Public Transit

A New York Republican said this week that an upstate rail line there should be cancelled because it’s not “financially viable.”
 
The train will not generate enough revenue to justify building it, Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
 
“In times of national financial crisis, we simply cannot support this expenditure of precious tax dollars on a project that will not be financially viable in the long-term,” Reed wrote.
 
“Constructing a high-speed rail line across Western and Upstate New York is not practical. A true high-speed rail line across this region would require its own dedicated track. Fulfilling this requirement would cost tens of billions of dollars."

Transportation projects like the ones being proposed by President Obama are a central characteristic of struggling urban cities, a Harvard economic professor said Friday in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.

Edward Glasser, an expert in urban economics, suggests that declining population numbers in Detroit show that Obama and other advocates of building more railways are pushing in the wrong direction.

"The defining characteristic of declining cities is that they have plenty of infrastructure relative to the level of demand," wrote Glasser, who is also a fellow at the Manhattan Institute in New York City.

"Detroit didn't need the People Mover — an expensive monorail that glides over empty streets. And today, a Light Rail project is being pitched by the federal government, which seems to have learned nothing from the failures of past follies."

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The road is rocky these days for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's transportation secretary.

Transportation officials in San Francisco are ponying up for transit-oriented housing.

They came from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's visit to Hawaii convinced he supports a proposed railway there.

The budget writers in Washington state have let lawmakers know how much they'll have to spend on transportation.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

San Francisco — home of one of the world's most famous bridges, the Golden Gate — has more bridges that need repair than anywhere else in California.

While others are are talking rail, Nevada needs more roads to grow, a study says.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also went to Portland, Ore., while he was on the west coast.

North Carolina Republicans are working to put the brakes on a high-speed rail there after an agreement cleared the way for the state to receive $461 million in federal money.

Vice President Biden said Tuesday that Florida Gov. Rick Scott should have okayed a high-speed rail project

Lautenberg sets up hearing; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says requiring seatbelts in buses may be one answer.

Following rejections of federal money for high-speed rail by Republican governors in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood went all the way to Hawaii this week to talk up President Obama's railway initiative.

LaHood was in Honolulu, Hawaii, last night speaking to state officials about a proposed $5.5 billion railway in the city. The Federal Transit Administration is scheduled to provide $1.5 billion for the railway, which will run 20 miles through the Hawaii capital, also the state's largest city.

Unlike projects in the Republican-led states that have turned down federal money for rail, LaHood said the train in Hawaii was running on schedule, according to local media reports.

The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee says President Obama's proposed funding increase for public transit is unlikely to happen.

"I think it's going to have to stay about the same," Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said in an interview Tuesday with The Wall Street Journal.

Obama's 2012 budget request includes an increase of more than $20 billion for public transit. But since Republicans took control of the House last November, the focus in Washington has been on budget cuts.

Your daily a.m. transportation quick-fix:

They don't want to cross that bridge when they get to it in Illinois, where they said 8 percent of the state's 26,000-plus bridges are in need of repair.

They are still worried about bridges in Minnesota, too.

Transportation officials in Washington state are finding out how much money they will have to work with next fiscal year.

Miami had more international passengers than any other airport aside from New York's John F. Kennedy last year.

Portland, Ore., is another place getting some extra rail money.

North Carolina will receive $461 million in federal funds to increase the speed of the railway between Charlotte and Raleigh, according to a report.

The money was approved after the state reached an agreement with a freight train company, the Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday.

North Carolina had originally been awarded $585 million for increasing the speed of Amtrak trains to 90 miles per hour. The train is envisioned to eventually connect with a railway that runs through Richmond, Va., and culminates in Washington, D.C., where passengers could connect to northeastern rail routes.