Shaking My Head in Disbelief

The Choo Choo that Will Not Die

pacenote — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:43:25 +0000

It appears that my happy dance about the death of the Dulles Rail Project was premature. The Humans of Government (HuGo) at the federal level (aka HuGofed) have managed to resurrect this ill-conceived project with a promised infusion of 900 million dollars (see story). Just like that, 900 million dollars…to extend a broken rail system that when built will help such a small minority of the population that it’s public funding should be considered a crime. I must once again reiterate that any transportation money, whether “real,” “found,” or “promised,” should go to transportation projects that help the majority of the people. That means more roads, more efficient interchanges, and fewer choo choo trains.

Like a B-movie horror flick monster, the Dulles Rail Project needs killing or we should all ask for our money back.

Death to Dulles Rail

pacenote — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:04:32 +0000

The federal government’s sudden cold feet about the Metrorail extension to the Dulles Airport and beyond encourages me that the Humans of Government (HuGo) may actually have stumble upon a clue. This project gets more expensive everytime the project officials give a new status report. The project was flawed at its conception with it at best being a “solution” to only an estimated 7% of Northern Virginian commuters.

Here’s a better idea. If we’re going to spend $4-5 billion on transportation, why not put that money into infrastructure projects that benefit 93% of the Northern Virginian Commuters. More roads, higher speed limits, fewer stops signs/signals and more parking.

Building a choo choo train line should be a hobby. It is not a solution to the transportation problems that currently plague Northern Virginia.

My Twelve Days of Christmas

pacenote — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:22:09 +0000

On 2 DEC 07, I received an email from my HOA president that the following article I wrote for the HOA newsletter would NOT be published because, “The Board of Directors feel strongly about the safety of our children and we do not believe your comments on crosswalks and school zones were appropriate for the newsletter.” With that, I’ve decided to publish it here instead.

This article deadline has me working from another state, but I’m pleased to report that I’m with family and in a town that has a near perfect transportation grid (the posted speed limits could be a little higher). There are no traffic lights, no intersections with all-way stop signs, and I’m minutes away from an interstate highway. On the drive up I achieved an average speed 2.5 times the Town’s outdated speed limit and got a 20% increase in fuel mileage. Unfortunately, this place is nearly 300 miles from work.

This was going to be a typical transportation article for the newsletter. You know, humans do things to ruin the flow of traffic, I write about it here, and we shake our heads in disbelief. Perhaps it has something to do with the Christmas season, but I just didn’t feel like spoiling the holiday season with the doom and gloom of human induced gridlock. Instead, I felt like I could tweak the lyrics of the Twelve Days of Christmas in such a way that we end off the year on a positive, optimistic note. For this rendition, I’ll need to remind you that “HuGo” is a contraction of the phrase “Human of Government.”

On the first day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, commutes that are traffic-jam free.

On the second day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, no more excuses.

On the third day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, free decals.

On the fourth day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, gas made of corn.

On the fifth day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, (good)’bye R-T-C.

On the sixth day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, nix daytime paving.

On the seventh day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, banishment of Sport-utes.

On the eighth day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, no pokey drivers.

On the ninth day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, Nien silly crosswalks.

On the tenth day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, death to all school zones.

On the eleventh day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, school buses that use rockets.

On the twelth day of Christmas the HuGos gave to me, fewer traffic lights.

Yes, I know that’s hoping for a lot, but hey, it is the Christmas season. Speaking of the season, on behalf of my family, I want to wish all of you, especially you government officials, a very Merry Christmas. May this season provide you with an opportunity to reflect upon and (re)appreciate the good things in our lives. …And have a blessed New Year.

Hello world!

pacenote — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:52:24 +0000

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