Used cars are still a better buy over new, but with all the incentives on the table, the value gap is closing.

(Source: CNN via Yahoo)

The sharp car buyer’s advice has long been that a well-cared-for, late-model used car is always a better value than a brand new one.

Used cars are a smart buy because of depreciation, which is greatest in the first year or two, which means someone else gets stuck with the biggest value-drop. And you aren’t giving up very much in return – these days, cars last a lot longer, so a car with 20,000 or 30,000 miles can still have plenty of life.

But weak sales have led to heavy incentives on new cars. While a used car is still cheaper than a new one, in some cases the price difference will be surprisingly small, according to researchers at the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

“Certified pre-owned” cars are another option. CPOs are selected low-mileage used cars that have been inspected, refurbished as needed and certified as being in top-notch condition, according to criteria laid out by the car’s original manufacturer. Most importantly, they have added warranty coverage. CPOs cost more than non-certified used cars, but the quality can make the extra cost more than worth it.

 Click here to read the entire anlysis.

 (Source: Reuters) 

 (Source: TreeHugger)

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

President Barack Obama’s auto team will spend Monday at the Detroit home of the Big Three as the administration begins to narrow its options for helping the reeling auto sector.

The field trip wraps up nearly three weeks of fact gathering by the team since General MotorsCorp. and Chrysler LLC submitted their rescue plans to the Treasury Department in the hopes of winning billions more in government loans. Ford Motor Co. is not seeking government aid.

Top Treasury Department advisers Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom, who are leading the auto task force, plan to use the day in Detroit to hone an array of lingering questions surrounding the companies’ rescue plans, which many analysts have criticized as overly optimistic. The team will also meet with the United Auto Workers union to discuss its willingness for deep compromises over wages, staff cutbacks and funding for its retiree health plan.

The weeks ahead are filled with peril for both the White House and the auto makers as administration officials face a March 31 deadline for deciding whether to give the companies nearly $22 billion more in federal assistance.

Click here to read the entire article.

Florida Deal With Spanish-Led Group Serves as a Model for Cash-Strapped States

(Source:  Wall Street Journal)

(Source: Washington Post)

But the slow ride may soon be over. The project is one of dozens nationwide that are likely to benefit from President Obama’s initiative to fund high-speed and intercity passenger rail programs, including $8 billion in stimulus money and $5 billion more over the next five years in the administration’s proposed transportation budget.

(Source: Autobloggreen) 

 

As we’re sure you’ve noticed every time you’ve gone to refill your gas tank in the last few months, gas is once again relatively cheap. Just under a year ago, the price for a gallon of fuel was about double what it is today in most parts of the country, and those high costs were driving the sales of hybrids – both new and used – to record levels. Now? Well, not so much.

According to Kelley Blue Book, used hybrid prices have fallen by an amazing 23.5 percent since last summer, and 4.5 percent of that has come in the first two months of 2009. It’s not just fuel prices that are causing hybrid values to plummet. Due to the lack of discretionary spending money and despite the savings on each tank of gas, the extra cost associated with a hybrid at the time of initial purchase is something that many buyers are unwilling to consider.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  USDOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009 – Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico , was 13.1 percent lower in December 2008 than in December 2007, dropping to $52.9 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Table 1).  December was the second straight month with a year-to-year decline of greater than 13 percent.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico fell 12.8 percent in December from November (Table 2).  Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors. 

Surface transportation consists largely of freight movements by truck, rail and pipeline.  About 88 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves on land.

Click here to read more.  

Seen below is the PDF version of the report.

[ipaper id=13078105]

(Source:  PBS Blueprint America)

In a two-part series for Blueprint America on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, correspondent Rick Karr looks at budget disasters on both sides of the ledger for public transit agencies.

 In part one, Karr looks into the growing deficit in what it takes to run day to day operations of buses, subways, and trains — deficits that have prompted more than 60 agencies nationwide to propose fare increases, service cuts, or both, even as more Americans are using transit than at any time in the past 50 years. In part two, Karr looks into a looming crisis on the capital side of transit agencies’ budgets, the result of complex financial deals that the agencies made in the 90s to stretch their meager budgets, but which melted down with the rest of the financial sector — and could leave cash-strapped transit systems owing bankers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The following is a breakdown of Transportation and Infrastructure stimulus funding by state. In total:

• highways and bridges: $26,810,000,000
• transit capital: $6,733,700,000
• fixed-guideway modernization: $742,500,000
• clean water: $3,860,698,173

TOTAL: $38,146,898,173

(Source:  Associated Press via Forbes)