Category: Transportation
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Safety Last?
The McDonnell administration’s defense of the $244 million+ Charlottesville Bypass as a boon to traffic safety on U.S. 29 falls apart under close scrutiny. by Randy Salzman With apologies to Lewis Carroll, Charlottesville’s so-called Western “Bypass” project gets “curiouser and curiouser.” Each argument for the 6.2-mile highway collapses quickly if anyone does third-grade math. This…
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Who is Contractor A?
An audit of MWAA management practices found that a mysterious “Contractor A” charged more than other contractors for the same work — and kept getting business. Who is this company? Who got the money? And why doesn’t anyone seem to care? by Bob Bruhns At the request of Representatives Frank Wolf, R-VA, and Tom Latham,…
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Millennials, Cars and Smart Phones
by James A. Bacon Several years ago, I gave a speech at a Virginia Department of Transportation event calling into question travel-demand forecasts based upon the extrapolation of past trends endlessly into the future. Among the looming changes I mentioned, as I recall, were the retirement of the massive Baby Boomer generation (retirees drive less),…
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The Political Economy of the Gas Tax
I have long argued that the debate over the motor fuels tax shakes out over class lines. The gas is regressive, in that lower-income people pay a higher percentage of their income for the tax than wealthy people. Yet wealthy people place the greatest premium on their time stuck in traffic and are most agitated…
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First Phase 2 Rail-to-Dulles Bid Comes in Below Estimates
I didn’t get to this last week, but it’s too important to overlook… The low bid for half the work associated with Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project came in at $1,178,000,000 — seemingly way below the estimated $2.7 billion total cost for the project. The bid was submitted by Clark Construction Group. The contract…
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What’s Your Walk Score?
If you haven’t checked your home’s walk score, you should. Walkability contributes to higher property values, a more livable neighborhood and a healthier community. by James A. Bacon Walk Score, a web-based service that measures walkability, is taking the urban planning profession by storm. Using an algorithm that awards points based on the distance to…
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A North-South Highway for Northern Virginia
The McDonnell administration has unveiled its vision for a north-south highway and other improvements to Virginia’s newest Corridor of Statewide Significance.
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Congestion Tolls Coming to Hampton Roads?
by James A. Bacon Hampton Roads transportation planning officials are giving serious thought to putting tolls on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel as a tool to reduce congestion during periods of peak demand. Under the conceptual plan presented Wednesday to the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), the toll would be set…
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McAuliffe: Can a Schmoozer Transform?
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in Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka On Easter Sunday, I was driving in a cold rain to Charlottesville for a family event. My cell phone started beeping with messages from Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe. He said he was on his way to his own family brunch but wanted to tap me for $5. I got similar messages…
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Under-Funding Street Repair in Richmond
I’ve been ragging recently about how Virginia state and local governments are doing a poor job of taking full life-cycle costs into account when making infrastructure-investment decisions, and how some are doing an equally poor job of setting side money to replace their assets when they wear out. A perfect example of such blinkered thinking…
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The Evil These Proffers Do
by James A. Bacon A few days ago I published a post about the effort of a Chesterfield County business group to rid the county of proffers. It was a bad idea, I suggested. As long as government is responsible for road, water, sewer, fire and rescue, etc., someone has to pay for it. Property…
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Highway Robbery
The center-left Commonwealth Institute still has big reservations about the General Assembly’s transportation-funding package as outlined in a new white paper, “Destination Unknown: Navigating Virginia’ New Transportation Funding Package – and Potential Potholes.” Some of the concerns are practical. One major funding component of the plan requires Congressional action, which may or may not be…
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Life Cycle Blues
by James A. Bacon Beneath the surface, the Washington Post informs us, the Capital Beltway is crumbling. Writes Ashley Halsey III: Under the surface of all but some recently restored segments, fissures are spreading, cracks are widening and the once-solid road bed that carries about a quarter-million cars a day is turning to mush. ……
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In Defense of Proffers
by James A. Bacon A new business-backed group in Chesterfield County has sprung up to fight the county’s cash proffer system for new houses, arguing that the fees make new houses more expensive, hinder development and hurt jobs. The group has hired Capital Results, a government affairs firm, and launched a website, Citizens Against Proffer…
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Dealing with “Dead Bikes”
It’s one thing to say you want to create a bicycle-friendly community, it’s quite another to pull it off. In the abstract, it sounds pretty easy. The devil is in the details. A case in point: Richmond City Council is pondering an ordinance to authorize police to attach a bicycle, motorcycle or moped to a…