Research update 11/7/07

Demography and its Impact on Transportation Services
Boomers over-45 drive less, use public transit least, school students use transit most, silvers bad eyesight, need better road signs.
NTOC

Still split on [Chicago] transit tax as 'doomsday' approaches
Both a looming transit meltdown and the suburban sales tax increase designed to avert it have put the political spotlight on area lawmakers who may well decide which scenario occurs.
John Patterson, Daily Herald, 11/1/07

Health Care for Bridges: A Search for Diagnostic Tools
A $900k project for bridge readings, 60 wireless sensors measure movement, strain, temperature, to judge structural health.
M.L. Wald, NY Times, 11/1/07

Police to ride MAX in Gresham
City statistics show 84% of gang crimes, 40% of fights and 42% of drug crimes occur within quarter mile of tracks. "The transit system reflects the community it travels through. They have a lot of poverty, unemployment and gang issues, and occasionally that will come onto the train system." - Trimet official. Police say many criminals commuting in from other areas.
Casey Parks, The Oregonian, 11/03/07

L.A. subway plans take a radical shift
A new route along Santa Monica Boulevard is considered instead of the Wilshire corridor, bypassing the Miracle Mile and Hancock Park.
Rong-Gong Lin II, 11/3/07

DelDOT team reconstructs four-fatality crash with eye to road's safety
Accident reconstruction team reviews road design and engineering at all fatal collisions. DE one of handful of states with such teams.
Summer Harlow, News Journal Wilimington Delaware, 11/2/07

Life in the Slow Lane
Cashless tollways nationally and internationally.
Robert W. Poole, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 11/1/07

Hogging the Road
How a company called Traffic.com landed an exclusive government contract worth millions to gather data on the nation's highways - and then sold the information back to us,
James Ridgeway, Mother Jones, 11/1/07

Awaiting Voters' Verdict on Road Plan
Challenger to Rep. Rust who steered plan to add hundreds of millions a year for transportation statewide and high fines on traffic violations.
Michael Laris, Washington Post, 11/1/ 07

Boost In Amtrak Use Could Spur Big Illinois Expansion
Riders between Chicago and St. Louis rose 42%, and 46% jump on Chicago-Carbondale corridor. High gas prices, road congestion and a $24 million subsidy to add additional trains on those routes.
Kurt Erickson, Southern Springfield, 11/1/07

Bus rides now a tough ticket
Rhode Island Bus ridership increased over past 5 years.  No money to increase fleet and address overcrowding.
Bruce Landis, Rhode Island Journal, 11/1/07

DOT chief: We've been on a bender
New Hampshire is like an alcoholic drunk on highway expansion, said interim Commissioner Charles O'Leary. He painted a bleak picture for future road projects in the state.
Gary Raynor, New Hampshire Union Leader, 11/1/07

Workers slam N.C. DOT in surveys
Upper managers change priorities, sometimes daily. Projects drift for years, low-level workers fear political retribution if they express new ideas, better leadership could shave years off the time it takes to finish major projects.
Benjamin Niolet, North Carolina News Observer, 11/1/07

Maryland Tax plan changes urged
Object to sales tax on real estate management services, call for sunset to governor's proposal for small increases in gas tax without legislative approval.
James Drew, Baltimore Sun, 11/1/07

Let them drive
The governor's immigration policy causes road rage in New York. Up to 1 million undocumented illegal immigrants could get licenses. Article compares states' licensing policies.
The Economist, 10/25/07

Tired solutions to transit budget woes
Chicago politicians are sending a loud a clear message to taxpayers, businesses and entrepreneurs: We will tax you right out of business! [N]ot a single mention of reducing spending, identifying waste, fraud and abuse or injecting some transparency into the process to trim the fat.
Greg Blankenship, Illinois Policy Institute, 10/8/07

A Review of the Transportation Prioritization Process (UT)
Bias for rail projects over road projects due to calculation errors in prioritization process to allocate sales and use tax revenues.
Utah Legislative Auditor General Report ILR 2007-F, 10/4/07

Eco-friendly Road Construction
Old Tires Keep On Rolling - Keeping Pavements Well Toned - Finding Strength in Ashes
CTR, Univ Texas at Austin, May 2006

Value Pricing Project Quarterly Report
Tolls, Hov Lanes to Hot Lanes, Cordons, Vehicle Charges
US. Dept of Transportation, July - September 2007

NTSB Report on July 2006 Big Dig Tunnel Ceiling Collapse, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff.
The National Transportation Safety Board partly blamed the accident on mistakes made by Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Federal Contractor Misconduct Database, 7/10/2007

S. 294, The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007
S. 294 would reauthorize Amtrak. Estimated to cost $93.61 per average family.
WashingtonWatch.com