Weekend Links

» This week’s big news. Open thread in the comments.

Follow my Twitter account (@ttpolitic) to get news in real time.

The Transport Politic:

• European transport agencies consolidate intercity rail operations in face of competition
• Stations picked, huge automated transit project for Paris is closer to realization
• Promoting a second stimulus with the goal of actual job creation

Next American City:

• Minding the Gaps: Streetcar plans in Detroit and New Orleans (in the magazine)
• New Orleans could be up for radical change with the removal of a highway
• If transit investment produces jobs, why isn’t there more of it?

Canadians like transit

• The Canadian federal government has agreed to commit $265 million to the Waterloo light rail project, which will extend into Kitchener and Cambridge. The local governments involved may not be able to find the rest of the funds to pay for the almost $700 million program.
• Elsewhere in Ontario, the provincial government has found $600 million to fund the light rail system there, which will replace a busway with a rail tunnel through downtown. Though that project is being contested in the upcoming mayoral election, this money makes its construction more likely. Ontario has already agreed to spend billions on the Toronto area transit system.
• Calgary planners propose two express buses and a streetcar all serving the airport. Many politicians, on the other hand, want a light rail extension there.

High-speed rail takes time

• South Korea, which already has a high-speed system roughly based on the French TGV, plans a major expansion to connect all of the country’s major cities. Links to North Korea, however, aren’t likely for a long time.
• Siemens promotes its trains in ads across the internet, hoping to win commissions for contracts in California, Florida, and the Midwest. For now, though, the only company that will for sure build new trains for the U.S. is Spanish concern Talgo, which will construct trains for Wisconsin.
• Despite the big benefits of high-speed rail for California, people on the Peninsula are continuing to fight its development. A Palo Alto committee declares “no confidence” in the project. But the High-Speed Rail Authority reaffirms its push for an alignment through that city.

Bikes!

• Washington, D.C. has begun the installation of its new bike sharing stations, Beyond DC reports. The first station was actually put up in Arlington, but the whole system should be up and operating later this fall. I questioned the density of the system earlier in the summer.

Image above: Montréal Métro, from Flickr user David Salafia (cc)