One quick article

Yeah, I know the blog has been closed for over a year, but I recently read a great article by Stephen Donahue, one of the founders of "Save Our Transit". Well worth the read if you are interested in the Port Authority...

The End of the Road

A few weeks ago, “The Ill-Tempered Ingénue” blog signed off for good. That blog’s final posting struck close to the heart for me. I hope that author doesn’t mind that I’ve paraphrased so much of her final post below, but with the virtual disappearance of my posts as of late, I think it's time to call it a blog.

Frankly, I have neither the time nor the interest to do justice to this blog. To really get into the blogging thing -- to do it several times a week, to keep up with all of the relevant news and write intelligently about them, to not simply copy and paste news stories into articles, you need to make it a full-time job. And I have a full-time job already.

When I come home, I just want to eat dinner, play with my daughter, talk to my wife, and go to sleep. Sleep is outstanding. I don't get paid to blog. Why am I wasting time doing it for nothing? Why am I up late losing sleep on a freebie? Why am I sorting through articles on a weekend instead of spending time with my family?

I have a virtual file of a hundred or so articles that I’ve been meaning to comment upon over the past several weeks/months, but I just haven’t had the time. I could spend the time sorting them and writing for free, OR I could go and play with my beautiful fifteen month old daughter sitting on the floor across the room. I’ve been making the latter choice lately and honestly, I haven’t regretted it at all.

Additionally, I feel more and more that a blog is a liability, a time bomb waiting to blow some kind of awkward shrapnel into my professional or social life. It has brought me no benefit and poses a daily threat. Here's the problem: If I want to really be honest and be as open and critical as I would like to be, I have to be anonymous and vulnerable. If I write under my own name, I have to keep it clean and safe so as not to hurt my family or offend my employer. In either case I can’t win. Watching the great Blog-Lebo get threatened with a lawsuit over a trivial issue posted in the comments was kind of eye-opening. And honestly, I feel that nothing I have to say is THAT important.

So I'm packing it in. Blogging has become a chore from which I get no pleasure, and I'm not at all sure the world needs another angry, bitter ranter. But it's had some fun moments. I want to thank my half-dozen or so stalwarts for their patience and loyalty. But you know how to get in touch with me. Drop me an e-mail. I'm never too busy for that.

Interested in transit issues? Here are some recommended blogs:

• Null Space - An excellent Pittsburgh focused blog that frequently talks about mass-transit issues
• Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space - A Washington, DC blog which focuses on mass-transit issues and urban development issues in that city
• CommuterPageBlog - Another Washington, DC blog focusing on transit
• The Transportationist - A Minneapolis blog focusing on transportation issues

[Other Blogs] Null Space: Pittsburgh to Steubenville in minutes

Null Space: Pittsburgh to Steubenville in minutes

Mayor vetoes parking tax freeze

Mayor vetoes parking tax freeze: "Mayor Luke Ravenstahl yesterday vetoed a proposed ordinance that would have canceled a parking tax cut, and said he is 'committed to directing' the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, whose board he appoints, to cut rates. The veto follows a four-week debate over the city's 45 percent parking levy, which pitted a City Council majority against lot operators and some state legislators who favored the tax cut. It virtually ensures a cut to 40 percent Jan. 1, but does not guarantee that parking prices will decrease."

Transit pass crackdown - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Transit pass crackdown - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Port Authority has charged 162 people over the past five years for access device fraud. Another 56 people have been charged with forgery. In most cases, the penalty is a minimum fine of $1,023 -- the cost of an annual Zone Three pass."

Maglev's alive, but is it well?

Maglev's alive, but is it well?: "Plans are still alive -- barely -- to develop futuristic, magnetically levitated trains to whisk passengers between Pittsburgh International Airport and Downtown at speeds reaching 240 mph. But whether a high-speed maglev system will ever be built here or anywhere in the United States in the near future remains uncertain. The Federal Railroad Administration is reviewing a draft version of a final environmental impact statement that could position Maglev Inc. to proceed with the first 15 miles of a national demonstration project, proposed to eventually total 47 miles by continuing east to Monroeville and Greensburg."

Riding the bus or T will soon cost more - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Riding the bus or T will soon cost more - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "A fare hike is coming for riders of Port Authority's T and buses. The transit agency's board is expected this week to consider proposals to hike fares starting Jan. 1, and the price options could be higher than the previous 75-cent increase floated by the authority in the summer."

Video: Alternative Transportation Festival

Video: Alternative Transportation Festival: "The Alternative Transportation Festival (ATF) is an event to raise public awareness of alternative means of transportation and advocate for the increased use of public transportation, car-sharing, alternative fuels, fuel efficient hybrid and advanced vehicles."

Transit union hits Onorato on budget after he called benefits 'outrageous'

Transit union hits Onorato on budget after he called benefits 'outrageous':

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato's budget remarks may have set the stage for the most contentious labor situation at the Port Authority since 1992, when union workers staged a 28-day strike. 'If he thinks he's going to take [budget problems] out on the backs of workers, he's going to have a fight on his hands,' Patrick McMahon, president and business agent for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, said yesterday after reading news articles in which Mr. Onorato called union benefits 'outrageous.'

Drink tax proposals

One proposal to help pay for transit funding in Allegheny County is to initiate a 10% tax on drinks served in the county.

Onorato budget seeks 200 layoffs, drink tax
from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato wants to cut $10 million out of next year's budget by eliminating 200 county jobs to avoid raising property taxes.

In his 2008 budget address to County Council yesterday, Mr. Onorato also called for imposing a full 10 percent alcoholic drink tax and a $2-a-day tax on car rentals to pay for transit. He also said he would withhold the county's share of the Port Authority's budget until the authority eliminates excesses from its contracts.

Onorato plans 200 layoffs, 2 new taxes
from Tribune-Review News

Allegheny County's chief executive plans to lay off 200 workers Jan. 1 to help plug a $30 million hole in the 2008 budget. Additional money to erase the deficit would come from taxes on alcoholic drinks and rental cars.

Drink tax prospects worry businesses along Allegheny County border
from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With county officials now considering a drink tax to help fund the Port Authority transit system, they also now face the prospect of adding 10 percent to their customers' bills -- a tax their Butler County counterparts, just minutes away in Cranberry, won't have to pay.

Local restaurants balk at transit tab
from Tribune-Review News

Dozens of restaurateurs, wait staff and kitchen workers gathered to protest a proposal to tax poured alcoholic drinks and rental cars.

Video: Drinking tax protest
from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Council's proposed drink tax drew dozens of speakers to a hearing last night. That tax, coupled with a $2 car rental surcharge designed to pay the county's $26.3 million subsidy for the Port Authority, has drawn the ire of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, which staged a rally earlier in the day.

County's hearing on new taxes to draw crowd
from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Council expects to get an earful tonight at its hearing on taxes it is considering to fund the county's share of the Port Authority budget. At least 41 people have lined up to speak for or against proposals to impose a poured drink tax of up to 10 percent and a $2 increase in the car rental tax.

Drink, car rental taxes no sure bet with Council
from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato has bet his 2008 budget on County Council adopting new taxes on alcoholic drinks and car rentals to fund mass transit. It's not a sure thing.