Righting Light Rail Wrongs in Charlotte

July 30th, 2007

It is hard to imagine a place more poorly led than Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

Sales Tax, Fawning Media and Fairy Tales

In 1998, the leadership of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County placed a sales tax on the ballot for the purpose of improving transit. The plan was to build two light rail lines and three rapid busways. These lines were to cost $760 million — at least that was what the voters were told by those trying to sell the tax. As so often happens, a fawning establishment media joined the cheerleading. Any number of people attempted to warn Charlotte ...

$$ from WA State Available for Teleworking/Telecommuting

July 26th, 2007

Good Afternoon Readers,

I wanted to alert you to a very interesting program within the state Department of Transportation that is called "Commute Trip Reduction".  Under this program there is the "Trip Reduction Performance Program", which can be found here:  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/TDM/TRPP/

There is a wealth of information on that web page that discusses the "how tos" of setting up programs that reduce individual automobile trips by commuters.  The Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) program has been around since 1991 and was passed into law after the implementation of the state Growth Management Act to help reduce traffic congestion.  (Although if you ...

All Aboard Washington Announces Intent to Acquire Operate Eastside Rail Corridor

July 18th, 2007
(Local News and Information) i> Bellevue WA July 17 2007 -- All Aboard Washington announced today its intent to acquire and operate freight commuter and tourist rail transportation utilizing the Eastside Rail property and infrastructure The rail advocacy organization......

Private investors right about rail corridor

July 17th, 2007

A government plan that would close the door on transit in a rail corridor through Seattle's eastern suburbs is such a bad idea that private investors are reportedly considering a bid for the property.

The corridor -- from Renton to Snohomish -- could serve as a key link in the region's future transportation network as the city grows around it. It should be upgraded and connected to projects like the Sounder commuter rail in Tukwila and the proposed light rail line from Seattle to Redmond. A bike path also could be constructed along much of the route.

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Shift freight to rail, cut traffic congestion

July 5th, 2007

Shifting freight traffic to rails would cut congestion and pollution, according to a study by Demographia:

In the Seattle area alone, shifting 25 percent of freight from trucks to trains by 2025 would mean 43 fewer hours in commuting time every year, compared with what is likely to occur otherwise. That same shift also would decrease air-pollutant emissions in the Seattle area by as much as 11,635 tons and save thousands of gallons of fuel.

The trick, of course, is making the change. Improving and expanding the Eastside rail line and also adding rail capacity throughout ...

TODs Don’t Work, Says L.A. Times

July 5th, 2007
The Los Angeles Times takes a hard look at transit-oriented developments (TODs) and concludes that they don’t change people’s travel habits. Local officials say TODs will revitalize neighborhoods without adding to congestion, but the Times finds that “there is little research to back up the rosy predictions.” The paper cites one study that “showed that transit-based [...]