USA Today‘s Interesting Arithmetic
USA Today reports that “fewer Americans commuting solo.” As the story says, “The dismal economy and skyrocketing gas prices may have accomplished what years of advocacy failed to: getting more people to stop driving solo.” To put some numbers on this, Wendell Cox points out that the number of people commuting solo has declined from […]
Cities Growing Faster Than Suburbs–NOT!
A few months ago, several news outlets reported that new census data showed that the cities were growing faster than the suburbs. This brought comfort to those urban planners who believe that inner cities are better than suburbs and that most people would prefer to live in them if only they understood all the benefits. […]
Highway Fund Uncertainty Leads to Ratings Cut
Citing uncertainties about the health of the federal Highway Trust Fund, Fitch has cut its ratings on state highway bonds in several states from AA- to A+. The bonds being cut are “grant anticipation revenue” or GARVEE bonds, which are supposed to be repaid out of federal grants. In recent years, Congressional overspending of the […]
Clackistanis Threaten Portland Light Rail
In all the times it has been on the ballot, Clackamas County has never voted for Portland light rail. But Portland planners were determined to run a light-rail line into the urban heart of the county, so they persuaded the county commission to give them $20 million of the $1.5 billion cost of the 7.7-mile […]
Join a Transit Agency; See the World
Taxpayers have paid for the “mostly advisory” CEO of the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) to travel to more than ten countries and seventeen American cities in the last eighteen months. John Inglish was UTA’s general manager until two years ago, when he was replaced and kicked upstairs to a newly created position “as severance.” “Nice […]
The Truth About GM and Chrysler
VP candidate Paul Ryan has been accused of lying when he claimed that Obama broke a promise by letting a Wisconsin auto factory close, when in fact the factory closed before Obama took office. Although that isn’t precisely what Ryan said, there is some validity to the accusation that his statement was deceptive. But numerous […]
Class Warfare in 2012
Liberals accuse Republicans of engaging in class warfare. Conservatives accuse Republicans of engaging in class warfare. Cynics accuse both parties of existing “solely to hurl rhetoric at each other and pander to the the most ignorant of their base constituencies.” While the Antiplanner is sympathetic to the cynical view, I also think the idea of […]
Bloomberg: Taxpayers Gouged by Transit
Bloomberg News, or at least a writer named Stephen Smith, has discovered that the transit industry is gouging taxpayers with its schemes for high-cost rail transit and high-speed rail. Smith says there are two causes for this gouging. First, “agencies can’t keep their private contractors in check,” and instead hire “consultants who consultant with consultants […]
Lance Armstrong and Climate Change
When Tyler Hamilton swore up and down that he didn’t use illegal blood doping to help win bicycle races, I believed him. Then he confessed that he did. When Floyd Landis insisted that he didn’t use testosterone to help win the Tour de France, I believed him. Then he confessed that he did. So I […]
A Carbon Tax for Thee, But Not for Me
California state universities are upset that a state law designed to reduce carbon emissions could cost them $28 million a year. “The University supports the creation of a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program,” says Anthony Garvin, who works in the office of the president of the University of California. But, he goes on to say in […]
Amtrak Dominates? Not Really
The New York Times reports that “Amtrak Dominates Northeast Corridor Travel.” That’s absolutely true–as long as you don’t count buses. Or cars. Or intermediate points between Boston, New York, and Washington. The Times says that Amtrak has a 75 percent share of the “air/rail” market between Washington and New York, but it only has a […]
A Model for the Nation
Secretary of Immobility Ray LaHood says that Washington DC’s Silver line is a “model” for “other places in the country.” Let’s see: Is the line over budget? Of course. Will the new line disrupt service on other transit lines? Totally. Is the region building new rail transit lines even when it doesn’t have enough money […]
