Wow, just 3 days after damaging its wingtip on a building at the Paris Airshow, Airbus had their A380 test unit back in the skies.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Surface Transportation Board Rail Reforms
The private railroads are proving to efficient and productive. Seems like a good time to impose regulations. One of the few industries that is adding jobs, and the politicians want to start adding regulations. Now, I’m a bit biased about this obviously, but can’t this wait until our fragile economic recovery has gained better traction?
What Are The Real Costs?
From the previous Infrastructurist article, here’s a direct link to the website, run by the Portland Cement Association, advocating life-cycle assessment as part of the decision making process for infrastructure projects. Excellent site.
Road Construction Savings
The Infrastructurist has a good summary of a Portland Cement Association report on saving costs on road construction.
Ending Ethanol Subsidies
The Senate voted 73-27 to repeal the $5 billion annual subsidy, just two days after rejecting an identical measure. The tax credit provides 45 cents a gallon to oil refiners who mix gasoline with ethanol, a renewable, liquid fuel additive that comes mainly from corn in the U.S.
The Senate voted last week to end $5 billion in subsidies for corn ethanol. This is a good thing.
I’m all for alternative fuels. I’m all for biofuels. But corn ethanol in America is a propped up industry that is raising the price of corn. This rise in corn feed is creating a rise in prices for other types of grains. The states is only seeing this through a few extra cents on a loaf of bread. But in the middle east (where I currently live) I’m seeing prices of bread double (the bread only costs a few cents in the first place).
Government subsidizing of corn ethanol has had so many unintended consequences it should have been stopped a long time ago. Let me name a few:
We need to be exploring sustainable forms of alternative fuels and biofuels. Boeing is doing just that.
A final excerpt:
The measure passed Thursday would end the tax credit immediately. It would also repeal a 54-cent-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, which restricts imports, mainly from Brazil.
“The best way for ethanol to survive is to stand on its own two feet, without spending something we don’t have to get something we’re going to have anyway,” said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
Coburn nailed it. I sure hope this passes in the House as well.
Photo – TGV at Mulhouse
Photo by Howard Pulling (hpulling on Flickr). Taken 3 June 2011 at Mulhouse Station. (Strasbourg – Mulhouse)
Dual-Power Locomotives
There are two constants about regional rail that most agencies will agree upon:
- Customers prefer a one-seat ride.
- Electrification has many benefits, but it’s very expensive.
Here’s a locomotive that answers that call. Very cool.
Amtrak Growth in California
A continued thought from my previous post: allow Amtrak to drop it’s high-loss transcontinental routes that can’t compete with planes and allow them to focus on the high-growth/profitable corridors.
On a side note, I didn’t realize that Amtrak in California has a partnership with Caltrans. Seems like a great way to give the State some input in how rail service is delivered.
Northeast Corridor Privatization
Representative John Mica (R-Florida) and Representative Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) have proposed opening Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor route to the private sector.
The short story is that the Northeast Corridor would be taken away from Amtrak and taken over by the USDOT. In turn, the USDOT would lease the corridor to a newly created Northeast Corridor Committee. This Committee would then take bids from interested private-sector parties to operate and develop the corridor. This is basically taking the template for private operations of a toll road and extending to a rail line. I think there are some merits to the idea. It brings an element of competition to the corridor. It ensure further development, improvement, and efficiency along the corridor.
The proposal does not give a lot of specifics… and there are a lot of specific questions that need answering before moving forward with something like this. Here’s a few from Yonah Freemark at The Transport Politic:
How would intercity rail operators interact with the freight and commuter railroads that also use the tracks, in the Northeast and elsewhere? If a PPP were implemented, how much would the government agree to commit to pay for improvements?
I’m all for trying to put as much of our transportation infrastructure into private operation as possible. However, it needs to be a well-thought-out action. I see how the Northeast Corridor Committee is going to be structured (see page 10, starting with line 4) and it’s clear to me that politics will trump solutions.
I’m afraid though that this proposal will be scorned by Democrats (who in general think its a bad thing to place “public” services into private hands) before its even give much thought. Rather than just shooting it down why not give it some thought? Poke some holes in the idea and let Mr. Mica and Mr. Shuster try again.
Even Ray Lahood is pretty much dismissing this:
At present, we believe Amtrak is the entity most capable of taking the next steps to modernize rail service in the Northeast Corridor, which is why the administration has serious concerns about any proposal to privatize Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The administration also has the responsibility to ensure that taxpayer investments are protected and well-managed.
Is Amtrak currently an example of well-managed taxpayer assets? Let’s be honest. The system currently in place is broken. Amtrak, as it stands now, is not the solution to our countries rail-transportation needs.
I’d actually favor the reverse of what Mr. Mica proposes. Lets allow Amtrak to quit operating all their routes that generate massive loss. Lets give them the chance to focus on the routes they can make profitable. Make them the Northeast Corridor Committee.