth, Obama said after meeting with members of his Cabinet, former transportation secretaries, as well as governors and mayors from around the country.

 

 

Full story at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-11/obama-says-crumbling-transport-infrastructure-hinders-growth-of-economy.html

ok, forget the rail infrastructure, this is where the infrastructure monies need to go

 

http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/10/14/germans-test-self-driving-taxi-germanys-self-driving-car-includes-companion-ipad-app/

I disagree.  First, the future is going to require us to use our available energy and materials more efficiently, and second, rail infrastructure provides a transportation alternative to compete for both passengers and freight.

 

Yes, people are very fond of their own personal transportation vehicles.  They take you exactly where you want to go exactly when you want to go.  But they are a very inefficient use of society's resources.  If petroleum remains cheap and plentiful forever, maybe there's no problem.  Efficiency is not a high priority.  But the days of the US consuming more than its per-capita share of the world's materials and petroleum resources may be coming to an end.  Emerging economies in China, India, Brazil, and in Africa will increase demand and make steel and gasoline more expensive here in the US.  It seems like that will make personal transportation systems more expensive than they are now, not only because the vehicles require more material per passenger than trains, but because of the continuing need to maintain roadways, whether the vehicles run on petroleum or some other energy source.

 

If the only mode of transportation between two cities is highways, where is the motivation for reducing costs?  And if you can't drive, what are your alternatives?  A well-maintained rail system provides an alternative mode of travel for people who cannot drive, make it easier to transport goods (particularly heavier goods), and take cars and trucks off the highways, thereby reducing wear and tear on the highways.  The interstate highways are subsidized heavily, unfairly supporting trucking companies over railroad freight.  Should government be subsidizing one type of transportation company over another?  Particularly the less energy-efficient mode?  If the free market really is king, then airlines should have to pay for airports and traffic controllers to the same degree that railroads pay taxes on their rights-of-way and provide their own control systems.  Highway users too.  This also seems to mean either that most roads should be toll roads or that we should subsidize railroads and require the government to own and maintain the rails, just to maintain a level playing field.

 

Cars that drive themselves solve the problems of people unable to drive, but do nothing to solve the problem of how to maintain the roadways or the inefficient uses of materials and fuel inherent in such personal transportation vehicles.  Bring on the trains!

October 6, 2010

 

Miles Not Gallons Could Be Key to Road Upkeep

 

Fuel economy is a great idea, unless you’re counting on the taxes that fuel sales generate to pay for something. Maybe there’s a better way …

               

By Emily Badger

 

The fuel efficiency of cars in America has been steadily improving for years, and this is, undeniably, a good thing. It turns out, however, that we’ve built into our transportation system a terrible, inherent contradiction: As we need less gas to get from point A to point B, less revenue is generated by the gas tax that paves the road between those two places.

 

America’s transportation system is crumbling — a new report out this week paints the picture in particularly grim detail — and the advancements we cheer in hybrid technology and electric batteries are going to make it increasingly difficult to fix things.

 

Full story at: http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/miles-not-gallons-could-be-key-to-road-upkeep-23683/

From the article:

 

Many people, he concedes, are spooked by the concept because they fear VMT could represent another government intrusion into private data, enabling Big Brother to track where you are and where you’ve been going. But Uncle Sam doesn’t need to know you went last night to a casino — just that you drove 5 miles to get there.

 

“I tend to be a little skeptical of that [concern] given the fact that government already knows every time you use your credit card, every time you go through a toll both,” Shane said. “But the fact is it doesn’t have to be ‘Big Brother.’”

 

-----------------------

 

That's a stupid argument.  "Hey, you shouldn't mind that I'm kicking you in the nuts, because I'm also pulling your hair."

 

If they can keep it to taking an odometer reading, it makes sense.  Anything more is never going to fly.

U.S. Infrastructure Spending: No Time to Get Cheap

Infrastructure outlays not only improve the public well-being but also boost returns for the private sector, says columnist Chris Farrell

By Chris Farrell

 

It's hard to imagine at the moment, with America's fractious and politically vicious midterm elections drawing near, but the outline of Round Three in the federal government's efforts to stimulate the economy is becoming clearer.

 

Round One came in late 2008 with the Bush Administration's bank bailout and the Federal Reserve's easing of monetary policy. The defining initiative of Round Two was the Obama Administration's nearly $800 billion fiscal stimulus package signed into law on Feb. 17, 2009 (along with more Fed easing).

 

Round Three is largely based on—who else—the Fed taking steps to bring down long-term interest rates even more by buying up U.S. Treasury securities, the so-called quantitative easing. The fiscal lever this time around? A boost in infrastructure spending.

 

Full story at: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/oct2010/pi20101014_543655.htm

Rupert Cornwell: Crumbling America has a $2.2 trillion repair bill

 

Out of America: The US needs to update its roads, railways and airports – but recession and a shift to the right have put big infrastructure projects in jeopardy.

 

 

First, a tale of two rail tunnels. One of them is in Switzerland – the 35-mile Gotthard Base tunnel, the cutting of which was completed on Friday amid great national rejoicing, and which, when it opens for business in 2017, will be the longest of its kind in the world. It will have cost $10bn (£6.2bn), representing $1,300 of taxpayer's money for every citizen in the land of William Tell. But it will bestow huge benefits not only on Switzerland, but on north-south freight and passenger traffic for all Europe.

 

Full story at:

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-crumbling-america-has-a-22-trillion-repair-bill-2108955.html

Maybe the headline of that article should have read.....

 

Why America is fucked

Sunday, 17 October 2010

 

And so you start to understand the silent crisis that is undermining America: the creeping decay of its public infrastructure.

 

It's happening everywhere, from potholed interstate highways and grimy railways, to congested airports and a creaking air traffic control system that only adds to the increasingly third world experience of flying in the US. And hold your breath when you cross an American bridge: a 2005 study found that fully a quarter of them were structurally inadequate or obsolete.

 

Every now and then, the defects explode into the national consciousness – when breaches in scandalously neglected levees led to the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, or when the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis collapsed one sunny rush hour afternoon in August 2007, sending 13 people to their deaths as their cars plunged into the Mississippi river.

 

As the infrastructure declines, so does the country's international competitiveness. In short, everyone knows something must be done. Indeed, even Governor Christie is said to be open to a rethink over that Manhattan tunnel.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-crumbling-america-has-a-22-trillion-repair-bill-2108955.html

Short Line & Regional Perspective: Bigger trucks are bad public policy (October 2010)   

Friday, October 22, 2010 

Pogressive Railroading Magazine

 

By Jerry Vest

VP of Government Affairs

Genesee & Wyoming

 

Almost 20 years ago, federal surface transportation policy changed for the better. Enactment of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) meant the days of Congress simply passing a “highway bill” were over. Since then, Congress has expanded the multimodal focus of surface transportation public policy. An integrated approach allows for better policy decisions through the reauthorization process, with each mode recognized for its own strengths and role in ground transportation.

 

With the most recent surface transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, up for renewal, discussions include the national limits on truck sizes and weights. This issue could have a dramatic and possibly unintended impact on the future health of ground transportation in the U.S. A handful of trucking companies and freight shippers are seeking to include in reauthorization higher federal highway truck weight and size limits. Their arguments are simply not good public policy.

 

 

Read more at: http://www.railwayage.com/short-line-and-regional-perspective/short-line-regional-perspective-bigger-trucks-are-bad-public-policy-october-2010.html

Moving transportation forward

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood talks about livable communities

 

by Sarah Goodyear

27 Oct 2010 7:55 AM

 

When Ray LaHood was nominated by President Obama to be the Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT), it seemed like an afterthought. The selection of LaHood, a Republican Congressman from Illinois with a reputation for political pragmatism, was seen by many as a gesture at bipartisanship that indicated just how little the administration cared about possible innovations at the DOT.

 

Full story & interview at: http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-27-transportation-secretary-ray-lahood-talk-about-livable-communiti