No
That’s the answer to the question (raised here in September), “Should transit agencies buy hybrid buses?” At least, it is in the case of The Rapid, the transit agency for Grand Rapids, Michigan. With the usual fanfare, The Rapid took delivery on five hybrid-electric buses some three years ago. These buses cost $510,000 each, or […]
CHSRA Chair: “Our Engineers Are Incompetent”
The California High-Speed Rail Authority approved the Train to Nowhere, a plan to build the first leg of the high-speed rail line from a small town to no town. I suppose you have to start somewhere, but given the likelihood that the state won’t get any more federal funds, this seems like an exercise in […]
More Election Results
Progressive Railroading lists a few more election results, oriented of course to pro-rail transit. That article in turn links to the Center for Transportation Excellence, a group focused on government “investment” in infrastructure, which claims that the vast majority of transportation measures passed this year (including elections prior to November). Many of the measures on […]
Dead Again
New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie rekilled the Hudson River tunnel project. He had killed it before, a couple of weeks ago, but then promised to reconsider his decision at the request of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Christie did not want to burden New Jersey taxpayers with the cost overruns, now anticipated to be at least […]
Rest in Peace, Old Friend
July 1, 1993 – October 11, 2010 Chip on Christmas, 2009. Knowing this day would eventually arrive didn’t make it any easier, nor did the fact that, at 17 years three months, Chip outlived most other dogs of his size by several years. If I live to share my home with a hundred more dogs, […]
Farewell, Walkin’ Jim
The world won’t be the same without you. I’ll remember your songs every time I hike in the wilderness. 1953-2010
High-Speed Rail Deathwatch
Will a high-speed rail line ever be built from San Francisco to Los Angeles? The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has less than 10 percent of the money it needs to build this line. The plan is increasingly under fire from local and state organizations. On one hand, President Obama’s vague and controversial proposal to […]
Donald Shoup on Free Parking
Donald Shoup supports free parking. At least, in a response to my first post about Tyler Cowen’s op ed against free parking, Dr. Shoup points out that he only wants the price of parking to be “right,” and “the right price [for parking] will often be zero.” However, the main purpose of Shoup’s response is […]
Free Parking Revisited
Two weeks ago, the Antiplanner responded with dismay to George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen’s op ed against free parking. This led to a variety of responses in the blogosphere, none of which address the Antiplanner’s point. Instead, they all argue against the minimum-parking requirements found in many zoning regulations. In particular, Cowen himself points […]
The Climate Trust Scam
A couple of years ago, the Antiplanner described a Portland program of accepting carbon-offset funds to do traffic signal coordination. While I support signal coordination, the claimed benefits seemed outlandish. When I found out that the money came from an organization called Climate Trust that was co-founded by the director of Portland’s Office of Sustainable […]
