Category Archives: Transportation

North Carolina Rail

North Carolina is interested in building out it’s light rail infrastructure.  And, in those places that make sense, it should.

For example, if there is a destination that has significant traffic, it might make sense to install some form of rail service to alleviate traffic or even draw revenue.

The problem with such plans?  Trains have to run on tracks.  And tracks are both expensive to build and impossible to move.  They are where they are and nothing can be done concerning the “ad hoc” needs of commuters.

So rail planning HAS to rely on data, good data, well thought out data aboiut the goals and ability to meet ’em.

Most, including the News And Observer, don’t do their due diligence.

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Gentlmen, Start Your Engines! If You Have an Engine

China has massive problems.  They are growing too fast and can’t keep infrastructure up to the increasing demands.

They have limited families to 1 child.  And next on the “restricting block?”

Cars.

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The Best Medical Care Money Can Buy

We’ve heard it all.

The United States has the most expensive health care system in all the world.  It’s true, go look it up.

And, if you were to add up the amount of money that we spend on medical care and compare it to other nations, our total would be higher than others.

In the same way t hat our total spend on fish tanks, running shoes, low brow caps, suit coats and baseball gloves is higher too.

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More Cash For Clunkers Down the Shit Hole

Last week I talked a bit about the waste of money that we named “Cash for Clunkers”.

In short, what I said was that car purchases are elastic.  People can pull forward or push out the purchase of a new car by several months.  In this case it turns out to be 7:

The government’s “cash for clunkers” program boosted auto sales by 360,000 during the two months it was in place.  In the seven months that followed, sales were down by 360,000 compared with what they would have been without the program…

Basically, 7 months after cash for clunkers ended, the same amount of cars wound up being sold.

Wanna know the unintended consequence?

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Markets in Everything

Airline tickets.  The price of ’em.  Actually, the COST of flying.

Maddening.  Right?

Kinda, but only because they’re changing how they charge.

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North Carolina High Speed Rail

North Carolina Governor Bev Purdue recently Tweeted on a blog entry regarding North Carolina High Speed rail:

Today, NCDOT’s Rail Division officially received the first $20.3 million of the $545 million allocated to our state for high-speed rail improvements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. North Carolina was granted the sixth highest award to any state as part of President Obama’s high-speed rail plan, demonstrating the growing strength of our rail program.

Jeez.  Here we go…

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I Suspect This Won’t Work Either

The idea is a good one, and noble too. I just don’t think it’s gonna work.

It’s been tried before.  And it’s failed before.

The idea, of course, is to make available a large number of bikes to the public so that they can:

  1. Get healthy
  2. Reduce congestion of the road ways

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Where Brad and Britt Are Wrong: Version II

This morning I was driving to work and had the radio tuned to WZTKBrad and Britt are the morning talent.  The discussion during the segment I caught was “Cash for Appliance Clunkers”.  Apparently I missed the lead up ’cause Brad was all worked up over the fact that folks were callin’ him out for taking advantage of the program.  I kinda resonate with that fact, I mean serious, if you have a 20-year-old freezer and you claim to be concerned about the environment, why is it you will only replace your nasty old hardware when I pay for it?

Anyway, the conversation turned to the other “Cash for…” program, the infamous “Cash for Clunkers”.

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Good Work If Ya Can Get It

Wanna know why California is going down the toilet?  And perhaps, why the rest of us are soon to follow?  Because unlike the real world, California rewards organizations that fail.

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Preferred Route as Advocated by the Government Run Bus Service: Walk

If you want an example of government efficiency at it’s very VERY best, check this out:

Mike Munger, in an effort to be green in his life, albeit where it makes sense, tried using the Raleigh Transit Bus service to get from his house to the airport.  For suggestions on potential routes, he went to the service’s website and submitted his request.  He got two answers.  The first suggested that he walk 3.25 miles and catch the bus to the airport.

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