Transportation
California
Unleash Private Sector to Repair 10 Freeway
Newsom should channel spirit of Northridge quake rebuild when repairing 10 Freeway
CalTrans veteran Jerry B. Baxter said in November 1994 that repairing the battered freeway system “posed one of the greatest challenges to the California Department of Transportation in its nearly 100-year history.” But “it also proved to be one of its greatest triumphs, testing the mettle and ingenuity of Caltrans employees in ...
Kerry Jackson
November 14, 2023
Blog
Read latest about road diets
Car-free cities about social engineering, not public demand
Scientific American insists that car-free cities are the future, because the data from facial analysis caught by surveillance cameras proves that “people do not like looking at cars.” Or maybe the trend is just another planning movement led by elitists who believe their vision of a city is the only ...
Kerry Jackson
November 8, 2023
Blog
Post-COVID travel has recovered – except for urban transit
Highways, airlines, and Amtrak all carried more travel in August 2023 than the same month before the pandemic, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Urban transit, however, is languishing at less than 72%, and it would be even lower except that August had one more ...
Randal O'Toole
October 26, 2023
Blog
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Misusing ‘externality’ theories to bolster government power
In a recent article, economist Timothy D. Terrell pointed out problems in modern economic theory that deal with what economists call externalities, or spillover costs, noting that in a world in which value is subjective, attempts to find objective ways to allay costs are elusive and generally end in failure. ...
William L. Anderson
August 24, 2023
Blog
Read latest on California's failing transit systems
Transit systems battle crime to restore fallen ridership
Although I usually drive, sometimes I take the bus in Orange County, the last time a year ago. As you might expect in car-centric Southern California, almost all the other riders were poor people, some no doubt recent immigrants of unknown official status. I know many recent immigrants, and the ...
John Seiler
August 2, 2023
Blog
What California can learn from African buses
What California can learn from African buses While the Golden State splurges on infrastructure, African cities show the greater efficiency of decentralized private transit. By Scott Beyer | July 20, 2023 California, faced with its long-infamous traffic problems, wants taxpayers to embrace transit. It has spent decades funding high-speed rail, ...
Scott Beyer
July 20, 2023
Blog
Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning
Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning By Steven Greenhut | June 29, 2023 It was inevitable that the California Legislature would bail out the state’s ailing public-transportation systems, which are facing dire fiscal crises as federal pandemic aid dries up. Although he had resisted a cash infusion ...
Steven Greenhut
June 29, 2023
Blog
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Edward Ring
June 21, 2023
Free Cities
Marc Joffe – How can California transportation policy better serve customers?
Transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute joins Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center for a discussion of how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering. They also discuss the current state budget debate over a ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 19, 2023
Free Cities
Latest Free Cities Center video
Watch: How can California transportation policy better serve customers?
Watch transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute tour the Walnut Creek BART station with Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center. They discuss how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering.
Pacific Research Institute
June 19, 2023
Unleash Private Sector to Repair 10 Freeway
Newsom should channel spirit of Northridge quake rebuild when repairing 10 Freeway
CalTrans veteran Jerry B. Baxter said in November 1994 that repairing the battered freeway system “posed one of the greatest challenges to the California Department of Transportation in its nearly 100-year history.” But “it also proved to be one of its greatest triumphs, testing the mettle and ingenuity of Caltrans employees in ...
Read latest about road diets
Car-free cities about social engineering, not public demand
Scientific American insists that car-free cities are the future, because the data from facial analysis caught by surveillance cameras proves that “people do not like looking at cars.” Or maybe the trend is just another planning movement led by elitists who believe their vision of a city is the only ...
Post-COVID travel has recovered – except for urban transit
Highways, airlines, and Amtrak all carried more travel in August 2023 than the same month before the pandemic, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Urban transit, however, is languishing at less than 72%, and it would be even lower except that August had one more ...
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Misusing ‘externality’ theories to bolster government power
In a recent article, economist Timothy D. Terrell pointed out problems in modern economic theory that deal with what economists call externalities, or spillover costs, noting that in a world in which value is subjective, attempts to find objective ways to allay costs are elusive and generally end in failure. ...
Read latest on California's failing transit systems
Transit systems battle crime to restore fallen ridership
Although I usually drive, sometimes I take the bus in Orange County, the last time a year ago. As you might expect in car-centric Southern California, almost all the other riders were poor people, some no doubt recent immigrants of unknown official status. I know many recent immigrants, and the ...
What California can learn from African buses
What California can learn from African buses While the Golden State splurges on infrastructure, African cities show the greater efficiency of decentralized private transit. By Scott Beyer | July 20, 2023 California, faced with its long-infamous traffic problems, wants taxpayers to embrace transit. It has spent decades funding high-speed rail, ...
Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning
Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning By Steven Greenhut | June 29, 2023 It was inevitable that the California Legislature would bail out the state’s ailing public-transportation systems, which are facing dire fiscal crises as federal pandemic aid dries up. Although he had resisted a cash infusion ...
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Marc Joffe – How can California transportation policy better serve customers?
Transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute joins Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center for a discussion of how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering. They also discuss the current state budget debate over a ...
Latest Free Cities Center video
Watch: How can California transportation policy better serve customers?
Watch transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute tour the Walnut Creek BART station with Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center. They discuss how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering.