By Frank on January 27, 2008
Nice article by Seattle NYT correspondent William Yardley on the increase in construction costs and how it’s affecting public projects around the country:
Costs have jumped for projects as varied as levee construction in New Orleans, Everglades restoration in Florida and huge sewer system upgrades in Atlanta. The reconstruction of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, a $234 million project, has been fast-tracked for completion by December, and state officials say it is too soon to know whether it will come in on budget.
The impact has been felt in different regions at different times, and not every project has been high-profile. In Oregon, high costs have forced the State Department of Transportation to slow the rate at which it upgrades roads and bridges. In Seattle, school building projects were put on a fast track this fall because of fears of cost overruns.
The article focuses on the increase in costs of bulding materials and labor, due to a global construction boom. I have to wonder how much the falling dollar also plays into the equation.
Posted in Sound Transit, zipcar
By Frank on January 26, 2008
That was fast.
Two weeks ago, I linked to a KOMO story about the lack of parking at the Auburn Sounder station.
Today, the City of Auburn announced the availability of 85 more stops, the News-Tribune is reporting.
Posted in public investment, sr509
By Frank on January 25, 2008
While we await true real-time bus information at all our Seattle bus stops, consider the lazy option, instead of getting frustrated because the 48 or the 7 is taking forever.
Posted in tolls
By bgtothen on January 25, 2008
More will be coming tomorrow.
Posted in 20th century, Ford, global warming, O&M, roads
By serial catowner on January 25, 2008
I’m no fan of the Discovery Institute, but for once they have a darn good idea.
A fascinating thing about that 42-mile rail line is that it shows up where you would least expect it- behind Bellevue, behind Kirkland, and so forth. What kept it alive this long is the fact that it serves industries and distributing points- and what threatens it is the current redevelopment of these uses to condos, housing, and retail, i.e., smart growth.
Or at least, it will be smart if served by transit.
It’s important to do something about this now, because the railroad wants to tear down the Wilburton Trestle and the state highway department wants to tear down the bridge over 405.
The recent 7% rise in Metro boardings (NYC went up 11%) shows we have reached the tipping point much sooner than conventional economists (the same guys who gave us the mortgage bubble) predicted. It’s time to invest in our future.
Posted in Uncategorized
By Frank on January 24, 2008
I’m generally opposed to the idea of privately-run infrastructure, for a myriad of reasons, but this New York Times story on Pennsylvania’s tolling of I-80 suggests that there may be one benefit to such an approach that I’d thusfar overlooked:
The push to charge tolls along I-80 followed legislators’ rejection of Mr. Rendell’s proposal to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to private investors, an approach taken in Illinois, Indiana and Virginia. Lawmakers were wary that the investors might raise tolls too quickly.
The governor continues to support that idea, though, because the proceeds could be used for more than highway repairs alone. Under the bill passed last July, as well as federal rules, revenue from tolls on I-80 can be spent only on that Interstate.
There’s been a lot of talk around here, most recently between Josh Feit and Will @ HA as to how much of a regional toll could be used for transit. I think they were talking past each other a bit, but the central question is relevant: how much will people tolerate their tolls being used for other purposes?
Gov. Rendell’s strategy seems like an interesting end-around. You lease the highway to a private company, and the revenues go into some general fund — or some general transportation fund, better — and so you’ve got some insulation. The challenge, of course, is to make sure that it gets spent wisely, and that the private company doesn’t pull a Halliburton and rip us all off. But it does have the advantage of getting around whatever State laws might restrict the funds.
Posted in passenger rail
By serial catowner on January 24, 2008
A bill that resembles SB 5803 has been introduced by Haugen of Camano Island- SB 6772. At Seattle Transit Blog Murray and Kohl-Welles state they do not support SB 6772. If you can understand what’s going on here, you should be working in Olympia.
SB 6772 consists largely of additions, amendments, and deletions to RCW. To understand the import of 6772, you must understand the RCW being changed, and the differences from SB 5803.
The big difference may be one of priorities in a 60-day session. As long as they’re stalwarts against precipitous change, wait until after the session to demand explanations from Murray and Kohl-Welles. Believe it, they are very busy right now!
However, a close reading of 6772 will give some clues- that in 1992 the legislature enabled and required planning and implementation that is the basic cause of the bus service we now have in rural areas- bus service we would not have, had things simply been left to the old gangs of county commissioners. In the simplest terms, regional governance is the next step to being able to ride transit from Everett to Tacoma in the most efficient and safe manner- or get same-day delivery on shipments.
If the issues alarm you immensely, use this breathing space to learn more about bills, the RCW, and how they affect transportation. At the very least, your reading here will be “work-friendly”. And that’s gotta improve your mind.
Posted in Uncategorized
By serial catowner on January 24, 2008
Recently big-hearted transit posters have been grasping what they think is Posted in Uncategorized
By Frank on January 23, 2008
Up 7 percent in 2007 on Metro, to 110 million passengers.
Posted in policy
By Frank on January 23, 2008
Dadnab is a service that offers text-based trip instructions to your cell phone. It looks pretty handy. Just TXT seattle [at] dadnab.com.
Posted in tolls
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