transportation

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Federal law requires metropolitan planning organizations to produce long-range transportation plans. According to a new study by the Cato Institute, these plans are not cost-effective, attempt to control residents' behavior through land-use regulation and other means, and use unquantifiable measures to justify extravagant projects.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - A central Indiana regional mass transit plan has been bantered about for decades. Expanded bus service? Light rail train? HOV commuter lanes? These ideas and more have been explored, but no solution has met with an approving consensus.

Steve Keltner has attended the public meetings. He has written on the subject on his blog, Plain & Simple. His conclusion is a far cry from the standard responses, however.

Keltner, a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate District 30, counters the rail project with a proposal that is out the play books of the Connecticut state legislature. Telecommute Connecticut has created a program of training and education that coaches private companies into offering employees a telecommuting option.

LAPORTE, IN - It wasn't too long ago that Governor Daniels and the legislature sold Hoosiers on the benefits of selling the Indiana Toll Road to private interests -- oh, a 75-year lease, sorry. Along with the promises of new construction came the assurance that tolls would not increase for years. The fine print stated otherwise. The release today shows that tolls, indeed, will increase for northern Indiana commuters while the rest of Indiana gets a fare-free run on Indiana's highways.