Chicago Skyway: Past, Present, Future?

I just returned from my first Transportation Research Board meeting, which was an amazing experience.  Thousands of academics and professionals--engineers, planners, mostly, but at least three historians--met in Washington to discuss transportation.  Apparently, this meeting has been growing quickly over the last decade, and it is now one of the largest subject-specific conferences there is.  I think it testifies to the need for vibrant interdisciplinary forums, and I am sure it could be a model for many areas of inquiry.

I produced my first poster for the event.  It is a preview of one of my current projects: a book on the Chicago Skyway.

New Article on Toll Road Privatization!

My new article comparing recent efforts to privatize major toll roads was just release online by the Journal of Planning History!

Tolls and Control: The Chicago Skyway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike

And, expect much more in the future.  I am developing a book on the history of the Skyway, which provides an exciting glimpse into Chicago infrastructure politics over the last fifty years, a subject not for the meek, believe me. I'll be presenting some of the new research in Washington at the meeting of the Transportation Research Board (the 800 lb gorilla of transportation conferences) in January. Be sure to look for me!

TURNPIKES, TOLL ROADS, AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Over the last few months, there has been a lot of excitement surrounding turnpike agencies throughout the country. The Maine Turnpike Authority is undergoing reform in the wake of a major scandal over freewheeling gift card distribution and general extravagance. The Ohio turnpike, which is being eyeballed for a potential lease by Gov. Kasich, has been in the papers for disproportionately high salaries,well above those of the DOT. And, Peter Samuel reports that early indications have surfaced that there may have been some questionable contracts granted (or NOT granted, it's not clear) for tolling facilities by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently. Still, Penn Turnpike officials seem to be competing for the status of most likely to be in hot water. Agency officials have hired outside consultants to scrutinize the agency's "top brass." Despite this declaration of openness, they are nevertheless in court fighting off a journalist's attempt to secure access to its EZ-pass records.

The Pennsylvania story really strikes a chord for me right now, because I am in the midst of a battle over Chicago Skyway records. I submitted a FOIA to several departments of the city of Chicago for Skyway records from the 1990s. Yes, go ahead, LAUGH! So far, I have been met with nothing but delay and denial. Each of Chicago's departments is treated as a separate legal entity under its interpretation of the law. The Department of Streets and Sanitation sent me nothing but a terse we "do not have any records that are responsive to your FOIA request." Rosa Calderon, the FOIA officer for Streets and Sanitation, ignored multiple further queries and requests for help or information on record keeping procedures. Very unfriendly. The representative in the city clerk's office didn't even bother to get back to me, but to be fair that wasn't a completely formal, legalistic request. The Dept. of Finance representative, Sandra Collins, has put more effort into warding off my requests, but she told me that she was sure there was a "statute of limitations" on such things. Statue of limitations is revealing language--during that time, Streets and Sanitation was under the leadership of Al Sanchez, who will be serving time for operating a "sham city hiring scheme" through the department. While I am looking for materials that were designed for general consumption and publication, I am sure no one wants to risk any more skeletons accidentally falling from closets. Really, I just want to fill out a chart that I developed from the annual and monthly Skyway reports, showing traffic and revenue. No big secrets there. But, I am pretty sure the FOIA officers consider it their job to find reasons to deny requests, rather than to assist with research. Not surprising, I suppose.

Whether or not they actually HAVE the reports from that period seems not to concern anyone, even though that's the requirement of the relevant public records law. Actually, I suspect that the official, public reports that I am requesting would be easy to locate. Until 1989, when Sanchez took over, they were regularly sent to a number of regional libraries, including the Harold Washington Library. I submitted a request for review of the request to the Illinois State's Attorney about a week ago, hopefully something will come of it. In the meanwhile, wish me luck!

When I was starting my research on the Golden Gate Bridge, I had to go through a lengthy and confrontational process to get access to their records, despite California's very strong public records act. I discovered that the act was STRENGTHENED in the 1970s SPECIFICALLY because of the intransigence and lack of accountability of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transit District (thank you Bill Bagley). Read the introduction to my book for more information, and resources for how to pursue these requests. Local governments, especially ones with TOLL REVENUES to protect, seem to be universally secretive and resistant to investigation.

Chicago Skyway History presentation in Berkeley May 4

I will be presenting research on the history of the Chicago Skyway, including its 2004 lease, on May 4 at noon at UC Berkeley, room 304 in Wurster Hall. Chicago is known for its, shall we say, interesting municipal politics. Skyway history is no exception. MORE INFORMATION available on the IURD website!

TO RAY LAHOOD: More than one Path to Transportation Safety

Ray LaHood came out with a statement over the weekend calling SAFETY his "No. 1 Priority when it comes to planes, trains and automobiles." That's nice. Who is not in favor of safety? Actually, he's focusing on trains, talking about developing new federal oversight and standards for the nation's decentralized, motley and pathetically inadequate mass transit systems. Certainly, recent incidents in Los Angeles and Washington DC (especially Washington DC) have highlighted the fact that these systems are not always adequately maintained or operated.

Now, I am not one to automatically denounce federal action based on a knee-jerk opposition to "big government." I have no problem with a little broad, well-targeted regulation here and there, especially when it comes with carrots as well as sticks. We've yet to see if this initiative involves carrots, but certainly no amount of funding can be enough to bolster the skeletal, aging, and often (already) embattled mass transit systems of urban America. And, according to the Washington Post, there is a gaping lack of oversight protecting light rail and subway riders.

But, if safety truly is the biggest concern here, I want to suggest two approaches to reducing passenger risk that I urge Mr. LaHood to consider.

First, the safest way to travel is NOT TO TRAVEL. No matter how safe those "planes, trains and automobiles" are, there is an inherent element of risk in their use. I guess you can call this the ABSTINENCE approach to transportation safety. LaHood's recent statement reflects the chasm transportation and land use in American policy--chasm that needs to be bridged if we are going to develop policies that promote sustainability in the long-term. For too long, policy-makers in transportation have accepted blindly that the goal of transportation policy should be the efficient and inexpensive movement of passengers and goods. Making the vehicles of that movement more efficient and safer is a laudable goal, but reducing the need to move is a much more cost-effective way to reduce the need for spending on infrastructure, reduce pollution, and of course to reduce the number of accidents and failures overall. How do we do that? Adopt policies that allow for dense residential development, the revitalization of central cities, and easy access to jobs, services, recreation, shopping and other amenities. For the movement of freight: how about promoting local farming and manufacturing? Rather than cultivating suburbs and subsidizing endless movement, we could be cultivating local jobs and businesses. LaHood should be building ties and lending support to the local and regional planning initiatives that promote these goals.

Secondly, let's see some policies that encourage people to use the safest mode of travel. According to my calculations, based on numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, (which I should say are rather inconsistent, come with lots of caveats, and don't seem to necessarily match up with their supposed sources), there is a highway fatality for about every 121 million passenger miles traveled in the United States--and this represents a recent improvement. In contrast, there is one fatality for every 285 million miles of transit--and that includes buses. However, I think it's fair to say that safety improvements are needed for rail of all sorts, particularly in terms of grade crossings. There are a shocking number of fatalities due to collisions of trains with cars, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. as a recent report from Transportation For America documents. Perhaps Mr. LaHood should be talking about the safety of streets, roads, and railroads rather than the vehicles that operate on them (I know that LA could sure use some grade separations, for example).

Certainly, one way to promote safety in transportation is to encourage people to use the safest means of travel. Improved safety standards and oversight that come with real and substantial funding for investments in infrastructure and better rolling stock would also be an enormous boon. Even better would be money for improved and expanded transit service that can lure people out of their dangerous automobiles. And, let's also think about encouraging walkable neighborhoods--overcoming entrenched local opposition to density and affordable housing is certainly something that could reduce fatalities and injuries associated with transportation. If safety is your No. 1 priority, make it a priority that helps break down barriers and obsolete paradigms for transportation policy.

A Novel Abuse of the California Environmental Quality Act

An angry group of misanthropes are suing to stop a suicide barrier on the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge in Santa Barbara County.

UPDATE: Report that this is the deadliest year to date for this remote bridge, seven deaths so far. Time to take action.