American Dream

2006.05.11
Goldman Sachs making pitch for Atlanta toll truckway on I-285 belt

Goldman Sachs (GS) has a proposal for financing truck-only toll lanes (TOTLs) on the western portion of the I-285 beltway around Atlanta GA, the Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting. They say the New York based financial group - which has formed a fund for tollroad investments and is pitching concessions all over the country - will make a presentation to the state's policymaking transportation board at their monthly meeting next week. They are expected to follow up with a formal proposal under the state's public-private initiative (PPI) law.

See also Reason Public Policy Institute's TOLL TRUCKWAYS: A NEW PATH TOWARD SAFER AND MORE EFFICIENT FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION from 2002 (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 533 KB).

And an AJC editorial from December 2005.

The Washington Post is reporting that Ward 8 member of the Council of the District of Columbia (and former Mayor) Marion S. Barry, Jr. was involved in a minor traffic crash in the 1000 block of First Street, S.E. early today (at 12:10 A.M.).



I find this interesting because Mr. Barry has long been an advocate for mass transit and an opponent of highway improvements in D.C. (see one example here), and is currently an alternate member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which means he has a free, unlimited-use transit pass.

Wonder why Councilmember Barry wasn't riding transit?

Although full funding for a new light-rail line along Interstate 205 has not yet been approved, Portland's transit agency, Tri-Met, has purchased $89 million worth of light-rail cars for that line. The agency is also moving ahead with plans to divert 28 bus routes from Portland's bus mall in anticipation of reconstructing the mall for light rail.

This reconstruction project is controversial because studies show the total capacity of the mall to handle transit passengers will be lower with light rail and buses interweaving than with buses alone. But downtown merchants made it clear that they would not accept light rail on any other streets. Since many of the merchants on the bus mall had already been put out of business by the mall, there were few there to protest. Tri-Met insists that mixing buses, light rail, autos, and pedestrians on the mall will be perfectly safe -- or, in any case, any accidents will be the auto drivers' or pedestrians' fault.

Such as the recent accident in which a Portland streetcar ripped off the door of an automobile when the motorist carelessly opened the door when the streetcar was coming by. According to the motorist, he looked for the streetcar, then opened the door, when suddenly "a speeding streetcar roared by, crashing into the door and tearing it off." But the city insists the accident was the motorists' fault because it is illegal to open your door in unsafe conditions. Besides, says a city official, the streetcars never go faster than 15 mph (7 mph average speed), which makes you wonder why anyone rides them. (Answer: few do.)

I suppose this accident is an example of what they mean when they say streetcars "calm traffic." For Tri-Met now wants to extend streetcar operations to the east side of Portland. The plan is to "cut through the heart of Central Eastside," thereby calming the traffic on busy streets such as King and Grand. Funds for congestifying, I mean calming those streets have been unavailable due to city budget shortfalls, but the streetcar should add plenty of congestion, I mean, calming.

I wonder how the motorists who use those streets will feel about that. As a cyclist, I am certainly glad I no longer live in Portland and have to deal with crossing lots of tracks in the streets. I am sure they would claim any accident was my fault. After all, they warned me:



In other news, Tri-Met plans to subsidize some transit-oriented developments on Interstate Avenue two years after it opened a light-rail line on that street. Early returns show the light-rail line carries fewer riders than the bus line it replaced.

Previous plans for one transit-oriented development fell through when the developer withdrew. But now, says a local resident, "suddenly things are beginning to pop," which I guess means that the city and transit agency have increased subsidies enough to attract some other sucker, I mean developer. It appears that this new development will be smaller but require more subsidies than the development that had previously been planned. No doubt it will be considered very successful, meaning vacancy rates will be no greater than 50 percent.

Another development of "affordable housing" will be on a site owned by Tri-Met. No doubt the agency will generously sell it to developers for less than Tri-Met's cost of purchasing it.

Chris Walker, a member and participant in the American Dream Coalition, has some choice words for Virginia's Dulles Rail project over at The Bacon's Rebellion Blog.

As an added bonus, Bacon's Rebellion has also posted an electronic copy of a letter that Chris recently wrote regarding transportation policy generally to the Honorable William J. Howell, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Planetizen presents a state-by-state review of property-rights legislation -- both on eminent domain and compensation measures similar to Oregon's measure 37 -- written by the Reason Foundation's Leonard Gilroy. This is a summary of a longer paper written by Gilroy and published by the Reason Foundation.

In the article, Gilroy mentions that the Wisconsin house passed a measure 37-like bill. However, a press release just issued by 1000 Friends of Oregon crows that the measure lost in the senate. Wisconsin property rights activists need to find a Dorothy English who can help people see how land-use restrictions are unfair (link goes to mp3 file of radio ad used in Oregon's measure 37 campaign).

Much has been made of the success of redevelopment of various parts of Arlington County, Virginia - including the clustering of high-density apartments and townhomes around transit stations. But in discussing those success stories, the plight of the people forced out ahead of the redevelopment is rarely discussed. In this story, Washington Post reporter Annie Gowen discusses the the fate of Lillian Veney, a 79-year-old resident of Buckingham Village, an apartment complex that's still somewhat affordable, at least by Arlington standards.

Neighborhood's Guardian Cast Out of All She Loves:
Arlington Redevelopment Puts 'Mama' and Friends on Uncertain Path

Portland, OR - The Portland Streetcar may soon be bridging the six-mile gap from South Waterfront to the Foothills district. The Lake Oswego Downtown Transit Alternatives Advisory Committee is one of two groups studying ways to improve Highway 43. The proposed rail extension will serve the existing community as well as projected growth along the highway envisioning a pedestrian-friendly downtown in Lake Oswego’s future with additional housing and mixed-use development at the city’s core. DTAAC members will formally present the findings to the Lake Oswego City Council on Monday in their first step in a lengthy bureaucratic road to get federal dollars.

From the New York Times:


The proposal, drafted by the Department of Consumer Affairs over several months and presented to the City Council on Friday, would require pedicab owners to pay a $125 licensing fee each year, and $70 for each additional cab, and to carry an insurance policy covering up to $1 million in liability.

Each pedicab would be limited to two adult passengers with one child 3 or younger. Each vehicle would have to have water-resistant hydraulic or mechanical brakes, emergency brakes, battery-powered headlights and taillights, turn lights, reflectors, side-mounted rear view mirrors and passenger seat belts. The pedicabs would be prohibited in parks, on bridges and in tunnels. Owners and drivers who violate the rules could have their licenses suspended or revoked, face fines of $200 to $4,000, and have their vehicles seized.


Wonder if anyone considered just regulating pedicabs for some (reasonable) degree of safety and insurance, and leaving it at that? Next thing to be required will be a taximeter, no doubt. Wonder if a slow pedicab driver would earn higher fares that way?

These vehicles seem (to me) to be highly appropriate in parks - why would they be banned from city parks?

Durham, NC — The Kelo decision subjugating private property rights to economic-development interests grabbed headlines recently, but another danger to property rights has resurfaced from another quarter: arbitrary zoning decisions. A decision in one such case, struck City Councilman Paul Williams as unfair, and he had it reversed. In response, local planners have increased the paper work required of petitioners. If a petitioner wants to rezone property in a way that conflicts with Durham's comprehensive plan, the petitioner must not only apply for a change to the zoning map, but must simultaneously make an application to amend the comprehensive plan itself.

Boulder City, NV - City residents could vote on a plan to make every man, woman and child there a millionaire with an initiative that could be on the November ballot. The ballot measure calls for the city to sell 167 square miles of undeveloped open land and would require the city to distribute the billions to the 15,000 residents. However, city officials said they intend to fight the forced land sale in the courts.

While the story above is from SFGATE.COM (the San Francisco Chronicle) and is intended to be humorous, there's a proposal here on the other side of the country in Montgomery County, Maryland to do just this, and potentially on a large scale. Read this (Adobe Acrobat .pdf, 110 KB) for more.

Not sure that I'd want to live on top of a Pottery Barn (or any other retail establishment, for that matter).

Growth controls and population growth means a lack of affordable housing, especially in California. That's the point of this article from the New York Times.