Follow the link to an excellent article comparing President Reagan to the myths surrounding him.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/07/think_again_ronald_reagan?page=0,0
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Transportation Freedom Day Marked
Los Angeles marked Transportation Freedom Day last week. What's that? It's the day when the typical median-income family has earned enough money to cover transportation costs for the entire year. Your basic middle-class L.A. household spends about $8,600 a year on gas, insurance, parking and vehicle maintenance, according to the California Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog organization. That compares with about $8,000 for the average U.S. family and represents more than 20% of most people's annual expenditures.
"It's an eye-opener how burdensome transportation is for most families," said Erin Steva, transportation advocate for CalPIRG. "People are spending more for this than they do for food, clothing and healthcare."
Yet what are we doing to make public transportation a more convenient and practical alternative for people? Not enough. ... it's almost as if the dozens of entities that constitute the region's public-transit network are conspiring to make the system as unwelcoming as possible.
LA Times, March 23, 2010
"It's an eye-opener how burdensome transportation is for most families," said Erin Steva, transportation advocate for CalPIRG. "People are spending more for this than they do for food, clothing and healthcare."
Yet what are we doing to make public transportation a more convenient and practical alternative for people? Not enough. ... it's almost as if the dozens of entities that constitute the region's public-transit network are conspiring to make the system as unwelcoming as possible.
LA Times, March 23, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Double-tracking project to begin in June in Carlsbad
Great news for commuters: Starting in mid-June, contractors will add a second set of tracks to a two mile stretch of the coastal railway through Carlsbad. This will results in slightly more than 50% of the 60 mile coastal train route having double tracks.
Having a double set of tracks will provide new passing points for trains and reduce delays for both local Coaster commuter trains and Amtrak long-distance trains, John Eschenbach, senior project manager for Amtrak, said last week.
"This particular project will increase on-time performance and reliability," he said.
Most of the project's $16 million price tag is being paid for by Amtrak, but the state Department of Transportation contributed $1 million for design work, Eschenbach said.
Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner runs 24 trains a day along the coastal railway corridor, and the Coaster line has 22 daily trains. There also is regular freight train service along the route during the night-time hours.
While the extra row of tracks may improve existing train service, the number of trains using the route will not increase because of this project, officials have said.
That's because the new "double-tracked" area in Carlsbad will cover just a small portion of the regional coastal railway corridor. The full route between San Diego and the northern border of the county is 60 miles. Even after the conclusion of the Carlsbad project, just slightly more than 50 percent of that 60-mile route will have two sets of track, Eschenbach said.
Regional transportation planners have recently said that they want to have the full 60-mile coastal rail route in San Diego County double-tracked by 2030, adding that would allow up to 119 trains a day to use the route. However, they have had trouble finding funds for such a huge undertaking.
Hmm, just announced, a FOUR BILLION DOLLAR project to add ANOTHER FOUR LANES to sections of Interstate 5, which serves the same corridor. This project is insanity defined, doing the same thing and expecting different results, as if this will improve the horrible commuter and other traffic situation along I-5. Real progress would be to spend that money on converting the other ~30 miles of track to double-track first, and ASAP, which would allow for more trains and faster transit times, encouraging people to use the train instead of their personal traffic congesters. http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/carlsbad/article_6755bb05-6c9c-58fc-86bb-ebb39874a455.html?mode=story
Having a double set of tracks will provide new passing points for trains and reduce delays for both local Coaster commuter trains and Amtrak long-distance trains, John Eschenbach, senior project manager for Amtrak, said last week.
"This particular project will increase on-time performance and reliability," he said.
Most of the project's $16 million price tag is being paid for by Amtrak, but the state Department of Transportation contributed $1 million for design work, Eschenbach said.
Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner runs 24 trains a day along the coastal railway corridor, and the Coaster line has 22 daily trains. There also is regular freight train service along the route during the night-time hours.
While the extra row of tracks may improve existing train service, the number of trains using the route will not increase because of this project, officials have said.
That's because the new "double-tracked" area in Carlsbad will cover just a small portion of the regional coastal railway corridor. The full route between San Diego and the northern border of the county is 60 miles. Even after the conclusion of the Carlsbad project, just slightly more than 50 percent of that 60-mile route will have two sets of track, Eschenbach said.
Regional transportation planners have recently said that they want to have the full 60-mile coastal rail route in San Diego County double-tracked by 2030, adding that would allow up to 119 trains a day to use the route. However, they have had trouble finding funds for such a huge undertaking.
Hmm, just announced, a FOUR BILLION DOLLAR project to add ANOTHER FOUR LANES to sections of Interstate 5, which serves the same corridor. This project is insanity defined, doing the same thing and expecting different results, as if this will improve the horrible commuter and other traffic situation along I-5. Real progress would be to spend that money on converting the other ~30 miles of track to double-track first, and ASAP, which would allow for more trains and faster transit times, encouraging people to use the train instead of their personal traffic congesters. http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/carlsbad/article_6755bb05-6c9c-58fc-86bb-ebb39874a455.html?mode=story
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)