Highway Expansion
The Dirty Secret of Coal Ash: It’s in Our Roads
Last night's 60 Minutes featured an eye-opening report (viewable above) on the 130 million tons of coal ash waste generated every year by the nation's thirst for energy. The show outlined the lack of oversight over disposal of the toxic ash, which is routinely used in the most commonplace of areas: concrete.
October 5, 2009
Killing the Myth of the ‘More Shovel-Ready’ Road Stimulus, Part II
It has become one of the most enduring anecdotes surrounding the Obama administration's $787 billion economic stimulus law: Democrats' contention that White House adviser Larry Summers sliced transit aid by more than half, to $8.4 billion, out of concerns that projects were not "shovel-ready" enough.
October 2, 2009
Transit and Congestion, an Indirect Connection
Yesterday, Freakonomics linked to a new piece of research [PDF] on congestion that I'd been musing over for a few days. Let me quote the abstract here (paragraph break and emphasis mine):
October 2, 2009
New Report: Feds Subsidizing Parking Six Times as Much as Transit
"Subsidy" is a word used quite often in transportation policy-making circles, whether by road acolytes who claim (falsely) that highways are not federally subsidized because of the gas tax or by transit boosters who lament Washington's unceasing focus on paying for more local asphalt.
September 29, 2009
Obama Administration Touts Nation’s First All-Electronic Toll Road in N.C.
The U.S. DOT dispatched Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez to North Carolina yesterday to kick off construction of the $1 billion Triangle Expressway, the state's first toll road and the nation's first to use per-mile electronic tolling.
August 13, 2009
PBS NewsHour Takes on Alabama’s “Zombie Highway”
UPDATE: Blueprint America's segment has been rescheduled due to breaking news, and will now air on two nights starting Monday, August 10.
August 6, 2009
Letting Highway Trust Fund Earn Interest: How Much Would it Help?
The Senate released a proposed $26.8 billion patch to the nation's highway trust fund two weeks ago that included a long-sought priority of transportation policy-makers: restoring the fund's ability to keep the interest it accrues on unspent balances.
August 3, 2009
Road Stimulus Money: Half Spent on Repaving, 17% on Widening
The $787 billion economic stimulus law provided $27 billion for roads and bridges. But is the money going to shore up aging infrastructure or to add new highway lanes?
July 31, 2009
Maryland County Foolishly Seeking Congestion Relief in New Lanes
One would not normally describe Montgomery County, Maryland as a place with retrograde views on land-use and planning issues.
July 30, 2009
McCain & Coburn: Let’s Make Roads Safer — by Slashing Safety Money
A report released today [PDF] by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), timed to coincide with debate on a $7 billion highway trust fund fix, accuses their fellow lawmakers of "raiding" the fund for transportation "pet projects."
July 30, 2009