Creative Financing Bites Muni
San Francisco Muni may have to pay $68 million to banks and insurers as a result of some “creative financing” done 8 and 9 years ago. As previously described in the Antiplanner, in the early 2000s the Federal Transit Administration encouraged transit agencies to sell their equipment to banks and then lease it back. The […]
Reviving California High-Speed Rail
The California High Speed Rail Authority has reason to be thankful this week as the U.S. Department of Transportation gave it another $900 million, keeping hopes alive for the state’s rail program. That means the feds have given the state a total of about $4.5 billion which, when matched with state bonds (which can only […]
Happy Thanksgiving
Here in central Oregon, Smokey got a taste of his first powder snow a few days ago. Though it has mostly melted at our elevation, there is plenty at Santiam Pass a few miles away. The Antiplanner and his companions wish all readers of this site, faithful allies and loyal opponents both, a wonderful and […]
New Concept: Compare Benefits with Costs
The San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is considering the possibility of using benefit-cost analyses to decide how to spend federal and state taxpayer dollars. This “new” technology dates back to 1848, so you can see why regional planners might be just discovering it now. As presented in the San Jose Mercury-News, benefit-cost […]
December 15 Deadline Approaching for Colorado Teachers Union Political Refunds
Update, 12/15: The CEA website was offline for awhile today. If you can’t access the electronic form, please send an email to Linda Lutz (llutz@coloradoea.org) with a note that you are requesting the $39 Every Member Option refund.
December 15 marks the annual deadline for Colorado Education Association members to request a refund of “Every Member […]
Reauthorization or Gridlock in 2012?
Speaker of the House John Boehner announced last week that House Republicans will soon introduce a surface transportation reauthorization bill called the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. The good news is that the plan (now available only in outline form) would eliminate New Starts and other slush funds that encourage cities to waste money. […]
The Technology That Changed Small Business
The Antiplanner hasn’t finished reading Marc Levinson’s The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, but the story he tells is essentially the same as that told by former A&P executive William Walsh in The Rise & Decline of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, a book the Antiplanner discussed nearly […]
Penn Pfiffner on the Tax Foundation Podcast Show
With the Proposition 103 tax increase heavily defeated this November, what comes next for Coloradans for low taxes and limited government? Senior fellow Penn Pfiffner was a guest on The Tax Foundation’s podcast show recently to discuss Prop 103’s resounding defeat, the nature of our state budget, government’s role in our lives, and the ongoing […]
Technology-Neutral Energy Savings
The EPA estimates the Toyota Prius gets 50 miles per gallon. But, judging from other cars that are made in both hybrid and regular versions, much of that high efficiency is not due to the hybrid engine. The Toyota Camry hybrid, for example, gets 39 mph on the highway, while the non-hybrid version gets 35 […]
Even the Washington Post Opposes California High-Speed Rail
Once a supporter, now the Washington Post‘s editorial page says, “Somebody, please, stop this train.” With projected costs escalating from $15 billion in 1996 to $98.5 billion fifteen years later, just how bad do things have to get before supporters admit the plan is foolish?
Brown’s Folly
Jerry Brown didn’t think up the idea of a California high-speed rail line, but he endorsed it last week despite the estimated doubling of its price tag. Brown has recommended that the legislature release funds so construction can begin in 2012. “Lincoln built the transcontinental railroad during the Civil War, and we built the Golden […]
Everybody Wants a Streetcar
The streetcar craze is just insane. Los Angeles wants one; so does San Antonio. It was bad enough when cities all over the country were building light rail, an expensive, obsolete form of transportation that at least has the virtue of providing slightly better service than the local buses it usually replaced. But streetcars have […]
