IP: Re: Bailout Bill full of Pork [why am I not surprised djf]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 19:03:33 -0500
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> From: Steven Cherry <steven () panix com>
>
> Dave,
>
> I can't speak to the details of the bill, but as a northern NJ resident 
> and commuter, I can assure IPers that our commuting systems have been 
> greatly stressed by the events of 11 September and its aftermath.
>
> Traffic through the two tunnels that connect Manhattan and NJ has been 
> restricted to vehicles carrying two people or more, which has greatly 
> increased bus and train commuting. At this point, parking is a limiting 
> factor. The park-and-ride I go to every day, for example, routinely 
> exceeds the spaces intended for commuters (indicated by differently-color 
> parking lines) before 9:00 a.m.
>
> (The park-and-ride is at the largest mall in the area; this will be a 
> problem come the holiday shopping season until terrorists target our 
> malls. It's the mall that, according to credit card records, two of the 
> hijackers used the week before 9/11.) Using a different bus or train is 
> impractical because they don't have enough parking either. A new tunnel 
> that would allow the existing Lincoln Tunnel tubes to be devoted to 
> commuter buses, in conjuction with some help solving the parking problem, 
> would make a lot of sense.
>
> There are also trains that terminate at Hoboken, still on the Jersey side 
> of the river, which could go directly to NYC. There's a long-standing plan 
> in the works to allow them to do just that. New track and switches are 
> being built and old track upgraded. That plan needs to be accelerated, 
> both because of generally increased commuting needs, and the fact that 
> part of the PATH system, which goes from Hoboken (and other NJ cities) to 
> NYC, ran to the WTC, and therefore isn't running. (In fact it's closed off 
> to avoid flooding.)
>
> Lastly, the article mentions money for Amtrak. A lot more could be done 
> for high-speed rail service in the northeast. Amtrak is now running 10 
> high-speed Acela trains between NY and Washington, with a little more 
> money more trains could run and prices could be lowered, weaning people 
> off the largely pointless air shuttle. (This would relieve some of the 
> problems that National Airport is having.) Service between Boston and NYC 
> has been greatly improved, but more work needs to be done there as well. 
> Now that Newark Airport has an Amtrak stop, there's even more need to keep 
> up with increasing demand.
>
> Quite possibly there's some pork here, but any list of the top dozen post 
> 9/11 problems in NYC would include stressed commuter services.
>
>  Steven
>
> --
>   Steven Cherry, +1 212 419 7566
>   Senior Associate Editor, IEEE Spectrum, New York, NY
>   <s.cherry () ieee org>  http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
>
>
> > WASHINGTON -- Watermelon growers. Filmmakers. Owners of electric cars. 
> > Commuters in northern New Jersey. Those are among the people who would 
> > benefit from the very fine print of a Senate measure to boost the 
> > languishing U.S. economy.
> >
> > The bill, on which a vote is expected next week, would pour about $70 
> > billion into the economy next year, mostly for extended unemployment 
> > benefits, health insurance subsidies and tax breaks for individuals and 
> > businesses. But it also includes a panoply of provisions less obviously 
> > connected to stimulating the economy--and more clearly designed to win 
> > support from specific senators.
> >
> >
> > > http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-111001tax.story?co 
> > > ll=la%2Dhome%2Dtodays%2Dtimes
> >
> >
> > For archives see:
> > http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/


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