Category: Transportation
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Virginia Traffic Congestion — Not as Bad as We Thought
by James A. Bacon One of the arguments driving the transportation-funding debate this spring was the factoid that Northern Virginia is one of the most congested regions of the country, if not the most congested region. The genesis of this claim came from the 2012 Urban Mobility Report published by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI),…
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The North-South Divide
Battle lines are forming over the north-south transportation corridor in Northern Virginia. Backers say it would serve a growing population and stimulate economic development. Foes say the state has more urgent priorities for spending $1 billion or more.
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What’s Your Government’s Growth Portfolio?
by James A. Bacon If local governments want to avoid Detroit-style insolvency and financial collapse, they need to be savvier about how they make capital investments, argues Charles Marohn on the Strong Towns blog. They need to ask themselves three questions: Will the capital investment generate a real rate of return (ROI)? Will that rate…
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The Remarkable Renaissance of Virginia Rail
By Peter Galuszka Many decades ago, Richmond was a major, and colorful, train hub. Crack passenger lines of all liveries, the purple and silver of the Atlantic Coast Line, the citrus colors of Seaboard, and the blue and yellow of the Chesapeake & Ohio, all went through town. Cars and aircraft reduced rail to dirty…
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A Light Rail Public-Private Partnership in Virginia Beach?
by James A. Bacon Philip Shucet, savior of the runaway train project that was Norfolk Light Rail, has submitted a proposal to to extend the rail line into Virginia Beach. Under the proposal, the Tide rail service would become operational in the Virginia Beach Town Center, nearly halfway to the Oceanfront, by November 2016 —…
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The Rise of Civic Tech
Call it digital cities, call it civic tech, call it what you will — information technology is transforming the way local governments deliver services. This brief video by Ben Hecht, CEO of Living Cities, gives a flavor. My favorite example he cites: The Boston Bump. Instead of dispatching engineers around the city to survey the…
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Why Cities Succeed and Fail
Why do some metropolitan regions grow faster than others? That’s the question asked by Mario Polese, author of “The Wealth and Poverty of Regions: Why Cities Matter,” in an essay published in the City Journal. The essay is an easy read, and I recommend it to you. But if you are too harried to do…
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Conjuring Wealth out of Thin Air
by James A. Bacon The Massachusetts Department of Transportation generated $40 million from the lease of air rights over state transportation assets in FY 2011. Earlier this month, the state built upon that revenue stream by designating AG Scotia II as developer of air rights over two parcels above and along Interstate 90 in Boston.…
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Compare and Contrast: Freight Rail with Roads and Highways
The North American freight railroad business is chugging along very nicely, reports the Wall Street Journal, and railroad companies are engaged in a building boom surpassing anything seen since the industry’s 19th century golden age. Major rail lines are spending $14 billion this year on rail yards, refueling stations, additional track and upgrades to old…
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Virginia Ports to Stay Public
After 18 months of review, the board of commissioners of the Virginia Port Authority has decided to drop all bids for port privatization. “We are transforming The Port of Virginia to meet a changing and increasingly competitive environment,” said William Fralin, chairman of the VPA board in a prepared statement. “We will move forward as…
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More Toxic Logic
by James A. Bacon Gov. Bob McDonnell has submitted his amendments to the landmark transportation-funding legislation passed by the General Assembly earlier this year. His proposals tweak the bill — reducing the annual fee on alternative-fuel vehicles from $100 to $64, for instance — without altering the substance. Among the more notable changes, the governor…
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What Arlington Is Doing Right
I pilloried Arlington County in a previous post for building $1 million bus stops. Now for a reminder of what the county is doing right… Forest City Washington, reports the Washington Post, is planning an upgrade of Ballston Common Mall that would add a row of sidewalk retail along Wilson Boulevard and build 306 residential…
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Arlington’s $1 Million Bus Stop
One million dollars for a new bus stop in Arlington County? No wonder so many people regard mass transit as a boondoggle. “Is this made of gold?” the Washington Post quotes one commuter as asking. No, actually, the bus stop near Columbia Pike and Walter Reed Drive, is made mainly of concrete and glass. It…
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First, Fix Virginia’s Roads
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s infrastructure rates a “D+” in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2013 report card on American infrastructure, released earlier this week. That’s a lousy rating in line with the national score of D+. The civil engineers have been accused of overstating the woes of American infrastructure in order to justify…
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Big Brother Is Not Watching… Yet
Spanish scientists have devised a way to make GPS accurate to within six feet, a development that will make it possible to improve maps and directions in cities where tall buildings block satellite signals, find and reserve parking spaces, and eventually to create smart traffic systems with GPS-guided cars. All very cool. But there’s a…