Transportation

Bloomberg: Taxpayers Gouged by Transit 0
- August 30, 2012
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 […]
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Is Amtrak Cheaper Than Flying?0
- August 29, 2012
The London Telegraph reports that flying is less expensive than taking the train in about half the routes in Britain. This shouldn’t be a surprise: trains require far more infrastructure than planes and maintaining that infrastructure is expensive. Passenger trains in the United States have an advantage over those in Britain: the former share most […]
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Still Corrupt After All These Years 0
- August 20, 2012
The Oregonian reports that construction of the Sellwood Bridge was rife with “graft, kickbacks and corruption”–or at least it was when the bridge was first planned 87 years ago. As comments to the article point out, not much has changed. Today, the region is planning an expensive replacement bridge that is twice as wide as […]
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Amtrak Dominates? Not Really 0
- August 16, 2012
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 […]
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A Model for the Nation 0
- August 15, 2012
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 […]
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300,000 Miles — Availability by 2017 0
- August 14, 2012
Google says that its self-driving cars have now gone 300,000 miles with no accidents (except once when one of the cars was rear-ended at a stoplight). Google released the above video a few months ago in celebration of reaching 200,000 miles. Everything in it seems normal until the car parks in a handicapped parking spot. […]
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