Railway Age has a recent article on the race to build America’s high-speed trains. Here is the key section, which goes into all the nonsense of a decidedly political process: The Federal Railroad Administration’s HSR grant program, funded under ARRA (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act), contains a 100% Buy America requirement. That means everything—vehicles, train [...]
Archive for December, 2010
How NOT to Build a Train
Posted in transit, tagged Buy America, FRA, FTA on December 26, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Amtrak Sees Bicycles as Security Threat
Posted in bicycling, risk, tagged Amtrak, security theater on December 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Bike lockers are a popular, cost-effective method for secure bike-parking at transit stations. So what does the Amtrak’s ‘Station Program and Planning’ policy say about them? Where market analysis or community funded participation shows that station usage warrants the inclusion of bike racks, the racks are to be located outside, in close proximity to the [...]
Supersized Dummies
Posted in automotive, tagged dummies, supersize on December 23, 2010 | 2 Comments »
In a new paper to be published next month (Influence of obesity on mortality of drivers in severe motor vehicle crashes) Dr. Dietrich Jehle finds that obese drivers make up a disproportionate number of automobile fatalities. Might one simple explanation be that fat people drive more than their more physically-active counterparts? It isn’t clear from [...]
Shit Flows Down, Money Flows Up
Posted in planning, tagged MTC, SMART, Sonoma on December 21, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Shit flows down, money flows up was how Tony Soprano described the Mafia. It is also an apt description for our transportation hierarchy. Consider recent developments in the ‘SMART’ commuter rail saga. ‘SMART’ is now $350 million under-funded (shock news). As a result, the MTC has proposed to “down-size” a $70 million bike path that [...]
A Tale of Two Cities
Posted in bicycling, tagged Berkeley, Copenhagen, Copenhagenize, police on December 14, 2010 | 2 Comments »
On the very same day Copenhagenize, posts this wonderful photo above (calling it “Classic” Copenhagen), the San Francisco Chronicle reports that police are writing $220 tickets for the very same “offense” in Berkeley: Citations are up only slightly this year over last, and the fine is just a touch higher, but students have reached the [...]
Berkeley Gives Away $100k in Free Parking for Christmas Shoppers
Posted in automotive, tagged Berkeley, parking, Shoup on December 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
To entice shoppers to drive their cars into its shopping districts, the city of Berkeley is having two parking holidays. Parking revenue averages $20-$50k per day, so the total cost of the parking subsidy could be as much as $100k. Like most California cities, this has been a rough year for Berkeley’s budget. The police [...]
Backup Cameras: Another Test for Risk Compensation Theory?
Posted in automotive, risk, tagged backup camera, NHTSA on December 10, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Problem: SUVs and light trucks are booming in popularity. Because these vehicles have limited visibility in the rear, parents are crushing their kids while backing up out of the driveway. Solution: A government mandate for rear backup cameras. As usual, this will be a one-size-fits-all regulation, applying to small cars too — even though the [...]
Learning on the Job
Posted in planning, transit, tagged CHSRA, high-speed rail, Kopp on December 6, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The CHSRA Board selected the first 65-mile segment to build for its high-speed rail project. I was struck by this comment from project manager Hans Van Winkle: Van Winkle described the section as a good mix of rural and urban space that will let engineers who have never built high-speed rail develop a “learning curve” [...]
China Rail Traffic
Posted in transit, tagged Atlantic, China, high-speed rail, HSR on December 4, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The Atlantic is at it again. Last week, Megan McArdle argued high-speed rail did not make sense in America. This week, she argues against high-speed rail in China, the world’s most populous country. She describes Chinese rail investment as a colossal misallocation of resources, on par with the West’s trillion dollar housing bubble: These projects [...]
