Scoopful of GM News – May 1, 2009: Fiat’s Opel tango; Rendered speculation; Commodore comback; e-Bay finds; Collectors items; Mullet of the Law; April Sales

May 1, 2009 at 2:05 pm

Auto threesome? Fiat CEO confirms pursuing partnership with OpelGM, Opel, Vauxhall, FIAT, UAW/UnionsAs if Fiat doesn’t have enough on its plate while working on an alliance with Chrysler during its bankruptcy proceedings, the Italian automaker’s CEO has finally confirmed that it’s pursuing an alliance with General Motors’ German arm Opel.In the Fiat-owned newspaper La Stampa, CEO Sergio Marchionne said, “Now…from Autoblog

Rendered speculation: Chevrolet Sky-Volt?…disappointment to GM fans was the transformation of the Chevy Volt from concept to production form. The sporty, aggressive concept was to many eyes made too generic for production. One of our readers came up with a novel solution to both problems. Just graft the Volt concept nose onto the Sky and install an adaptation of the Voltec powertrain an…from AutoblogGreen 

REPORT: RWD Commodore platform could underpin Caddies, G8 GT could make a comebackGM, GMC, Australia Pontiac G8 ST – Click above for a high-res image gallery With Pontiac’s death official, Holden stands to lose around $1 billion annually with the demise of the Pontiac G8. However, Holden doesn’t plan to go quiet into night. The Aussie automaker has drawn up plans to offer the rear-wheel drive Commodore platform to Cadillac an…from Autoblog 

Opel Insignia SportTourer OPC: An Audi S4 Avant-Fighter [Rendered Speculation]…heard that GM is pondering whether or not to bring the Insignia over here as a Buick, but with the current financial situation being faced by the General, we won’t believe anything until we see it. While we’re asking questions — How about an Audi RS4 fighter, or is that asking waaaay too much? [illustration via KORSdesign]from Jalopnik 

eBay Finds of the Day: Pontiac Vibe GT-R and G6 GXP SEMA showcars…world GM division. But for a lucky two, that thrill can be experienced every day on their own driveway as two past Pontiac show cars have popped up on eBay Motors for sale.First up is the Pontiac Vibe GT-R that debuted at the 2002 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Boasting a unique Opera Red Metallic paint job, ram-air induction hood scoop, special body-k…from Autoblog

CNBC’s Dennis Kneale Wouldn’t Know A Car If It Hit Him In The Ass [Auto Tech Wars]…in every GM vehicle. That aux-in jack that can be found in every GM product is the same aux-in jack you’ll find in every Toyota product. But more to the point of supposed technological superiority — find me a Toyota or Honda-branded vehicle with a plug-in-play system that works as effortlessly as Ford’s Sync system. Tell you what — Kneal…from Jalopnik 

Pontiac G8 GXP, Solstice Coupe – Future collectors items? [w/POLL]…lost when GM inexplicably dropped classic names like Bonneville, Grand Prix and Grand Am.We’re not going to disagree with that assessment, but it may not be the whole story. If sales figures alone can predict a future classic, perhaps we should rush out and put a new Solstice Coupe GXP in our driveway. We spoke with Pontiac’s media relations man…from Autoblog

Camaro Police Cruiser: Long Mullet Of The Law [Chevy Camaro]The 2010 Chevy Camaro is likely to attract its fair share of police attention. But what if the new Camaro was the police car? Whoa. Rendered gallery below. The detailed photoshop adds much of the features you’d expect from a police car, including the push-bar and an LED light-strip above the roof. Without many additions the Camaro looks the part of…from Jalopnik 

GM Autosales for April fell 33% – Toyota Falls Behind Ford Ford Motor’s vehicle sales dropped 32% last month, but the healthiest of Detroit’s auto makers outsold Toyota in the U.S. for the first time in at least a year. GM’s sales fell 33%.

Is High Speed Rail the Answer? – Critic lashes out at UK’s High-speed rail expansion plans

May 1, 2009 at 12:05 pm

Source: Tree Hugger)

 Is Enthusiasm for High Speed Rail Just Another Speed Addiction?

The world is a confusing place – no sooner do the governments of the world finally start taking high speed rail seriously as an alternative to aviation, and the environmentalists start complaining. First we had Obama’s massive investment in high speed rail, which Jim Kunstler (who else?) described as “perfectly f***ing stupid.”And now UK politicians are limbering up to support a significant upgrade of the country’s rail system – but John Whitelegg over at The Guardian says High Speed Rail is an expensive and counterproductive red herring:

The HSR plan is a large and expensive sledgehammer to crack a modestly sized nut. We could stimulate the economy by building 1,000 miles of HSR, but the sums would not stack up in terms of how many jobs this would create per £100,000 spent.If we really want to create jobs in all local economies, rather than drain them away along a very fast railway line, we could insulate 20m homes; make every house a mini-power station to generate and export its own electricity; sort out extremely poor quality commuter railway lines around all our cities; improve inter-regional rail links; and build 10,000 kms of segregated bike paths to connect every school, hospital, employment site and public building to every residential area.

If you have a word to spare, please visit Tree Hugger and offer your comment.  Alternatively, you can post your comments here and they will be promptly relayed to folks at TreeHugger.  For a better understanding of the HSR initiatives in the US & UK, here are some related TransportGooru articles from the past on this topic. 

 

How to Choose the Right Alternative-Fuel Car for You – A “Good” decision-making process

May 1, 2009 at 11:23 am

(Source: Good Magazine)

Amidst the clutter of alternative vehicles that are already in the market and the ones just arriving in the market, how would one decide on the “right” vehicle?  Our savvy folks at Good magazine have published an excellent resource that makes this decision-making process less-complicated and easy to navigate.

 

Whatever happened to hydrogen?

The idea is great: Take the most abundant element in the universe, turn it silently into electricity, and the only byproduct is a wisp of steam. To its fans, the hydrogen fuel cell is a transportation miracle that will cork our carbon output and curb our addiction to foreign oil. To its critics, it’s vaporware.

Are hybrid batteries toxic?

If the forecasts are right, electrons will replace hydrocarbons as the energy source in our cars. Then, of course, we’ll have to face the question of batteries. The batteries favored in hybrid cars—nickel-metal hydride—have an encouraging track record of lasting at least as long as the cars themselves. The lithium-ion batteries used in fully electric cars are similarly enduring. But how bad are they for the planet? Depends on what you do with them when they die.

The amazing Indian Air Car: Coming to America?

Perhaps you have heard that India’s largest automaker, Tata Motors, has created the world’s first commercial car that runs on air. The good news is that they’re bringing it here. A few fun facts:

It is powered by compressed air • Zero Pollution Motors will produce the American version • It’s priced at $17,800 • Reservations in the States will be taken midyear; delivery is early 2010 • ZPM estimates that its Air Car will run up to 1,000 miles per fill-up, and at speeds up to 96 mph • It’s up for the Automotive X Prize (see below), and is considered a front-runner • Made out of fiberglass instead of sheet metal, it’s expected to be safer and easier to repair than a traditional car and rust-proof • It seats six.

Who will build the best 100-mpg car?

After staging a high-profile competition for civilian spaceflight in 2004, the X Prize Foundation now has another $10 million on the table, this time for a 100-mpg car. And after the checkered flag flies and the winning team claims the Progressive Automotive X Prize, there is “no reason you should not be driving a car that gets over 100 miles per gallon,” according to the prize’s creator, Peter Diamandis.

Candid corn: Is ethanol worth it?

A parade of studies has tried to decipher the pros and cons of ethanol. Depending on a multitude of variables, some studies find it environmentally better than gasoline, some much worse. The implications aren’t light: The USDA says that nearly a third of all U.S. corn used this year will go into ethanol production. And globally, food prices have been ratcheted up as more corn is brewed into fuel.

Click here to read the entire article.

Shame on you, New Orleans! Heartless NOLA thives rob solar car team that holds world distance record

April 30, 2009 at 11:10 am

(Source: Tree Hugger & NOLA)

It wasn’t so long ago that we wrote about the Power of One (Xof1) Solar Car breaking a world distance record, and that’s the kind of story we like to write about. But via our friends at Autobloggreenwe learn that someone broke into the solar car’s support vehicle and stole an estimated $10,000 of stuff (including passports). What’s even sadder is that in the video below, you can hear Marcelo da Luz explain how he gave up his job, mortgaged his house, maxed his credit card, etc, to get this project off the ground.

Marcelo da Luz gave up his job, girlfriend and nearly a half-million dollars to build a solar-powered car and drive it all over the Americas, a trek that brought him and several international volunteers, following in a van, to New Orleans early Sunday evening.

But an hour after he parked on a busy, well-lighted French Quarter street, someone broke into the van and stole passports, laptops, credit cards, cash, a digital camera and a portable hard drive.

Despite the estimated $10,000 loss, da Luz seemed in high spirits the next morning, describing the break-in as a “dent” in his ecological barnstorming tour. He insisted that he was still enjoying his first visit to the Crescent City. After discovering the theft, da Luz and an assistant from the Netherlands trotted to a nearby tavern to “drown their sorrows.”

Despite his setback in New Orleans, da Luz plans to continue east to the Atlantic coast of Florida.

“I don’t hope anything bad happens to whoever did this or anything, ” he said. “I just hope their lives turn out better so they don’t need to do this to anyone else.”  

Spoke like a true gentleman, Mr. da Luz!

US Transportation Secretary LaHood cites stimulus money success

April 29, 2009 at 7:07 pm

The federal government has already committed nearly $11 billion in stimulus money to help get road, bridge and environmental projects off the ground, administration officials told Congress on Wednesday.

“I believe we have already achieved enormous success,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the House Transportation Committee, giving a progress report on infrastructure money allotted under the $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed in February.

Lahood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, told the panel his department had made decisions on $9 billion dollars in projects around the country out of Transportation’s $48 billion share of the stimulus package.  However, he was less specific about the jobs directly resulting from stimulus spending.

It was originally estimated that the $64 billion in the stimulus for infrastructure — for transit, high speed rail, aviation, federal buildings and Army Corps of Engineers projects as well as roads and bridges — would create or sustain 1.8 million jobs.

But so far, reports on new jobs were mostly anecdotal. The Transportation Committee said its survey of state and local transportation officials revealed that work had begun on 263 highway and transit projects in 30 states, putting about 1,250 workers back on the job.

D.J. Stadtler, Jr., chief financial officer for Amtrak, said it expected to produce about 4,600 jobs in the first year of the stimulus with investment of $1.3 billion.

Unemployment in the construction industry soared to nearly 2 million in March, about 21.1 percent compared with 13 percent a year ago.

Rep. John Mica of Florida, top Republican on the committee, questioned the job-creation effectiveness of the program, saying some projects might take three to four years to get off the ground. But he said he would withhold judgment, saying, “We have to give folks a pass at this juncture.”

The Government Accountability Office, in a report prepared for the hearing, also raised questions about the ability of states and Washington to track how the money is being spent. But it gave some states high marks for moving the money quickly.

The Transportation Committee said that, as of April 17, states had received approval for 2,163 projects, about 25 percent of the $27.5 billion.

Also:

_The Federal Transit Administration has awarded five projects totaling $48.6 million and has another 109 grants totaling $1.47 billion pending review.

_The Federal Railroad Administration has approved 52 Amtrak capitol improvement projects worth $938 million.

_The administration is to announce plans by this summer on awarding projects for $8 billion in high speed rail development.

_The Federal Aviation Administration has announced more than $1 billion in tentative spending for runways, aprons and terminal improvements.

_The General Services Administration has a plan for investing $5.55 billion, including $4.3 billion for a green building program.

(Source: AP)

Averaging 81.5mpg, Ford Fusion Hybrid hypermiles to a record 1445 miles on a single tank of gas

April 29, 2009 at 6:26 pm

(Source:  Autoblog)

You read it right! It is one thousand four hundred and forty five miles from a single tank of gas!   Analyzed from any angle, these numbers are amazing, especially from a Ford vehicle, a brand that is not well associated with thrift fuel consumption in the past.   Though the goal was to clear 1000 miles, the hyper-milers knocked that number and added 445 miles more , beating their own estimates to set a new world record.

 For the high-mileage odyssey, the Fusion hybrid was pushed to an average of 81.5 mpg. Even considering that hypermiling techniques were employed to reach these numbers, we’re quite impressed, as the event took place on city streets and public freeways, not on a closed course. Better still, the entire 69-hour event raised $8,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. You can read the details of how the driving teams managed the 80 mpg in the official press release – and no, they didn’t find a thousand-mile downhill road.

PRESS RELEASE:

FUSION HYBRID AVERAGES 81.5 MPG, SETS WORLD RECORD WITH 1,445 MILES ON SINGLE TANK OF GAS

The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid 1,000 Mile Challenge Car

* Drivers trained in mileage-maximizing techniques achieve 1,445 miles on a single tank of gas in a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid – averaging 81.5 mpg in Washington, D.C. – and set world record for gasoline-powered, midsize sedan
* The Fusion Hybrid 1,000-Mile Challenge proves that fuel-efficient driving techniques can nearly double a vehicle’s EPA-rated fuel economy
* The demonstration of the Fusion Hybrid’s ultra high-mileage potential also raised more than $8,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2009 – Drivers trained in mileage-maximizing techniques such as smooth acceleration and coasting to red lights were able to get an extraordinary 1,445.7 miles out of a single tank of gas during a fund-raising effort in Washington, D.C. that concluded today. They did it by averaging 81.5 miles per gallon in an off-the-showroom floor, non-modified 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, the most fuel-efficient midsize car in North America – nearly doubling its U.S. certified mileage.

The Fusion Hybrid 1,000-Mile Challenge started at 8:15 a.m. EDT on Saturday, April 25, from Mount Vernon, Va., and ended this morning at 5:37 a.m. on George Washington Parkway in Washington, D.C. After more than 69 continuous hours of driving, the Fusion Hybrid finally depleted its tank and came to a stop with an odometer reading of 1,445.7 miles – setting a world record for gasoline-powered, midsize sedan.

The challenge team, which included NASCAR star Carl Edwards, high mileage trailblazer Wayne Gerdes and several Ford Motor Company engineers, raised more than $8,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) by exceeding the goal of 1,000 miles on a single tank of gas. The Fusion Hybrid’s official estimated range is approximately 700 miles per tank.

“Not only does this demonstrate the Fusion Hybrid’s fuel efficiency, it also shows that driving technique is one of the keys to maximizing its potential,” said Nancy Gioia, director, Ford Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle Programs. “The fact that we were able raise much needed funds for JDRF while raising the bar on fuel efficient driving performance made the effort doubly worthwhile.”

Maximizing mileage
A team of seven drivers prepared for the challenge by learning a few mileage-maximizing techniques, most of which can be used in any vehicle to improve fuel economy, but are especially useful in the Fusion Hybrid where the driver can take advantage of pure electric energy at speeds below 47 mph.

CleanMPG.com founder Wayne Gerdes, an engineer from Illinois who coined the term “hypermiling” to describe the mileage-maximizing techniques, provided the pointers. They include:

* Slowing down and maintaining even throttle pressure;
* Gradually accelerating and smoothly braking;
* Maintaining a safe distance between vehicles and anticipating traffic conditions;
* Coasting up to red lights and stop signs to avoid fuel waste and brake wear;
* Minimize use of heater and air conditioning to reduce the load on the engine;
* Close windows at high speeds to reduce aerodynamic drag;
* Applying the “Pulse and Glide” technique while maintaining the flow of traffic;
* Minimize excessive engine workload by using the vehicle’s kinetic forward motion to climb hills, and use downhill momentum to build speed; and
* Avoiding bumps and potholes that can reduce momentum

“You become very aware of your driving because you’re constantly looking for opportunities to maximize mileage, and a more aware driver is a safer driver, too,” said Gil Portalatin, Ford hybrid applications manager.

In addition, it is important for Fusion Hybrid drivers to manage the battery system’s state of charge through the use of regenerative braking and coasting, and balancing the use of the electric motor and gas engine in city driving to avoid wasting fuel.

Fusion Hybrid drivers also can stay more connected to the hybrid driving experience with Ford’s SmartGaugeTM with EcoGuide, a unique instrument cluster that helps coach drivers on how to optimize performance of their hybrid.

The Challenge
The Fusion Hybrid 1,000-Mile Challenge team took turns driving several routes in and around the national capital over the course of approximately three days and nights. The route involved elevation changes, and ranged from the relatively open George Washington Parkway to a 3-mile stretch in the heart of the city that is clogged with roughly 30 traffic signals.

“The Fusion Hybrid works brilliantly,” Gerdes said. “When you don’t need acceleration power while driving around town, the gas engine shuts down seamlessly. There’s not another hybrid drivetrain in the world that does that as effectively. The Fusion engineering team really knocked it out of the park.”

Ford NASCAR star Carl Edwards took time away from the high speed world of professional car racing to contribute to the Fusion Hybrid team’s success in D.C.

“It was exciting to be an active part in this challenge. The fact that it will help spread the word about the Fusion Hybrid’s great mileage, and help out a great charity, makes it even more special,” said Edwards, whose ’99’ team has used fuel-saving techniques to win races. “There’s no question that the Fusion Hybrid will help consumers save fuel when they drive it. Having driven the car, I feel strongly about how great it is – so strong that I’ve purchased one myself.

Scoopful of GM News – April 29, 2009: Idling in US & thriving in Mexico; Danger to nation; Le Miserable; Dealer deals; Ethanol love; Camaro Crap-out; 150mpg?; Volt; Saturn stories; Pontiac killer?; Looming pay cuts

April 29, 2009 at 5:50 pm

REPORT: Largest American Axle plant to idle as work shifts to Mexico…choking GM‘s demand for American Axle components (accounting for 74% of the floundering supplier’s sales). Founded in 1994, American Axle will start moving the facility’s production to Guanajuato, Mexico over the summer. More than 500 of the 700 workers at the Detroit complex will be laid off indefinitely, and only 232 of the company’s most seni…

DetNews columnist warns of the dangers of nationalizing GMGM, UAW/UnionsDetroit News columnist Daniel Howes has penned a commentary on what he believes the “mind-numbing” future could be if the White House and the United Auto Workers end up with majority control of General Motors.Howes fears that a government-and-UAW-controlled boardroom would end up an echo chamber, with both parties worried mainly ab…

Michigan Screws Up Laid-Off GM Factory Worker Unemployment, Forces Payback [Carpocalypse]…Unemployed former GM factory worker Greg Eddy has his share of problems, but thanks to Michigan’s inability to calculate unemployment benefits, he’s now also getting less money and a whopping $2,400 bill. After Eddy lost his job with GM — twice — he decided to go on unemployment while heading back to school at ITT for a degree in communications….

REPORT: GM won’t pay dealers for franchises, will buy back parts, vehicles…GMIn a special broadcast to dealers yesterday, General Motors’ sales chief, Mark LaNeve, explained that the automaker would buy back unsold new vehicles and parts from dealerships slated to be phased out by the end of 2010, but GM wouldn’t pay off dealers for their franchises.As reported earlier this week, GM plans to cut it U.S. dealerships by …

GM makes the case for testing E15 ethanol blendGM has long been a proponent of using high-level ethanol blend, E85, in motor vehicles. But, with all of the talk of putting E15 or E20 (gasoline with 15 or 20 percent ethanol blended in) into the national supply – see these earlier posts about the EPA, the Minnesota Ag Department, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Underwriters Laboratories…

First Camaro Crap-Out Comes 40 Miles From Dealership [Chevy Camaro]Maybe worse than the first Camaro wreck is the first Chevy Camaro breakdown. This “p**sy magnet” Bumblebee-yellow Camaro lost all electrical power and coasted to a stop with a scant 40 miles on the odometer. The ecstatic new owner, a forum fan-girl by the name of BUMLB, was crushed when the car conked-out cruising through a parking lot at a leisure…

AFS Trinity brings “150 mpg” plug-in hybrids to Capitol Hill for some sweet stimulus cash…an old GM plant and build “hundreds of thousands of plug-in hybrids” that could be sold for just $8,000 more than the non-hybrid versions. Gallery: AFS Trinity Cross Country Trip with XH-150[Source: NYT]Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Legislation and PolicyAFS Trinity brings “150 mpg” plug-in hybrids to Capitol Hill for s…

Chevy Volt: First Drive? [Vaporware]We’d love to drive the Chevy Volt test mule like Wired and others, but we’re pretty sure the Volt PR team is afraid of us. As well they should be. We actually have readers. [Wired]

Saturn’s death could hurt GM CAFE numbers…part of GM. One of the primary reasons that Saturn is being disposed of is poor sales. There is, however, one exception to that sales record: hybrids. So far, Saturn has accounted for about a quarter of GM‘s sales of hybrids. Saturn also had the best CAFE numbers of any GM division, thanks to the absence of any full-size body-on-frame vehicles o…

Killing Saturn Kills 25% Of GM Hybrids [Carpocalypse]…of GM hybrids. Damned if they do… [AutoNews via AutomobileMag]

The Cause of Pontiac’s Demise for $5,000! [Nice Price Or Crack Pipe]…of the GM H-body cars began with the justifiably maligned Chevrolet Vega which begat the Monza, which begat the Pontiac Astre, which begat the Pontiac Sunbird. Several body styles were offered on the 97.5 inch wheelbase, including the Ferrari 365 GTC/4- homage hatchback, a two-door wagon, and a notchback coupe. Today’s candidate hails from the n…

GM Salaried Workers to See Pay CutGeneral Motors confirmed Wednesday it will force some salaried workers to take up to three months off with partial pay as part of an effort to reduce costs during its expected summer shutdown of its car-making plants.

Extreme Makeover in Norway? Considering a ban on all cars powered by fossil fuels

April 27, 2009 at 5:53 pm

 (Source: Autobloggreen & Reuters)

We first heard about a proposal to ban cars powered solely by fossil fuels way back in 2007. According to Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen, the plan “is much more realistic than people think when they first hear about” it and is still very much in the works. Still, it’s highly unlikely that the proposal would come to fruition due to opposition from current Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Under the proposal, no automaker could sell a new vehicle from 2015 onward in Norway that has no provisions for the use of biofuels, electricity or hydrogen. Hybrid vehicles that share propulsion duties between an electric motor and a gasoline or diesel engine would be allowed, as would flex-fuel vehicles. Older cars and trucks that were sold prior to 2015 wouldn’t be affected by this legislation.

“The financial crisis also means that a lot of those car producers that now have big problems … know that they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over,” she said.

“That is why we would like a ban from 2015,” she said, during an exhibition in Oslo of electric and biofuel-powered cars during which she raced a red and white Mitsubishi electric car around a course against several other politicians.

Halvorsen’s party is a junior member of Norway’s three-party coalition led by the Labor Party. The 2015 proposal is unlikely to be adopted by the cabinet because it is opposed, among others, by Labor Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Still, Halvorsen said she knew of no other finance minister in the world who was even arguing for such a goal.

“I haven’t heard about any ministers. I’m not surprised. We are often a party that puts forward new proposals first,” she said. A 2015 ban had backing from many environmental groups around the world as a way of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

UNDERMINE OIL?

Halvorsen denied that her proposal would undermine the economy — Norway is the world’s number six oil exporter.

“Not at all … we know that the world will be dependent on oil and gas for many decades ahead but we have to introduce new technologies and this is a proposal to support that,” she said.

Asked what she would say if she met the head of a big car producer such as General Motors, she said: “develop new and more environmentally friendly cars. And I know they are working on that question.”

Click here to read the entire article.

Why Conservatives Should Care About Transit – A great article by David Schaengold, The Witherspoon Institute

April 27, 2009 at 5:11 pm

(Source: Public Discourse – The Witherspoon Institute)

Public transit and walkable neighborhoods are necessary for the creation of a country where families and communities can flourish.

 When President Obama nominated Congressman Ray LaHood as his Secretary of Transportation, most media outlets paid attention long enough to note only that LaHood was a Republican from Illinois and the single pro-life member of Obama’s cabinet. Social conservatives, for their part, would rather have had an ally in the Department of Justice or the National Institute for Health. No one mentioned that it might be particularly appropriate that the cabinet’s one committed social conservative leads the Department of Transportation. 

It might seem as if nothing could be less important to social conservatives than transportation. The Department of Health and Human Services crafts policies that affect abortion, the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission play crucial roles in determining how prevalent obscenity is in our society, but the Department of Transportation just funds highways, airports, and railroads, or so the usual thinking goes. But decisions about these projects and how to fund them have dramatic and far-reaching consequences for how Americans go about their lives on a day-to-day basis. Transportation decisions have the power to shape how we form communities, families, religious congregations, and even how we start small businesses. Bad transportation decisions can destroy communities, and good transportation decisions can help create them. 

Sadly, American conservatives have come to be associated with support for transportation decisions that promote dependence on automobiles, while American liberals are more likely to be associated with public transportation, city life, and pro-pedestrian policies. This association can be traced to the ’70s, when cities became associated with social dysfunction and suburbs remained bastions of ‘normalcy.’ This dynamic was fueled by headlines mocking ill-conceived transit projects that conservatives loved to point out as examples of wasteful government spending. Of course, just because there is a historic explanation for why Democrats are “pro-transit” and Republicans are “pro-car” does not mean that these associations make any sense. Support for government-subsidized highway projects and contempt for efficient mass transit does not follow from any of the core principles of social conservatism. 

A common misperception is that the current American state of auto-dependency is a result of the free market doing its work. In fact, a variety of government interventions ensure that the transportation “market” is skewed towards car-ownership. These policy biases are too numerous to list exhaustively, but a few merit special recognition: 

-If a state is interested in building a new highway, the only major regulatory obstacle is completing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). After this, the federal government will typically pay for a large portion of the project, and leave the details of its planning and construction to the state’s Department of Transportation. If a state or municipality is interested in a transit project like a subway, a streetcar, or a bus system, however, not only must it complete an EIS, it must also clear a barrage of regulatory hurdles, including a cost-effectiveness analysis, a land-use impact analysis, and a comparison with other transit systems. None of these requirements is necessarily bad in itself (though many of these regulations were designed only to make it harder to build transit systems), but highways aren’t subject to any of them. Naturally, states therefore find it easier to channel transportation dollars into highways. 

-As a 2003 report by the Brookings Institution points out, “federal funding for highway projects is more secure and generous than for transit projects; making highway projects easier to finance.” The Department of Transportation will typically match 80% to 90% of state funds directed towards highway repair or construction. Those same funds directed towards transit usually receive less than a 60% federal match, and carry further burdensome requirements for local funding that highway projects do not need to meet. 

-Zoning requirements in most municipalities mandate that shops and houses must be separated. It is widely illegal to build the old small-town main street with the mix of shops, houses, and apartments that many find charming (so charming that some of these towns have been turned into tourist attractions). Furthermore, in most states it is mandatory for new schools to be built next to hundreds of acres playing fields, and thus far away from residential neighborhoods (see this report and this paper for a fuller discussion of policies that affect travel to school). These and similar regulations ensure that there are no shops or schools—that is, major household destinations—within walking distance of the average American’s home, which in turn requires the average American to own and use a car, not merely to commute to work but to perform basic tasks like picking up a gallon of milk or sending the kids off to school in the morning. 

Click here to read the entire article.

Streetsblog Special – What’s Wrong With SAFETEA-LU — and Why the Next Bill Must Be Better

April 27, 2009 at 2:25 pm

(Source: Streetsblog)

Ultimately, SAFETEA-LU’s greatest failing may have been its failure to articulate a truly multi-modal vision for the nation’s surface transportation network. Essentially a continuation of 1950s-era policies, it repeated the same-old same-old about a need to complete the Interstate highway program, directing billions of dollars to state DOTs to pour asphalt and expand roadways. Nowhere did the legislation suggest a need to adapt to a future in which American dependence on automobiles and fossil fuels must be dramatically reduced. That’s the challenge faced by Congress today.

Less of this...

 Transportation funding from Washington has been heavily weighted toward highway spending ever since President Eisenhower first proposed the Interstate Highway Act in 1956. SAFETEA-LU, 2005’s federal transportation bill, was no exception. It provided $244.1 billionover five years, its revenues raised by the federal gas tax and directed to the Highway Trust Fund, which has both highway and mass transit accounts. $40 billion a year went to highways, most of which was used to expand and upgrade the Interstate highway system; some $10 billion went annually to mass transit.

The $10 billion in public transportation funds is distributed by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for a variety of uses. The FTA administers the urban areas program, which allocates money to metropolitan areas for transit system capital expenses, as well as a rural areas program that helps states pay for rural transit. SAFETEA-LU also included a fixed-guideways formula, aimed at keeping mostly older rail transit systems like those in Chicago or Boston in working condition. Finally, the New Starts/Small Starts program allowed the FTA to fund competitive grants for major capacity expansion such as new subway or bus rapid transit lines.

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 SAFETEA-LU provided for $40 billion in annual funding from the highway account, the traditional federal source for financing Interstate highways. But under the law, money from the account could actually be spent on more than just roads. Roughly $6.5 billion per year was allocated to the “Surface Transportation Program.” States were allowed to use this money to fund transit and “bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways.” The “Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program” — about $1.7 billion a year — went to projects likely to reduce pollution, and specifically forbade funding “a project which will result in the construction of new capacity available to single occupant vehicles.”

There’s one problem, though. The federal government may allow such funds to be spent on non-auto uses, but that’s rarely the case.

That’s because, while each metropolitan area has a federally-mandated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) whose role is to establish priorities for transportation investments, state departments of transportation have ultimate discretion over how national highway funds are used. The inevitable consequence? Asphalt-happy DOTs usually choose to invest highway funds in roads, even when MPOs advocate for improved transit or bikeways. According to Transportation for America, only five states — California, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — have taken advantage of the flexibility of these funds. The rest have spent the vast majority on auto infrastructure.

What’s more, SAFETEA-LU made it easy for states to build roads and hard for them to build transit projects. While funds for new roads were simply distributed to states based on a formula, new transit lines had to undergo the rigorous New Starts process — competing with other projects from all over the country — before winning a share of federal dollars. There was no such required audit for road projects.

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