mass transit posts, articles, and infographics

Really Green Transit

January 31, 2010 by Hugh Bartling
with 212 views

Chicago artist Joe Baldwin just received approval to deploy his conceptual project, mobile garden, on the city’s mass transit rail system. Image taken from themobilegarden.org The idea is to configure a Chicago Transit Authority rail car into a mobile garden, which would visualize the possibilities for enhancing green space in the... [read more]

Economic Stimulus Includes $1,000 for Some Mass Transit Users

March 7, 2009 by Tim Hurst
with 122 views

[Originally published at Red, Green, and Blue]We’ve already discussed what the $10 billion in economic stimulus might mean for high-speed rail. But the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Obama, also includes an increase in the tax benefit for many users of mass transit who can now save up to $1,000 a... [read more]

Fostering Better Rail Transit Kinetic Energy Recovery

August 29, 2008 by Jonathan Smith
with 137 views

As previously noted, kinetic energy reclamation would seem a needed enhancement in the transport of freight by rail and road. This blog has gone so far as to suggest gathering and reusing kinetic energy from rail transit could occur not only by electricity generated when electric motors become generators while being used for braking,... [read more]

Double-Take

July 29, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 62 views

I’ve been staring at this for ten minutes now, trying to understand the dark magic underlying the twisted, impenetrable logic: Gasoline tax revenue is falling so fast that the federal government may not be able to meet its commitments to states for road projects already under way, the secretary of transportation said Monday. The... [read more]

Economics for Dummies

July 16, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 47 views

Matt writes: K-Lo proclaimed a “Dubya-Love Moment” over this answer to a question about why he doesn’t support a federal energy conservation program at yesterday’s press conference: “The American people are smart enough to figure it out. They know the price of gas. They’re already driving less and seeking smaller cars. I don’t need to... [read more]

Higher Gas Coming

June 26, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 78 views

One never knows but… Over the next four years, we are likely to witness the greatest mass exodus of vehicles off America’s highways in history. By 2012, there should be some 10 million fewer vehicles on American roadways than there are today—a decline that dwarfs all previous adjustments including those during the two OPEC oil shocks... [read more]

Motoring costs drive Singapore MRT passenger trips to hit record 52 million in May 2008

June 18, 2008 by Ee Mien Low
with 86 views

channelnewsasia.com : Rising costs for motorists is partly why rail ridership hit record levels for the second time in less than 6 months. SMRT saw commuters making 41,964,448 train trips last month. SBS Transit, which runs the North-East line [NEL], saw 10,540,700 passenger trips last month. Both operators say the hike can be... [read more]

When Your Priors Obscure the Obvious

June 10, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 118 views

Tyler Cowen links to a Bryan Caplan post, which reads as follows: In the U.S., we have low gas taxes, low car taxes, few tolls, strict zoning that leads developers to provide lots of free parking, low speed limits, lots of traffic enforcement, and lots of congestion. In Europe (France and Germany specifically), they have high gas taxes... [read more]

But There Was This

May 20, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 50 views

Speaking of transit money: House Transportation Committee passed the Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act (HR 6052). At a time of record high gas prices – Hartford and Chicago are in the $4 gallon range with the national average not far behind – the bill would authorize $1.7 billion in grant funding for public transit. The... [read more]

In Re: The American Dream

May 15, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 62 views

International financial expert Brad Setser notes: If oil — using the price for sweet light crude — stays to $125 a barrel for the rest of the year, the average price of oil over the course of 2008 will be around $115 a barrel. The average 2007 price was around $70 a barrel. The $45 a barrel y/y increase in the average price of oil is... [read more]

Krugmania

May 12, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 64 views

I can only conclude that after the bitterness of the primary campaign, Paul Krugman has decided to bury the hatchet and work himself back into my good graces. His column today, on oil prices, is very good. But click over to his blog, and you’d think you were reading the Bellows. Well done, sir. In particular, I like that he’s making an... [read more]

Rail Comeback?

May 10, 2008 by Glen Estill
with 155 views

Ridership on the Go system in the Greater Toronto Area rose by 7.5% from a year ago. Is it back to the future for transportation? The Go system is struggling to keep up. Rail platforms are being extended to accommodate more cars. New locomotives are on order, to increase the number of trains. New track is being... [read more]

Time for Transit

May 10, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 57 views

The Times has a big and prominent story on the national increase in transit ridership. Emphasis on national. Numbers are up in Washington, New York, and Boston, but they’re up more in other places without a long history of transit use or particularly comprehensive systems. This, at a time when the broader economy would typically be... [read more]

Gas/car substitutes

May 10, 2008 by Tim Haab
with 100 views

When the price of gas gets to a certain level consumers will find substitutes for driving: With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead. Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to... [read more]

Adjustments

May 9, 2008 by RyanAvent
with 88 views

Kevin Drum has numbers suggesting that consumers are responding to gas prices a little more than had been thought. On a per capita basis, he notes, vehicle miles traveled are down about 6 percent this year–still disappointing given the 50 percent increase in gas prices, but impressive considering limited consumer options. He also cites... [read more]