Mass transit is collapsing everywhere
Nationwide transit ridership in March 2018 was 5.9 percent below March 2017, according to the latest data published by the Federal Transit Administration. Following three years of steady declines, these numbers present a dire picture of the nation’s transit industry. Ridership declined in all of the nation’s 38 largest urban areas (and the 39th, Providence, […]
Taking the Trolley, er, Light Rail
by Rob Natelson Commuting by car from my home in Lakewood to the Independence Institute usually takes an intense 18 minutes—25 minutes in heavy traffic. But today I decided to take “light rail.” I use the term “light rail” somewhat awkwardly. When I was growing up, I was taught to call it the “trolley,” and […]
The Breakdown of America
A nation’s health and prosperity depends on good institutions. These institutions are political and private. Good political institutions include balanced government with a significant amount of popular control, the rule of law, freedom from corruption, and respect for individual rights. Good private sector institutions include free and open markets and positive moral codes in religious […]
Denver Post: RTD riders demand return of west side express bus service
Some long-time Regional Transportation District customers are angry that their express bus service was dumped in favor of the newly opened W light rail line.
II in Denver Post: RTD FasTracks is still a boondoggle
The Denver Post has published an op-ed co-authored by Independent Institute Fellow Randal O’Toole & Brian T. Schwartz. It begins: With great fanfare, RTD opened its West Rail Line for business on Friday. This light-rail line was a boondoggle when it was first planned in 1997. Its even worse today. Read more: Has RTDs FasTracks been […]
Light-Rail Inefficiency Project
Stung by the entirely accurate criticism that it is one of the worst-run transit agencies in America, San Jose’s VTA has come up with a breath-taking plan for improving its efficiency. Naturally enough, the plan is called the light-rail transit efficiency project. Click image to download an 8-MB presentation describing San Jose’s “light-rail efficiency plan.” […]
San Jose Transit Is Still Near the Top
That is, near the top of the list of the nation’s worst transit systems, says the San Jose Mercury-New. “The near-empty trolleys that often shuttle by at barely faster than jogging speeds serve as a constant reminder that the car is still king in Silicon Valley,” says the paper, “and that the Valley Transportation Authority’s […]
The Columbia River Crossing Is (or at Least Should Be) Dead
Taxpayers for Common Sense recently released a report (see page 27) that finds $2 trillion in budget cuts that will allow Congress to avoid the “fiscal cliff”–and one of those cuts is the Columbia River Crossing. The agency planning this bridge has managed to spend well over $130 million without accomplishing anything except to design […]
Why Congress Should End New Starts
The House Republican transportation bill ends gas tax subsidies of transit and requires that any new rail projects receiving “New Starts” grants meet strict financial tests and not simply be awarded on the basis of some vague concept such as “livability.” In response, Secretary of Livability Ray LaHood says it is vital to keep funding […]
Why Rail?
After nearly 50 percent cost overruns, eighteen months of delays, and a scandal that cost top transit agency officials their jobs, Norfolk, Virginia plans to open its first light-rail line for business in August, 2011. This fabulous 7.4-mil line expected to carry an average of 2,900 riders per day in its first year, increasing to […]
Virginia Light Rail Woes
The city manager for Norfolk, Virginia, has been forced to resign due to allegations that she knew about light rail cost overruns but failed to inform the city council. The senior vice president for development of Norfolk’s transit agency, Hampton Roads Transit, has also quit in response to allegations that her mismanagement led to the […]
Norfolk Light Rail Scandal
When the light-rail line in Norfolk, Virginia, went nearly 50 percent over its projected cost, the general manager of Hampton Roads Transit resigned in disgrace–but they gave him $300,000 in severance pay. Now documents have come to light that agency officials knew the line was going to cost more than their published projections but kept […]
