Quote of the Day

From the Wall Street Journal:

"Why is transit continuing to take a back seat to highways?" asked Kevin Sheys, a lawyer who represents commuter rail and transit agencies. "The disproportionate amount of highway spending could cut against a lot of things they're trying to do on energy efficiency."

Setting New Timelines

Yonah discusses issues related to the Columbus plans for a light rail line using the stimulus funding. I would note that it was partially because of the FTA's cost effectiveness index that this corridor project got killed. They gave Columbus a large CEI for both light rail and BRT projects. It just shows how they have always been looking at the wrong metrics and hold transit to a different standard than roads.

That brings us though to the issue of what that CEI has wrought in terms of projects moving forward around the country as well as thier timline.

One of the problems with the current thinking on transit and the "ready to go-ness" of them is that people think that the current speed at which transit projects get done is how it has always been. This is wrong and simply a function of how broken the funding system has become. Obviously it shouldn't have taken Charlotte 10 years to build their first rail line but it was trying to get through the federal funding program that took so long. This gives lawmakers a poor idea of how actually long it will take.

We need to push back hard on assumptions that the lines can not be started within a three month or even a year period after the stimulus money is let. That assumes also we don't get rolled by state DOTs (aka highway departments) which is another outrage entirely. There should be some sort of experementation with design build in these transit projects, especially since many of them will be street running, even with thier own ROW. It's not as if engineers will not be in need of funding for thier businesses either. This recession is hitting everyone, not just construction workers.

But we can see how fast things can go when they are planned from Portland and Seattle. Portland announced the alignment in 1997 and the line was open in 2001. In Seattle, it took 5 years from thought to operations. This is half the time it took Charlotte to open and possibly shows that if you have an alignment and the funding, it can be designed and moved forward in short order. In the next few years we'll have a few more examples with Salt Lake moving so fast on thier lines, hopefully a few more because of the stimulus.

Greedy DOTs Just Following Orders?

Wow, this is a lot of nerve and if true, would be really really disgusting.

Transportation leaders missed an opportunity to jump-start mass transit in Florida and to repair existing roads and bridges, he said. "The problem is our transportation leaders do not have vision," said Ashwell. The department defended the request. DOT spokesman Dick Kane said Congress requested the stimulus funds be tied not to mass transit but highway and bridge projects that can start within 90 to 120 days. "The whole idea of the stimulus package was to have projects ready to go," he said.

Looks like Florida has about $13 billion in transit projects at some stage. You can't tell me that some of these can't be ready to go. Sounds like excuses to me.

Vacation is Over Links

Well vacation will be over in the morning. I was enjoying my time off but can't be a bum forever. Here are some links for the day.
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The New York Times has an editorial asking for more funding for transit and an end to the cost-effectiveness index. Never thought I would see that!
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Folks in Tampa are hoping to expand their transit types to include a rail system.
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The debate over light rail vibration continues in the Twin Cities. A study says that it can be minimized by technology.

Likely Unlikely Ally

Folks in the steel industry are getting behind the idea of transit for the stimulus. Seems to me like there are other unlikely allies out there. Anyone have an unlikely ally that should be in the mix?

Post Christmas Day Linkage

I limited my internet access over the past few days in Bakersfield (would have been nice to take HSR down there) and am now catching up completely with my reader. Posting will be light over the next week as I just kind of zone out for a bit. One thing I miss about college is that month long sleep break we got around Christmas time. I'm gonna take some time with sparse posting. In any event, here is some linky goodness.
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The Tram that serves OHSU in Portland did an amazing job keeping people working there linked to the city during the snow storm.

The tram, which extends from a streetcar stop in South Waterfront up to OHSU, helped the hospital keep running through the worst of the snow. With buses unable to make the trip up to Marquam Hill, OHSU kept the tram running until midnight so that patients and staff could get up to the hospital and back down the hill again.

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Light Rail is now open in Phoenix!
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California HSR could get $20B from the stimulus. That would be a great contribution to the future of California, just like the aqueduct was many years previous. Personally, I'd like to see us hire Dutch engineers for New Orleans and California's Levee problems. I know its off topic, but its something that needs serious attention too and will benefit for many years to come.
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More on the big push from Congressman Oberstar.

Oberstar said, "We're going to rewrite the whole book on this thing." The stimulus package is the prologue to a broader effort to show that mass transit is not just a good idea; it's a vehicle America can ride into the future.

This makes me think there needs to be a name for our movement. Something simple. The Big Push? Any suggestions?
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This seems a bit much to me. $668 million for a crossover track between Walnut Creek and Concord on BART?? Isn't there a better use for that money? Anyone know anything about this?
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And finally, Dan shows us how to man up in the snow.

Transit Not Roads

Lots of editorials coming out discussing the issue of roads and transit in the stimulus package. Take a look at a few on each side. It doesn't surprise me Atlanta is so far behind, and falling faster. They have editorial page people like this guy. But there are folks that get it. Such as local writers from PIRG and at the *Toronto Star* (updated: err Globe and Mail).

Action! How Is Your State Going to Spend?

This weekend on the hill there is work on the Stimulus package going on. We need to push hard to keep the State DOT's from throwing in all the road projects they can find and make it as Green as possible. You can learn more from the T4 blog. Check the lists in your region. If there is a bent towards roads, let your representatives know it. Email them if you have to!

Two Percenters

Stop it. Just cut it out. Joel Kotkin, the newest of the O'Toole/Coxies is the latest offender.

Spending on upkeep of transit systems in older centralized cities such as New York, Washington and Chicago also seems logical. But with few exceptions -- the heavily traveled corridor between downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center, for instance -- ridership on most new rail systems outside the traditional cities has remained paltry, accounting for barely 1 or 2 percent of all commuters.

This 2% bullshit needs to stop. Stop comparing a single transit corridor or a poorly funded transit network to all roads in a region. Let's compare a single road project to the whole region next time. The next interchange, i'm going to be all about comparing the number of trips. Heck the big dig only takes 2% of trips. Stop it. Wendell Cox or Robert Poole say all the time we should spend money depending on existing trip percentages. That doesn't do us any good and only enforces the current shares. We should be spending more money on livability infrastructure.

Another interesting thing about Kotkin's screed is that he praises Houston's light rail line, which he and his followers bashed in the past. So what's it going to be Joel? There's a whole lot more wrong with his ideas on the stimulus, but I'll leave that to others.

Find Out What You're Asking For

KC Light Rail has a link to the stimulus lists for cities around the country by the US Conference of Mayors. Take a look and let us know if your city "gets it". Shouldn't their be some sort of region wide coordinated approach? It's always fun to look at lists though right?

For San Francisco, here's the link. Definitely needed things including a new control room and midlife overhauls for buses and the Bredas. I wonder if they have pong on their current control room computers.

And the city that sees this as an opportunity to do big things, Salt Lake City. Asking $403 million for five different light rail projects.

Another quirky thing, Austin asks for $80 million to update the current commuter rail line ($220 in rail asks). Does this mean electrification? Double tracking? Is that possible? What does urban rail vehicle purchases mean. Soooo confused!

If you find something interesting, let us know in the comments.

Doesn't Seem Like a Problem to Me

From the San Antonio Express News Transport Blog:

President-elect Barack Obama's call for sweeping infrastructure investments to put 2.5 million people to work has experts debating just what and how much government should do.

One problem, for some, is that toll roads and privatization could get left behind.

Oh noes! We wouldn't want that. I mean the whole idea of toll roads and privatization is getting money from the government right?

Perhaps I Have Had Too Much Hope

This language is not change we can believe in. I can't keep giving the benefit of the doubt with language like this alone from Obama:

ROADS AND BRIDGES: “[W]e will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.”

No wonder we're so far behind the rest of the world. If your smart leaders don't understand and articulate the real problems, then how are we supposed to fix them? Commenters on liberal blogs such as Daily Kos this morning echoed my thoughts:

Roads and bridges, roads and bridges, roads and bridges...as if that's all we need and everything will be alright. Yes, I know Obama has mentioned rail and I hear it more frequently now, but how about saying "rail, transit, roads and bridges" for once?

And on America Blog:

Rehabbing the infrastructure and the highway system is an excellent idea. I would like to see nation-wide pubic transportation on that list as well but . . . somehow, sensible bus and train and even plane connections are beyond us.

In fact there was a sentiment throughout the whole comment thread of this post that there has been little mention of transit. I didn't even see any mention of bike or pedestrian improvements which is a part of this as well. Yes I understand this is for immediate job creation, but there is a lot more that can be done if transit agencies would get their act together and ask for it, prove they need those funds. They are always complaining about being underfunded, I know there is a case to be made. It seems like politicians are afraid but like others have said, its a time to be bold. These are not times for the timid.

Tell Em Whats Up

The Roadbuilders are looking for some stim. If so inclined, tell them about transit instead.

Just a Highway Department

I've been seeing some calls for stim funding to go to the States to distribute but this is an extremely bad idea for transportation spending. As STB reminds us, most of our state DOTs are basically highway departments. Some MPOs are not much better but at least in the major jurisdictions they have more incentive to push transit, biking, and walking projects. How can we make sure that the money gets into the right hands? That should be a question we're asking. I'm positive that State level is not the answer. And certain Governors should know better.

Lots of Stim

Treehugger runs over three different transit based new deal programs. The Apollo Alliance seems to have the most aggressive:

Transit plays a prominent role in the Alliance's 10-year, $500 billion plan to create 5 million new jobs. Among their proposals: bringing government investment in mass transit at least up to par with investments in highways, increasing the government's share of funding for transit and infrastructure projects and prioritizing repair and maintenance of infrastructure over new highways.

Pay No Attention to the GHGs Behind the Curtain

Is it just me, or is it really short sighted to use stimulus money on expanding roads?

Baghdad Subway

We've seen this before in the OPEC states. In Baghdad they are building a subway. Where are they getting the money? It seems they are giving it the ole PPP. From the Guardian:

"This is one of Baghdad's most important projects and we hope that investors will join it," he said. "We have called for tenders from them and we have some money to contribute from the government. We are planning to start work as early as next year.

"This has been postponed so many times because of war and chaos but this time we are sure it will happen."

It will likely connect in to a national rail network that already exists and will allow dense Baghdad to move a little easier. But the biggest discussion is on security. I understand the fear of bombings, but I don' t see why that should lead to not building something beneficial. This will be a huge construction project that will get people to work, I don't know why we didn't start building it earlier with all that money we sent over for reconstruction. Seems to me that by putting people to work, that's less people to get angry over conditions.

Transportmakers

Here's an idea that i've been pondering. If we are going to bailout the auto industry, which I'm not sure is a great idea, we should do it on conditions. First is that they have to stop fighting California and other states emissions standards. I can't tell you how much I abhor breathing in exhaust when I'm walking around the city. The electric wires might be unsightly, but I'm not breathing them in.

Another should be looking into the possibility of building bus, light rail, and passenger train cars(including HSR). Now this might or might not be such a good idea seeing as the last time Boeing tried this the vehicles they created were lemons. But its worth exploring. If we want to think seriously about expanding transit capacity, we need to do something to speed up production. I have a feeling that siemens and other makers aren't going to be able to keep up with the demand that is coming.

But Mr. Udall recognized that the country could not afford the economic consequences of losing all of the automobile industry’s jobs and profits. He proposed that the auto companies branch out into “exciting new variants of ground transportation” to produce minibuses, “people movers,” urban mass transit and high-speed intercity trains. Instead of expanding the Interstate highway system, he suggested that the road construction industry take on “huge new programs to construct mass transit systems.” And he called for building “more compact, sensitively planned communities” rather than continuing urban sprawl.

Glad he's thinking not just about the transport system but the land use that feeds it.

Senator Clinton Calls for Transit Investment

I've seen Hillary talk about transit before, but I think that this is probably the most direct language I've seen out of her on the subject. This is change I can believe in.

In a speech to the New York Public Transit Association, Clinton urged "bigger and bolder" transportation programs, including high-speed rail, and said modernizing the nation's transportation infrastructure and expanding transit will be a key issue for the next Congress and President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration.
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"It takes too long and it costs too much to deliver transit projects," despite high and growing demand for more public transportation across the country, she said.

Noting that when President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation authorizing the federal interstate highway system in 1956, the act launched the largest American public works program in history, Clinton said developing transit is a similar opportunity to leave a tangible legacy.

"Just as we built a 19th century transportation system with canals and railroads and we built a 20th century transportation system with highways, we now can build a 21st century transportation system with mass transit," she said.

More Stim

Some high level officials gathered in Evanston to talk about transportation's future.

"Our transportation network has been the envy of the world, but we're starting to fall behind," warned Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar during the William O. Lipinski Symposium on Transportation Policy at Northwestern University in Evanston. The gloomy financial forecast is "all the more reason to invest in transportation infrastructure," said Oberstar, a Democrat who chairs the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "Every billion invested in infrastructure means 34,000 jobs."

Rep. Jerry Costello, a downstate Democrat who heads up the House Subcommittee on Aviation, said the House will likely take up an economic stimulus package after Thanksgiving and added, "I've been assured that a large part of that will be for infrastructure."