Today’s Headlines

  • EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Denies Basic Climate Science (WaPo)
  • The Thinking Person’s Infrastructure Model: Focus on Walkability (Washington Monthly)
  • Privately Funded Texas Rail Gets Boost From White House (McClatchy)
  • Engineers Again Give U.S. Infrastructure Near-Flunking Grade (Reuters)
  • How Would Pittsburgh Benefit From BRT? (Post-Gazette)
  • With Uber, Lyft Out in Austin, Ride-Share Will Take New Forms (MIT Tech Review)
  • Detroit Streetcar System to Launch in May (Free Press)
  • Japanese Bullet Train Maker Looks for Opportunity in U.S. (Bloomberg)
  • AMH

    After following the Texas HSR drama for some time, I’m amazed at the uproar over such a space-efficient project. People might have similar oppositions to a highway, but it would certainly require more land. It’s truly ironic that a state that “loves its land” has for so long relied upon a mode of transportation that consumes so much of it.

    55 cents/mile is certainly a reasonable cost estimate for driving, but I guarantee that people don’t mentally calculate the cost of the trip at $270–they probably consider only the cost of gas. The value of time lost to driving should be considered as well.

  • Vooch

    Walkability is the overlooked infrastructure topic. Some places have shockingly high walk modes.

    Paris for example.

    Increase the walk mode is likely the least expensive infrastructure bang for your buck. Suspect it cost 1/1000 versus highways