# America’s Best Transportation Projects Are All Highways



## CHamilton (Sep 8, 2012)

AASHTO: America’s Best Transportation Projects Are All Highways



> ...the American Association of State Highway and Transportation just released its list of finalists for the “America’s Transportation Award” Grand Prize. These ten projects span every sector of the transportation world, from enormous highway projects to … less enormous highway projects and highway bridges.
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## AlanB (Sep 8, 2012)

I'd be surprised if anyone was surprised that a Highway association didn't include any non-highway projects.


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 8, 2012)

AlanB said:


> I'd be surprised if anyone was surprised that a Highway association didn't include any non-highway projects.


You make a great point.

So which major mass transit and pedestrian projects would you nominate in a ten best list for America?


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## PRR 60 (Sep 8, 2012)

AlanB said:


> I'd be surprised if anyone was surprised that a Highway association didn't include any non-highway projects.


Do you have any nominations for outstanding rail or transit projects that were completed in 2011? I'm not aware of anything that would qualify.

AASHTO is not solely a "highway association." In fact, AASHTO is the lead agency for the development of the intercity rail car standards.

AASHTO


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 8, 2012)

I guess we think alike PRR60.

Just for the record I wasn't trying to preempt you on this. For some reason new posts don't show up during previews of edits to previous posts.


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## Swadian Hardcore (Sep 8, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> AlanB said:
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> > I'd be surprised if anyone was surprised that a Highway association didn't include any non-highway projects.
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Wait, I thought that was done by the FRA.


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## PRR 60 (Sep 8, 2012)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> PRR 60 said:
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> > AlanB said:
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FRA delegated the administration of the program to AASHTO.


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## George Harris (Sep 9, 2012)

PRR 60 said:


> Swadian Hardcore said:
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> > PRR 60 said:
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Sure you are not thinking APTA?

edit: full name: American Public Transportation Association.


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## Ryan (Sep 9, 2012)

Nope, AASHTO is correct.

http://www.highspeed-rail.org/Pages/Section305Committee.aspx


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## Anderson (Sep 9, 2012)

Though the criteria aren't clear, I'd definitely nominate The Tide for the list (assuming that a project that was finished in 2011 would qualify). If the project has to be ongoing, the LA mass transit expansions would make the list, as would the Salt Lake City light rail/streetcar system.


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## jis (Sep 9, 2012)

Wasn't the Thames River Bridge replacement in 2011?


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## NW cannonball (Sep 9, 2012)

Anderson said:


> Though the criteria aren't clear, I'd definitely nominate The Tide for the list (assuming that a project that was finished in 2011 would qualify). If the project has to be ongoing, the LA mass transit expansions would make the list, as would the Salt Lake City light rail/streetcar system.


The Tide - like in Norfolk? -- Rode it last month - hope it gets more passengers - but the extension to Virginia Beach which might make it really useful is waiting on local political disputes - hope it works out - but the extension would make it a lot more useful to visitors - and locals also.

At last month visit the most annoying thing about Hampton Roads area is that there is *zero *public transit to to Norfolk Airport ORF. None.

But I flew out of PHF - only a two-hour bus ride from "Downtown" Norfolk. Cheap ticket - no problems no delays - and took the city bus there.

And by all reports, commuting by car in Hampton Roads area is *really bad*

Hope it gets better, might take a decade or two.


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## Anderson (Sep 9, 2012)

NW cannonball said:


> Anderson said:
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> > Though the criteria aren't clear, I'd definitely nominate The Tide for the list (assuming that a project that was finished in 2011 would qualify). If the project has to be ongoing, the LA mass transit expansions would make the list, as would the Salt Lake City light rail/streetcar system.
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Yeah, commuting in Hampton Roads _sucks_, especially in the summertime. Try getting _anywhere_ during the day between June and August and you're likely to hit a bottleneck either at one of the bridges or at where I-64 narrows down from four lanes to two in Newport News. I've often found that slogging my way up Jefferson is easier than taking the interstate...the speed limit may be 15-20 MPH slower plus stoplights, but you can actually get decently close to (or indeed over) the limit on Jefferson while you'll be lucky to average 40 MPH on the interstate, and likely end up averaging more like 30 MPH. In bad traffic, it can take an hour or more to get anywhere meaningful.

And of course, one thing that I've been mentioning to a lot of politicians is that the problem with the roads isn't that they're slow...it's that I'm just fed up with driving and want to be on reasonably convenient, timely transit. If it was available and didn't require a 2+ hour saga on a couple of local buses, I'd jump at a $4-5 round trip fare up to Williamsburg (the day passes for HRT run about $3.50, for comparison) since I'd still be ahead on the cost of gas alone (at $3.50/gallon, a round trip costs me $5-10 depending on traffic...$6-7 would be a good average, but if I'm stuck in park in the middle of the summer I'm going to be burning a _lot_ more fuel while going nowhere). The one-size-fits-all fare likewise discourages me from bothering to even check if something shorter is convenient (it would cost me the same $3.50 to go a couple of miles that it would to go from Lee Hall to Hampton and back, or from the Oceanfront to downtown Norfolk and back; I can't recall if the MAX buses are on a different cost schedule)/

But...well, for a whole host of reasons (not the least being federal funding restrictions seriously getting in the way), they can dump $3 billion into a "third crossing" project, but spending $600 million on a transit bridge around the JRB was deemed impractical and they can't round up the money to aggressively expand The Tide in several directions that would likely be popular (such as Norfolk Naval Base and, quite plausibly from what you've hinted at, the airport).


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