WARNING TO CITIES: push too hard for more federal transportation funding without reforming the way it is spent and we’ll end up with more of this:

Great article in the New York Times today pointing out that cities are getting way less than a fair share of transportation stimulus money. Of course, this is old, old news. I'm in DC right now looking into this very issue as it played out mid-century. City leaders knew that they should be getting more money from the feds, and they fought hard to get a bigger cut. But, their efforts backfired. The problem was, the funds that were coming out of Washington through state highway departments were earmarked for only one form transportation infrastructure. And, that form was very, very problematic for the physical reality of cities. After fighting so hard to get a bigger share, cities ended up with horrific, destructive highways shoved through their dense urban cores. They were dying for the money, wanted to spend it but could only spend it on highways, and rationalized the destruction by saying they were "renewing" urban neighborhoods by bulldozing slums. And, as was so painfully obvious even then and certainly now, all of this was shaped by deeply racist motivations and and carried out with devastating consequences for minority communities. The reaction to this disaster was manifest in nation-wide freeway revolts. And, we've been left with scarred, gutted city cores as a result.

Now, the very same problems that led to the urban transportation fiasco of the 50s and 60s still plague transportation policy. Funds are still earmarked by mode, planning still takes place separately by modes, urban transportation planning is still inadequate and weak. We need change the structures and procedures that shape transportation appropriations and planning to integrate modes.

My article in the July issue of Technology & Culture goes into more detail on ways to do this. Also, Raymond A. Mohl of the University of Alabama, Birmingham has done some great work on this subject and I believe will be coming out with a book soon. If you want to read more, I suggest looking up his numerous articles on the subject, including his contribution to a special issue of the Journal of Urban History on freeway revolts, vol. 30 no. 5 (2004). You'll find several other fantastic pieces in that issue, as well. I've got a freeway revolt piece, as well, but it's a suburban study, focusing on the origins of Marin County's growth control regime.

The Fatalities of Tax Advantage Leases

Take a look at my new blog post on the tax-related causes of the Washington Metro crash. I moved it over to the Huffington Post, where it has gotten almost no attention. I may be wrong, but I think this story--the connection between long-term leases for tax breaks and the metro crash--is not nearly as big as it deserves to be.

Bridge Suicide Statistics

Recently, I gave a talk at the Huntington about Golden Gate Bridge suicide. I just want to share the statistics I compiled for the presentation. The data is as accurate as I could manage using a variety of sources, as of May 2009.



I don't think the large number of suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge is the result of any special fame or beauty--the vast majority of victims are local, just as they are on other structures. Rather, it reflects the unusually long time that has elapsed since the bridge earned a reputation for suicide. That, in my opinion, is to a large degree due to the administration of the bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District is too narrowly focused and its leaders too insulated from pressure or accountability. The problem of suicide falls outside what they consider to be legitimate bridge district concerns. If the bridge were operated by a general-purpose government, as are most such structures, consideration of the larger consequences of thousands of suicides for the region and its residents--not just for the immediate interests of the agency--would come into play.

UPDATE: The All-America bridge in Ohio has developed a reputation as a suicide magnet, with 28 deaths since 1997. Local officials are talking about a net. Here's an article in the New York Times. I love the quote from the mayor of Akron: “I think that for a community to have, and I’m going to use this word, an icon that represents suicide, and then not to take some action, do something — we’d really look like an uncaring community." The problem with the Golden Gate bridge district is that it's set up to operate the bridge, based on a corporate, business model. Concern for the image of a community isn't part of the program.

New Huffington Post Blogger

Take a look at this short piece by yours truly in the Huffington Post today. Looking at the comments, it strikes me that we're still very much stuck in old patterns of understanding transportation, and especially mass transit. Mass transit systems have never stood alone as successful self-supporting enteprises. During their private heyday, they were almost invariably linked with real estate development or electric utility ventures. They are too closely integrated with places, development patterns, economic activity to be analyzed as independent systems today, as well. But nevertheless, they are. One of the points I was trying to make with that post was is that it's probably more important to recognize that mass transit creates places--dense, urban places like Manhattan and SF--than it is to observe that dense places are a prerequisite for "successful" transit. Transportation is about connections--and their success depends on institutional connections that reflect the significance of the physical connections.
I develop these themes much more in a piece that will be coming out in the July issue of Technology and Culture. Don't miss it.

A Classic Image from Illinois

This was taken from an article in TOLLROADSnews, an e-newsletter published by Peter Samuel. While there are indications that Blagojevich tried to squeeze the turnpike, I don't think it was one of his more successful scams. But, it's a potent image.

Also, I mistakenly identified Samuel as a senior fellow with the Reason Institute when I posted this (seems that was a while ago), and he immediately sent me an email saying that he was no longer formally affiliated with them. I think that response is an impressive testament to the power of google alerts--several other of my postings have also gotten immediate reactions. I am going to have to be careful about key words. Or perhaps less careful.

For example, I can throw these ideas out into the ether: I'd really like to interview Quentin Kopp about his role in the transfer of Bay Area toll bridges from the state to the MTC in 1997, for example, and his views on the implications of the shift for the constellation of power in the Bay Area. Quentin? You too busy with high speed rail these days for a chat with a humble historian? I'd also like a sit-down with Steve Heminger, who would have been Obama's secretary of transportation in an ideal world.