transportation

If there is one public policy  issue on which Scott Walker and Republicans in general are totally out of touch with reality, it's mass transit. They actively oppose a balanced state and national transportation policy that makes sense for the 21st Century. And in Wisconsin's case, that opposition is going to cause environmental and economic harm, across the state and especially our cities.

That is becoming increasingly clear as policy experts examine how public attitudes are changing towards transportation and the way communities are designed. From the Reuters news service:

In America, today, there are three kinds of drivers: those who look at the other gas pumps down at the ol’ gas station and think: “Oh my God, I can’t believe how much that guy’s spending on gas”, those who look at their own pump down at the ol’ gas station and think: “Oh my God, I can’t believe how much I’m spending on gas” – and those who are doing both at the same time.

Naturally, this has brought the Sarah Palins of the world back out in public, and once again the mantra of “Drill, Baby, Drill” can be heard all the way from the Florida coast to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But what if those folks have it exactly backwards?

What if, in a world of depleting oil resources, the last thing you want to do is use yours up? To put it another way: why isn’t all our oil part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

It seems that Scott Walker is probably more popular in California than he is in Wisconsin right now. Editorial from the LA Times reflects this sentiment. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/11/opinion/la-ed-trains-20101211 -saw-

It’s great to see that people are starting to think about hybrid vehicles, but so far, they really haven’t been for me.

You know why?

Because for the most part, they have no...style.

The Prius?

If you look at it sideways, and squint, it looks more like a pepita than a car.

The Insight?

They say it’s stylish...but it looks like a Prius to me.

You know what I want?

I want someone to build the biggest, nastiest, most oversized hybrid the world has ever seen. Something drenched with chrome, with seating for...many, and a convertible top; and maybe, if all my dreams come true: tail fins.

Something crazy.

Something ridiculous.

Something...American.

Well, guess what?

Somebody’s already gone out and had one built—and ironically, that somebody is Neil Young, Canadian.

So let me tell you what Neil Young did: lately, he’s been tearing around the countryside in a converted 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV that he calls the LincVolt.

Here’s the good part: it’s a “series hybrid” vehicle that gets 65 miles to the gallon.

One of the more astonishing dynamics in southeastern Wisconsin arises in Waukesha, where opinion-makers want Milwaukee resources - - land for freeways, water for development - - but are perfectly able to trash Milwaukee in print without seeing anything hypocritical or inconsistent or flat-out counterproductive when doing it.

If it were up to me, I'd throw this virulently anti-Milwaukee op-ed in The Waukesha Freeman, referenced here, back in the face of every politician, business leader, editorial writer or everyday citizen in Waukesha County when they came looking to Milwaukee for resources. 

Everytime.

Fiscal conservatives and small-government advocates will complain about just about every form of taxation and government spending in Wisconsin - - except bloated highway budgets.

From light rail to farmland preservation to health care, so-called fiscal conservatives routinely bash tax-supported programs, but the addition of more interstate highway lanes, despite soaring costs and dubious justifications, get a pass from many fiscal conservatives.

Shouldn't this raise the hackles of every tightwad in our supposedly-overtaxed state: a projected increase of at least 60%-to-70% to rebuild and add a lane to the southeastern Wisconsin freeway system from the Illinois border to the Milwaukee County border - - an extra $450 million?

That's the fiscal dynamite in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story about the next phase of the regional freeway construction schedule, once the Marquette Interchange project is finished in 2008: