China Wants to Go Fast

Tell me again why Maglev is still an option? From Reuters:

"We have mastered core technologies in terms of manufacturing high-speed trains and made innovative achievements in the process," he said.

"It is possible that we can start to manufacture 380-kph trains in two years' time, and put them into service on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway," Zhang added.

That's 236 miles per hour and the technology is still progressing.

Update: Frequent commenter NJH has the following analysis on top speed for HSR.

Amtrak Evacuation Ahead of Gustav

Amtrak is taking people from New Orleans to Memphis. Something that didn't happen during Katrina apparently because no one returned their calls.

Update: Apparently the RTA learned from Katrina as well. In that storm many of the motors were ruined on the streetcars when one of the barns flooded. The ones which survived were stored at Carrolton Station and will be stored there again on high ground.

More Roads!

Build Build Build. More roads. Now. Because comparing rush hour transit service ridership to the all day road number is apples to apples right?

As If a Darwin Award Wasn't Enough

No one should be able to sue over the excuse "They should have known people would tresspass."

Unconventional Streets Wisdom

For those who watch the numbers, it should be no surprise that San Francisco's Sunday Streets would be a success for merchants at Fisherman's Wharf. However, the merchants still stuck in auto mode were complaining about the embarcadero shutdown today. However their fears, as many predicted, were unfounded. There was also a little help from demonstration E-Line service which hopefully will come online as full time sooner rather than later. Via the MSR blog:

Plenty of riders came out to take part in the free demonstration service, especially later in the morning. And it's a good thing that the E cars were on the line because, north of the Ferry Building they were needed to reduce the crush loads on the F. Muni added three shuttle buses on top of the regularly scheduled vintage shuttles, and everything was packed. Apparently, the Mayor's Sunday Streets idea worked to get more people to the Wharf, instead of fewer, as Wharf merchants had feared. The closed northbound traffic lanes of The Embarcadero were filled with skaters, walkers, and bikers.

Follow "The Market"

Let's keep doing what we've been doing and expect different results.

Charlotte Ridership

Approaching the 2030 number. 16,900 currently.

Roger Snoble is Right

Let's put aside for a second whether we think the Gold Line project is a good idea or not. Recent postings on the Bottleneck Blog state that Rep. David Drier has asked LACMTA chief Roger Snoble for $80 million in order to put the line into the New Starts pipeline to get a $320 match. Snoble wrote back saying they were not going to commit money because there was no way that was going to happen any time soon. He's right.

It is likely to be many years at best before the Foothill project completes the lengthy and rigorous New Starts process, assuming the FTA allows the project to remain under consideration.

The FTA process for most places recently has taken 10 years from first application. Lines such as Charlotte, Phoenix, Seattle , and Oceanside (Links to New Starts Report Dates) which are just opening started planning thier lines in the end of the last decade. So LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich writes back saying the DOT and Ma Peters (Thanks Ryan) told him differently. (which makes me laugh as it should any of you all who have watched the process of the FTA over the last few years from your own experience as well as on this blog) Here's his comment:

The information in your letter to Congressman David Dreier is not consistent with what I was told last month when I was in Washington D.C. meeting with the Secretary of Transportation and the Chief Counsel of the Federal Transit Administration. Both made it quite clear that the reason the Gold Line Foothill Extension project has not been able to progress under the FTA’s “New Starts” program was due to the MTA’s failure to prioritize the project as part of its long-term project list.

When Mary Peters tells you something about transit and the FTA it's kind of common knowledge now that you can't believe a thing she says. That's a great excuse they give though. Not only will the Gold Line be hard to fund through the federal process that favors BRT, it is impossible they will be able to get $320 million out of the deal. In the history of new starts, the only cities that got 80% of thier project costs paid for were back in the late 90s. 80% is what the match is supposed to be and what highways get, but the New Starts program is underfunded. I dare anyone however to find a project that gets more that 50% in the most recent new starts list. Recently its been more like 50% or for example Salt Lake City signed an MOU to fund 4 lines at 20% federal match.

So sorry Mike, if you andRep. Drier were actually paying attention to what is happening at the FTA in Washington, you would know that what you're looking to do is insane and not even the most powerful congressional teams have been able to get any more without an earmark. Mr. Snoble is correct in saying if you want the project built sooner, its better to go local, at least until the next transportation bill gets written.

FTA Shuttle Rule Thoughts

I wonder if they considered private shuttles...

The Top Wealth Center

Apparently Arlington is the top wealth center in the country. Who would have thought putting a subway through redevelopable land instead of down the center of a freeway would do anything beneficial at all?