NashTransit

As usual, I'm not entirely awake until I grab my first (or second) coffee at work, so when I heard this story on NPR yesterday morning, I didn't entirely grasp it all the first time around. But it's worth a close listen:

Slumping Gasoline Use Cuts Into Highway Funds

As people drive less and get more efficient cars, federal gas tax revenue goes down. This puts pressure not only on public transit, but of course the highway system as a whole. The Federal Highway Trust Fund is facing a $3.1 billion shortfall next year. Raising the gas tax would be politically undoable, and besides it would just exacerbate the problem.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is interviewed, who mentions the possibility of new technology that could record the time you travel, the number of people in the vehicle, the weight of your vehicle, etc., and then send you a monthly bill. Public transit riders would pay into the system as well. I'm not exactly sure in what way this is qualitatively or quantitatively any better than a gas tax. Plus, I'm not all that excited about my whereabouts being closely tracked by my government. It all sounds ripe for abuse too - might as well slap a "hack me" sticker on the side of this little black box.

According to the story, this was just proposed by the Bush administration (ahem, no comment). I could be interpreting this all wrong, so if anyone knows where the appropriate text can be found, do drop me a line. I couldn't find it during a brief search of the White House web site. (Although I will note I found their opposition to HR 6052.)

Anyhow IMHO, Secretary Peters is right that the current system of transportation funding and spending is outdated and needs a change.

Another NPR story, from Monday:

NPR: Less Driving, Bumpy Roads

And a couple other articles for your perusal:

Wired: Bus Ridership Explodes in the Hinterlands

Christian Science Monitor: Fuel Costs Strain U.S. Mass Transit, Too

Finally, back home: Mayor Dean's Green Ribbon Committee on Environmental Sustainability has posted a brief survey. What priorities should the city set for environmental issues? Let them know!

# posted by dotsandlines @ 11:39 PM 0 Comments

Only with bigger numbers.

Sorry for being absent for so long, it's been sort of a chaotic hectic weird month for me. Plus, now that the MTA cuts are in place, there's a big heaping helping of "now what?" to sort out. But I hope to get back to regular posting soon!

# posted by dotsandlines @ 7:21 PM 0 Comments