Transportation for America Asks the Candidates to Talk About Transportation

The Transportation for America Campaign is launching tomorrow. As the last debate is tomorrow, T4A is asking folks to sign on to ask the candidates to talk about transportation issues.

I Hate It When He Does This

I'm annoyed. When Obama talks about transportation he talks about cars and roads. There have been a few times like in Portland where he talked about bikes or in PA when he talked to the GE train makers. Those are site specific and everywhere else it's usually about cars. I don't want to hear about cars. And I certainly don't want us giving money to companies who can't seem to get it right in the first place.

"We'll create 5 million new, high-wage jobs by investing in the renewable sources of energy that will eliminate the oil we currently import from the Middle East in 10 years, and we'll create 2 million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools, and bridges," he said.

He revisited the subject again later in the speech: "It is time to protect the jobs we have and to create the jobs of tomorrow by unlocking the drive, and ingenuity, and innovation of the American people. And we should fast-track the loan guarantees we passed for our auto industry and provide more as needed so that they can build the energy-efficient cars America needs to end our dependence on foreign oil."

Why is it that Toyota and Honda consistently get the market here in America right but Detroit can't seem to figure it out? Obama talks alot about changing the way things are done in Washington. I think he needs to go a step further and talk about changeing the way we do things in State DOTs, MPOs, and Detroit.

Transportation Secretary Short List

I'm not sure how accurate these are but it apparently was reported in Congressional Quarterly (Original here. Thanks Morgan):

McCain
- Ma Peters
- Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Associations
- Pete K. Rahn, Missouri Department of Transportation director

Obama
- Governor Edward G. Rendell (D-PA), chair of National Govenors Association
- Jane F. Garvey, executive vice president, APCO Worldwide
- Steve Heminger, executive director of the San Francisco Bay area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Ma Peters. We know all about her. Someone from the American Trucking Association? Serious? Or hows about Pete Rahn, the president of the Highway Lobby! This is stark. YGBFKM!

On the Blue team, it looks much better. Governor Rendell is big on transit in Philadelphia and understands transportation is multi-modal. I'm not so sure how good Jane Garvey would be as she was a former FAA administrator and Deputy Administrator at the Federal Highway Administration (booo!!).

I'm not so sure what I think of Steve Heminger either. His MTC has already been reprimanded by Jerry Brown for keeping roads we know the region doesn't need (Read Eric's post) and he got into trouble by taking a paragraph out of the recent National Transportation Commission Study Report about electric transit that Conservative Paul Weyrich had inserted. He's recently been a HOT lane enthusiast as well.

On the other hand, he understands multi-modal transportation systems, though the Bay Area's hodge podge of 26 agencies makes it a little hard to coordinate. They also have very aggressive performance measures for TOD that only spend money on new projects if the area is willing to accept a certain amount of density. I will say he and Gov. Rendell would be light years better than any of these other highway clowns. The McCain picks are telling, and if you were thinking he would address global warming and go against the auto-oil industrial complex, you might have just gotten smacked in the face.

Political "Train" of Thought

This was just too funny to pass up:

H/T Daily Kos

Adamantium for Hawaii Rail Composition!

Mayor Mufi won the majority of votes in his re-election bid but not enough to dispatch both of his opponents in the Honolulu mayoral primary. His 49% haul beat out both crazed highwayman Panos Prevedoros and current council member Anne Kobayashi who together rang up 48% of the vote. Close for sure but the totals were reflective of a mayoral race and not November's presidential election which will bring out the city's residents to vote in droves. Out of 900,000 people, only about 150,000 or ~16% came out to vote. In the 2000 election, Hawaii had about a 41% turnout rate however with a native son in Barack Obama running it is likely to be much much more.

Mayor Mufi now faces Kobayashi in the November election and it has been billed as a Rail vs. BRT showdown. On the ballot is a yes or no question of whether to go with steel wheels on steel rail. It's possibly the silliest transit question on any ballot ever, but its there and people are going to vote. A more pressing question in a city denser than most others in the United States should have a rail system, however the technology for the rail should be a bigger question. An automated guideway like Skytrain in Vancouver which is under discussion or a typical metro or light rail system that could be operated using interchangable parts that are not proprietary. I'd personally like to see more of that discussion.

The fact of the matter is that with a higher turnout it is likely that Mufi will win and the rail will pass. The reason being that most people support the rail transit solution and a defeat will only come when numbers are diluted or rail backers do something stupid, which isn't out of the realm of possibility. The next vote however will be on whether they should go with adamantium or steel for the rails themselves. After that, the voters will decide on whether the computer chips in the trains will be Intel, AMD or an abacus.

Election Day Coverage on The Overhead Wire

So you all know ahead of time, we're going to have an election night liveblog here at The Overhead Wire. The reason? No it's not to talk about the presidential race, but rather the Transit Space Race elections going on all over the country. Here's a preview of what we'll cover:

St. Louis - An election is being held to give Metro a half cent more in order to keep up with operating expenses and expand Metrolink, the region's light rail system. It's called Proposition M.

Santa Fe - A Sales Tax to extend Rail Runner into the city from Albuquerque.

Oakland/Berkeley - AC Transit is looking to raise the parcel tax $48 annually to pay for operations. This measure is called VV. KK is also on the ballot and would allow AC Transit to build BRT on Berkeley streets.

Los Angeles - This would be a half cent sales tax for capital expansion. It's called Measure R.

Sonoma Marin - SMART will go back to the polls to ask for an 1/4th cent sales tax to build a commuter rail line. It is called Measure Q.

Honolulu - Island residents are being asked whether they approve of a steel on steel transit system. (Crazy huh?)

Kansas City - A half cent sales tax is on the ballot to build a starter light rail line.

Seattle - Prop 1. I'm not going to be covering this as much except for some crucial updates. I'm sure the boys at STB got it covered.

High Speed Rail - $9.9 billion dollar bond for a statewide high speed rail line. This one is Prop 1a.

If I am missing something let me know. I'll be live blogging into the night until we get the Hawaii results. It's still a bit of time away. But I'll be reminding everyone every once in a while to keep your minds off the presidential election.

Things I Like To Hear

What Joe Biden says:

In the next car, Biden told another passenger that “If we get elected, it will be the most train-friendly administration ever.”

Actions are always better than words, but this is the right direction.

In Case You Didn't Know...

In case you didn't know already, Joe Biden takes the train.

Obama Biden 08 - Amtrak Ticket

I'd like to add to the comment on MyDD on economics and Joe Biden, who is now the VP pick for Obama.

While he embodies a lot of things about Washington -- he's been there for a long time, of course -- he has commuted to and from his home in Deleware ever since being elected rather than maintaining primary residence inside the Beltway like so many others on Capitol Hill. Even the city he was born in -- Scranton, Pennsylvania -- kind of embodies this connection to working Americans.

He not only commuted, he commuted with the people, on Amtrak.

"As an almost daily commuter on Amtrak, I've seen first-hand the need to prioritize the increased security and efficiency of our railroads.

This is a good pick for increased transit. I'm not sure what they'll do, but I imagine Mary Peters is not on the long list of possible DOT Secretaries.

McCain Cat Sez...

I can haz more trains for other countries? He lauds the GE locomotives that are built in the United States, but gosh, let's not build more tracks for them to run here.

Al Gore, An Electric Hero

I'm going to copy John here, forgive me but this is basically question and answer via youtube:

Money Pundits are shocked when told that oil isn't in a bubble.



Al Gore has the answer... Alternative energy in 10 years.



I've been hoping someone would make this challenge. Less carbon, fresh air, better transit options and WE CAN KEEP OUR MONEY!

Democratic Convention Misses Opportunity

Update 7.17.08 7:30PT: In the comments, Toast tells us that credential holders will be allowed to take light rail to the Pepsi Center, but not Union Station. Still bad for locals.

This is another case showing that most of the time, no one cares about transit or transportation from any political party. Sure democrats talk all nice about transit but this is super dumb. A few years ago when Al Gore won an Oscar for an inconvenient truth, the subway stop below the venue was closed because of the Oscars event. Say what?! All those stars that are now touting their green cred but where were they then. And it's happening again.

Now for the democratic convention in Denver, they are going to close the light rail stops at the Pepsi Center and Union Station. Visitors will have to walk from the mile high stop. It's not that half a mile is that far, but people should at least see the trains and how they transport people. And the best visibility is from the outside of the arena.

Security. Why? I don't get it at all. People that get off the train are just as dangerous as people walking from Union Station if people are dangerous at all. Isn't this why they screen people at the doors. I mean if we're this worried about the station, we shouldn't ever leave our houses.



Anyone else want to pound the DNC over the head for this? A lot of talk and no action, even symbolic ones.

McCain and Amtrak Not BFF

We've covered this before, but John McCain is no friend of passenger rail. This Boston Globe article goes into detail.

In the section of McCain's website called "reforming our transportation sector," there is no mention of rail. There is only his clean-car challenge to automakers, his $300 million prize to design battery cars, and enforcing only existing gas mileage standards.

When The Washington Post reported on how President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget did not include a subsidy for Amtrak, would kill both $20 million for the next generation of high-speed rail, and $250 million for railroad rehabilitation, it quoted McCain as saying on television, "I'm glad the president is coming over with a very austere budget."

The luster of austerity is gone. Public transportation is becoming a real issue for the campaign trail. If so, McCain has all but handed Obama a golden spike to beat him over the head with.

Senator Cardin the Man on Transit

More at Gristmill.

Grist: You authored the transit portion of the Climate Security Act. Clearly this is a priority issue for you. What role do you think transit policy should play in climate legislation?

Sen. Cardin: A huge part. [The transit portion called for] $171 billion over the life of the bill. That's big money. That can make a major impact. It can make a huge difference in the capacity for transit programs. We are in desperate need of significant transit improvements. We've got to have the facilities and we don't today, and then we need the fare-box and economic policies that reward people for taking public transportation. Some try to say that it should be "self-sufficient" or have a certain percentage return through the fare-box. We don't do that on our roads, and public transportation is much better for so many reasons -- not just the environment or the quality of life. We should be providing much stronger incentives for people to use public transportation, but first you need to have the facilities.

Metrobama

There's chattering on the Metropolitan Policy of Barack Obama. He gave a speech to the US Conference of Mayors and here's what people are saying. I think the best part is a person in the cabinet who would be in charge of metropolitan policy. That's something we really need, considering HUD and DOT don't really talk to each other when they should.

Ezra Klein -

It's worth noting that Obama's promise to fill the coffers of the Federal Highway Fund comes before his promise to build a "a world-class transit system." He does, however, say, "I don’t want to see the fastest train in the world built halfway around the world in Shanghai, I want to see it built right here in the United States of America." I'd sort of like to see that too, so Gobama!

Yglesias -

To seize the possibility of this moment, we need to promote strong cities as the backbone of regional growth. And yet, Washington remains trapped in an earlier era, wedded to an outdated “urban” agenda that focuses exclusively on the problems in our cities, and ignores our growing metro areas; an agenda that confuses anti-poverty policy with a metropolitan strategy, and ends up hurting both.

This is a point that urban policy people have been trying to push into the mainstream for a while. The fact that Obama's saying this means, among other things, that his team is paying attention to the right people. But we have poor people who don't live in cities, and cities are facing issues besides poverty -- among other things, we have the question of how to make it affordable for non-rich people to live in nice urban areas. Other highlights:

Here's obviously this is my favorite part:

It’s time to stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq and start investing that money in Phoenix, Nashville, Seattle, and metro areas across this country. Let’s invest that money in a world-class transit system. Let’s re-commit federal dollars to strengthen mass transit and reform our tax code to give folks a reason to take the bus instead of driving to work – because investing in mass transit helps make metro areas more livable and can help our regional economies grow.

And while we’re at it, we’ll partner with our mayors to invest in green energy technology and ensure that your buses and buildings are energy efficient. And we’ll also invest in our ports, roads, and high-speed rails – because I don’t want to see the fastest train in the world built halfway around the world in Shanghai, I want to see it built right here in the United States of America.

As many of you know I don't think Maglev is really worth it. You can go almost as fast with HSR which is proven technology. But I like the fighting spirit.

Signs of the Apocalypse

A presidential candidate that gets it when it comes to transit and mobility in cities. From Streetsblog:

To be sure, the speech -- delivered in Flint, Michigan -- was also heavy on promises to keep cars rolling off the assembly line. But the mention of rail and a proposal to fund a "National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank" (reminiscent of Congressman Earl Blumenauer's stump speech) suggest that a President Obama may steer federal transportation funding, which has long given transit short shrift, in a different direction.

The Governor of Georgia who practically bleeds concrete and oil sets his sights on commuter rail.

After six years as governor, Sonny Perdue on Thursday got down to the details on transportation — telling reporters he was ready to support a test case for expanded commuter rail.

Specifically, he endorsed an Atlanta-Griffin route, a project that has federal funding lined up, even though it might not have the ridership as rail on Atlanta’s north side might have. “If it [succeeds], there are certainly other areas of Georgia that can benefit,” he said.

It's starting to get interesting out there.

Veto Proof Amtrak Bill Through

Via Greendem's Kos Diary.

Finally, the rail haters have been beaten back into their gas guzzling SUVs.

Every modern country supports their national rail system. Just ask the people stranded in Manhattan during the week of 9/11 how important Amtrak is to America. I was one of them.

The notion that Amtrak is supposed to be completely self-sustaining and require no federal subsidies is Republican hogwash.

Robert at CAHSR has more.

Barack Obama on Transit

He's the democratic nominee now. RT Rider has his positions on transport here.

Strengthening America's Transportation Infrastructure

Invest in Public Transportation
Create Greater Incentives for Public Transit Usage
Strengthen Metropolitan Planning to Cut Down Traffic Congestion
Require States to Plan for Energy Conservation

No Transportation Blogs at the Democratic Convention

Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed when I got the email today saying that TOW would not be blogging from the democratic national convention. We made it past the first round and I was looking forward to being able to get questions from you all to ask party leaders and get some answers on transportation issues.

Alas it wasn't to be. So we'll have to get some info from other transportation blogs that will be... oh wait. There aren't any transportation blogs credentialed at the convention. However there is a Silver Lining. I imagine David Roberts and Crew at Gristmill will cover some of these issues. So we'll be living vicariously through them during the convention. Congrats guys, and ask some good questions!

Update: We'll also be living vicariously through Robert who writes at CAHSR and Calitics. :)

Obama Video: Learn From Portland

Yup. H/T Carfree USA