Boondoggles

The Boring Company

The Boring Company Coming Up Short of Expectations in Las Vegas

It seems like the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority expected trouble with The Boring Company, and built a contract that will impact Elon Musk's bottom line for falling short of agreed system capacity and construction timelines.

October 19, 2020 - TechCrunch

Hyperloop

Experts: Great Lakes Hyperloop Study Full of Dubious Claims

About that Hyperloop report…

December 20, 2019 - Jalopnik

Passenger Drone

Flying Taxi Skepticism

A ride-hailing company that lost $5.2 billion in one quarter wants to launch a flying taxi service. According to this op-ed, cities should concentrate on expanding existing public transit systems instead of wasting time and money on pipe dreams.

August 28, 2019 - Streetsblog USA

Marquam Bridge

The Biggest Highway Boondoggles in the United States

Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG have released the fifth edition of its Highway Boondoggles report.

June 18, 2019 - U.S. PIRG Education Fund

O'Hare Blue Line

O'Hare Tunnel, Proposed by Elon Musk, Looks Dead on Arrival in Chicago's New Political Regime

Advocates are relieved Elon Musk's proposal to build a new subterranean connection to O'Hare is dead, but still disappointed at the wasted brainpower and public funding devoted to the idea.

June 9, 2019 - Chicago Sun-Times

Freewways

Nine Highway Expansions Identified as Worst Boondoggles of 2018

In a new report, U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group describe nine costly highway projects amounting to $30 billion in their fourth annual "Highway Boondoggles" report. All share the theme of induced travel demand.

July 2, 2018 - Frontier Group

Freeway Construction

PIRG Releases Third Highway Boondoggles Report

A new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Frontier Group indicates that highway boondoggles have been getting bigger, more costly, with the benefits more limited. Nine projects are analyzed in "Highway Boondoggles 3."

April 20, 2017 - Illinois PIRG

Iowa Caucus Results: Cruz wins, Ethanol Mandate Loses

The only major candidate, Democrat or Republican, to call for an end to the contentious ethanol mandate won the Republican caucus, clearly beating Donald Trump. That could doom what many even in Iowa, among even some farmers, call a boondoggle.

February 3, 2016 - The New York Times - Politics

Report Identifies 12 'Highway Boondoggles'

A new report by U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group identifies the highway projects most likely to break the transportation funding bank.

January 19, 2016 - Frontier Group

FLV California train

Is California's High Speed Rail the Transcontinental Railroad of its Time?

Journalist Kathleen Sharp, whose great-grandfather worked on the transcontinental railroad, draws comparisons between that epic achievement and the construction of California's high speed rail in this New York Times op-ed.

February 10, 2015 - The New York Times - Opinion

BART's Oakland Airport Connector Now in Service

Depending upon which Bay Area newspaper you read, the new 3.2-mile Oakland Airport connector, an elevated, driverless tram that takes eight minutes and costs $6, is either a huge success or a $484 million boondoggle. It began service on November 22.

December 1, 2014 - San Francisco Examiner

Comparing Boondoggles: Light Rail Line in Detroit, Streetcar in Washington D.C.

Jim Epstein suggests that Detroit's new light rail line is America's largest boondoggle; Matthew Yglesias argues that that ignominy belongs to Washington D.C.'s planned streetcar.

July 29, 2014 - Reason

The $20 Million Road for No One in Minnesota

A writer laments the lack of return on investment reflected by a state DOT's decision to fund a highway-widening project for $20 million that will serve 1,100 daily car trips.

July 15, 2014 - Streets MN

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