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Monthly archive for January, 2010
The Morning Dig: Put Down That Cell Phone Edition
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Watch CBS News Videos Online • Ray LaHood hits The Early Show to continue his campaign against distracted driving. (Fastlane) • Baltimore’s new free downtown bus service, dubbed the Charm City Circulator, hits the streets today. (StreetsBlog) • In California, Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Cash for Clunkers Redux Edition
Monday, January 11th, 2010
• At the Detroit Auto Show, Transpo Sec. Ray LaHood said that Congress would decide whether to run another Cash for Clunkers program, which sold 800,000 cars in less than 30 days. “You see no criticism of Cash for Clunkers Read more ›
Update: TEN Responds to AP’s Claim That Transportation Stimulus Created Almost No Jobs
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Previously, we asked whether the first transportation stimulus was a bust, despite reports from the AP that it had resulted in virtually no change in unemployment rates. Now, the Transportation Equity Network has responded to the AP story: First, the Read more ›
The Transportation Stimulus Has Not Created Jobs — But Was It a Bust?
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Thus far, stimulus spending on roads and bridges has had virtually no effect on local unemployment levels, and has only minimally boosted the construction industry, according to a new study by the AP (via Business Insider). The AP analysis included Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Distracted Driving Will Not Solve the Black Hole Mystery Edition
Monday, January 11th, 2010
• In an effort to combat the plague of texting/calling-while-driving, Ray LaHood is guest starring in a TV spot that features three rather interesting unsafe drivers. (To watch the video, go to Distraction.gov.) • It’s official: China has surpassed the Read more ›
A New Look
Monday, January 11th, 2010
We’re rolling out some changes here at The Infrastructurist, including a new look for the homepage, as well as new galleries, interactive maps, and other features. Look for more exciting additions in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if Read more ›
The Evening Dig: High-Speed Rail Edition
Friday, January 8th, 2010
• For eleven years, Mehdi Morshed has championed the high-speed effort in California as the executive director of its Rail Authority. At 72, he is stepping down, noting in his letter to the board that he believed the LA-SF route Read more ›
Is Indonesia Making a Potentially Disastrous Gamble With High-Speed Rail?
Friday, January 8th, 2010
A group of investors claims that it can build a 220-mile high-speed rail and utility transmission system for Indonesia by the end of 2011. If built, the $3 billion “Hydrogen Hi-Speed Rail Super Highway” (H2RSH) would shake up the transportation Read more ›
The Morning Dig: We Got 99 Problems and Infrastructure’s More Than One
Friday, January 8th, 2010
• In the LA Times‘s list of “What works and what doesn’t in America,” the “what works” list is filled with descriptions of our spirit and cohesiveness as a civil society. The “what doesn’t” list covers…pretty much all of our Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Cable-Propelled Transit Edition
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
• Cable-propelled transit? What is cable-propelled Transit? (Think tram, or gondola.) A planner shares the history of CPT and argues that it just might make sense in New York. (Urban Omnibus) • News flash: Americans love Japanese cars. An infographic Read more ›
Freight Rail’s Dramatic (But Precarious) Comeback
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
When Warren Buffett buys one of the largest freight railway companies in the country, it can only mean good things for the industry. Still, as the LA Times reports, the comeback of freight rail in the U.S. has been underway Read more ›
Could Abandoned Strip Malls Be a Boon for Solar Energy?
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
This is a guest post by Russell Diamond, the founder of Solution Capital Partners, an investment firm that focuses on clean technology and alternative energy solutions. Over the past 60 years, America’s population has moved out of cities into sprawling Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Is That a Bike Rack Or Are You Just Happy to…Edition
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
• Count this a victory for bike advocates: In Manhattan’s tony Upper West Side, 240 defunct parking meters will be replaced with bike racks. (Gothamist) • A lawsuit has been filed by two Chicagoans, an African American and a Mexican Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Canine Fail Edition
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
• Three dogs failed a bomb-sniffing test at Philly’s airport. “This is totally ridiculous,” said a Pennsylvania Senator. He then wrote the TSA saying they must “immediately replace” them with “certified animals.” Totally ridiculous. Those dogs are losers. (LATimes) • Read more ›
What’s Under the T? A Journey Into Boston’s Abandoned Subways
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
Via the Boston Globe, here’s a fascinating video of a team foraying into Boston’s historic and disused subway tunnels, some of which were abandoned as far back as 1919. Boston was the first city in the U.S. to build an Read more ›
The Morning Dig: The Fails of Airports and Smart Cars Edition
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
• Smart car, you say? Leave it to humanity to find a way to foil that one. (Shipment Of Fail) • Those hazardous materials that shut down a Bakersfield, CA airport yesterday? It turned out to be honey. (USA Today) Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Cory Booker Shovels Snow Edition
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
• It’s not every day you Tweet and the mayor of your city shows up at your door. But in Newark, Cory Booker arrived with a team of volunteers after a woman used Twitter to tell him that her father Read more ›
The (Small) Successes of Amtrak: Free Wifi, But Still No HSR
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
We give Amtrak a lot of grief. It’s slow, it’s inefficient, it’s overly costly. To be fair, it’s not all Amtrak’s fault — there is simply no way it could look anything but awful next to China’s wonder-line and Europe’s Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Body Scans and Pod Skyscrapers Edition
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
• Surprise! On Day One of the TSA’s new “tighter screening” measures following the attempted Christmas Day attack, many airports reported…no tighter screening. (AP) • Meanwhile, at LAX, if you plan to fly, be prepared to go through a full Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Headless TSA Edition
Monday, January 4th, 2010
• Detroit’s striking new transportation center offers relief to a city facing a $300 million budget deficit, service cuts in its bus system, and an unemployment rate triple the national average. (Metropolis – pic via) • The TSA–currently under fire Read more ›
