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1. Review of Greenlight Pinellas

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Under its “Greenlight Pinellas” proposal, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), which serves Pinellas County, FL, wants to switch its major funding source from a property tax to a sales tax at a rate that will more than double its local tax revenues, and use the added money to build a 24-mile light-rail line and expand bus service. This proposal is extremely and unnecessarily expensive given that buses can provide a superior service to light rail, carrying more passengers more comfortably to more destinations at a far lower cost.
Topic:
Infrastructure
Political Geography:
United States

2. The Great Streetcar Conspiracy

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Streetcars are the latest urban planning fad, stimulated partly by the Obama administration's preference for funding transportation projects that promote "livability" (meaning living without automobiles) rather than mobility or cost-effective transportation. Toward that end, the administration wants to eliminate cost-effectiveness requirements for federal transportation grants, instead allowing non-cost-effective grants for projects promoting so-called livability. In anticipation of this change, numerous cities are preparing to apply for federal funds to build streetcar lines.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Government, Political Economy, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
United States

3. Ending Congestion by Refinancing Highways

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Although gasoline taxes have long been the main source of funding for building, maintaining, and operating America's network of highways, roads, and streets, the tax is at best an imperfect user fee. As such, Congress and the states should take action to transition from gas taxes to more efficient vehicle-mile fees.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Communications, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
United States

4. Intercity Buses: The Forgotten Mode

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The debate over President Obama's fantastically expensive high-speed rail program has obscured the resurgence of a directly competing mode of transportation: intercity buses. Entrepreneurial immigrants from China and recently privatized British transportation companies have developed a new model for intercity bus operations that provides travelers with faster service at dramatically reduced fares.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Infrastructure, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States and China

5. How Urban Planners Caused the Housing Bubble

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Everyone agrees that the recent financial crisis started with the deflation of the housing bubble. But what caused the bubble? Answering this question is important both for identifying the best short-term policies and for fixing the credit crisis, as well as for developing long-term policies aimed at preventing another crisis in the future.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States, California, and Georgia

6. High-Speed Rail Is Not "Interstate 2.0"

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The administration has likened President Obama's high-speed rail plan to President Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System. Yet there are crucial differences between interstate highways and high-speed rail. First, before Congress approved the Interstate Highway System, it had a good idea how much it would cost. In contrast, Congress approved $8 billion for high-speed rail without knowing the total cost, which is likely to be at least $90 billion.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Government, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
United States

7. The Myth of the Compact City: Why Compact Development Is Not the Way to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Proponents of compact development argue that rebuilding American urban areas to higher densities is vital for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Compact city policies call for reducing driving by housing a higher percentage of people in multi-family and mixed-use developments, reducing the average lot sizes of single-family homes, redesigning streets and neighborhoods to be more pedestrian friendly, concentrating jobs in selected areas, and spending more on mass transit and less on highways.
Topic:
Energy Policy and Governance
Political Geography:
United States and America

8. The Citizens' Guide to Transportation Reauthorization

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Sometime in 2010 or 2011, Congress expects to decide how to spend the $250 billion or more of federal gas taxes and other highway user fees that will be collected over the next six years. The process of doing so is called surface transportation reauthorization. A major point of contention in this law is how much of our transportation system should be centrally planned and how much should be built and operated in response to the needs of actual transportation users.
Topic:
Economics and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
United States

9. Does Rail Transit Save Energy or Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Far from protecting the environment, most rail transit lines use more energy per passenger mile, and many generate more greenhouse gases, than the average passenger automobile. Rail transit provides no guarantee that a city will save energy or meet greenhouse gas targets.
Topic:
Civil Society, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States

10. Roadmap to Gridlock: The Failure of Long-Range Metropolitan Transportation Planning

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Federal law requires metropolitan planning organizations in urban areas of more than 50,000 people to write long-range (20- to 30- year) metropolitan transportation plans and to revise or update those plans every 4 to 5 years. A review of plans for more than 75 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas reveals that virtually all of them fail to follow standard planning methods. As a result, taxpayers and travelers have little assurance that the plans make effective use of available resources to reduce congestion, maximize mobility, and provide safe transportation facilities.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Government
Political Geography:
United States