By John Koenig – Transportation decisions forge the physical development of a region like exercise choices shape a person’s physique. What might Arnold Schwarzenegger look like had he spent hours each day training to run in marathons instead of pumping iron? The introduction of high-speed rail, connected to local rail transit systems, along the I-4 corridor promises to encourage new home and office development near train stations – the closer and denser, the better.

By Liam Julian – Assuming the Tampa-Orlando high-speed train is ready by 2015, when it is scheduled to begin service, who will ride it? A major concern is that potential passengers will be dissuaded from hopping aboard simply because the train won’t take them anywhere near their final destinations. If Obama keeps his promise to return and ride the new high-speed rail, he may find he has the train all to himself.

By Doug Callaway — Now that Gov. Charlie Crist has vetoed the Legislature’s raid on the Transportation Trust Fund, he can further improve transportation in the Florida by signing House Bill 1271.

So, what’s your excuse for running red lights? Late for work? Late picking up the kids/husband/wife? Didn’t think the signal was working? If I slammed on the brakes, I would have skidded into the intersection? Light changed while I was making a left turn? If I stepped on the brakes, I would have been rammed? I didn’t see any cars coming – what’s the big deal? Sorry, the camera at the intersection doesn’t care. It blinks once and sends a digital photo off to a distant “stationhouse” that mails you a $125 ticket – maybe more, maybe less. And if legislation pending in the Florida Legislature passes to set uniform statewide standards for operating red-light cameras, that ticket would cost you $155 to $158, enough to buy a week’s worth of groceries for a family of four.

As the incidences of red-light running and speeding increase along with congestion, densely populated roadways throughout Florida and across the country are becoming prime crash locations. Rather than obey legal limits, many drivers unthinkingly race through red lights and speed to their destinations on a daily basis without regard for the safety of others on the road. This sense of entitlement — my time is more valuable than your safety — combined with a low expectation of being caught is responsible for rampant disrespect for the rules of the road and an upward trend in all forms of aggressive driving, not only red-light running.

In 1996, a very short, seemingly innocuous editorial in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel welcomed the idea of setting up automatic cameras to snap photos of cars that run red lights. “A sensible way to save lives,” the newspaper wrote, blithely predicting that a “bill shouldn’t be controversial” to expand the use of video and still cameras throughout the state – and neglecting to mention that such cameras were illegal. Since then, more municipalities throughout Florida have climbed on the red-light camera bandwagon, preaching safety and pocketing big bucks, still evading the legal points. With the Legislature likely to tackle the lightening-rod issue, and as lawsuits against their use are pending in court, here are some blunt words: End the red-light-camera scam.

If red-light cameras are not the answer to improved safety at intersections, what are some things that might help and are less punitive to responsible, taxpaying drivers?

By Bruce Stephenson
In 1953, General Motors Chairman Charles Wilson reportedly quipped, “What is good for General Motors is good for the nation” during his Senate confirmations hearings to lead the Pentagon. The quote was a logical assumption at the time, because GM was a linchpin of a robust economy, and the Interstate Highway Act [...]