• In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, damage to port cranes and to the pier will make emergency access difficult, as only ships carrying their own gear for unloading goods will be able to service the area. (Miami Herald)
• A formula used under the Bush administration that ranked transportation projects by how much they affected costs and commutes will be abandoned, Secretary LaHood said today. Development opportunities, livability and economic development will play bigger roles in the new system. (Reuters)[SButtonZ button="digg"]
• 2009 was the worst year on record for railroad traffic (which has been recorded since 1988), with a total decline in carloads of 16.1% from 2008. “Good riddance,” says the Association of American Railroads, “to 2009.” (LATimes)
• New York’s MTA says it’ll cost $214 million in government funds to allow students to ride free again next year. This number is based on the amount they’d recoup if they charged students the full fare. Is this an honest way to represent the actual cost of the program? (NY Daily News)
• A new book about Jane Jacobs’ battle with Robert Moses over master planning in New York illustrates the great force that public urban planning campaigns can exert. (The Dirt)
• A 20-mile heavy rail system in Honolulu is under fire because of its $5.35 billion price tag. The mayor likes it, but the governor doesn’t; the latter wants the project redesigned as light rail. (The Transport Politic)
• A transportation expert points out a number of problems with the TSA, including its inherent conflict of interest: it’s both the policymaker/regulator of airport security and the provider of passenger and baggage screening; it is therefore able to shield itself from the potential consequences of its own failures. (National Journal)
Re: MTA student fares. No, it’s not an honest way to represent the cost of the program: it’s actually cheap. All fares for transit riders are already subsidized in various ways. So representing the cost of additional riders to the funding agencies as only the subsidized passenger portion, it’s actually under-representing the true cost.
Given that the students are on the whole a *captive audience* with no faster method of getting to school, and no cheaper method besides walking (for a very very long way), yes, the MTA is lowballing the cost of free rides to students. The students would *all* pay full fare if they had to.
It is really the duty of the City of New York, which runs the schools, to get the students to school. It should pay for it if it wants them to ride free.
[...] into Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, you see a wide, milky border stretching out to sea from the beaches. It is [...]
[...] into Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, you see a wide, milky border stretching out to sea from the beaches. It is [...]