Author: James A. Bacon
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Making the Public-Health Case for Bicycles
Last month Bacon’s Rebellion hosted an “idea jam” on the topic of bicycles and public health. Our goal was to build a case for making the Richmond region more bicycle-friendly in terms that fiscally conservative political, business and civic leaders would find compelling. We decided to focus on two topics: public health and economic development.…
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NoVa Transit Study Now Online
The McDonnell administration has released its “Transit/TDM Vision Plan” for Northern Virginia. The document projects population, employment and traffic trends for the region through 2040 and recommends investments in transit-oriented and TDM (transportation demand management) to accommodate the changes. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now, so I don’t know if I’ll get…
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Dissecting the Decline in Domestic Migration
In the early 1990s, about three percent of all Americans moved between states each year. That frequency has fallen steadily to half the percentage today. Some observers worry that this trend might be a bad thing, reflecting an ossifying of labor markets that in the past made it possible for households to move from regions…
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CTB Errata…
Odds and ends from this morning’s meeting of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB): Sequestration is a non-event… for transportation. Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton told CTB members that federal transportation payments to Virginia should be insulated from sequestration should Congress fail to reach a budget compromise by January 1. Federal transportation dollars are allocated by formula,…
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Uh, Oh, CTB Representatives Acting Feisty
by James A. Bacon It was a routine matter that came before the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) this morning: The Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) was asking the CTB to approve allocations from the state’s industrial rail access fund. The sums of money were small and the projects were uncontroversial — $450,000 to…
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McDonnell to Propose $500 Million in New Transportation Revenue
Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that his administration is working on a plan to raise $500 million yearly by 2019 in new transportation revenues to fund roads, bridges, transit and passenger rail. He provided no specifics in his keynote address to the 2012 Governor’s Transportation Conference in Tysons Corner but said details would be announced…
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No Reason Left to Oppose Shift to a VMT Tax
by James A. Bacon While politicians dither about the need to replace the motor fuels tax with a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) tax, usually on the grounds that tracking a car’s activity would create privacy issues, the private insurance industry has marched leap-years ahead. Major insurers such as Allstate, State Farm and Progressive are offering…
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Laughing in the Face of the Fiscal Cliff
Jim Bacon chats with Scott Lee about the “fiscal cliff” on Bearingdrift’s Score Radio Network. Cheer up, things could always be worse. Iran could get nuclear weapons. Space aliens could invade California. Madonna could announce another world tour. But that’s about it. I can’t think of anything else that would exceed the fiscal cliff for…
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Regional Variations in Disability Insurance
In 1960 the percentage of Americans receiving disability Social Security disability payments amounted to 0.65 of the 18-to-64-year-old population. In the intervening half century, work has become more automated and less strenuous. The quality of healthcare has improved. Yet the percentage of the working-age population on disability had grown to 5.6% — nearly nine times.…
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The Curse of the Yellow Powder
Is it possible to restore a landscape damaged by uranium? Ask the Navajo in New Mexico.
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Will Virginia Participate in the “Open Urbanism” Revolution?
by James A. Bacon A global revolution in the design and management of cities is gaining momentum. The rapid evolution of sensors, analytics and automation technologies is creating once-in-a-generation opportunities to drive down the cost of infrastructure and public services at the very moment that state and local governments face the worse fiscal stress since…
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We’re No. 9! We’re No. 9!
Yikes, there is yet another ranking of the 50 states, this one from 24/7 Wall Street, which provides “commentary for U.S. and global equity investors.” This report purports to measure the “best and worst run states in America.” Here is the philosophy animating the study: The successful management of a state is difficult to measure.…
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Woo, That VRS Pension Reform Came Along Just in the Nick of Time
Morningstar, the investment research firm, has published a new study, “The State of State Pension Plans,” that delves into the dangerously underfunded condition of many state pension plans. Pensions, states the report, “will play an integral role in determining a state’s fiscal health and overall credit quality, going forward.” I keep looking for a report…
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A Bump in the Road for the Cville Bypass?
Foes of the Charlottesville Bypass have won an important ally. In an advisory opinion, the Environmental Protection Agency has recommended that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) consider alternatives to the 6.5-mile bypass of U.S. 29 north of Charlottesville. Sean Tubbs fleshes out the details in Charlottesville Tomorrow: “Alternatives analysis is the heart of [the…
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A Tale of Two Controversies… or Really Only One?
by James A. Bacon There is a fascinating sidebar to the Teresa Sullivan firing/rehiring at the University of Virginia that has gone unremarked upon in the Virginia press yet has inspired articles and blog posts among journalists and commentators following the Global Warming debate, including, recently, the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. The question…