Yield to Transit’s Moral Superiority
Everyone knows that transit is morally superior to automobiles, so it is no surprise to see state legislatures passing laws requiring auto drivers to yield to buses when they are pulling into traffic from bus stops. The stated reason for the law–that “the inability of buses to get quickly back into the traffic flow after […]
Regulating to Prevent the Last Crisis
In addition to mentioning high-speed rail a couple of times, President Obama’s state of the union speech mentioned the need to regulate the finance industry to prevent the kind of global crisis that took place in 2008. This received one of the loudest applauses of the evening as it has become conventional wisdom that the […]
State of the Federal Budget
In his state of the union address, President Obama proposed to build a high-speed rail network reaching 80 percent of Americans within 25 years. But he also proposed to freeze domestic spending for five years. These two goals are incompatible. We can build that rail network, but it will not lead to the economic revival […]
More Security Issues
The Antiplanner is having a battle with someone who is hacking this blog. They are somehow signing up as a user and giving themselves administrative privileges over the site. Then they add some software which is probably spreading viruses across the Internet or something. There doesn’t appear to be any risk to users, but I’ve […]
Heritage: Postpone Reauthorization
Congress is scheduled to reauthorize federal surface transportation funding this year, but faithful Antiplanner ally Ron Utt of the Heritage Foundation recommends that it postpone reauthorization for two years. In the meantime, Utt would suspend all earmarks and grant programs (such as New Starts) and just give that portion of the money to the states […]
Blight at the End of the Tunnel
As the Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks program begins to materialize, RTD is colluding with several Denver-area urban renewal entities to redevelop areas around new and existing light rail stations. Taxpayers and property owners should beware.
Housing and Economic Growth
Nations with well-functioning housing markets that are responsive to changes in demand will be more likely to grow faster than nations with strict land-use regulation, says a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report is a part of a series of studies known as Going for Growth that are […]
Editing Comments
This site was briefly shut down yesterday when our server noted unusual activity. I did a scan of the site and found some malicious code in the comment editor plug in. I also discovered some anonymous person of foreign persuasion had made themselves into a site administrator. I deleted that user, changed the passwords, and […]
House Transportation Subcommittee Chairs
Yesterday, Representative John Mica, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced the names of the chairs and members of the committee’s various subcommittees. The good news for those who believe in user-fee driven transportation is that the chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee is John “Jimmy” Duncan, Jr., who is probably one […]
Spend It While You’ve Got It
Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown said that the state’s financial problems are so bad that it should end urban-renewal subsidies. So the state’s urban-renewal agencies have selflessly stepped up and turned over surplus funds to the state to help it solve its financial problems. Just kidding. Instead, redevelopment agencies all over the state have […]
A Good Value?: National Education Association Spends $13 Million on Assorted Advocacy Groups
Member of a local teachers union in Colorado? Then most likely (unless you belong to the AFT) $166 of your dues this year is going straight to National Education Association headquarters in Washington, D.C. What is some of your money used for — when not funding negative political ads during election season, that is?
As he […]
More on China’s High-Speed Rail
An American blogger in China makes some interesting points about China’s rail system. The country’s existing rail network is currently being used to capacity by freight (mainly coal) and conventional passenger trains. In fact, the number of passenger trains has pushed a lot of coal traffic onto trucks and highways. The high-speed rail network was […]
