Gotta Have More Cowbell...err Charlotte

After visiting Charlotte for the second time, I'm really impressed with the city's growth and new transit. I've posted a few times on the ridership moving towards its 2025 projections and here is another article about the one year anniversary. But this also has some other interesting stats, the increase in bus route ridership that connects with the light rail lines.

No.24 Nations Ford, which connects to the Arrowood and Woodlawn road stations: 16,111 then, 23,794 last month.

No. 42 Carowinds, from the South Point Business Park near Carowinds to the I-485/South Boulevard stop: 412 then, 3,589 last month.

No. 43 Ballantyne, which travels to the Sharon Road West station: 3,710 then, 8,259 last month.

No. 44 Fort Mill, from Wells Fargo in Fort Mill to the Arrowood stop: 1,471 to 3,615.

No. 58 Pineville, which runs from the I-485 station to Carolina Place Mall: 12,294 to 16,318.

Some of this is from $4 gas I'm sure, but the growth in ridership shows the pull that the light rail line has. Here's my favorite photo from the trip last week. Thursday around mid-day.

Great Idea Arnold

Not. Why are we not taking money from highway projects if we must take from somewhere? Seems to me that in hard times, transit funding is rather important. Yet another strike against a Governor everyone seems to think is green, but really isn't.

The governor proposes cutting state assistance to local mass transit programs by $230 million. The Legislative Analyst's Office suggests grabbing revenue not being used by the Department of Motor Vehicles ($55 million) and redirecting some funds paid by Indian casinos for transportation purposes to the state's general fund ($62.9 million).

Local transit officials point out that the budget already diverts $1.7 billion from the state's Public Transportation Account to pay for other programs.

A Streetcar History in the Twin Cities

Via Twin Cities Streets for People

Bikes + Trains = Aloha

Bike sharing is taking off. Tethering it to transit is smart.

Momentum B-cycle is targeted to launch on June 1. Le's goal is to eventually have bike racks across O'ahu and within a five-mile radius of rail transit stops. The intent is to make it easier for residents and tourists to connect to mass transit and key locations," Le said. "It's good for the community."

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.
...

"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."

Watch Out for Big Rail

Mr. Setty referenced the article earlier but this quote is hilarious:

And then you’ve got the rail transit lobby. The transit lobby is about 4 or 5 times bigger than the highway lobby. People always think there’s this huge highway lobby, but the highway lobby is very small compared to the transit lobby. And there’s enormous profit to be made. The average urban freeway in America costs about 5 to 10 million dollars per lane mile, and the average light rail line is cost up to 80 million dollars a route mile. So obviously there’s a lot more profit to be made building rail than there is building highway and so naturally the companies like Parsons-Brinkerhoff and so forth – Bechtel –that build transit are going to be lobbying for it.

Of course this is all bs, but if we (I'd be all about being a part of big rail if it existed) had as much power over the road folks as Randal says, I think we'd see a different landscape in congress and in our communities. Perhaps big rail is bigger than we think or perhaps it has a different name, the livable communities movement.

H/T ASD

Friday Night Linkfest

I saw this post from Streetsblog about the transportation transition team leads. This isn't the whole team, just people leading specific sections. We should wait to see who is on the teams under these folks before we get too riled up.

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Looks like the FTA finally got around to saying they would fund the University Link.

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Stimulus for California HSR?

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The Capricious Commuter is back. It's not Erik, but its good to have another newspaper blogging local transportation.

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It looks as if Washington Metro is off the hook... for now.

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David Goldberg argues that the old economy of autocentricty could be over. According to a recent study in Australia written in part by the super awesome Peter Newman, $85 million dollars in up front infrastructure costs are being wasted per every 1000 housing units built on the fringe. With the $250 million in transport costs that could be saved as well, thats a lot of money thrown away.

A Green Deal

Time Magazine has some commentary I can believe in. A New New Deal:

But not all government spending is created equal. Obama needs to pump serious cash into the economy in a way that promotes his long-term priorities. That means billions for energy-efficient and climate-friendly infrastructure like wind turbines, solar panels and mass transit, but nothing for new sprawl roads that ravage nature and promote gas-guzzling.

He's right, water and other basic infrastructure is complicit in the growth as well as roads. Doing things that can focus future growth in sustainable ways should be on the top of the list. Arnold and others would do well to pay attention to this.