Motorway Mayhem, originally uploaded by Steve.Haigh

As previously linked, it seems that the Federal Transit Administration is on the course to derail the Washington DC Silver Line which would connect the urban core to Dulles and National Airport by heavy rail transit. It appears that the rationale isn’t due to the necessity or the viability of the project, but rather an ideology against certain mass transit:

Others point to a long-standing desire in the Transportation Department to move away from public investments in infrastructure. Peters, the transportation secretary, for example, refused to endorse a report published Tuesday by a bipartisan national commission on the future of the nation’s transportation system. She instead issued a dissent decrying wasteful spending and the federal government’s large share of the investment. She said she favored private investment and more tolling to control congestion.

This illustrates the direct effects of electing governments comprised of people who do not believe in the beneficial nature of government, or sometimes, government at all. By this logic, any money for the upkeep of highways, airports, port facilities is also wasteful. Q.E.D.
What is most unnerving about mass transportation in this country is best summed up by the Simpson’s episode Marge vs. the Monorail where the townspeople of Springfield decide to build a monorail instead of cleaning up Main Street. Who remembers when Light Rail was the solution and any other transportation solution wasn’t worth discussion. Similarly, now the FTA has decided that Bus Rapid Transit is the way to proceed everywhere. This same thinking is both wasteful and stupid, and emblematic of an Administration which doesn’t feel like doing its homework.
In a world where the Federal government takes policy and implementation of policy serious, then we all could work together to tailor transportation solutions to the local requirements, instead of building Monorails everywhere.