el as it has been for a number of years. For many years the Highway Trust Fund supported not only highways, but also con- tained a transit trust fund that began dur- ing the Reagan Administration. The High- way Trust Fund has fallen well short of financing highways, or anything else, for a number of years in the 21st century. The new transportation legislation requires the transfer of funds from the general fund, money from tariffs on imported automobiles, money from the gas guzzler tax, and also a fund established to mend leaky fuel tanks. Raising the fuel tax from the current 18.4 cents is thought to spell political suicide for whoever proposes it.
This attitude rhymes with cupid. To bring the U.S. transportation infrastructure into a state of good repair is estimated to require an annual expenditure of $134 to $262 bil- lion. The very precise American Society of Civil Engineers projects that $1.7 trillion needs to be spent before 2020 to repair roads, bridges, water lines, sewage systems, dams and other public infrastructure. For- tunately, the freight railroads are able to fi- nance their own rehabilitation for the most part. Even so, with the changes coming in the Panama Canal, there will be a need to expand port facilities on the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast that must be addressed for successful trade, beyond what the railroads do. At a time of high unemployment and global nervousness about the economy, think of the jobs that fixing up that infra- structure would provide. Thanks to David Harris for the information.
Flashes
Whoops! The CHICAGO TRANSIT AU- THORITY may have had the feeling that by buying a new fleet of cars it would solve some of the problems inherent in operating rapid transit cars that were well beyond their prime. Then a very serious problem
was discovered and the new cars were pulled from service in December 2011. The problem was in the steel journal bearing housings made from very defective Chinese steel. Bombardier is the manufacturer of the cars and the use of defective parts raises se- rious questions about the builder’s quality control process. The defect was serious to the point that derailments would be a prob- able outcome from use of a failed part. The car bodies had been put instorage while the truck assemblies were sent to the Bom- bardier plant in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where the the defective parts were replaced. The new cars are in the 5000 series and are equipped with perimeter seating, often called bowling alley seats, seating common to New York, but new to Chicago rapid tran- sit users. This past summer they returned to service, operating exclusively on the Pink Line between the Loop and 54th/Cermak, serving Cicero and Berwyn. Thanks to Den- nis McNeil for the news. In response to inquiries, BLOOMING- TON, IND., never had streetcar service and the interurbans never got any closer than Martinsville, 20 miles north of Bloomington. The Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern ran out of money before it could extend its line south to Bloomington. Of course, in the time of the heyday of the Indiana interurban electric railways, Bloomington had a popu- lation of only about 10,000 and was not a terribly attractive target for interurban or local electric railway service. Bloomington now has a population of 75,000 and is larger than Terre Haute or Gary. Bloomington is served by Bloomington Transit which covers the urbanized area. The Indiana University Campus Bus Service provides intensive ser- vice on the campus of the university. Be- tween them, the two services move a little over seven million rides a year, with Cam- pus Bus moving slightly more than half of the ridership.
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The Chicago Transit Authority’s new Bombardier 5000 series cars are back in service. Here, an outbound train enters the Clinton Staion from the Loop; the train has just crossed the bridge over the mouth of the OTC in Chicago. These cars are being used exclusively on the Pink line at this time. The train has just crossed the bridge over the mouth of the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. The Bombardier products had been sidelined with a journal problem.
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49
BRUCE STAHL
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