November « 2009 « The Transport Politic

Opening High-Speed Rail to the Market — Before the Market’s Even There

November 30th, 2009 |

» The good old money-making American tradition continues, but in whose interest?

Matthew Lewis’ brilliant story published today by the Center for Public Integrity and partially in Politico provides material evidence for the direct involvement of corporate lobbyists in the push for high-speed rail in the United States. The article is sobering in the details it uncovers on the degree to which public and private lobbying groups have attempted to influence decision-making in Congress and at the Department of Transportation. All this despite — or even because — the federal government has yet to announce even the first of the $8 billion

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As Minnesota’s Proposed Northern Lights Express Rises in Cost, Chances for Its Construction Fall

November 30th, 2009 |

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» 155-mile line between Duluth and Minneapolis would cost nearly $1 billion.

The Northern Lights Express is too expensive to justify construction.

For inhabitants of northern Minnesota hoping to be provided a quicker route into the Twin Cities, that fact is heart-breaking. Indeed, the initial promise of this 155-mile line, which would run between Minneapolis and Duluth, via Cambridge, Hinckley, Sandstone, and Superior, was exciting for its proponents: it would provide two-hour service along a corridor whose Amtrak operations were discontinued in 1985 and provide for increased economic competitiveness in parts of the state that have suffered as Minneapolis has grown.

The Minneapolis-Duluth/Superior Passenger

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Problems with a Front-Loaded Infrastructure Package

November 25th, 2009 |

14 Comments

» The projects funded will be mostly roads-based. How about a series of grants to public service agencies instead to keep up operations?

Even as the nation’s GDP expands, job losses continue to mount; the stimulus earlier this year wasn’t large enough to offset the mammoth effects of the recession. Faced with the possibility of devastating losses in the 2010 mid-term Congressional elections, Democrats have no choice but to focus next year on job creation.

Nancy Pelosi had it right when she argued that “The debate between deficit reduction and job creation is not a real choice, because we’ll never have deficit reduction

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New Rail Corridor for Dallas Would Double Downtown Transit Capacity

November 24th, 2009 |

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» Streetcar project is also under consideration.

If the September opening of the first phase of Dallas’ Green Line was good news for what is becoming an increasingly impressive city from the standpoint of livability, Texas’ second-largest metropolis still has a while to go before it will be urban. The local transit authority, DART, has been proactive in planning for the city’s inner-city future, with new light rail and streetcar lines proposed downtown. Whether those projects will provide the kind of density of transit provision necessary to significantly alter attitudes about public transportation in D-Town, however, remains to be seen.

Dallas

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