Transit

Just in case you weren't surprised how much tolls have gone up since the last time you drove on the Thruway Authority, they announced on Friday that there will be another round of toll hikes.

At first it looks like the EZ-Pass rates will decrease, then the tolls will go up 5% next year, and then another 5% in 2010. That means that it will go from $5.50 from Albany to Syracuse (I-481) to $5.75 next year, and in 2010 it will be $6.00.

That sucks if your a regular Thruway driver or a commuter dependent on the highway. Yet, in the grand scheme of things the toll hikes are minimal in comparison to the increase of gasoline to fuel your vehicle on the Thruway.

If your car gets 20 MPG on the Thruway (a reasonable figure as many cars consume about 10% more gas at 65 MPH then 55 MPH), then you will consume 6.45 gallons of gas on that trip. If gas prices go from $3.75 a gallon to $4.00 by next year, you will be paying a $1.62 more in gas. The toll hike seems minimal in comparison.

The reality is that all the Thruway Authority vehicles take gasoline and diesel to power themselves, and that costs money. Asphalt also increases in costs with crude prices, and it will probably cost another 30% more next year then this year. That's a lot of money. In comparison, the Thruway Authority is only asking for a vary modest 5% toll hike.

Brighter and Safer: NYS DOT Employees

“DOT rolls out new safety vests for highway workers ahead of federal deadline ”

Short on cash, rich in worries

“Climbing food and gasoline prices are having an impact on increasingly frustrated New Yorkers, according to a survey released Thursday by the Siena Research Institute.”

Brilliant Bloomberg: The Most Idiotic Idear Ever.

That's how he is describing the proposal to cut the gas tax to save consumers a few bucks at the pump this summer.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the proposal to suspend the gas tax is one of the most idiotic ideas he's heard in a while.
Bloomberg on Thursday praised Sen. Barack Obama for opposing the plan floated by Republican John McCain and supported by Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. The plan would suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.2 cent diesel tax during the peak driving months of the summer.
The mayor says the plan will not discourage people from driving, end our energy dependence or provide money for infrastructure.
The mayor says those are three reasons not to endorse the gas tax holiday.

I love how Brilliant Bloomberg can be such a straight shooter at times. He's right though—we should be investing more in transit alternatives to trying to save consumers a few bucks. If more people use transit, then they will ultimately save more money, and have cleaner air to boot.

Read Bloomberg: Gas tax holiday is dumb idea in the Daily News.

US House Republican Leadership on Gas Prices.

They've done an awful lot according to Speaker Pelosi's Gavel blog.

CDTA likely adding to fares, not routes.

From the Times Union:

The Capital District Transportation Authority is shelving hopes for adding service on booming bus routes and drawing up proposals for a fare hike early next year.
"It all comes down to money," said Wayne Pratt, who chairs CDTA's Planning and Resource Development Committee. "We don't want to do this, but our backs are against the wall now."
Discussion among members of Pratt's committee on Thursday centered on how to adjust to a state aid allotment that is less than board members had hoped when they passed a $71 million 2008-09 budget a month ago and how to prepare for more lean years ahead.
In January, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed to keep level at $30.4 million CDTA's part of the state budget, but CDTA leaders said they needed $4 million more to balance their spending plan.
The authority did get a boost of $1.24 million in the budget that was passed this month. But that still leaves the authority short, unless some other funding source—such as revenue from mortgage recording taxes in CDTA's four-county region—comes in considerably higher than projected.

Read CDTA likely adding to fares, not routes in the Times Union.

As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars

“In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was a compact or subcompact car during April, based on monthly sales data released Thursday. Almost a decade ago, when sport utility vehicles were at their peak of popularity, only one in every eight vehicles sold was a small car.”

Friedman on the Energy Tax Cut.

From the New York Times:

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country.When the summer is over, we will have increased our debt to China, increased our transfer of wealth to Saudi Arabia and increased our contribution to global warming for our kids to inherit.
No, no, no, we’ll just get the money by taxing Big Oil, says Mrs. Clinton. Even if you could do that, what a terrible way to spend precious tax dollars — burning it up on the way to the beach rather than on innovation?
The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.”

Read Dumb as We Wanna Be by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times.

Middleberg. January 16, 2007.