One More Nail
The Washington Post editorialized against spending any more tax dollars on California’s high-speed rail project, saying “California should have to fill in its project’s economic and logistical blanks” before more federal or even state dollars are spent. While no one is surprised to see fiscally conservative papers such as the Washington Examiner come out against […]
Cox: Make Builders Responsible
The builders of any Florida high-speed rail project should be responsible for cost overruns and all operating losses, suggests a new report from the Reason Foundation. Written by the Antiplanner’s faithful ally, Wendell Cox, the report suggests that rail construction is likely to go at least 40 percent over projected costs and that rail fares […]
Welcome to the Blogosphere
Martin Engel is a typical northern Californian who says he is “not a Libertarian or absolute free market idealist.” But he has become skeptical of high-speed rail, and through his email list has kept people up-to-date on the various shenanigans at the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Now he has started a blog, High-Speed Train Talk, […]
High-Speed Rail = Low-Quality Planning
High-speed rail advocates are psychotic, says the Boyd Group, an aviation planning firm. Psychotics, notes the company blog, suffer from “confusion, disorganized thought and speech, mania, delusions, and a loss of touch with reality”–all of which describe rail nuts. “If you really want to see psychosis,” adds the Boyd Group, “log on to the DOT’s […]
LaHood Redistributes High-Speed Rail Funds
Rather than fight the plans of governors-elect Kasich and Walker to cancel high-speed trains in Ohio and Wisconsin, Secretary of Immobility Ray LaHood has preempted them by redistributing the $1.2 billion in federal rail grants to those states. Not surprisingly, most of the money is going to to California ($624 million) and Florida ($342 million). […]
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 […]
Gold-Plated High-Speed Rail
Recently, someone asked the Antiplanner why Amtrak’s high-speed rail plan is so expensive. They were referring to a proposal published in late October to increase speeds in Amtrak’s Boston-to-Washington corridor to 220 mph. The plan calls for spending $117 billion in the 427-mile corridor, for an average cost of nearly $275 million per mile. That’s […]
Fast Train to Nowhere
The federal government’s most recent $900 million grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority came with a string attached: most of the money had to be spent, not in Los Angeles or San Francisco where most potential rail patrons are located, but in the central valley. Handed out just before the election, the grant was […]
Crying Over Cancelled Trains
There is much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over the so-called high-speed train in Wisconsin. A Madison newspaper that calls itself “the Progressive Voice” claims that Governor-elect Walker’s promise to cancel the Milwaukee-to-Madison train is economic treason. That makes sense if you agree with Paul Krugman that the federal government should spend a […]
Obama’s High-Speed Bus Plan
Obama Replaces Costly High-Speed Rail Plan With High-Speed Bus Plan Note the cost savings: $15 billion for high-speed rail vs. $46,000 for high-speed buses. More evidence of the wastefulness of high-speed rail.
Interpreting the Election Results
Tea party supporters do not agree on a lot of issues, but are firm on two things: cutting government spending and protecting property rights. What do the election results mean for the future of land-use and transportation planning? On one hand, many of the results look promising for supporters of property rights and efficient (user-fee-driven) […]
Arithmetic-Challenged Favor High-Speed Rail
On Monday, the Washington Post published a devastating critique of high-speed rail written by journalist Robert Samuelson. In fewer than 800 words, Samuelson blows up just about all the arguments put forth in favor of rail. An 8-word summary: costs are too high and benefits too low. One person who remains unconvinced is the popular […]
