Washington Metro’s Midlife Crisis
Jack Evans was a summer intern here in 1976, the year Metro, the capital region’s subway system, opened to rave reviews. It was an architectural triumph, with escalators that plunged into clean,...
View ArticleWhy is the US Unwilling to Pay for Transit
Officials in Washington, D.C. said this week they may have to shut down portions of the Metro subway system for months because its piecemeal approach to maintenance is no longer sufficient.
View ArticleHigh Speed Rail Officials Tinker with Business Plan
The board that oversees California’s high-speed rail system put off a vote Thursday on a revised business plan to give state officials more time to assuage lawmakers and citizens upset by the recent...
View ArticleU.S. Bullet Train Proposals Favor Private Funding
High-speed rail advocates had hoped the California Bullet Train line, supported by more than $13 billion in state and federal money, would inspire similar government-financed projects. Instead, its...
View ArticleMN Gov Alters Transpo Plans, Gets Push Back
DFL Gov. Mark Dayton offered to abandon his long-sought proposal to raise the gas tax Monday, instead recommending a steep increase in license tab fees and dipping into government coffers to pay for...
View ArticleHigh Speed Rail Gets 4 Year Delay
The first segment of California’s first-in-the-nation bullet-train project, currently scheduled for completion in 2018, will not be done until the end of 2022, according to a contract revision the...
View ArticleSacramento County Sales Tax Heads to Ballot
Saying potholes are growing but government budgets are shrinking, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors submitted a measure Tuesday for the November ballot asking voters to raise the sales tax for...
View ArticleDid Bullet Train Officials Ignore a Key Funding Warning?
California’s state rail authority repeatedly has asserted that it will not need a subsidy and that every high-speed system in the world operates without taxpayer assistance — despite significant...
View ArticleSan Diego Transit Tax Commits to Priority Projects
The board of the San Diego Association of Governments on Friday approved the final version of a November ballot initiative to increase the countywide sales tax by a half cent. Politicians on the SANDAG...
View ArticleTransit TIF Districts Pass Illinois Legislature for CTA Projects
A new bill that would generate more funding for four large-scale Chicago transit infrastructure projects, without diverting tax revenues from schools, passed the Illinois House and Senate today. It...
View ArticleHonolulu Developer Proposes Value Capture Fee to Fund Rail
A well-known local developer has a new plan to pay for Honolulu’s mass transit project, and the Honolulu City Council is slated to consider it.
View ArticleFunding Emerges for Hudson Rail Tunnels
Federal dollars also would pay for railroad bridge over the Hackensack River.
View ArticleIs Subway and Suburban Rail too Much for DART?
Dallas Area Rapid Transit may be trying to please everyone with its decision to fund two major rail expansions, but some are concerned the transit agency could end up pleasing nobody.
View ArticleShould U.S. Spend a Trillion Dollars on New Infrastructure?
Donald Trump wants to make a big splash by supporting a huge new infrastructure bill. But we don’t want to end up with the construction of massive new highways from coast to coast.
View ArticleRequired Value Capture on Australian Projects?
Launched by Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure Paul Fletcher at a Property Council of Australia breakfast in Melbourne, the paper outlines a number of options by which the federal government...
View ArticleCould Australia Have Road User Tax in 10 Years?
The federal government will commission a study into a road user charge for light vehicles as part of a “10 to 15-year journey” towards a possible new tax on commuters to replace petrol excise.
View ArticleCongestion Pricing Not Considered in Tennessee
It’s easy to say Middle Tennessee needs mass transit, but it’s much harder to say how exactly Middle Tennessee should fund it, particularly since local officials are grappling with a $6 billion price...
View ArticleGov. Jerry Brown’s Plan to Fund Transportation
With negotiations stuck in a traffic jam of competing priorities, Gov. Jerry Brown’s new state budget offers another effort to boost California’s transportation funding by raising the gas tax paid by...
View ArticleGA House Speaker Calls for Statewide Transit Funding Study
House Speaker David Ralston said he will support legislation this year to create a new transit commission that would study whether to use state money to pay for trains, subways and bus systems – and...
View ArticleChao Commits to Multiple Funding Tools
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Transportation Department is calling for a mix of funding tools to help rebuild the nation’s ailing infrastructure.
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