Transportation
Blog
California doubles down on the bullet-train boondoggle
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong — and a lot that’s right — about building a high-speed rail system that speedily transports people across vast tracts of land. Some family members recently returned from a trip to Japan, where they traveled the country on the Shinkansen network of bullet trains. Begun in 1964, the ...
Blog
Lawsuit’s End Latest Sign of High Speed Rail’s Woes
An HSRA official said the decision to pull the lawsuit was made because “the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California.” In reality, it’s a tacit admission from the HSRA that it doesn’t deserve the money. At this point, it’s become rather tedious to recite the high-speed rail’s ...
Blog
California’s urban-mobility plan: more of what’s not working
A glaring example of such obtuseness is the report recently issued by the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit Transformation Task Force. Established by “the transit recovery package signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of the 2023-24 state budget,” the panel’s mission was to make “recommendations to grow transit ridership, ...
Blog
Private buses are back, but will government leave them alone?
Private buses are back, but will government leave them alone? Looking forward to attending FIFA World Cup 26? There’s “an easy and affordable way to move between host cities to see the matches.” FlixBus, the world’s largest motor coach service — it has a presence in more than 40 countries ...
Blog
One cat death is a tragedy. 43K human deaths is a statistic
For those who missed the internationally publicized brouhaha, a tabby named Kit Kat had lived in the city’s Mission, where he sauntered into bodegas and bars. Dubbed the Mayor of 16th Street, Kit Kat was by all accounts a charming character. Then on October 27, the unthinkable happened: a Waymo self-driving taxi ...
Blog
Latest loan plan won’t fix transit’s fundamental problems
To follow the narrative from California’s political leaders, the state’s transit systems are still struggling because of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Ridership numbers and revenues fell dramatically as a result and have yet to fully recover. Therefore, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Muni and other public systems need a state bailout ...
Blog
Plan to Tear Up Local Streets Latest Controversy for California’s Train to Nowhere
The Fresno Bee reports that streets in the center of city would have to be rebuilt as a series of overpasses and underpasses to avoid the road-level tracks for high-speed rail. The city was under the impression, based on a 2018 agreement, that the streets would remain as is while the train ...
Blog
Robotaxis offer real-world solution for urban traffic congestion
Waymo is the Autonomous Vehicle division of Alphabet/Google, which for two decades has mapped almost every road in America. The cars are electric I-Pace Jaguars made in Austria by Magna Steyr and, he said, quite luxurious. Other cities hosting Waymos include Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta and San Francisco, also covering ...
Blog
Trucking and Shipping Latest Victims of California’s “Cruelest Law,” AB 5
If anyone thinks they’re seeing fewer trucks ripping up and down Interstate 5 or slogging through the perpetual 405 gridlock, it might not be their imagination. California law is strangling the freight-hauling business. There has been “a wave of bankruptcies among California trucking companies,” reports Floor Covering News, a trade publication, partially the result of the economic decline of the freight ...
Blog
Private transit worked in the past. Could it help cities again?
On the surface, Tokyo and Los Angeles couldn’t be more different — one city known for its safety, cleanliness, walkability and vibrancy, while the other is often criticized for sprawl, dysfunction and decay. But there was a time when Los Angeles was known for the former — in part, by ...
California doubles down on the bullet-train boondoggle
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong — and a lot that’s right — about building a high-speed rail system that speedily transports people across vast tracts of land. Some family members recently returned from a trip to Japan, where they traveled the country on the Shinkansen network of bullet trains. Begun in 1964, the ...
Lawsuit’s End Latest Sign of High Speed Rail’s Woes
An HSRA official said the decision to pull the lawsuit was made because “the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California.” In reality, it’s a tacit admission from the HSRA that it doesn’t deserve the money. At this point, it’s become rather tedious to recite the high-speed rail’s ...
California’s urban-mobility plan: more of what’s not working
A glaring example of such obtuseness is the report recently issued by the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit Transformation Task Force. Established by “the transit recovery package signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of the 2023-24 state budget,” the panel’s mission was to make “recommendations to grow transit ridership, ...
Private buses are back, but will government leave them alone?
Private buses are back, but will government leave them alone? Looking forward to attending FIFA World Cup 26? There’s “an easy and affordable way to move between host cities to see the matches.” FlixBus, the world’s largest motor coach service — it has a presence in more than 40 countries ...
One cat death is a tragedy. 43K human deaths is a statistic
For those who missed the internationally publicized brouhaha, a tabby named Kit Kat had lived in the city’s Mission, where he sauntered into bodegas and bars. Dubbed the Mayor of 16th Street, Kit Kat was by all accounts a charming character. Then on October 27, the unthinkable happened: a Waymo self-driving taxi ...
Latest loan plan won’t fix transit’s fundamental problems
To follow the narrative from California’s political leaders, the state’s transit systems are still struggling because of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Ridership numbers and revenues fell dramatically as a result and have yet to fully recover. Therefore, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Muni and other public systems need a state bailout ...
Plan to Tear Up Local Streets Latest Controversy for California’s Train to Nowhere
The Fresno Bee reports that streets in the center of city would have to be rebuilt as a series of overpasses and underpasses to avoid the road-level tracks for high-speed rail. The city was under the impression, based on a 2018 agreement, that the streets would remain as is while the train ...
Robotaxis offer real-world solution for urban traffic congestion
Waymo is the Autonomous Vehicle division of Alphabet/Google, which for two decades has mapped almost every road in America. The cars are electric I-Pace Jaguars made in Austria by Magna Steyr and, he said, quite luxurious. Other cities hosting Waymos include Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta and San Francisco, also covering ...
Trucking and Shipping Latest Victims of California’s “Cruelest Law,” AB 5
If anyone thinks they’re seeing fewer trucks ripping up and down Interstate 5 or slogging through the perpetual 405 gridlock, it might not be their imagination. California law is strangling the freight-hauling business. There has been “a wave of bankruptcies among California trucking companies,” reports Floor Covering News, a trade publication, partially the result of the economic decline of the freight ...
Private transit worked in the past. Could it help cities again?
On the surface, Tokyo and Los Angeles couldn’t be more different — one city known for its safety, cleanliness, walkability and vibrancy, while the other is often criticized for sprawl, dysfunction and decay. But there was a time when Los Angeles was known for the former — in part, by ...
