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 […]
Is Amtrak Cheaper Than Flying?
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 […]
Still Corrupt After All These Years
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 […]
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 […]
300,000 Miles — Availability by 2017
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. […]
How the Feds Put the Brakes on High-Speed Trains
It is an article of faith among passenger rail advocates that the federal government killed intercity passenger trains by subsidizing the Interstate Highway System. “There were a number of reasons for the rapid decline of rail passenger service, but the overwhelming factor was the explosion of government funding for new highways and airports,” says the […]
Flash! Amtrak Food Services Loses Money
House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica says that Amtrak is losing $84 million a year on its food services. A recent report from the Amtrak inspector general says that at least part of the loss is due to thefts from Amtrak food-service personnel. Florida Representative Sandy Adams–who, due to redistricting, is facing Mica in this […]
Here and There
Atlanta wisely voted down a transportation tax. Some thought it spent too much on highways; some too much on transit. But wherever the money would be spent, why should transportation be paid for out of taxes when users will (and should) pay for it? Meanwhile, the race for mayor of Honolulu is heating up with […]
Champions of Pork
For the White House to declare someone a “champion of change,” they apparently have to be a champion of pork. The first person listed helped plan the California high-speed rail system, whose projected costs have more than doubled in since voters approved it in 2008. The original cost projections, made in the late 1990s, were […]
“You’ll Be Given Cushy Jobs”
Mame Reiley, a professional political activist who supports liberal Democratic causes in Virginia, recently resigned from the board of directors of the Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority (WMAA), the entity that is extending Metrorail to the Dulles Airport. Immediately upon resigning, the authority hired her as an “advisor” and will pay her $180,000 a year. Since […]
Because $117 Billion Wasn’t Expensive Enough
In 2010, Amtrak proposed to spend $117 billion to upgrade its Boston-to-Washington high-speed rail corridor. This idea was so unrealistically expensive that the Antiplanner called it “gold-plated high-speed rail.” Apparently, Amtrak wants platinum plating instead, as its 2012 update to the proposal has raised the cost to $151 billion. This includes some additional bells and […]
