Tag: ports
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Making NIT More Productive, More Resilient
by James A. Bacon For the millions of Virginians living above the fall line, the struggle that Hampton Roads has with rising sea levels and increasing flooding may seem remote and far away. Why should we care? After all, does anybody in Hampton Roads give a hoot about our problems? Kit Chope, vice president of sustainability for…
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Time for Richmond and Hampton Roads to Join Forces?
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s economic growth ground to a standstill in 2014 and lagged the nation in 2015. Recognizing that metropolitan regions are the growth engines of the early 21st century economy, civic boosters are looking to spur growth and development at the regional level — but that picture doesn’t look much prettier. The Brookings Institution’s Metro…
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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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Why Virginia ♥ Panama
by James A. Bacon West Coast ports import 70% of the Asian trade, and half of that cargo moves to the Midwest and East Coast by means of trains. In effect, that means 35% of the Asian trade will be up for grabs by Hampton Roads and competing ports, when the Panama Canal opens up…
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APM’s Case for Port Privatization
Privately owned APM Terminals provides something for Virginia’s ports that the state cannot: super-efficient container yards and the ability to expand capacity without incurring $2 billion in debt.
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Virginia Ports “Financially Unsustainable”
If you wonder why the McDonnell administration official are giving serious consideration selling the Virginia Port Authority to private interests, there may be more to their thinking than a fetish for privatization. As Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton the Virginia House Appropriations Committee yesterday, port operations are “financially unsustainable” under its current setup. The commonwealth is…
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Panama Canal a Long-Term, not Short-Term, Game Changer
by James A. Bacon The Virginian-Pilot has published a piece on the “cargo bonanza” potentially awaiting the port of Virginia when the Panama Canal opens its bigger locks, enabling monster container ships to cut their travel times between Asia and the East Coast of the United States. Much of the article recounts background information that…