Seattle Streetcar Ridership Over Mark

Seattle Streetcar over ridership also...

2008 ridership on the Seattle Streetcar reached 347,000 riders on October 1, surpassing first-year ridership three months ahead of schedule.

H/T Brian at STB

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.

Under Dupont Circle

I have an idea. Why not use the tunnel for streetcars again?

Patriotic Beer Redux

I know I've posted this commercial before but it came through my reader again and I was about to skip it but decided maybe I'd have another listen. What I found, was that it had even more to do with the situation we're in today more than ever. Tough times call for tough men. Here's the transcript:

Ah. That's the way patriot. Let the OPECs keep their gasoline. We'll just tap into a far more efficient energy source. Man....power. If we all learn to pull our weight. Nobody, nobody will be able to siphon away, our high life.



HT Twin Cities Streets for People for the Reminder.

Sprawl Spreads in Switzerland

It's not just here. And it's not just auto dependent. But it's just as expensive.

"In 1935, city limits were clearly identifiable," wrote the Science Foundation. This is no longer the case, and many urban areas snake into valleys and along transit routes.

I also imagine a 20 year moratorium on growth would not go over so well here. Though I think here it's called a growth boundary.

Researchers are proposing benchmarks to limit urban sprawl. In August 2008, a coalition of environmental organisations submitted more than 110,000 signatures to the government in support of a 20-year moratorium on new growth.

Updated: It's All Your Fault

Apparently this crash is all the fault of 'Smart Growth'. So says, Wendell Cox.

Yet the bottom line remains: without smart growth’s land rationing policies, the severe escalation in home prices would never have reached such absurd levels. But the disaster in the highly regulated markets will be with us for years. The smart growth spike in housing prices turned what might have been a normal cyclical downturn into the most disastrous financial collapse since 1929.

Wow. Speechless.

Ryan and Matt respond.

Atlanta's Beltline Feeling the Credit Crunch

Unfortunately this seems like one of the side effects of the current situation we're inhabiting.

Beltline officials are ready to sell $120 million in bonds to kick-start their effort to build a 22-mile loop of transit, trails and parks. But the financial turmoil has weakened the bond market in recent weeks, making it more expensive to borrow money.

Other regions are feeling as well. The Frontrunner Commuter Rail Line in Utah will be delayed and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is having problems as well.

The New Type 4

Tri-Met is testing the new Siemens Type 4 LRV, also known as the S70 Avanto. Light Rail and I , written by a local Portland LRT driver, has the scoop.

Off Topic: A Book Called 'Post'

My buddy Eric Grubbs has written a book from the inside about some of my favorite bands called Post: An Anthology of American Post-Hardcore /Whatever-You-Call-It-Core: 1985-2005. I just ordered it so I can't tell you how great it is, but I can tell you he worked for many years and really hard interviewing the bands in the book and really cares about the subject.

Back in 2005 he came and stayed at my place in Austin in order to go to SXSW and talk to some folks in his book that covers some of the best Post Hardcore (Usually called Emocore or Emo) bands that existed back when I was in school. It even includes the precursor to my all time favorite Hey Mercedes, Braid. So if you want to learn more about Jimmy Eat World, At the Drive In, Promise Ring, Sunny Day Real Estate and others...I encourage you to check it out.

Streetcar Ridership Up

The new eastside loop will get a new color, and ridership is up to its highest ever. I still think if they had 6 minute headways morning peak to evening peak you could get a ton more riders. But that I believe is a budget issue.