Author: James A. Bacon
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Heads I Win, Tails I Still Win
The McDonnell administration figures the state can’t lose with an $80 million loan to build roads for the Kincora development in Loudoun County. Not everyone agrees.
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Uh, Oh, Charlottesville Needs Another $132 Million
Construction has not yet begun on Charlottesville’s Western Bypass but the Charlottesville Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization outlined yesterday an idea for building an 8.3-mile extension of the bypass for possible inclusion in the region’s long-range transportation plan. Using standard unit costs without the benefit of engineering studies, the commission estimates that the project would cost…
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A Wave of Innovation from the Bus Industry
Municipal bus operators across the country are introducing a wide variety of innovations to a long-stagnant transportation mode. They’re replacing the old bread-loaf vehicles with sleeker, more train-like designs. They’re outfitting buses with Wi-Fi and and they’re adding racks where cyclists can load their bikes. They’re creating apps so passengers can time a bus’ arrival…
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Online Learning Strikes Again
Here’s another example of how online learning continues to make inroads in K-2 education. Twenty-five elite private academies in the United States, Jordan, China, Japan and Indonesia are offering full-credit, online courses through the Global Online Academy. One of those schools is Sidwell Friends in Washington, D.C., which President Obama’s two daughters attend. The program…
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Has “Peak Car” Arrived?
by James A. Bacon Worried about “peak oil?” Never fear, the world also may be reaching “peak car,” to borrow a phrase coined this summer by Scientific American. The average American is driving less and less each year — a trend matched by the citizens of economically advanced democracies across the globe, from France and…
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Party On, Wayne. Party on, Garth.
Nice to know that the University of Virginia is the best at something. The University has snagged the top ranking in Playboy magazine‘s Top 10 Party schools. More than making up for its 16th place rank for sports (really, that high?), the Wahoos notched a No. 2 spot for sex (behind the University of North…
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More Analytical Thinking about Tourism, Please
Earlier this month the Governor’s Office issued a press release proclaiming that visitors to Virginia generate $20.4 billion in revenue in 2011, an 8% increase over the previous year, supporting 207,000 jobs and contributing more than $1.32 billion in state and local taxes. This news was lapped up and regurgitated by TV and newspaper outlets…
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Tele-Conference More, Travel Less
Telework is one of those great ideas that remind me of the wisecrack long leveled at Brazil: “Brazil is the county of the future — and always will be.” People have been touting telework for a couple of decades now as a way to reduce travel and ease traffic congestion, and no matter how few…
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A Paean to Driverless Cars
“The Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca is a 2.2-mile asphalt roller coaster plunging and soaring across California’s tawny Monterey highlands. The most famous section, the Corkscrew, requires drivers storming up a long hill to slam the brakes and take a hard left into what seems to be thin air. The car goes momentarily weightless, and…
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The Real War on the Poor
by James A. Bacon Beware the meddlers and the do-gooders. With friends like them, poor people don’t need enemies. Two data points from today’s newspapers… First, the Chesterfield County Planning Commission has asked staff to explore options for keeping payday lenders out of the county, on the grounds that they “prey” on the poor. This…
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Making Room for Market-Driven Health Care in an Obamacare World
With the passage of Obamacare, responsibility for health care policy passed decisively to the federal government. If the polls can be trusted, it looks increasingly like Barack Obama will be re-elected president, which means the chances of repealing the health-care overhaul is just about nil. The question for Virginians then becomes, is there anything we…
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Out of Money, Out of Ideas
by James A. Bacon I have come to a reluctant conclusion: Virginia’s business leaders are intellectually bankrupt when it comes to solving the most pressing public policy issues facing Virginia. They have nothing to contribute beyond the same tired nostrums that have proven unworkable for a decade or more. Nowhere is this lassitude of mind…
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The Tax of Inaction
by James A. Bacon The message came through loud and clear at a transportation conference hosted yesterday by Chambers of Commerce from Hampton Roads, Richmond and Fairfax County: Virginia needs more roads for transportation. What no one appears to have resolved yet is how to pay for those improvements or how to prioritize the spending.…
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Thinking Big: a “Park in the Sky” over the James River
Two weeks ago Ella Kelley and Mike Hughes ran a brief op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch highlighting their idea for building a “park in the sky” across the James River. Inspired by the success of New York City’s High Line bridge project (pictured above), which converted a 1.45-mile stretch of railroad line slated for demolition…