Thursday, December 23, 2004
Portland is is ranked among the worst for traffic congestion
Stalled freight costs big bucks
Susie Lahsene, manager of land use and transportation policy for the Port of Portland, says road delays have a real cost: One minute spent idling in traffic costs $1 in wasted fuel and lost productivity. And that's conservative.” She says the 10,000 trucks on the Interstate 5 trade corridor at any given time experience delays that constitute a loss of $26 million worth of productivity annually, and more than a half-billion dollars over 20 years, a figure that doesn’t count the additional trucks needed to compensate for lost time.
We are told by Metro and transportation planners we need more choices such as light rail and commuter rail but these choices do not reduce congestion on our roads or in our neighborhoods.
John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute says Oregon's road situation is the result of neglect, pure and simple. “You look at Highway 26 and Highway 217 — it’s scandalous that those facilities were not improved a decade ago,” he says.
Susie Lahsene, manager of land use and transportation policy for the Port of Portland, says road delays have a real cost: One minute spent idling in traffic costs $1 in wasted fuel and lost productivity. And that's conservative.” She says the 10,000 trucks on the Interstate 5 trade corridor at any given time experience delays that constitute a loss of $26 million worth of productivity annually, and more than a half-billion dollars over 20 years, a figure that doesn’t count the additional trucks needed to compensate for lost time.
We are told by Metro and transportation planners we need more choices such as light rail and commuter rail but these choices do not reduce congestion on our roads or in our neighborhoods.
John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute says Oregon's road situation is the result of neglect, pure and simple. “You look at Highway 26 and Highway 217 — it’s scandalous that those facilities were not improved a decade ago,” he says.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Light rail at fault in collision
After a Salt Lake City light-rail train ran a red light and nearly killed a thirteen-year-old girl in an automobile, transit officials admitted the accident was their fault and not the fault of the motorist. While one official claimed it was "operator error," this article in the Salt Lake City Tribune suggests that light-rail trains frequently run red lights because they just can't stop in time when the light changes. This means it is a design flaw, not an operational mistake.
The article suggests that a mere six fatalities plus two suicides is an excellent safety record for Salt Lake light rail. It would be if it were the heavily-used New York City subway. But Salt Lake's light-rail lines have carried only about 300 million passenger miles since they opened in 1999, which means a fatality rate (not counting the suicides) of about 20 per billion passenger miles. That is more than four times greater than buses or urban interstate freeways (which are both between 4 and 5 fatalities per billion passenger miles).
Meanwhile, the Sacramento light rail killed a man on November 28 and hit a 17-year-old boy on a bicycle on December 19. Of course, both of these accidents were blamed on the victims. Another Sacramento light-rail rider recently got beat up by "six thugs" aboard a light-rail train, but of course, that wasn't the light rail's fault either.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Wham-Bam Tram Ram Counter now reports 71 accidents on Houston's light rail. The Ram Counter page now opens with photos of a transit agency policewoman asleep at the wheel of her car. Her job, it turns out, is to ensure than no accidents occur on the light rail. 'Nuff said.
The article suggests that a mere six fatalities plus two suicides is an excellent safety record for Salt Lake light rail. It would be if it were the heavily-used New York City subway. But Salt Lake's light-rail lines have carried only about 300 million passenger miles since they opened in 1999, which means a fatality rate (not counting the suicides) of about 20 per billion passenger miles. That is more than four times greater than buses or urban interstate freeways (which are both between 4 and 5 fatalities per billion passenger miles).
Meanwhile, the Sacramento light rail killed a man on November 28 and hit a 17-year-old boy on a bicycle on December 19. Of course, both of these accidents were blamed on the victims. Another Sacramento light-rail rider recently got beat up by "six thugs" aboard a light-rail train, but of course, that wasn't the light rail's fault either.
Finally, it is worth noting that the Wham-Bam Tram Ram Counter now reports 71 accidents on Houston's light rail. The Ram Counter page now opens with photos of a transit agency policewoman asleep at the wheel of her car. Her job, it turns out, is to ensure than no accidents occur on the light rail. 'Nuff said.
