HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Transportation


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #781  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2011, 10:56 PM
NYonward's Avatar
NYonward NYonward is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: New York City
Posts: 1,236
NBC Nightly News had a good report on HSR in the US tonight. The full video isn't available yet, but here is some web only content with LaHood.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#43599507
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #782  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 1:37 AM
eternallyme eternallyme is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 5,243
If the private sector were to get aggressive, could it create a nationwide network with zero tax subsidies?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #783  
Old Posted Jul 5, 2011, 2:54 AM
NYonward's Avatar
NYonward NYonward is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: New York City
Posts: 1,236
Quote:
Originally Posted by eternallyme View Post
If the private sector were to get aggressive, could it create a nationwide network with zero tax subsidies?
No. Passenger rail is not viable "nationwide" without heavy subsidies because there are not enough passengers to support the enormous capital costs rail requires. Passenger rail works best for short 1-3 hour trips between major cities.

The latest fluff about "private sector" passenger rail operation is all that, bombast and hot air to the "free market". A free market that could never make a profit in moving people on rail if it had to pay ALL the costs. That's why passenger rail failed and the Feds took it over in the 70's (under Nixon).
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #784  
Old Posted Jul 12, 2011, 3:37 AM
202_Cyclist's Avatar
202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,913
House could cut rail stimulus funds (The Hill)

The Ayn Rand-disciples in Congress are totally out of control. This should absolutely be an issue that Team Blue uses to hammer the RepuB(P)licans with: the Repu(B)Plicans want gut funding for transit and rail (even bicycle infrastructure– the most cost-effective transportation investment we can make) when gas is $4 per gallon.

House could cut rail stimulus funds


By Keith Laing
07/11/11
The Hill

"The House expects to take up legislation Monday evening that would eliminate stimulus funds for high-speed rail that have yet to be awarded.

The provision, which is included in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, would eliminate $2.3 billion in stimulus dollars, including $1.6 billion that was just announced in May.

Much of the leftover money was redirected to 15 states after Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) turned down $2.4 billion for a line connecting Tampa to Orlando..."

http://thehill.com/blogs/transportat...money-for-rail
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #785  
Old Posted Jul 12, 2011, 5:10 AM
JDRCRASH JDRCRASH is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: San Gabriel Valley
Posts: 8,087
^ Wait... please don't tell me you're surprised. Seriously. For months now i've been telling you that these are insane (they truly are) freaks need to go if we're to see mass transit get funding...

They have no concept of the value of rail infrastructure, because they have no concept of reality...
__________________
Revelation 21:4
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #786  
Old Posted Jul 12, 2011, 10:51 AM
202_Cyclist's Avatar
202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,913
Quote:
^ Wait... please don't tell me you're surprised. Seriously. For months now i've been telling you that these are insane (they truly are) freaks need to go if we're to see mass transit get funding...
I've been warning this would happen if the GO(B)P was elected before November 2010. I'm not surprised at all that the only thing the GO(B)P supports is billions of dollars of tax cuts for hedge-fund managers and oil companies but this is yet one more example of how extreme they are.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #787  
Old Posted Aug 23, 2011, 2:47 PM
202_Cyclist's Avatar
202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,913
Northeast rail corridor gets $745M for upgrades (AP)

Northeast rail corridor gets $745M for upgrades

Associated Press
08.22.11

"NEW YORK -- The federal Department of Transportation is putting $745 million toward rail projects that will allow trains to travel up to 160 mph in some sections of the Northeast Corridor and construction that will allow Amtrak trains to avoid a congested rail junction in part of New York City.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the funding Monday.

About $450 million will be used to upgrade electrical systems and tracks between Trenton, N.J., and New York. The upgrade means Acela Express trains will be able to achieve a top speed of 160 mph between Trenton and New Brunswick, N.J. The current top speed is 135 mph..."

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/...g_8636013.html
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #788  
Old Posted Aug 23, 2011, 8:21 PM
SpawnOfVulcan's Avatar
SpawnOfVulcan SpawnOfVulcan is offline
Cat Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: America's Magic City
Posts: 3,855
Quote:
Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist View Post
The Ayn Rand-disciples in Congress are totally out of control. This should absolutely be an issue that Team Blue uses to hammer the RepuB(P)licans with: the Repu(B)Plicans want gut funding for transit and rail (even bicycle infrastructure– the most cost-effective transportation investment we can make) when gas is $4 per gallon.

House could cut rail stimulus funds


By Keith Laing
07/11/11
The Hill

"The House expects to take up legislation Monday evening that would eliminate stimulus funds for high-speed rail that have yet to be awarded.

The provision, which is included in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, would eliminate $2.3 billion in stimulus dollars, including $1.6 billion that was just announced in May.

Much of the leftover money was redirected to 15 states after Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) turned down $2.4 billion for a line connecting Tampa to Orlando..."

http://thehill.com/blogs/transportat...money-for-rail
It'll never make it to the President's desk. So, obviously they're just doing this to make a point. If they had the power to get it to the President's desk, they would never do it, because they know that most people in the country support rail projects.

It's just charade, nothing new to Washington.
__________________
SSP Alabama Metros: Birmingham (City Compilation) - Huntsville - Mobile - Montgomery - Tuscaloosa - Daphne-Fairhope - Decatur

SSP Alabama Universities: Alabama - UAB - Alabama State
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #789  
Old Posted Sep 8, 2011, 7:02 PM
202_Cyclist's Avatar
202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,913
The Senate Commerce Committee will be holding a hearing next Wednesday, September 14, on high speed passenger rail, "Moving Intercity Passenger Rail Into the Future." The heairng can be watched on the Committee's website and will be web-archived.

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/in...1-de668ca1978a
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #790  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 2:43 PM
202_Cyclist's Avatar
202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,913
Amtrak rolls toward record ridership (MSNBC)

Amtrak rolls toward record ridership

By Rob Lovitt
MSNBC

"Thanks to changes in technology and demographics — not to mention the hassles of air travel — the nation’s railroads are drawing a whole new crowd.

That’s certainly true for Amtrak, which is on track to report its highest ridership in history. On Tuesday, the company announced that it carried almost 27.8 million passengers during the first 11 months of its fiscal year ending in September, up 5.2 percent from the year before.

By comparison, the number of total Amtrak passengers in August was up only 1.2 percent compared to the August 2010 and down 0.4 percent in the popular Northeast Corridor due to flooding and service cancellations. “The weather-related disruptions we’ve had in various markets, including Hurricane Irene, have resulted in cancellations that doubtlessly affected ridership,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari..."

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_ne...cord-ridership
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #791  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 7:38 PM
electricron's Avatar
electricron electricron is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Granbury, Texas
Posts: 3,523
Lightbulb

Quote:
Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist View Post

By comparison, the number of total Amtrak passengers in August was up only 1.2 percent compared to the August 2010 and down 0.4 percent in the popular Northeast Corridor due to flooding and service cancellations. “The weather-related disruptions we’ve had in various markets, including Hurricane Irene, have resulted in cancellations that doubtlessly affected ridership,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari..."
Who really believes these numbers are true? A drop of less than a half% for the entire month, when the number of trains running on the corridor during the month fell by near 10%? I arrive at the 10% figure by accounting for 3 days of train cancellations over 31 days. Maybe I'm wrong, but even 1 day of train cancellations is near 3%. I certainly don't believe these figures are truthful.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #792  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 8:15 PM
emathias emathias is offline
Adoptive Chicagoan
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
Posts: 5,157
Quote:
Originally Posted by electricron View Post
Who really believes these numbers are true? A drop of less than a half% for the entire month, when the number of trains running on the corridor during the month fell by near 10%? I arrive at the 10% figure by accounting for 3 days of train cancellations over 31 days. Maybe I'm wrong, but even 1 day of train cancellations is near 3%. I certainly don't believe these figures are truthful.
Were there cancellations in the same month last year?
Is there more scheduled service this year than last?
Were there additional runs added to make up for canceled service?
Were runs intentionally overbooked after resuming service?

In other words, canceling 3% of scheduled service does not automatically equate to 3% fewer passengers, particularly when the cancelations would not have been system-specific and would have resulted in people being stuck places. It's not like they could just fly or take a bus in the hurricane, most probably just waited for service to resume.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #793  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 9:41 PM
schwerve schwerve is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 343
Quote:
Originally Posted by electricron View Post
Who really believes these numbers are true? A drop of less than a half% for the entire month, when the number of trains running on the corridor during the month fell by near 10%? I arrive at the 10% figure by accounting for 3 days of train cancellations over 31 days. Maybe I'm wrong, but even 1 day of train cancellations is near 3%. I certainly don't believe these figures are truthful.
But your ignoring that ridership on every other train in August was up approximately 5.2%, somewhat compensating for 3 days of cancellations. Its entirely reasonable that the NE corridor was only down .4% when the other 28 days in the month saw increased ridership.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #794  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2011, 6:29 AM
lawfin lawfin is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,697
Quote:
Originally Posted by electricron View Post
Who really believes these numbers are true? A drop of less than a half% for the entire month, when the number of trains running on the corridor during the month fell by near 10%? I arrive at the 10% figure by accounting for 3 days of train cancellations over 31 days. Maybe I'm wrong, but even 1 day of train cancellations is near 3%. I certainly don't believe these figures are truthful.
Yeah ever hear of non-linearity? How about a Poisson process? Apparently not
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #795  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2011, 3:32 PM
202_Cyclist's Avatar
202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,913
Yesterday, I attended an debate between former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and the corporate/billionaire hack, Grover Norquest about funding infrastructure and deficit reduction. Grover Norquist, the Ayn Rand-disciple, speaks about high speed rail at minutes 23-24 in this debate:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Taxationa

Grover Norquist: “The United States isn’t laid out the way Poland or Moscow is where everyone lives in big, tall, buildings and one subway system between those two points works…it is very depressing over there.”

No jackass, this is completely false. The Northeast corridor and coastal California have population densities as high as Europe. The countries where transit and high speed rail are most successful (Japan, Germany, France, Spain) also have some of highest qualities of life. Transit ridership is very high in Tokyo, Madrid, and Paris but only an Ayn Rand-disciple like Grover Norquist would think these are depressing places to live.

Ridership on Amtrak has also been increasing every month for nearly the past two years, with a 5% increase in ridership in August 2011 compared with a year earlier. This comes at a time when there’s been a sustained drop in driving. If you build transit that is convenient, people will use it.

Norquist also claimed that nobody in the US uses public transit. Really? Except for the 900,000 daily metro trips in DC or the one million daily transit trips in Los Angeles. 20,000 people per hour use the Red Line in DC– the equivalent of building a 10 lane highway on Connecticut Avenue. But I forget, since these cars use oil, it’s not really a subsidy to build all the additional roads and parking structures needed to accommodate them if we didn’t have our transit systems.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #796  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2011, 5:09 PM
slide_rule's Avatar
slide_rule slide_rule is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 912
^^^

Why would any sane person take Ayn Rand and her disciples seriously? People like Grover Norquist have been bought. There are some minions who sincerely believe this stuff, and vote AGAINST their own interests while ignoring the corruption and pillaging at the top. I could go on, but it'd be preaching to the choir.

edit:

I forgot to mention how ROWs are seen as an impediment to rail expansion, yet no one seems to raise a complaint about the amount of land used for roads. The system is so messed up, you can't even read dissenting viewpoints in most mainstream publications.

Last edited by slide_rule; Sep 17, 2011 at 5:27 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #797  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2011, 6:09 PM
LtBk LtBk is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 462
It's clear that Grover Norquist or any of anti-transit conservatives hasn't been to Europe, or anywhere outside of the US.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #798  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2011, 4:06 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Senate Saves a Sliver For High-Speed Rail


Read More: http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/09/22...gh-speed-rail/

Quote:
President Obama had sought $8 billion for high-speed rail in 2012. The House-passed budget had exactly zero. The Senate bill approved by the Transportation subcommittee Tuesday followed suit. But the full Appropriations Committee yesterday put $100 million back into next year’s budget for the president’s signature transportation initiative. That’s still starvation wages for the program, but it’s at least a placeholder that keeps it limping along. The move was spearheaded by four Democratic senators – Dick Durbin of Illinois, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Dianne Feinstein of California and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana — who introduced the successful amendment to reallocate some funds earmarked for highway and transit projects to high-speed rail.

“I offered this amendment because we can’t turn our backs on a project that will invest in the future and put Californians back to work,” Feinstein said in a statement. “Every dollar we spend on rail produces $3 in economic output,” added Senator Durbin, a founding member of the Bi-Cameral High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Caucus. “Congress has maintained a commitment to high speed and intercity rail for over a decade. This amendment will continue that commitment.” Highway funding in the Senate bill stays at FY2011 levels, but the chamber added another $358 million for the New Starts program for transit capital investments, previously funded at $8.3 billion. The House budget would reduce New Starts to $5.3 billion.

TIGER got a little bump too, with the Senate raising the allocation from $527 million to $550 million. Of that, $120 million is reserved for rural communities. The third round of TIGER grant applications is currently underway. The Senate-passed budget keeps $90 million for the tri-agency Partnership for Sustainable Communities (down from $100 million in 2011), a victory for livability advocates and anyone who prefers federal collaboration and efficiency over stovepipes and silos. The bill also includes $25 million for energy efficiency improvements for transit systems to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And the Washington metro system, always threatened with federal cuts, comes away with $150 million for capital investments, with a focus on safety.

.....



__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #799  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2011, 3:45 PM
202_Cyclist's Avatar
202_Cyclist 202_Cyclist is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,913
Lawmaker: Amtrak can keep Northeast Corridor line (AP)

This is certainly good news.

Lawmaker: Amtrak can keep Northeast Corridor line

By CHRIS HAWLEY
Associated Press
11/8/2011

"NEW YORK (AP) — The chairman of the House Transportation Committee says he'll no longer demand the government take away the Washington-to-Boston train line that is Amtrak's crown jewel.

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., had wanted to put the Northeast Corridor's tracks under control of the U.S. Department of Transportation or a new government-created corporation, then allow a private company to develop high-speed rail service on the route. But on Tuesday, he said fellow Congress members had balked at the plan and it was holding up high-speed rail efforts.

"I'm willing to compromise," he said. "I could probably pass just about anything in committee, but I want to make something happen..."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...6e0fcd456bacec
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #800  
Old Posted Nov 17, 2011, 4:52 PM
M II A II R II K's Avatar
M II A II R II K M II A II R II K is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 52,200
Congress about to kill high-speed train program


Read More: http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/nat...-train-program

Quote:
Congress is on the verge of killing funding for President Barack Obama's signature high-speed rail program, but it may have some life in it still. Republican lawmakers are claiming credit for killing the program. But billions of dollars still in the pipeline will ensure work will continue on some projects. And it's still possible money from another transportation grant program can be steered to high-speed trains. Obama had requested $8 billion in fiscal 2012 for the program, and $53 billion over six years. House and Senate negotiators agreed to a measure this week that eliminates any funding specifically for high-speed trains. Final passage of the bill, which funds day-to-day operations at the Transportation Department and several other agencies in fiscal 2012, is expected Thursday in the House and Friday in the Senate.

Republicans have made it clear since taking control of the House last year that they intended to eliminate the program, which they say is too costly. The bill marks "an end to the president's misguided high-speed rail program, but it is not the end of American high-speed rail," said Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's railroad subcommittee. Shuster and the Transportation Committee's chairman, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., say the future of high-speed rail in the U.S. is in the Northeast rail corridor that connects Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, rather than the national network of trains envisioned by Obama. "We are being given a chance to refocus and reform the high-speed rail program," Shuster said. But Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., an Obama ally and high-speed rail supporter, said he is confident some money will be found to keep Obama's train program going through the Transportation Department's TIGER program, which makes grants to projects that achieve critical national objectives.

.....
__________________
ASDFGHJK
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Transportation
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:28 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.