 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
News clippings related to transit, mobility and quality of life
MoveNews #83 for the week of January 10, 2010
Regional
Sunday service to be cut for buses
San Diego Union Tribune, January 8, 2010
MTS board's vote ends 23 of 60 routes.
Citing plummeting revenue, San Diego transit authorities yesterday moved to end Sunday service on more than 20 bus routes and trim service on many others.
In an 11-2 vote, the Metropolitan Transit System board agreed to impose the changes starting Feb. 28 to stay solvent amid deep cuts in state funding and tax revenue. ... San Diego City Council members Todd Gloria and Sherri Lightner, both members of the MTS board, voted against the reductions.
As part of yesterday's action, the board agreed to seek more operating funds from the San Diego Association of Governments, the agency that oversees transit planning in the region. Some board members said additional money from SANDAG, perhaps drawn from local sales taxes, could help ease MTS's budget woes. ... The agency is modifying the length of some routes and the frequency of stops on nearly all other Sunday bus lines, along with some on Saturdays. It is also adjusting service on a handful of weekday routes.
MTS says the reductions would save about $7 million. In recent years, the agency has also increased fares, imposed a hiring freeze and boosted advertising revenue on its buses and trolleys.
For a chart showing all the service changes: http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/buschanges.pdf
National
In a dramatic change from existing policy, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today proposed that new funding guidelines for major transit projects be based on livability issues such as economic development opportunities and environmental benefits, in addition to cost and time saved, which are currently the primary criteria. ...
"This new approach will help us do a much better job of aligning our priorities and values with our transit investments," said FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff. "No longer will we ignore the many benefits that accrue to our environment and our communities when we build or expand rail and bus rapid transit systems."
FTA will soon initiate a separate rulemaking process, inviting public comment on ways to appropriately measure all the benefits that result from such investments.
What We Learned From The Stimulus
Smart Growth America, January 5, 2010
The latest data on stimulus spending show that funds spent on public transportation were a more effective job creator than stimulus funds spent on highways. In the 10 months since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed, investing in public transportation produced twice as many jobs per dollar as investing in roads:
- Every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 16,419 job-months.
- Every billion dollars spent on projects funded under highway infrastructure programs produced 8,781 job-months. ...
These results are calculated from data provided by the states through October 31, and released by the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on December 10.
President Obama has said he is concerned that the goal of quickly boosting employment with shovel-ready projects may conflict with making long-term investments in Americas future. These results show that investing in public transportation produces the most return for the money in both categories:
The Netherlands is set to become the first country in Europe to replace road tax with a kilometer charge for all motorists, over 10 years since the idea was first put forward. ... The transport ministry said on Friday it expected fatal accidents will fall by 7% and carbon emissions would be down by 10%. Traffic jams will be halved and the amount of kilometres driven will go down by 15%.
... ministers agreed that the tax will be three cents a kilometer when the charge is introduced in 2012, rising to 6.7 cents by 2018 - for the greenest cars . But if revenues generated by the tax are not in line with expectations, the tax can be adjusted, the transport ministry said.
The tax will be higher during the rush hour and for more polluting vehicles.
To make sure motorists are not worse off, road tax will be scrapped and the purchase tax on new cars will be reduced. Some 60% of drivers will be better off, the government claims. ...
Each car on the roads will be fitted with a GPS device which will use satellites to monitor where and when the car is driven and send the information to a central billing point. The ministry said the information collected about motoring habits would be 'legally and technically' protected and would not be accessible to other government agencies.
Fast Facts
Every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 16,419 job-months. Every billion dollars spent on projects funded under highway infrastructure programs produced 8,781 job-months.
Source: U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, data on the usage of ARRA "stimulus funds"
MoveNews #83 was edited by Carolyn Chase and published by Move San Diego, Inc. as a service to our members. You may subscribe, unsubscribe, or send article suggestions by sending an email request to: info@movesandiego.org
NOTE: if there is no link provided to an item, then there is no additional content on that item. All links were current as of the date of publication.
|
|
|
|
