Railway Robbery?

I don't know about you all, but this seems a bit like a blackmail scheme. It's like we're in Berlusconi's Italy.

A firm called AnsaldoBreda says it will relocate its assembly and manufacturing plants from Pittsburg, Calif., and Italy to Los Angeles if -- and it's a big if -- the MTA agrees to buy 100 rail cars from the firm for more than $300 million.

This is the same firm that built Muni's and Boston's LRVs. I don't think the LA versions are bad looking, but they are too heavy making them energy hogs and have continued to be a problem in the maintenance department. Perhaps an all in move to Southern California and a change in management would to the company good. Though it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Why would they do that when they should just be expanding thier Pittsburg digs.

It's kind of funny though. After all the problems they've had, what makes them think that making such a claim would even remotely be taken seriously? Maybe they'll get a deal for an American made Sirio.

Sprawl Is Dead! Long Live Sprawl!

What does sprawl mean anymore to anyone? In one day President Obama discusses how important it is to build an interchange and how sprawl is dead. Are those two reconcilable? Only if we define what sprawl is and how it's created. Some on the other side consider streetcar suburbs from the end of the 19th century and early 20th century to be sprawl. They would consider the the Roman Empire to be sprawl.

But we seem to forget that those neighborhoods were made for walking, and recent studies have suggested that the interconnected road networks built by streetcars and before are safer than those built just for cars. This isn't just an issue of the environment, its an issue of public health and safety. But does that lead to a simple definition of the detrimental effects of sprawl?

So what is sprawl? Is it like Larry Flint's magazines? Do you know it when you see it? To my own understanding, sprawl is development that acts as a leach, taking tax base away from central cities and spending it sooner than it can be raised. It doesn't necessarily mean low density alone because that is a part of the market, just not 80% of it. The Fresno Bee also had a story about a study done on farmland preservation in California's central valley. We're losing land fast to endless unsustainable development. But how do we get to sustainable? What is the goal there? 0% net energy usage? Then there is this dependence on oil thing.

Sinn-Frei via Steven B.

But is it sprawl if your house is close to your job, even if you live out the suburbs? I've tried to think of what it is and what it isn't, but I can't seem to pin it down. So if we can't define it, how do we kill it?

Imagine This Story Times Millions

It's never fun when eminent domain is used. But when I think of it, it always brings me back to the thought of how many people were displaced and how much tax revenue has been lost because of the Interstate Highway System ripping through cities. One need only go back and watch Robert Caro's speech at CNU last year to understand the price of automobiling. As I've said many times before, Eisenhower marveled at and wanted to emulate the freeways between cities, not through them.

The autobahn was a rural network, without segments into and through Germany's cities. This seemed appropriate to Eisenhower, but in Washington, Thomas H. MacDonald and Herbert Fairbank of the U.S. Public Roads Administration (the name of the Federal Highway Administration's predecessor during the 1940's) saw the absence of metropolitan segments as a flaw that made the autobahn a poor model for America's future. Unlike Germany, traffic volumes were high in America where car ownership was widespread. Congestion in America's cities had long been a serious complaint that MacDonald and Fairbank would address in their vision of the Interstate System.

We sure tackled that congestion problem...that wasn't really addressed because that wasn't the point.

...MacDonald acknowledged with surprising candor that the urban components of the system were not designed to alleviate urban congestion, except to the extent that they would provide relieve to those motorists for whom the city was an inconvenient obstruction...

We all know Lewis Mumford had it right though when arguing against the highway system slashing through cities.

The key to reviving our center cities, Mumford said, "rests on the restoring of the pedestrian scale of distances to the interior of the city, of making it possible for the pedestrian to exist." He added, "We are faced, it is fairly obvious to me, with the blunders of one-dimensional thinking, or thinking very expertly about a single characteristic, a single feature that we are interested in, and forgetting the realities that surround us."

Transit Hub Tax Credits

I forgot about this, but New Jersey has a program which they give tax credits to companies that locate near transit. To me this is a great idea, since it creates a situation where existing infrastructure is taken advantage of and people have an option as to how they get to work.

H +T Revisited

The place where Transit Oriented Development has thrived since the decision to build in a subway instead of down the center of a freeway is now the location of the most affordable option for living in DC.

The report, prepared in partnership with the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, measures combined housing and transportation costs for 22 areas within the DC region. Close-in Arlington County recorded the lowest combined costs, at 39 percent, while outlying areas such as Clarke County recorded the highest costs, at 58 percent.

One wonders what might have happened if the Orange Line had not been built as it was. With all the extra density, would all those people have moved further out to the suburbs? Would they be driving more? How much more energy would be expended? Yet I imagine if that line were considered today, it would not even come close to passing the cost effectiveness measure set in front of every transit project to trip it up. It shows what we should be trying to do. National metro subway plan anyone?

Do We Have to Even Read It?

And so it begins again. They got tossed out of Charlotte and now are hunting transit again. Some of their suggestions, more roads, BRT, and telecommuting. Anyone wonder why I continue to be skeptical of BRT? Especially when folks who hate transit advocate for more of it. Here's my favorite paragraphs:

The regional planning and transit bureaucrats who created the latest Triangle transit plan weren't really trying to fashion transportation policy. They were trying to remake the region's economy and land-use patterns according to "Smart Growth" principles that are, in truth, reactionary. They envision urban employment cores, dense residential neighborhoods and rigid commuting patterns based around a 19th century technology, the train, that bear little relationship to reality.

While some individuals desire such a lifestyle, the vast majority of citizens, 82 percent by one recent estimate, prefer to live the American dream in a single-family home and travel when and where they want using their personal vehicles. Any transportation plan hostile to clear public preferences is doomed to fail, and to cost taxpayers a great deal in the attempt.

Haha didn't anyone tell these guys about Karl Benz in 1885 and his four stroke gas engine. You know, 3 years before Frank Sprague and the electric streetcar. I wonder how many times we have to go over this. But that last paragraph is telling. No citations of real studies or polls (like this one) and all preferences of his own. How come its so expensive to live in Walkable cities? I would venture to guess it is because there is so much demand that prices are being driven up by folks who have money that want this type of lifestyle, making it harder for those who don't to leave the the suburbs. Again, why should we subsidize his suburbia?

Three Projects is Waaay Too Many

Another shortsighted look at transit.

Mayor Pat McCrory cautions against too many competing transit projects muddying the lobbying waters at a state and federal level. The Metropolitan Transit Commission steers most elements of the 2030 plan, including an ongoing assessment of whether to push forward with an extension of a northeast light-rail line and a northbound commuter-rail route.

We never worked on three highway projects at the same time, or road projects. It makes absolutely no sense to work on three transit projects at the same time. And there is no other funding source outside of the state and federal level. Money always grows on those trees alone.

But in all seriousness, there is plenty of money out there to fund transit. It's all about regional priority. Not that expect places to start switching over money tomorrow, but the interstate highway system is done. Widening freeways should be over. It's time to start thinking about more mobility for the tax base that has paid for everyone else's. Cities are the economic generators of this country. It's about time we treated them as such.

Sunday Backlog Links

So when I got back from LA yesterday and checked my feed reader my jaw dropped when the 1000+ number showed at the top. Too much information every day. It's amazing what the internet has brought but also time consuming. I can see why some completely eschew the process keeping themselves sane.

Another interesting thing that I missed is the end of the Stimulus craziness. Instead of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I missed it all, which when I got back was oddly comforting. It can be quite crazy in Washington DC dealing with movement efforts because of the thousands of changes every day. Some find this exciting but with my background in distance running, I don't quite understand it. The franticness of it all goes against everything I learned from running, including patience and putting in your daily miles over a long term period to reap rewards. It's not quite as opportunistic which is satisfying, at least to me personally. Guess thats just my personality.

In any event, here are my favorite bits from the catch up process.

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A history of the Subway in Los Angeles. After being there Friday and riding the Subway and the 704 Rapid, I see absolutely no reason why people are opposed to more rail extensions. The ride was bumpy and crowded and needed a lot of work in the wayfinding department. There was no map so I knew where I was going and no announcements of transfer points. Transit TV is worthless as well.



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It's amazing when you hear stories of Japanese soldiers that were found on Islands many years after the Second World War was over still thinking they were in the war. Similarly, it's amazing when a fight is lost over rail people still continue to fight it, even after the voters strongly affirmed their will.
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Why are we still propping up the auto industry? And why do we consider transit expansion an "extra thing", something that is a novelty when its more of a necessity than tax breaks for automobiles.
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Gavin has officially lost my vote for Gov. His smarmyness probably had lost it anyway. Perhaps Jerry Brown or Antonio are better. Maybe, maybe not.
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If you have to vote for transit improvements, shouldn't we have to vote for roads as well?
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The Green Line in Dallas has created 2,200 jobs. It's really too bad we couldn't fund more of these lines.
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20 TOD projects in Charlotte are paused or canceled. This is a slowdown of 3,000 units. If we do give tax breaks to new home buyers, it should be near transit but I'm not sure if giving breaks is a smart idea in any context.

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No such thing as Green Personal Transportation?
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Developers say eliminating a station on the Corridor Cities Transitway would hurt their large development scheme.
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At least we'll be able to get around Spain. They are planning a huge HSR network. Seems like they are the leaders in the next major infrastructure movement. Perhaps when President Eisenhower goes to Spain he can see how it worked and promote it here. Then another group will co-opt it and turn the autobahn into a mover within cities instead of between them. Did I just get my time periods mixed up?
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Copying an idea that I believe came from Columbus, the Charlotte Bobcats are selling transit tickets with thier event tickets. I think this could be a very real way to raise capital for transit projects and allow people to use thier event tickets as proof of purchase (POP)
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This is what the Stimulus was supposed to fix, but won't. We'll have to depend on the transportation bill for this. In the meantime, work should be done to get land along the lines ready for the future.
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Who knew that streets built before the suburban sprawl craze were actually safer than the roads built for cars. Well data backs that up as well.

Ogden, Utah Photos

I spent a few days talking about streetcars with some folks in Ogden, Utah. Fortunately or unfortunately I didn't have access to the internet the last few days because of my schedule, but I did take a few movies and pictures. I wish I would have had a little more time for a vlog but perhaps if I go back. Also, if I do disappear for a few days, you can check me out on twitter as well. I still have to figure out how to use it more effectively but for the most part its random observations when riding transit or where i'm located.

Anyway, Ogden is a really neat little city and they have a spectacular downtown with some great old buildings and the nearby streetcar suburbs . It was the center of much of the railroad's east west movements. Much to my surprise, this wasn't Salt Lake City's role. I got to see the Front Runner Commuter line from a far and took some pictures of the old downtown. I'll have some more cool stuff up tomorrow or Sunday.

And if you wonder why we should keep moving towards better land use and transit that lowers emissions...take a look at what Temperature inversions do to Salt Lake City. They just became a non-attainment area.



This is 25th Street, really cool main street which used to be a really seedy part of town. Tons of cities would kill for buildings like these.



Front Runner Commuter Rail

When Do We Get to Win?

When we win we still lose. Seems like that is the theme over in the Senate. And as an added bonus, the Senate has turned into the State of California, where the minority seems to win somehow. How come the minority didn't win all the time when the Democrats were in power? This is infuriating.

Then you have people who are supposed to be allies voting against the bill. Landrieu of all people should know better after Katrina knocked out the New Orleans Streetcar system for months on end and put an abrupt stop to expansion of the Desire Line, for which funding had almost materialized before the storm.

And when President Obama "pledged to launch the biggest public works program since the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s" we didn't think you meant a whole new highway system. People want Infrastructure and not just roads. Republican pollsters even say they do. Rails, energy facilities, water treatment etc etc.

How about investing in operating transit? It has been conspicuously left out and as Brad Plummer mentions over at the Vine, Obama's team when asked why the infrastructure funding is so paltry, responds that they don't think we can spend it fast enough. I think its more something along the lines of this...

You can go ahead and tell yourself that this is just theory - just a single example. But that's willful ignorance, as the Hindrey scalping is only one chapter in what has been one long narrative arc whereby economic progressives have been deliberately shut out of top administration jobs. Just step back and think about it for a minute: Amid a stable of eminently qualified and well-respected progressives like James Galbraith, Joseph Stiglitz, Dean Baker, Robert Reich, Paul Krugman and Larry Mishel, Obama has chosen Rubin sycophants like Larry Summers and Tim Geithner to run the economy - the same Larry Summers who pushed the repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act, the same Geithner who masterminded the kleptocratic bank bailout, the same duo whose claim to fame is their personal connections to Rubin, a disgraced Citigroup executive at the center of the current meltdown. And the list of Rubin sycophants keeps getting longer, from Peter Orszag to Jason Furman.

You can only have a circus when the clowns are in the building. And that includes the bearded ladies that think that the census is pork. But the bigger story here is that Obama's people only believe in pushing paper around instead of dirt.

But this all got me thinking, what would get people to pay attention? What would get people to start thinking about how important transit is in the major metropolitan areas and how a stimulus would work? How about we just pull an Ottawa and shut it all down. Imagine the signal that would send. Just stop running the buses and trains for one random unannounced day and see what happens. When all those Senate aids can't get to work or when bicycles start piling up outside the capital office buildings, perhaps some will take notice. When Denver shut down its system, the region was brought 30 minute delays and hellish parking scenarios downtown. When LA did it, traffic speeds declined 20%. Those are big numbers. Imagine them everywhere. Do you think people would finally notice?

I know i'm getting a bit more militant about this, but if we don't start seeing signs that things are actually going to change this year, it might be time to start trying something different than just voting for change. It's not like we're asking a lot more than is needed in this country. That comes during reauthorization. We're gonna have to change things ourselves. Anyone else getting tired of being not the permanent minority or majority, but permanently screwed?