Once hailed the transit-pay mechanism of the future, the cards have become one of Bay Area transit's biggest flops. Yet the money keeps flowing while the costs keep rising.
"Frequently touted as the future of Bay Area transit -- allowing commuters to move seamlessly from bus to train to ferry with one plastic fare-card that is paid for by cash or credit -- Translink has seen costs essentially double every four years -- before the system has been put into widespread use, expected to be around 2009.
In 1999, the budget stood at $38 million. By 2003, it had gone up to $79 million. Now, it stands at $150 million."
"'No one is happy we're having this kind of delay, but part of the problem is the fact we're trying to integrate more than two dozen transit operators, and some of them haven't ever had a modern fare collection system,' said Randy Rentschler of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a planning and funding body that has taken the lead in implementing Translink."
"A pilot program in 2002 -- a year later than originally planned -- proved immensely popular for 4,000 test commuters, so officials agreed to expand the Translink system to all Bay Area transit systems."
Read the full story: Costs double as Translink system idles
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future
Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.
Officials claim feds 'rushed' Amtrak environmental review
Amtrak plans to move their Chicago maintenance facility from an industrial area to a residential one.
NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project
New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.
One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing
The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority