TRANSPORTATION - Miscellaneous - Independence Institute

CNN Not Impressed with Vermont’s “High-Speed Rail”0
- January 28, 2013
Vermont officials are proud that a federal high-speed rail grant allowed them to take 29 minutes of the Vermonter schedule between New York City and Burlington. This is quite a bit less impressive than it sounds, as the speeded-up train still takes 9.5 hours for an average speed of 38 mph. By comparison, Megabus does […]
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Light-Rail Inefficiency Project 0
- January 25, 2013
Stung by the entirely accurate criticism that it is one of the worst-run transit agencies in America, San Jose’s VTA has come up with a breath-taking plan for improving its efficiency. Naturally enough, the plan is called the light-rail transit efficiency project. Click image to download an 8-MB presentation describing San Jose’s “light-rail efficiency plan.” […]
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Back in the Air Again 0
- January 24, 2013
The Antiplanner is flying to St. Louis today to speak tomorrow at a conference about the Constitution. I am not a Constitutional expert, but they asked me to speak about mobility. If you are in the St. Louis area, I hope to see you there.
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The Continuing Saga of the American-Made Streetcar 0
- January 23, 2013
Portland Streetcar, the non-profit organization that operates streetcars in Portland, is demanding that the city cough up $145,000 to fix its brand-new, American-made streetcar. Let’s take a look at the history of this car. First, the city used its own money to buy streetcars from the Czech Republic for an average of $1.9 million apiece. […]
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The Tax Foundation Responds to the Antiplanner 0
- January 22, 2013
Last Thursday, January 17, the Tax Foundation (TF) issued a paper arguing that only 32 percent of state and local highway costs were paid out of user fees, while the remaining costs came from “general funds.” In a post here, I pointed out that, actually, user fees for highways cover 76 percent of the costs […]
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Blumenauer Endorses Vehicle-Mile Fees 0
- January 21, 2013
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has introduced a bill directing the Department of Transportation to start vehicle-mile fee pilot programs in every state and authorizing $150 million to fund the program. Since privacy is a major concern for many people, Blumenauer’s bill wisely makes protection of personal privacy a top priority of the program. Oregon’s bicycle-riding, […]
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