transportprovidence
RIPTA fares, the most hated tax in Rhode Island
I’ve been re-reading The Stuff of Thought by the MIT linguist Steven Pinker. It’s a book I’ve read many times, but each time I re-read it, it helps to explain something new to me about the way human minds work. Pinker has a chapter about content-locative and container-locative verbs. Please don’t snooze about the grammar– I […]
No, lowering the car tax is what’s regressive.
Sam Bell and I have been debating the role of the car tax in producing economic equality. I wrote a bit about this on my own blog, which Sam generously linked to, but I also wanted to post to RI Future with some new information not in the original post. Getting a political message across […]
Governor Raimondo’s car tax plan unjust
Raimondo deserves a modest nod for choosing not to completely eliminate car taxes, a regressive plan that for some reason many progressives think would help economic justice.
Creating opportunity regarding the car tax
I don’t agree with eliminating the car tax, but if it’s going to be done, are there ways for progressive legislators to use the process to better advantage? I’ve come up with some bargaining chips that I think should be in the progressive line-up while dealing with the car tax. Just briefly. . . Some […]
RIDOT complicates viaduct when it should simplify
The Spaghetti Monster is real my friends, and it demands tribute. RIDOT cites the safety problem of driver weaving on “the Viaduct” in a proposal to increase the girth of I-95 between the 6/10 Connector and the Statehouse. The FASTLANE application also calls for a reconfiguration of the Dean Street ramps to the 6/10 Connector. […]
Build bridges, not walls, on Tobey Street
The 6/10 Connector plan agreed to by Mayor Jorge Elorza and Governor Raimondo calls for a bridge crossing between Tobey Street and Olneyville (it appears to be Grove Street, by my reckoning) on the other side. This is one of the better features of an otherwise lackluster plan. However, the Tobey Street bridge is currently […]
The rural argument against the Electoral College
Since the election of 2016, a fiercer battle over the legitimacy of the Electoral College has ensued. A lot of the arguments for getting rid of the Electoral College have ignored an important constituency: conservative rural voters. I’m for abolishing the Electoral College, so that the presidential vote is truly democratic. But if democracy advocates […]
An alternate autopsy of the Clinton campaign
Friends, countrymen, Jonathan Jacobs says he comes not to praise Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, but to mourn it. With due respect to Jacobs (who is an honorable man) I think his high school English teacher did a poor job of teaching him the deep manipulation that Marc Anthony was enacting on his audience when he uttered […]
Up Against a Wall with 6/10
Mayor Jorge Elorza appeared with his team from Providence Planning to present a draft proposal for the 6/10 Connector Monday night. The plan took the form of a parkway.
Willy Wonka leads the way on the 6/10 Connector
Director Peter Alviti of RIDOT recently stated his own version of reality about the 6/10 Connector when he said that, “Hypothetical plans or other scenarios could be explored in the world of theory, but in the world of reality we are facing we now need to address this structurally deficient problem.” Alviti’s words are dismissive […]
ProJo 6/10 editorial wrong on basic facts
The Providence Journal editorial board posted a piece praising Governor Gina Raimondo for her decision to ignore the public process and the recommendations of national and local experts to fast-track the reconstruction of the 6/10 Connector. The Projo is, as a journalistic entity, free to make whatever statements it wants on any issue. The problem with […]
On 6/10, Pichardo says people want ‘plan to reunite the neighborhoods’
Governor Gina Raimondo may have acted too hastily when she took off the table the idea of transforming the 6/10 connector into a boulevard, according to Providence state Senator Juan Pichardo. “The people who live in these areas were counting on the plans to reconnect the neighborhoods after being divided for so long by the […]
Raimondo quietly reverses 6/10 decision, then backslides.
Governor Raimondo seemed to quietly reverse herself on the 6/10 Connector, stating that her office was open to working with the City of Providence on any solution that was safe, did not worsen traffic, and was cost-effective. Through a staffer, Raimondo later denied that her statement constituted a reversal of policy. Rhode Islanders can continue […]
Raimondo’s office must take 6/10 position
Resident Laura Bozzi says transit must "outcompete" driving. #610Connector pic.twitter.com/sCjYXpMUkT — Transport Providence (@TransportPVD) August 30, 2016 The assembled crowd of 200 people at Tuesday night’s 6/10 Connector community meeting were unequivocal: no highway should be rebuilt along the corridor. It found a receptive if demur audience in Providence Planning Department and Mayor Jorge Elorza. […]
The Elorza challenge: PVD needs bike lanes
Providence has made next to no progress on bike infrastructure during the two years the mayor has been in office.
This needs to change.
Where is the bike infrastructure, Mayor Elorza?
Can Joe Paolino learn to love the bus?
Former Providence mayor Joseph Paolino’s media blitz around homelessness should be taken with a grain (or two, or three) of salt. In 2014, Paolino spoke with James Baar at The Projo (“The Seven Deadly Sins of Downtown Providence”, April 29, 2014) to outline his angst over panhandling homeless people and low income bus riders, suggesting a set […]
The #MaybeHillary movement
#NeverHillary is a bit too flippant to me. The point of an election is to pressure a candidate, and get results. We have gotten some movement in the right direction, thanks to Bernie Sanders. Still, for many voters, there are still significant reasons not to want to cast a vote for Hillary Clinton. Instead of […]
Develop a land tax to replace TSAs
RI Future’s recent coverage of a tax stabilization agreement (or TSA) for Rising Sun Mills admirably pursues the idea of a fair tax system for all Providence residents. There’s a lot I agree with about this approach. At its roots, TSAs are an insider deal. But the logic behind TSAs makes a lot more sense than is obvious at […]
The Manchurian Candidate & urbanism
One of the stranger comments I receive from time to time is that urbanism is a secret plot to take away people’s freedom. I get this more often from people on the right, but it’s also a component of left criticism of urbanism. The weird thing about this conspiracy theory is that it’s a tag-team, […]
Don’t eliminate parking meters, fix them
I was a little flabbergasted to see a piece highlighting an effort to remove parking meters on a progressive website like RI Future. We should not remove the parking meters on Thayer Street, but we should change their implementation. There are a lot of legitimate complaints about the way the Elorza Administration has implemented parking […]
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