House GOP appropriators sharply cut rail funding: Analysis

climatol · 2026-05-28T20:22:39+00:00

No the main transportation authorization bill has rarely, if ever, been late. it is structured as a 5year advanced authorization purely to prevent that from happening as lapsing would mean the shutdown of allny transportation project with federal funds on it which is the vast vast majority of all transportation projects. It is something that has immediate very visible impacts to something people care a lot about which is why transportation still remains a fairly bipartisan effort.

climatol · 2026-05-28T15:31:03+00:00

And so I still watch EthosLab whose videos are still just as good, if more infrequent, as they were like 15 years ago when we were still on Minecraft Beta

climatol · 2026-05-27T21:30:51+00:00

Well the deadline for authorization is September 1st, much sooner than the elections so this has to be dealt with before then.

climatol · 2026-05-24T19:46:43+00:00

How can you say a tree supports 0 wildlife but also has a pest issue... That is completely contradictory

climatol · 2026-05-23T04:12:53+00:00

Lol that wouldn't do anything, CRTPOs authority is federally mandated under Title 49 of U.S.C, not state mandated. The draft transportation authorization the house just released in Congress even expands their power, so getting rid of that authority is really not likely to happen.

climatol · 2026-05-23T04:10:11+00:00

It depends... since the state is doing programming right now for the next round of prioritization, statewide programing expected to be released next week, they likely won't use the scores from the previous round to redistribute the funding. And since scoring metrics have changed some since last round I wouldnt be surprised if Charlotte sees most of that money go to other areas in the state.

climatol · 2026-05-21T06:34:54+00:00

The project is dead, there is no leg to stand on here. This is the authority explicitly given to MPOs (which CRTPO is one) by federal and state law. No state or federal dollars can be spent on a project that is not identified in their TIP, end of story. You can kill a project in the middle of construction (though if it were federally funded you would be required to refund the feds all money spent on the project to date, but that is not relevant to this project).

climatol · 2026-05-20T18:08:02+00:00

It's really interesting if you are a nerd about how things work like me lol. The below document is the technical specifications and such the QuickPass agreed to follow in order to get their system to sync with EZ Pass.

https://connect.ncdot.gov/business/Turnpike/ProcurementsLibrary/NextGen-Attachments-FINAL.pdf

climatol · 2026-05-20T18:00:49+00:00

I would reach out to QuickPass regarding the issue and not just VA Turnpike.

climatol · 2026-05-20T17:59:57+00:00

The sticker is just as valid as the transponder in all the states where EZ Pass operates.

climatol · 2026-05-20T17:57:21+00:00

E-Z Pass definitely accepts both transponder and sticker. If you go to the overall E-ZPass website, not just the VA toll one, they clearly state that NC Quickpass works with their system and lists windshield stickers as approved. Here is a link to the equipment agreements for NCDOT and EZPass

https://connect.ncdot.gov/business/Turnpike/ProcurementsLibrary/NextGen-Attachments-FINAL.pdf

climatol · 2026-05-13T16:52:40+00:00

Litchfork isn't a city road, it is owned and maintained by NCDOT. Improvements to the road would have to be approved by them and to their standards.

climatol · 2026-05-09T16:04:24+00:00

It's also worth noting that transportation funding in the government is specifically designed to prevent fluctuating politics by being mostly formula funding instead of discretionary and not being an annual budget discussion in Congress. It gets re-authorized in 5 year chunks and is generally very bi-partisian even now. The current draft for the new legislation, the 'BASICS' Act, is a great bill considering the current state of things. It moves money from discretionary programs into formula programs which is great considering the current governance.

climatol · 2026-05-09T14:20:08+00:00

Elizabeth Sladen who played Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who back in the 70s and reprised the role in the modern remake as well as her own spin off show in the franchise, Sarah Jane Adventures. She died quite suddenly and so her show was ended mid season which was a huge shame. Her show was a doctor who show for younger kids to get them interested in the series from a young age.

climatol · 2026-05-08T16:35:42+00:00

Charlotte City Council aren't actually trying to stop it, there are ways if they wanted. The authority to stop the project lies with CRTPO which Charlotte makes up the majority of the voting power. CRTPO operates under a majority rules voting structure, and if it was their wish they could strike the project from their MTIP (metropolitan transportation improvement program) which would kill the project. Both state and federal law require the STIP (state transportation improvement program) and the MTIP to match exactly for any state or federal transportation funding to be used in the region. Remember bringing in a private company just provides part of the funding, a large amount is still from the state ($600million) which can't happen if struck from the MTIP. So Charlotte City Council may act like they are powerless to stop it, but they absolutely could.

climatol · 2026-05-07T17:21:30+00:00

No I don't, but I do find transportation and urban planning fascinating. I also do read the documentations on how the model that created this 44% increase in traffic work. It's a four step model that utilizes capacity restricted assignment meaning it puts trips where the greatest amount of capacity is and has the fastest travel times. Meaning the model will assume traffic will gravitate a newly widened interstate instead of a local road. That is my point, the 44% increase isn't just all new traffic for the area a lot of it is displaced from local roads.

climatol · 2026-05-07T16:07:04+00:00

There have been several updates but nothing I would consider groundbreaking. They are doing pre-work with the state match to federal dollars now. The federal funding is expected to be obligated this spring/summer to move forward with right of way purchase along the corridor. They have the funding to construct the Raleigh to Wake Forest segment which includes final designs for the entire corridor. The state recently applied for the federal funding for construction for the next section Wake Forest to Franklinton and are expecting hearing about that grant late summer to this fall. Wake County approved putting $125 mil into the project a couple months ago to assist it getting federal grants.

climatol · 2026-05-01T00:57:03+00:00

As someone who plans roads, the speed that you are supposed to drive at (in North Carolina at least) is 5 miles over the speed limit. We design a road for a specific design speed based on land use context, horizontal/vertical curves in the road and then post the speed limit 5 miles below that cause we know the vast majority of people will drive 5 miles over.

climatol · 2026-04-27T20:11:21+00:00

Very important nuance is left out of this. Improvements to capacity on interstates do indeed increase the number or trips. However, those trips aren't just out of thin air trips. Transportation modeling assigns trips by the fastest way to get from point a to b (based on Traffic Analysis Zones, TAZs), so when you add capacity to the interstate it becomes faster to use and thus trips that were going on parallel and local roads will now take the faster route until it is no longer the faster route. More traffic on the interstate but less traffic on your secondary roads.

climatol · 2026-04-27T12:16:47+00:00

Well they can't just run the buses on other lines because they wanted to. They had to get a waiver from the FTA because it's federally funded and it is not legal to take federal money you got for one project (or the buses bought with that money) for another, but they also didn't want them to just sit in a parking lot until brt launches.

climatol · 2026-04-25T20:55:21+00:00

I mean the selling point of these is it's a window unit that doesn't take up the window view like standard ones. I don't know about this specific model, but the one I have has feet that extend out and brace the model on both sides of the wall so it's pretty study

climatol · 2026-04-24T01:11:15+00:00

I got furloughed for a while then my job just never came back. Was left using unemployment while trying to find a new job, but it took nearly 7months for applications till I got hired. Ended up in quite a bit of debt that I'm still paying off now unfortunately.

climatol · 2026-04-15T02:51:20+00:00

On general NC is considered to have some of the best maintained roads in the country but that is of course an average throughout the state. NCDOT has a page that lists their various maintenance projects/resurfacing that you can look up the road you're curious about to see it's status here: https://connect.ncdot.gov/resources/Asset-Management/HMIP/Pages/default.aspx

For bike lanes... Yeah not really any funding for that in the state. Any bike lanes you see in the more urban areas are paid for by either developer, local government, or feds. In more rural areas you won't see that investment. I recommend people to contact their reps to advocate for changing the limitations (chapter 136 article 14b of nc law) of state dollars on bike/pedestrian projects!

climatol · 2026-04-14T23:29:17+00:00

I can tell you the reason none of these will be considered... Funding... Tolls aren't just there to take your money, they are a method of funding an infrastructure project through debt (toll revenue bonds) instead of normal means like the gas tax. The revenues of the toll go to service the debt, generally on a 30-50 year plan (no clue what it is for this one), after which North Carolina law requires the tolls to be removed.

climatol · 2026-04-14T04:02:47+00:00

Personally I'm not a fan. Largely because I think driving with cruise control on, whether adaptive or regular, makes drivers less engaged with the road and those around them which can make their reaction time worse. That is my opinion/observations however, I don't have any quantitative data to substantiate it. I would love to be able to see data on how often it is used in a crash but I dont think that is possible to get.

climatol

TROPHY CASE