Tag Archives: United States Department of Transportation

Somehow I Think He Has Misdiagnosed The Problem

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CNS News posted an article today about a recent statement by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

The article reports Secretary Foxx’s comments:

…“only 49% of low-income neighborhoods have sidewalks” while more affluent areas have near 90%. In order to have a society where “everyone has a shot at the American Dream, than it’s imperative that we acknowledge these challenges.”

Sir, with all due respect, I don’t think that is the problem.

The article goes on:

“So, if we want a society in which everyone has a shot at the American dream, than it is imperative that we acknowledge these challenges,” Foxx said.

Foxx hired the U.S. Transportation Department’s first “Chief Opportunities Officer” in 2015. The position aims to make sure “Ladders of Opportunity inatives are coordinated, advanced and implemented across all levels of DOT,” according to the U.S. Transportation website.

In 2014, Foxx prioritized the criteria for federal TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants by adding “access to opportunities” as a criteria the government should take into account when awarding grants.

“Transportation is about more than getting from one point to another–it’s about getting from where you are to a better life,” said Secretary Foxx in a press release discussing ‘Ladders of Opportunity’ grants in 2014.

I would support making sure people in low-income neighborhoods have an inexpensive way to get to work, but that does not have to be a government program. Neighborhoods can easily form car pools to help each other find transportation to work. The streets in low-income neighborhoods do exist and generally are paved, so I think that the people in these neighborhoods can access ‘Ladders of Opportunity’ if they choose to.

A person much wiser than I once commented that the best thing a parent can do for a child is to set the example of going to work every day. That is the culture we need in all of our neighborhoods.

Where Has Our Privacy Gone ?

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Yesterday CNS News reported:

Bypassing Congress, the Obama administration has issued a proposed administrative rule, which if adopted, would mandate the installation of “black boxes” in all automobiles and light trucks beginning in 2014.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed the regulation on Dec. 7, which it said “would capture valuable safety-related data in the seconds before and during a motor vehicle crash.”

I can understand the value of the event data recorders (EDRs) in case of an accident, but what about the other things they record? According to Horace Cooper of the National Center for Public Policy Analysis,  “EDRs not only provide details necessary for accident investigation, they can also track travel records, passenger usage, cell phone use and other private data — who you visit, what you weigh, how often you call your mother and more is captured by these devices.” Logically, with an EDR, you could determine which people are associating with each other, where they are meeting, and begin to control personal and political activity among Americans. I think this is a really bad idea.

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Another Stimulus Project Bites The Dust

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The Washington Examiner reported yesterday that the partially stimulus-funded high speed rail project in California is essentially dead. The project fell victim to a combination of environmental lawsuits and federal deadlines for breaking ground on stimulus projects.

The article reports:

President Obama’s stimulus allocated $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, including, eventually, up to $3.5 billion for California’s project. However, according to the stimulus law, California must begin construction on the project before December 31, 2012 or they will not be eligible for any more high speed rail stimulus dollars. Obama’s Transportation Department reaffirmed this time limit last year when they admitted they had “no administrative authority to change this deadline.”

…Studies show that the average time to complete the NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act) process is 6.1 years. And NEPA is designed to be a preventative statute. Federal courts routinely issue injunctions to stop projects before they ever begin. That is why oil companies preemptively sued environmental groups earlier this year over leases in Alaska. They wanted to get the litigation out of the way so they could begin oil exploration as fast as possible.

The California high-speed rail project was a bad idea from the start–it was not going to attract riders and was going to be a financial black hole for the already financially distressed state. It is, however, ironic that the thing that finally stopped the project was environmental red tape.

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