Today, the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, released its 19th Annual Highway Report. It takes an unusually sunny view on U.S. infrastructure as a whole, relying on data such as traffic fatalities in 2008 fell to their lowest levels since the 1960s (a decrease that is mostly explained by decreases in driving due to the recession), the percentage of congested urban Interstates fell below 50% for the first time since 2000 (also the recession), and 23.7% of U.S. bridges — the lowest percentage since 1984 — were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete (though this doesn’t mean much either — fewer obsolete bridges doesn’t mean more safe bridges).

Overall, the data appears to be sound — it’s the interpretation of it where things go awry. The report makes the sweeping statement that its results indicate that state highway conditions are the best they’ve been in 19 years. Which simply doesn’t follow, when you look at where these conclusions are coming from:

“We’re seeing several factors combine to produce significant improvement in highway conditions,” said David T. Hartgen, author of the report and emeritus professor of transportation studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “Over the last several years, states invested a lot more money to improve pavement and bridges. Spending increased 8 percent from 2007 to 2008, and per-mile spending on state roads has almost tripled since 1984, so you’d hope and expect to see improved performance.”

Ok, except that the report then goes on to essentially null this statement by highlighting the skewed relationship between spending and actual results. In the rankings of most cost-effective state roads, the bottom 15 states basically make up around 90% of the U.S. driving public. New Jersey, which came in at a miserable 45th in the cost-effectiveness rankings, spends dramatically more than every other state on its roads — $1.1 million per mile, to be exact. Florida, ranked 39th, was the second biggest spender, spending $671,000 per mile, while California, ranked 48th, came in at third with $545,000 per mile. In other words, higher spending in no way automatically equals better roads.

There’s also this bit of info, which comes as less than no surprise:

California also squanders a massive amount of transportation money that never makes it onto roads, spending $93,464 in administrative costs for every mile of state road. New York ($89,194 per mile), Massachusetts ($71,982), and New Jersey ($62,748) also compare poorly to states like Texas ($6,529) and Virginia ($6,370) that spend dramatically less on administrative costs.

Then there’s the simply irony of the report as a whole: The largest libertarian group in the country is arguing that an increase in state government spending on infrastructure has led to safer, less crowded roads, despite the fact that many of these states have proved themselves totally incapable of spending their money wisely. So is the implication here that the federal government doesn’t need to step in?

• The U.S. Border Patrol has quietly started boarding Amtrak trains near the Canada-U.S. border, and looking for undocumented immigrants. (NYT)

• Because the French rail company SNCF may soon be involved in U.S. high-speed rail, some survivors of the Holocaust want the SNCF to apologize for transporting Jews to concentration camps. (AP)

• One writer argues that it’s time for the U.S. to create an “interstate highway system for trains.” (McClatchy)

• An article looks at which transit projects of this century are the most ambitious. Our favorite is the “Transatlantic Tunnel.” (AOL Travel)

• Thousands of Germans recently protested against a new Stuttgart railroad station. (Reuters)

• Banks are beginning to be more wary of lending to companies that have environmentally-damaging projects. (NYT)

Image: Flickr

• With Dubai having lost some of its glitter in the last year, an interesting book review looks at three new books about the desert city. (NYRB)

• The number of mistakes for Washington, D.C. area air traffic controllers has risen recently, including more close calls for near-collisions. (WashPost)

• The installation of solar energy on federal lands has been plagued by many delays. (AP)

• One hotel in Japan is now attracting guests by setting up a room with a miniature train set. (Reuters)

• One New York area thief has been arrested for the 27th time for stealing public transit cars. Usually it’s trains, but this time it was a bus. (Daily News)

• The magazine Travel and Leisure has ranked America’s best and worst five airports. (Yahoo Travel)

• The Denver airport has started work on a $1 billion rail line project connecting it to downtown. (USA Today)

Image: Flickr

We’ve discussed the many benefits of urban parks quite a bit — including, for one, their potential to combat obesity, as well as a list of the best new urban parks in the country. Dallas’s Arts District was featured prominently, including the aspects that were still under construction.

Now, the city has added a new urban park to its arsenal. Designed and built by landscape architects Thomas Balsley Associates (you may remember them as the designers of the less-than-lauded Chelsea Waterside Park in Manhattan), the new Main Street Garden — which is being hailed as part of the “Main Street Miracle” of downtown rejuvenation — is the first urban-core public park in Dallas. All in all, the proliferation of urban parks marks a significant push by the Texan city to create and rejuvenate communities and redefine the city’s use of public space. Click on the gallery above to get a first look at the new two-acre space.

All Images Courtesy Thomas Balsley Assoc.

• The success of Portland’s streetcar system is leading other U.S. cities to try to get federal grants to start streetcars of their own. (USA Today)

• Because of an “egalitarian-minded” rental system which doesn’t allow some rents to be increased in Stockholm, Sweden, a “black market” has been established to facilitate the renting of apartments. (AFP)

• India is facing a shortage of civil engineers and needs many more of them to improve its infrastructure. (NYT)

• The British government is trying to reduce the number of unneeded road signs. (Reuters)

• Flood refugees in Pakistan are using highway medians as their new “home”. (LAT)

• There has been a proliferation of gourmet street food vendors in New York City. (AFP)

• An article takes a look at the status of Montana’s “drinking and driving culture”. (AP)

Image: Flickr

We here at Infrastructurist are firm believers in standing behind smart ideas, no matter what group or party they happen to come from. In this case, they’re coming from the American Conservative. The bastion of modern conservatism has launched an online symposium, featuring prominent urban studies experts like the Brookings Institute’s Christopher Leinberger and the president of the Congress for the New Urbanism, John Norquist, to explore the many reasons why conservatives should support public transit. Next month, the nonprofit parent of AC magazine, the American Ideas Institute, will launch a new center on transportation made possible by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

The collection contains a multitude of interesting pieces, including by familiar names like William Lind (who as you may recall has been featured in two Q&A’s with us on this very topic). They present many ideas that we’ve explored in the past, like the economic and environmental need for our attitudes about daily transportation to change as a nation, the poor management decisions and other factors that add huge price tags to rail projects, and the power of transportation to revive a region’s economy, livability, and connectivity.

These are not necessarily new arguments, but the ideas they contain are compulsory reading for anyone who wants to have a serious discussion about the future of transportation policy, and priorities, in this country. And so we say, bravo American Conservative for facilitating a rational and fact-driven discussion among the demographic that, well, needs it most.

• The epic floods inflicting Pakistan are tearing up huge swathes of its infrastructure. (NYT)

• The Nigerian capital city of Lagos is cracking down on dangerous motorcycle taxis. (AFP)

• Long shunned by the West, Libya is attracting increasing investment as it tries to boost its economy and improve its infrastructure. (AP)

• A new report shows that the U.S. wasted billions of dollars in trying to rebuild Iraq. (AP) (LAT)

• With the use of five examples, an article takes a look at the ways old infrastructure wears down and how civil engineers are trying to halt the decline. (NYT)

• 600 University of Oregon students are collaborating in making the city of Salem, Oregon, more sustainable. (GreenWire)

Image: Flickr

• A new report from the Center for Urban infrastructure, details the benefits of building a mass inter-city high-speed rail system for Southern California — and offers some surprising insights. (Fast Company)

• Is the the Federal Railroad Administration really up for the challenge of national high-speed rail? (NYT)

• In South Africa, transport minister Sibusiso Ndebele signed an agreement with the Chinese railways minister, fueling speculation that Ndebele may go for his longstanding dream of a HSR line between Johannesburg and Durban. (AllAfrica)

• In Texas, the East Texas Corridor Council will make an announcement today regarding their progress in a new HSR line. (NBC)

• There are two sides to every coin: HSR lines may increase the value of your house (not just decrease it). (Telegraph)

Got an iPad? Well then you may have heard about FlipBoard, the latest app that organizes the content from your Facebook, Twitter, RSS, and other feeds into a gorgeous, easily navigable online magazine. If you’re already a user, Infrastructurist looks great on FlipBoard! And if you haven’t checked it out yet, you can do so for free, to read and share your favorite Infra posts with Twitter, Facebook and e-mail.

Once you’ve got FlipBoard, just select “Add Section” and search for “Infrastructurist” or “Infrastructurst” (our Twitter name). Happy flipping!

• Michael Grunwald has a great piece looking at President Obama’s Recovery Act and how it’s transforming America. (Time)

• The boundaries of Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan are being debated because of the mosque debate. (AP)

• The competitor skyscraper to the Empire State Building was approved by the City Council. (NYT)

• Some Catholics have been protesting the Empire State Building for not lighting up the skyscraper to honor Mother Teresa. Others take the view that if the building owners did violate their policy of not honoring religious leaders, it would lead to every other religious group trying to get their prominent figures honored by the tower. (NYT)

• A $52 million settlement has been reached between the victims of the Minnesota bridge collapse and an engineering firm called URS which helped build the bridge. (AP)

• Although Nigeria is oil-rich, its electrical power system is abysmal and the government is trying to upgrade the grid. (AP)

This week, the government of Southern Sudan, a region that has been involved in decades of civil war that ended in 2005, gave everyone quite a shock when it revealed a $10.1 billion plan to build new urban centers in all ten of its state capitals. The “$10.1 billion” part dropped open quite a few jaws, but even more surprise was evoked when officials revealed the plans for the cities — all of which will be shaped like animals or fruits.

According to VOANews, the animal shapes have a lofty purpose:

The $10.1 billion plan proposes remaking cities in Sudan’s south into shapes found on regional flags.  Blueprints and maps illustrate Juba in the shape of a rhinoceros, Yambio fashioned after a pineapple and Wau as a giraffe.

The Undersecretary for Housing and Physical Planning, Daniel Wani, says he hopes the plans will demonstrate the housing ministry’s desire to think creatively about how to remake southern Sudan for the future.

Certainly urban renewal and development are vital for a region trying to overcome a long history of war and rampant corruption. And innovation is also a crucial aspect of modern urban planning — and one that Sudanese officials are clearly trying to demonstrate, particularly since Southern Sudan’s total annual budget for 2010 is less than $2 billion, meaning the ministry needs to rely on private financing for the rest.

But at the end of the day, trying too hard to demonstrate innovation can backfire, and wind up drawing attention away from even more important factors — like eliminating massive slums and basic infrastructure problems in the region. And what about the government apathy and incompetence that led to billions of dollars lost to corruption and poor management since the end of the war? Sparkling new cities, assuming they get completed, will certainly put forth an image of renewal — but whether they substantially improve the lives of the average Sudanese citizen remains to be seen.

• The Reuters video above profiles the Brooklyn Grange, which grows organic vegetables on rooftops.

• Egypt is facing power cuts, while anger grows among Egyptians against their government. (AP)

• The “model city” of Singapore is exhibiting some signs of “urban stress,” such as gridlock on the subway and packed car traffic. (AFP)

• Environmental campaigners are protesting against the proposed construction of a highway in the Serengeti in Tanzania. (AP)

• A new mall in destitute Gaza is drawing attention as a rare sign of development in that Palestinian city. (AP) (NYT)

• That infamous traffic jam in China has apparently quickly “vanished”, according to reports. (AFP) (MSNBC.com)

Libertarianism, in its purest form, could arguably be called an enemy of infrastructure. If the government is disabled and left a shallow, broke, impotent shell, then exactly who will build the roads, bridges, and public works that allow our society, and economy, to function? (If your stock answer is “The private sector! To hell with government!” then we’ve got about a library of stuff for you to read. Start here. Or here.)

The Reason Foundation, ultimate libertarian think tank, recently released a manifesto about U.S.  infrastructure entitled “Restoring Trust in the Highway Trust Fund.” The full text was read and dissected by Willy Staley in a column for Next American City.

No surprise, the report is a dogmatic argument for reorganizing the surface transit bill according to the staunch principles of libertarianism. In other words, there would be not a cent given for public transit, bike paths, “livability” initiatives, or anything else having to do with sustainability.

According to their reasoning, the Highway Trust Fund is in such dire straits because it has been diverted from its original purpose when it was established in 1956  — to pay for the new Interstate system. Beginning in 1970, HTF funds were authorized to pay for transit, and since then it’s been all downhill from there. Nowadays, urban transit, bikeways, scenic trails, and other public programs eat up around one-quarter of all federal highway user tax revenues.

Sound like a somewhat reasonable argument? Well, there’s more. As Staley notes:

The Reason Foundation believes that by going back to the pre-1970 model will free up enough money to keep the Interstate system afloat, and that with minor increases in state fuel taxes, states will be able to maintain their own roads better without costly federal requirements like—no kidding—”mandates for safety belt usage, minimum drinking age and maximum blood-alcohol levels, Davis-Bacon labor requirements, Buy America requirements, various affirmative action mandates and transportation planning requirements.”

So yeah. Seat belt laws? Who needs ‘em? (Answer: We do. Desperately.) And as for the alcohol and BAC arguments, it’s a case of res ipsa loquitur — the wrongness of those points speaks for itself.

Finally, Staley uncovered this doozie: Read the rest of this entry »

• In the five years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has spent $15 billion on infrastructure to help protect the city, including pumps, levees, flood walls and gates. (NYT)

• A plane crash in northeast China has killed 42 people and injured 54. (AFP) (AP) (NYT)

• In Nepal, a plane heading to the Mount Everest region crashed, killing 14 people including six foreigners. (AP)

• The proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan raises the issue of distance and the Ground Zero site. (NYT)

• As discussed yesterday on the blog, the Northeast train Corridor was hit by many delays yesterday. (AP)

• China Railway may help build a $30 billion bullet-train between Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa. (Bloomberg News)
Image: Flickr

It’s the kind of perfect storm that anyone who lives in (or has lived in) a city can relate to: The Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak all broke down (or, at least, were severely delayed) this morning. In other words, anyone from Long Island, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania who wanted to take the train to work in New York City this morning was seriously out of luck.

It all started yesterday, when a small fire broke out in a control tower at Jamaica Station, the hub for 10 of the railroad’s 11 branches traveling in and out of New York City. The fire proceeded to wreak havoc on the LIRR’s switches, an antediluvian (well, almost — it was built in 1913) system of levers and pulleys. As a result, there was no way to direct trains onto their proper routes, so the entire railroad ground to a halt as workers rushed around the tracks, manually locking the switches into place. Ironically, a new computerized signal system is scheduled to be installed this year — but it hasn’t been yet.

While around 75% of LIRR service had been restored this morning, thousands of passengers were still left stranded. And on the other side of Manhattan, just about every train commuter in New Jersey woke up to a virtual nightmare: A power shortage along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor had caused the halting of every train on the line, from Maryland’s MARC to New Jersey Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line and Midtown Direct trains. Trains along the Northeast Corridor were completely motionless between 7:45 and 8:45 a.m. — prime rush hour. The cause of the outage, which occurred somewhere between Washington and Perryville, Maryland, was hazy — officials said it looked like a tripped circuit breaker — but the results were dire. Because of the low voltage, all NJT trains were stopped. Some trains totally lost power, including lights and air conditioning. Service was, for the most part, back up and running by 10 AM, but the ripple effects are still being felt along the line.

Yes, it’s a cliche, but we can’t help but bring up the classic infrastructure idiom: No one pays attention to it until it breaks down. Well, here, in a morning of intense karma, we have a trifecta of breakdowns that have stranded millions of people. Needless to say, if we had updated our trains and the technology we use to run them, these problems wouldn’t be so endemic (and they are — the last Amtrak power outage was all of 2 weeks ago, the result of a tree falling on power lines). Yes, Obama has pledged $112 million of the high-speed rail stimulus money to updating the Northeast Corridor — but that’s really just dipping a toe in the water. We cannot expect our urban areas to function, or to sustain economic and social growth, without a functioning and modern system of public transportation. And here is the universe nailing that point home, hard.

• The owners of the Empire State Building are protesting the height of a proposed skyscraper competitor which would significantly alter the Manhattan skyline. (AP) (NYT)

• Service on the Long Island Rail Road was severely disrupted yesterday after a fire at a key switching station. (NYT) (AP)

• As noted yesterday on the blog, China is currently experiencing an epic 60-mile, 10-day traffic jam. (AFP) (AP)

• The future of transportation is the subject of a new exhibit at the Center for Architecture. (NY1)

• Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is proposing taxing oil company profits to pay for transportation and infrastructure improvements. (Reuters)

Image: Flickr

This is not a joke (in fact, we wish it was): A recent traffic jam on the main road to Beijing kept Chinese drivers in gridlocked traffic — for nine days straight. According to China’s Global Times:

Traffic authorities were still struggling to cope with days-long congestion on a major national expressway, nine days after traffic slowed to a snail’s pace, and nearby residents are profiting on the latest traffic snarl by overcharging drivers for food.

Since August 14, thousands of Beijing-bound trucks have jammed the expressway again, and traffic has stretched for more than 100 kilometers between Beijing and Huai’an in Hebei Province, and Jining in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China National Radio (CNR) reported Sunday.

The official cause of the ungodly congestion was “insufficient traffic capacity on the National Expressway 110 caused by maintenance construction since August 19″ — in other words, a far greater-than-expected number of heavy trucks clogging the roadway. The congestion is expected to be nightmarish for at least a month — picture the rush hour of an L.A. or a New York, but for 24 hours a day.

Drivers caught in this Dante-esque disaster reportedly passed the time by playing cards, and food vendors were taking full advantage of their trapped clientele, charging four times their regular price for noodles and other food.

As the graph below shows, there is an alternate route to the jam-packed expressway. But many drivers, particularly truckers, chose not to take it because, they said, it involved traveling a longer distance and their costs for fuel and tolls would increase — though the fuel costs of idling for 4 days in traffic likely ate up any savings they would enjoy by taking the shorter route. Read the rest of this entry »

• In the midst of controversy over the Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, an article looks at the status of rebuilding at the World Trade Center site. (AFP)

• The infrastructure upgrade for India’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games has lagged behind schedule. (AP)

• Like many Muslim countries, Indonesia now has train cars exclusively for women so they don’t have to be worry about being harassed by men. (AP)

• A radio piece examines how the port in Savannah, Georgia is a key transportation mode for goods destined for the East Coast. (NPR)

• An article (registration required) shows how information technology can be used to improve traffic and transport congestion. (FT)

• The oil spill is only exacerbating the housing problems faced by victims of Hurricane Katrina. (AP)

• Foreign Policy magazine has an interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt on how to improve cities. (FP)

Image: Flickr

• In the U.K., homes built along a new HSR line are already being called “impossible to sell” — which thrills homeowners to no end. (SkyNews)

• CNN takes an optimistic view on the question “Will high-speed rail ever be completed in the U.S.?” (CNN)

• And in San Fran, we’re still pounding away at whether or not an SF-LA high-speed train will actually be used. (SFIst)

• Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has announced appointments to the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission.

• In the video above, the Wall Street Journal was granted exclusive access to the $300 million dollar yacht of Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichencko.

• Female drivers are safer at the wheel than men, according to a new study. (NYT)

• An article takes another look at the “straddling bus” idea in China that has gotten plenty of recent attention (including from us). (NYT)

• In the future, wave power could be a green renewable source for Australia’s power grid. (Inhabitat)

• Parts of the media are “scaremongering” about the danger of bikers in cities. (Gothamist)

• While Chicago’s parking “fiasco” has gotten some attention, privatization of infrastructure is still being touted by some as a solution for fiscal problems. (Transport Politic)

• Richard Florida examines where U.S. blue-collar jobs will be located in the future. (Atlantic)