Urbanists and unions can slow but not stop California’s transportation progress

Urbanists and unions can slow but not stop California’s transportation progress

California is the prime battleground between transportation innovation and legacy mass transit. While Silicon Valley is rolling out driverless taxis and testing flying cars, urbanists and transit unions are seeking more taxpayer funding to buttress money-losing train and bus systems around the state. If history is any guide, the new transportation technologies will ultimately replace the older ones, but billions of taxpayer dollars will be lit u…

New plan to accelerate California high-speed rail construction deserves attention, support

GUEST COMMENTARY: If the Legislature carves out a robust, fixed-dollar amount for California high-speed rail moving forward, paired with a state backstop, Choudri believes he can leverage this income stream to secure billions in private financing and fill the remaining…

AB 1223 for wider SacTA authority

AB 1223: Local Transportation Authority and Improvement Act: Sacramento Transportation Authority (Nguyen/Krell) has been introduced in this legislative session. As of April 2, it is still in the Assembly Local Government Committee. “The bill would provide that the allowable expenditure categories for revenues from a tax imposed by STA include the construction, modernization, and improvement of infrastructure, as defined, that supports infill or …

BLOG: New plan to accelerate California high-speed rail construction deserves attention, support

This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. With the Trump administration announcing an investigation into California’s high-speed rail project, news coverage has largely focused on the attempt to disrupt the project. Meanwhile, almost no one is talking about the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s aggressive new leader and his dramatic efforts to accelerate construction of the bullet train. Ian Chou…