Category Archives: Transportation

Outsourcing WMATA’s Silver Line Phase 2 Could Improve Operations

Posted on May 2, 2018 by matt ohern

In January 2018, D.C. Metro officials issued a formal request for information on outsourcing station operations and track maintenance for Silver Line Phase II, expected to be completed by 2020. The potential to improve operations through a public-private partnership (PPP) … Continue reading →

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Breakthrough for Trucks and Tolling

Posted on April 18, 2018 by matt ohern

In my discussions with trucking industry officials in recent years, I learned that—despite anti-tolls propaganda from affiliated groups such as ATA’s Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates—most of them appreciate the benefits of today’s all-electronic tolling: no need to stop and wait … Continue reading →

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Groups Advocate Banning Privately-Owned Autonomous Vehicles

Posted on April 4, 2018 by matt ohern

Last year this newsletter reported on the ongoing modeling efforts of OECD’s International Transport Forum, which claimed that Lisbon, Portugal could meet all its surface transportation needs via shared mobility, while significantly reducing vehicle emissions—if only all individually owned vehicles … Continue reading →

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The Potential of Mileage-Based User Fees

Posted on March 21, 2018 by matt ohern

“A Higher Gas Tax Won’t Fix America’s Highways.” That headline on a March 2nd Bloomberg news story is correct, since per-gallon fuel taxes are increasingly unsustainable, due to ongoing changes in vehicle propulsion methods. That point was stressed in the … Continue reading →

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Some Second Thoughts on Urban Bicycling

Posted on March 7, 2018 by matt ohern

Expanding the role of bicycle travel in urban areas has been government policy in developed nations for several decades. As Lawrence Solomon wrote in a recent piece in Canada’s Financial Post, “At no expense to taxpayers, the bicycle took cars … Continue reading →

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