Research update 11/1/07

Street Smart
Competition, Entrepreneurship and the future of roads
Edited by Gabriel Roth, forward by Mary E. Peters

California's High-Speed Train Project Should Be Derailed
Overstating ridership figures and understating costs doesn't make it a good idea
Adam B. Summers , Reason Foundation 10/30/07

Reimagining the Automobile Industry by selling the Electricity,
A Silicon Valley technologist who was in competition to become chief executive of SAP, one of the world s largest software companies, has re-emerged with a grand plan to reinvent the world s automobile industry around battery-powered all-electric cars.
John Markoff , New York Times 10/29/07

DOT: Some concrete substandard
Four decades of RI DOT ignoring rules for ensuring high-quality concrete.
Bruce Landis, 10/28/07

State of NJ defends secrecy of report on toll roads
A consultant's report analyzing how the state can generate more money off highways -- possibly by increasing tolls -- must stay private because it's incomplete, Governor Corzine's administration argues in court
Tom Hester Jr., A.P., 10/27/07

Official pushes for L.A. toll lanes
To reduce traffic congestion, the Los Angeles area needs to experiment with charging motorists to drive in special freeway lanes during peak periods, a Bush administration official told the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board Thursday.
Jeffrey L. Rabin, Los Angeles Times 10/26/07

After tragedy, political resolve collapses
While construction of a new bridge has already begun, the lingering political mess could derail $200 million in other transportation projects. Minnesota LGs management of DOT has a  $17 billion backlog of bridge and road repairs.
Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org 10/26/07

HIGHWAY FINANCE: Private toll roads proposed
Panel told I-15 toll lanes could fund highway construction
Ed Vogel, Las Vegas Review Journal, 10/26/07

Transport panel aims high in ideas for raising revenue
Raise $2 billion a year fixing CO highways: avg $100 a year increase auto registration fee, double 22-cents-a-gallon state gas tax, daily hotel room and rental car fee of $6, state sales tax increase of 0.55 cents and 2 percent increase in natural resources severance tax. Tax increases must be voter-approved.
Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News, 10/26/07

It's full speed ahead on the Ryan
New lanes rid bottleneck... Although the Ryan Expressway finished ahead of schedule, its cost nearly doubled, to $975 million from $550 million, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Ryan Haggerty and Jeremy Gorner, Tribune 10/26/07

New system may save lives on rural roads
An electronic system that gives people warning that there are vehicles approaching from the other direction...
Karla Hult, KARE 11 News, 10/25/07

Public Transit Program Funding Issues in Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Key Policy Considerations for Surface Transportation Investment Needs
Congressional testimony of Robert Puentes, Brookings Institution, 10/25/07

Public Not So Fast!
Key Policy Considerations for Surface Transportation Investment Needs
Congressional testimony of Robert Puentes, Brookings Institution, 10/25/07

The Chinatown express
In a testament to the power of the invisible hand, the rough-and-tumble success of the Chinese bus lines is attracting new competitors, and the industry is becoming less dodgy in the process.
The Economist, 10/25/07

Nevada toll road discussion renewed
Toll proposal resurrected to help reduce huge funding shortfall for Nevada.
BRENDAN RILEY, Associated Press 10/25/07

Metra fares may jump 30% by '10
Chicago Sunday service might be cut, no longer serving typical 43,3000 Sunday riders. $40 million deficit in 2008.
By Richard Wronski ,Tribune, 10/25/07

DOT praised, razzed on reforms, legislators are happy to see the DOT admit to problems but want solid proof of progress
Two NC DOT officials told committee members that the department will speed its work on road projects by breaking down a "silo mentality" that keeps parts of the agency from working smoothly together.
Bruce Siceloff, North Carolina News Observer, 10/24/07

Maine Turnpike authority scraps toll study
$2.2 billion funding shortfall, study on tolling existing freeways ousted.
Tess Nacelewica, Portland Press 10/24/07

Toll Roads to the Rescue
Thanks to recent advances in technology, road users can be charged electronically without having to stop their vehicles, and charges can be varied from place to place and time to time as traffic conditions change.
Gabriel Roth, The Independent Institute, 10/24/07

Loans to fix roads begin
Pennsylvania Turnpike borrows $532 million against tolls
Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/22/07

Tunnelling north
Largest road construction project in NZ, Northern Motorway Extension to open late 2008, 7.5 km NZ $360 million, to reduce traffic congestion between Orewa and Puhoi.
Cliff Taylor, NZ Herald, 10/21/07

New MIG chief to lead foreign push
Australia s MacQuarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) promotes new CEO to boost chances for North America, Europe and Australia toll projects.  At least 16 US states are either actively proposing or considering selling toll roads to pay for badly needed infrastructure improvements. Seventy US projects with $104 billion at stake.  
Danny John, 10/20/07

Highway to somewhere, Brazil, the private sector revs up its bulldozers
Brazil actions for private companies to improve and maintain 1,600 miles of roads.  Winning bidders offered to charge lowest tolls over 25-year life of contracts.
The Economist, 10/18/07

Who Really Owns the Roads?
Despite opposition, need for capital for infrastructure from private sector is huge, and taxpayers balk at raising taxes.
Barbara Kiviat, Time CNN,10/18/07

New study shows traffic congest costs the state billions each  year
Traffic congestion in the Baltimore and Washington areas costs Maryland citizens $3.1 billion annually, according to a new study.
Kate Prahlad, Capital News Service, 10/17/07

US DOT secretary remarks to Portland Business Alliance
[W]e can substantially reduce traffic congestion  and that we can do it in most cases in a matter of months.  Shifting trip time of five-to-10 percent of people on a rush-hour highway can largely solve the congestion problem.  New data shows that almost half of the people on a rush-hour highway are not taking work trips, and almost a quarter are retired.
Portland, OR 10/15/07

Going Nowhere: the Dimensions of the Transportation Problem in the U.S.
Dimensions of the Transportation Problem in the U.S.
Robert Puentes, Brookings Institution, 10/15/07

Washington State Auditor Performance Audit Report
DOT and Legislature should follow citizens 80% rating of congestion as transportation priority
Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag, CGFM 10/10/07

Urban Transport And Economic Growth
The relationship between better urban mobility and economic growth
Presentation to Inter-American Development Bank, Demographia, 10/08/07

Frittering away road money
Commentary suggests the right step toward fixing our roads and bridges is to fix our priorities.
Ernest Istook, Washington Times, 10/1/07

Future Mobility In Georgia
Georgia faces a $51 billion shortfall through the year 2035 in funding for needed road, highway and bridge repairs and improvements.
TRIP October 2007

Public Transit Program Funding Issues in Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Without an increase in the federal fuels tax, the use of other dedicated revenue mechanisms, or more money from the general fund, federal funding available to support both highways and transit will slow in the short term, and may decline in the medium term.
Congressional Research Service Report, 9/27/07

Reduce Traffic Congestion, but Keep Out Government
How much worse does traffic have to get before we abandon our Soviet-style approach to highway transportation and allow road users to get the roads they re willing to pay for?
Gabriel Roth, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/24/2007