Carmaggedon

Driving is easy in a bust town, those western places where the gold or the oil dried up; traffic is light when there are few places to stop.  For this reason bad economies are great for commuters; fewer people going to work means fewer people clogging the transportation network.  Expensive fuel also has a depressive affect on vehicle miles traveled.  Growing concerns over human ecology (my preferred...

Transit is in the business of moving people, not relieving congestion

As regularly as an equatorial sunrise, Google Alerts sends me news clips from around the world of transit.  From these articles I know light rail is making progress in the Carolinas, transit ridership is increasing in car-mad Phoenix, and congressional candidates are talking about transit on the campaign trail.  Unfortunately, most of these missives from the transit field carry with them the promise...

The Hundred Million Dollar Line

  There are few hours above the red line, but we pay mightily for them in infrastructure. Noting the exceptions of those few cities stuck in permanent rush hour, peak is the hour that rankles.  When angry citizens gripe about congestion they are not thinking of 10 a.m. or 10 p.m.; they are concerned about the hours in the morning and afternoon when most of us still go to a job.  When DOT or public...