Transportation

The True Cost of Driving 0
- May 9, 2012
Some smart-growth advocates argue that, even though housing costs more in cities than in suburbs, transportation costs in cities are so much lower that the total cost of housing plus transportation is lower. The problem with these claims is that they are based on average transportation costs. As Steve Polzin, a transportation researcher from the […]
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Transportation Notes from All Over 0
- May 8, 2012
The city of Detroit decided not to build a light-rail line down Woodward Avenue, so some private foundations are trying to raise the $137 million to build it instead. Are they nuts? Do they really think this is the best use of their money? In 1996, the Los Angeles Bus Riders Union forced the county […]
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The Highway Trust Fund Is Doomed 0
- May 4, 2012
Congress is wrangling over how to spend federal gas taxes, with the Senate wanting to spend about $15 billion per year more than revenues while the House modestly wants to spend only about $10 billion per year more than revenues. But according to the Congressional Budget Office, the money they have to argue about will […]
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Transit Score Not Believable 0
- May 1, 2012
The Oregonian brags that Portland is “the 10th best city” for transit in the United States. But a close look at the web site doing the ranking reveals this may not be true. First, they only counted the nation’s 25 largest cities for which they had data. This means cities such as Honolulu and Oakland, […]
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You Lose Some, You Lose Some 0
- April 30, 2012
In February, Amtrak proudly opened what it claimed was the first high-speed rail line outside of the Northeast Corridor. An investment of $32 million in train control and signaling systems now allow it to run trains the 80 miles between Kalamazoo, Michigan and Porter, Indiana, at 110 mph. Since trains were previously operating at 95 […]
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The Hidden Cost of Congestion 0
- April 27, 2012
Nine months ago, Los Angeles had to close a major freeway for maintenance for a few days, which some people predicted would lead to such terrible traffic jams that they called it carmageddon. In fact, a lot of people stayed home and the predicted jams didn’t materialize. Instead, Los Angeles is now experiencing a population […]
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