Transportation
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 ...
Blog
Los Angeles Faces an Olympian Task
The city and county of Los Angeles have struggled to jump-start home and business reconstructions eight months after wildfires destroyed Pacific Palisades and Altadena, with only 17 permits issued for the Palisades and fewer than 300 for all the affected areas combined. State and local officials have waived myriad building ...
Blog
The Train To Nowhere Goes Somewhere – Maybe
The promise of a bullet train connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, and maybe even extending to San Diego to the south and Sacramento to the north, was broken longer before ground was broken in 2015 for the project. The route has been shortened, the construction timeline endlessly extended, and ...
Blog
Never Gonna Give You Up: Will High-Speed Rail Ever Be Scrapped?
Critics say the troubled project should be abandoned. They correctly point out that incurring sunk costs is a better outcome than continuing to spend tens of billions on a dream that is unlikely to be completed, and if it is, won’t be anything like the modern system promised to voters ...
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 ...
Los Angeles Faces an Olympian Task
The city and county of Los Angeles have struggled to jump-start home and business reconstructions eight months after wildfires destroyed Pacific Palisades and Altadena, with only 17 permits issued for the Palisades and fewer than 300 for all the affected areas combined. State and local officials have waived myriad building ...
The Train To Nowhere Goes Somewhere – Maybe
The promise of a bullet train connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, and maybe even extending to San Diego to the south and Sacramento to the north, was broken longer before ground was broken in 2015 for the project. The route has been shortened, the construction timeline endlessly extended, and ...
Never Gonna Give You Up: Will High-Speed Rail Ever Be Scrapped?
Critics say the troubled project should be abandoned. They correctly point out that incurring sunk costs is a better outcome than continuing to spend tens of billions on a dream that is unlikely to be completed, and if it is, won’t be anything like the modern system promised to voters ...
