TRANSPORTATION - Miscellaneous - Independence Institute

New Concept: Compare Benefits with Costs 0
- November 23, 2011
The San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is considering the possibility of using benefit-cost analyses to decide how to spend federal and state taxpayer dollars. This “new” technology dates back to 1848, so you can see why regional planners might be just discovering it now. As presented in the San Jose Mercury-News, benefit-cost […]
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Reauthorization or Gridlock in 2012?0
- November 22, 2011
Speaker of the House John Boehner announced last week that House Republicans will soon introduce a surface transportation reauthorization bill called the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. The good news is that the plan (now available only in outline form) would eliminate New Starts and other slush funds that encourage cities to waste money. […]
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The Technology That Changed Small Business 0
- November 21, 2011
The Antiplanner hasn’t finished reading Marc Levinson’s The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, but the story he tells is essentially the same as that told by former A&P executive William Walsh in The Rise & Decline of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, a book the Antiplanner discussed nearly […]
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Technology-Neutral Energy Savings 0
- November 17, 2011
The EPA estimates the Toyota Prius gets 50 miles per gallon. But, judging from other cars that are made in both hybrid and regular versions, much of that high efficiency is not due to the hybrid engine. The Toyota Camry hybrid, for example, gets 39 mph on the highway, while the non-hybrid version gets 35 […]
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Even the Washington Post Opposes California High-Speed Rail 0
- November 15, 2011
Once a supporter, now the Washington Post‘s editorial page says, “Somebody, please, stop this train.” With projected costs escalating from $15 billion in 1996 to $98.5 billion fifteen years later, just how bad do things have to get before supporters admit the plan is foolish?
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Brown’s Folly 0
- November 14, 2011
Jerry Brown didn’t think up the idea of a California high-speed rail line, but he endorsed it last week despite the estimated doubling of its price tag. Brown has recommended that the legislature release funds so construction can begin in 2012. “Lincoln built the transcontinental railroad during the Civil War, and we built the Golden […]
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