A Commercial I Enjoy. In The Sun...

The subway steps they are walking up are right in front of my office. They were filming one day and I didn't know what it was for. Now I know, and I like the result. More biking = healthier lifestyle.

An Increase in Trips, But Leveling the Auto Volume

I agree with Stephen on this one. It's silly for Canadian liberals to say that if we encourage transit, it allows us to increase the traffic volume. I do believe that we can increase trips by building transit and livable communities. We can do more with less space. There's also no more room for expanding roads, so we need to increase the capacity of the surface roads we have, the easiest way being with transit.

Related Comedy

GEORGE: Ladies and gentlemen, this (Opens the door, Steven is standing there) is Steven Koren. His G.P.A. is a solid 2.0! Right in that meaty part of the curve - not showing off, not falling behind.

WYCK: George, the quailifications for this scholarship were suppose to be… largely academic.

GEORGE: I'm sure we're all aware of the flaws and biases of standardized tests.

WYCK: These aren't standardized tests - these are his grades.

GEORGE: Besides, Steven Koren has the highest of aspirations. He wants to be (pauses for effect) an architect.

WYCK: Is that right?

STEVEN: Actually, maybe I could set my sights a little bit higher.

GEORGE: (Laughs) Steven, nothing is higher than an architect.

STEVEN: I think I'd really like to be a city planner. (Sits down, addressing the entire foundation board) Why limit myself to just one building, when I can design a whole city?

The Next Times Someone Complains About Cost of a Needed Project

Give them this anecdote. From Market Street Railway:

A subway under Geary downtown and through the Western Addition, surfacing at Steiner Street, was proposed as early as 1936. It would have used conventional streetcars, and, had it been built -- at a then-projected cost of $13 million -- it might have forestalled the automobile expressway.

How much would a similar subway cost today? In the billions of dollars. It's needed but expensive. If we don't do it sooner, it will have to be done later, and at an even greater expense. Such is the cost of waiting. If we had done it before, the tunnel would be there for good and we wouldn't have to lay down billions.

I also suggest reading Transbay Blog's excellent write up.

$200 Billion Dollars

What is the amount of money China spent on rail infrastructure Alex. Not just that, but in a 4 year period!!!!!!

Honda Shipping 81% Rail

Interesting. Why don't more car companies ship this high a percentage by rail?

Product Distribution

* An industry-high 81% of automobile were shipped by rail, the most fuel-efficient means of product transportation.

* CO2 emissions from automobile transport were reduced by 5,493 metric tons though the use of more fuel-efficient Auto-Max rail cars.

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.

$3 Frakkin Billion Dollars

Apparently no one cares at the state level. In the last 3 years, $3 billion dollars have been channeled away from transit projects. Sick.

HSR Smackdown

Ah good ole Wendell, we knew you were fibbing, just didn't think it was this bad.

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.