“Spend first, answer questions later.” So concludes a critical editorial in the January 12 edition of the Washington Post, commenting on California’s proposed $43 billion High-Speed Rail program. The Post editorial, along with a January 11 article in the New York Times (both of which we reprint below), are emblematic of the increasingly skeptical press and public opinion concerning the fiscal and economic soundness of the Obama Administration’s high-speed rail initiative.
View this complete Infra Blog post...The Infra Blog
Skepticism About High-Speed Rail Is Growing
Thursday, January 13th, 2011How far will public transit take you? Ask Mapnificent
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011Mapnificent is an interactive tool that lets you see how far you can go with public transit in a given amount of time. Info is available for most major American cities.
View this complete Infra Blog post...The Uncertain Future of the High-Speed Rail Program
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011The Illinois Department of Transportation has reached a cooperative agreement with Union Pacific and Amtrak that will permit the release of a $1.1 billion federal high-speed rail grant to the state of Illinois to fund passenger rail improvements between Chicago and St. Louis. The agreement was proclaimed by state and federal officials as “historic” and hailed as “one giant step closer to achieving high-speed passenger service between Chicago and St. Louis.” But stripped of its rhetoric, the announcement only reveals how inadequate and cost-ineffective the Administration’s “high–speed” program is turning out to be.
View this complete Infra Blog post...Interactive Map: TIGER Awardees
Monday, January 3rd, 2011“Almost all of these projects have two things in common,” said T4 America director James Corless. ”They will all create desperately-needed jobs while building critical transportation infrastructure, and they have a hard time getting funded under the outdated structure of the current federal transportation program.”
-James Corless, Director, T4America
Infra Wishes for the New Year
Friday, December 31st, 2010-Elected officials will recognize that clogged highways, chocked air space and inadequate public transit systems have no political party affiliation.
-Investments to refurbish and create new infrastructure projects will be viewed as an ideal and necessary way to spend our tax dollars.
A Brief Timeline of HSR Funding
Thursday, December 30th, 2010April, 2009: The Obama Administration’s vision for high-speed rail (VIDEO) April, 2009: Department of Transportation’s strategic plan for high-speed rail Jan, 2010: ARRA grants $8 Billion for HSR development October, 2010: Department of Transportation announces additional $2.4 for HSR November, 2010: State governments in Ohio & Wisconsin refuse HSR funds December, 2010: Department of Transportation […]
View this complete Infra Blog post...Interactive Map: Aging Oil Infra in the Gulf
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010An interactive map from the Wall Street Journal displays the location and age of offshore oil rigs, roughly half of which are “20 years old or more, and a third date back to the 1970s or earlier, long before the development of modern construction standards.”
View this complete Infra Blog post...Broadband Visualized: States Map High-Speed Internet Data
Tuesday, December 28th, 2010Broadband.gov’s map shows broadband availability around the country, and many states are displaying their own broadband data on interactive maps.
View this complete Infra Blog post...Infrastructure for EVs
Monday, December 27th, 2010Electric cars (EVs) are becoming more practical (see the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf ), making EV infrastructure more of a necessity.
View this complete Infra Blog post...The Outlook for the Federal Transportation Program in the Next Congress
Monday, December 20th, 2010Innovation NewsBriefs Vol. 21, No. 32 Remarks by Kenneth Orski, Editor-Publisher of Innovation NewsBriefs before the Transportation Leaders session at the National Conference of State Legislatures, Phoenix, AZ, December 9, 2010 Broadly speaking, we can expect the changing balance of power in the next Congress to manifest itself in two ways: a strong push to […]
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