An occasional update on items from Motordom:
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WHY MOTORDOM IS GOING BANKRUPT
A new report from the Tax Foundation shows 50.7 percent of America’s road spending comes from gas taxes, tolls, and other fees levied on drivers. The other 49.3 percent? Well, that comes from general tax dollars, just like education and health care. The way we spend on roads has nothing to do with the free market, or even how much people use roads.
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NEVER DOUBT MOTORDOM
Nothing quite illustrates the gap between those who call for reductions in government spending on wasteful projects and often the same people who support more road spending even when the numbers don’t add up:
From DC Streetsblog:
Meet the $4.7 Billion Birmingham Highway Only Cronyism Could Build.
It is really a testament to how dominant the highway industrial complex has become that we even have to talk about Birmingham’s Northern Beltline, a $4.7 billion outerbelt first proposed in the 1960s.
But with backing from big companies that would reap windfall real estate profits from the highway — and with a U.S. Senator working to secure federal funding — this boondoggle might actually get built.
Regional transportation officials have estimated that this project would reduce congestion on existing freeways by a mere 1 to 3 percent. That’s a big part of the reason, when those planners ranked the 50 most important
transportation projects for the Birmingham area, the Northern Beltline was ranked a lowly 36th.
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Nothing quite illustrates the gap between those who call for reductions in government spending on wasteful projects and often the same people who support more road spending even when the numbers don’t add up:
From DC Streetsblog:
Meet the $4.7 Billion Birmingham Highway Only Cronyism Could Build.
It is really a testament to how dominant the highway industrial complex has become that we even have to talk about Birmingham’s Northern Beltline, a $4.7 billion outerbelt first proposed in the 1960s.But with backing from big companies that would reap windfall real estate profits from the highway — and with a U.S. Senator working to secure federal funding — this boondoggle might actually get built.
Regional transportation officials have estimated that this project would reduce congestion on existing freeways by a mere 1 to 3 percent. That’s a big part of the reason, when those planners ranked the 50 most important
transportation projects for the Birmingham area, the Northern Beltline was ranked a lowly 36th.
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BITING THE DUST IN DALLAS?
Even as Vancouver Council approaches a definitive vote on the future of the Viaducts, more proposals keep emerging for demolishing elevated freeways – this time in Dallas:
IH-345 is the obscure official name for the sinuous, 1.4-mile elevated freeway that runs between downtown and Deep Ellum. It connects 75 to I-30 and I-45. It’s on year 39 of a 40-year lifespan and has already been repaired three times in the past 12 years. It has 487 fatigue cracks and spot welds.
The Texas Department of Transportation has offered two recommendations: either keep repairing the old road or rebuild it entirely, at a price likely in the hundreds of millions. There is a third option, though, and it’s not getting the consideration it deserves …
Can you guess? Find out here.
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‘AUTONOMOUS’ CARS BY 2020
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Audi and Toyota are debuting advanced prototypes of “autonomous cars,” which will provide enhanced “smart” crash avoidance and seek parking while the driver hops out and goes about her business, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Nissan’s CEO assured reporters that its model would be in showrooms by 2020.
Companies are for now only trying to phase in the product, easing the more annoying aspects of driving (like finding parking) rather than exploring the outermost limits of the technology.
“Autonomous does not mean driverless,” a Toyota executive assured the WSJ.
Companies are for now only trying to phase in the product, easing the more annoying aspects of driving (like finding parking) rather than exploring the outermost limits of the technology.
“Autonomous does not mean driverless,” a Toyota executive assured the WSJ.
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