Antiques or Obsolete?
Someone made a little poster designed to convey the value of high-speed rail. I made a couple of modifications that I think improve it quite a bit.
Selectively Enforcing the Law
Last week, Andrew asked why the Antiplanner hadn’t commented on the federal shutdown of dozens of “Chinatown bus” companies, and the simple answer is that I hadn’t heard about it until then. Although my friends at the American Bus Association, whose members do not include the Chinatown bus companies, are happy about the shutdown, I […]
The Nigerian Streetcar Scam
Yesterday, the MacIver Institute published the Antiplanner’s study of a proposed streetcar line in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In response, I received the following intriguing email. Dearly Beloved, I know this letter will come as a surprise to you, but I hope you will read it in detail. My name is Chuck Hails, and I am the […]
CNN Does a Number on HSR Numbers
CNN reports that the cost of California high-speed rail has tripled, and it correctly points out that federal taxpayers will be expected to pay for most of it. While this is a somewhat belated report, it is nice to see this boondoggle get the attention it deserves. CNN gets some numbers wrong; as the Antiplanner […]
Two Driverless Models
After demonstrating its driverless car to Nevada’s governor, Google obtained the first official license for a self-driving car. Meanwhile, in Europe, Volvo is pursuing the convoy model of driverless cars. In this model, a human-driven truck or bus takes the lead and anyone whose car has the appropriate technology can follow with the cars being […]
Time to Say “No”
Peter Rogoff, the FTA administrator who once said the federal government should say “no” to cities that want federal grants to build rail lines they can’t afford to maintain, is unable to say “no” to Portland when it asked the feds to pay half the cost of a ridiculously expensive light-rail line. Moreover, Rogoff insists […]
Poverty Reduces Congestion
The soviets had a successful policy for minimizing traffic congestion: keep people too poor to drive. Environmentalists today want to use the same policy: tax the heck out of gasoline; prevent the development of Alberta tar sands (“keep the tar sands oil in the soil” says one group); stop the development of natural gas. The […]
California Is Dying
The Obama administration has announced that it wants to spend a half-billion dollars buying high-speed rail cars in an obvious bid to create more businesses beholden to the administration as well as to its rail program. But more and more people are turning against the president’s dream of being the Eisenhower of high-speed rail. The […]
Ho Hum, Another Airline Merger
American and US Air are thinking of merging, so naturally it’s time for a scare story about how mergers will lead to higher prices. Not likely. A few years ago, there were six big airlines, but four of them–Delta & Northwest, United & Continental–merged into two. But Southwest is now one of the big four, […]
Toodling Around DC in the Google Car
The Google car is in Washington, DC, and the Antiplanner managed to hitch a ride around downtown. My host, Anthony Lavandowski–sometimes driving, sometimes just sitting in the driver’s seat–answered a number of questions about the car. The Cato Institute’s David Boaz stands next to the Google Prius. In addition to the spinning laser sensor on […]
Obama Plays Hardball with California
The Obama administration is threatening to take back the $3.3 billion high-speed rail grant to California if the state legislature fails to approve the state’s high-speed rail plan by the end of June. Legislators had planned to hold some hearings this summer so they could base their decisions on actual facts rather than politics. Ironically, […]
Let’s Be Like Europe and Build More Trains!
One recently revealed aspect of the European debt crisis is the role European passenger trains played in running up national debts. The Greek rail system, for example, has debts of $13 billion, or about 5 percent of Greece’s gross national product. Rail workers get paid so well that it would be cheaper to hire taxis […]
