Posts Tagged: commuter rail

California’s high-speed train project losing steam

By Marc Albert | Jul 21 2011 at 11:51 | Your take

Not even a bullet train can outrun a legal avalanche. The chances that California sees a high-speed rail system anytime in the 21st century is dwindling as an abundant crop of legal challenges pop up all along the proposed route.

Various entities are suing over where the train will or won’t go, while others are challenging projections and computer models used as the basis of winning voter approval for the sale of construction bonds. Meanwhile, one of the authority’s key board members has quit as the likelihood of further federal funding grows ever more remote. (more…)

Topics: Beltway Outsider, Departmentalized – Federal Agencies, Dept. of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Infrastructure and Mass Transit, Issues & Ideas
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Car culture run out on a rail in LA?

By Marc Albert | Oct 31 2010 at 08:11 | Your take

Los Angeles is making tracks.

Known as much for its film industry and beaches as its mini-malls and traffic jams, Los Angeles officials have taken a substantial leap towards rebuilding the city’s once-comprehensive railway network.

Local transportation officials unanimously approved a $5.15 billion, nine and a half mile extension of the Los Angeles Metro along busy Wilshire Boulevard, report Dan Weikel and Howard Blume of the Los Angeles Times.

Under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles has been more focused on mass transit projects. Until recently, LA’s mass transit system was jokingly referred to as somewhere to escape from crowds.  Now, Los Angeles is slowly rebuilding a workable network that could begin offering a viable alternative to driving, at least for some destinations. (more…)

Topics: Beltway Outsider, Dept. of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
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Crazy train

By Marc Albert | Jul 22 2010 at 11:28 | Your take

After a nearly-fatal blow, a wildly expensive California airport monorail project may be back on track.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Michael Cabanatuan, officials with a regional rail agency will consider plans Thursday to revive a 3.1-mile automated monorail project that critics assail as wildly expensive, painfully slow, and in violation of Civil Rights laws. (more…)

Topics: Beltway Outsider, Dept. of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
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Remove skis before entering train

By Marc Albert | Jun 03 2010 at 14:05 | Your take

Federal stimulus funds totaling $6.2 million, granted to a state-chartered rail operator linking the San Francisco Bay Area with the state capital, will help pay for major improvements to Sacramento’s Amtrak station, allowing a brownfield redevelopment project to move forward. The cash infusion will help pay for a $43 million project that would move 2.3 miles of tracks used by freight railroads and construct new tracks, build new platforms, install utilities and improve pedestrian connectivity with new footbridges and tunnels.

According to a story in the Sacramento Business Journal, the funds are from the $80 million in Recovery Act High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Funds. (more…)

Topics: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Beltway Outsider, Dept. of Transportation, Government in My Backyard (GIMBY)
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