Posts about Sarah Palin

Roads

Breakfast links: Choices for unhappy drivers

by David Alpert   •   October 14, 2008 8:11 am

One way to reduce the number of cars: People are torching their own cars in increasing numbers, in places like Capitol Hill's "Car-B-Que Alley". Even abandoned cars not on fire pose a nuisance, but DC's law makes it difficult to remove them. (Post, City Paper, Infosnack)

You could have driven to San Francisco: The average Washington commuter spent 60 hours in traffic last year, the second most behind only LA and tied with Atlanta and San Francisco. With 60 hours, they could instead have driven to Atlanta and San Francisco, plus Spokane along the way. (Post via Get There)

Motorist intentionally hits cyclist, runs: SWDCBlog's roommate was cycling down 14th Street in downtown DC when a motorist screamed "get the f**k off the road," then revved up and crashed into him. We look forward to criminal charges being filed.

And across the nation: "Smart meters," which tell homeowners how much electricity they are using in real time, are growing in numbers and creating jobs; Sarah Palin's political career started by opposing zoning in Wasilla. While she opposed any government intervention in land use, she built lots of roads, spending lots of government money in ways that influenced land use. Via Planetizen.

Politics

Trains and the election

by David Alpert   •   October 6, 2008 2:10 pm

For the liberals on this blog, check out this train-related election humor several people forwarded me.

However, I must point out that this isn't actually fair to Palin, nor was I in my snark last week. As commenter Mike Silverstein pointed out, Alaska relies heavily on trains. And tipster Daniel Goldstein forwarded me this statement by Palin extolling the importance of Alaska's railroads.

Meanwhile, in other elections, Matt Yglesias notices that Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan—who, in recent weeks, has jumped from way down in the polls to quite competitive—is a strong supporter of transit. From her energy plan:

To lower the amount of carbon emissions in transportation, Kay supports increasing fuel efficiency standards and increasing investments in public transportation. ... Since investments in public transportation have many indirect benefits on the economy, Kay also supports investments to increase public transportation systems.

Every $10 million in transit capital investments creates 314 jobs and $30 million in sales for businesses, while $10 million invested in transit operations creates more than 750 jobs in the short term, and $32 million in increased sales for businesses. Every $10 million invested saves more than $15 million in transportation costs to highway and transit users.

Hagan now leads by about 4-5 points in the polls.