Scott Baker and Eric Johnson of Common Ground-NYC have produced a nice little comic book (pdf) introducing how the land value tax can work. Of course it is focused on New York, and on transit rather than other public services, but the principle comes thru clearly.
Archive for the ‘transit’ Category
Have medallion prices peaked?
March 22nd, 2010 by Administrator
When last reviewed here, prices for Chicago taxi medallions had risen to an average of $185,000. Prices have since peaked at $202,000, but now are below that previous level. The March Chicago Dispatcher printed edition includes an ad offering to pay medallion owners $750/month, which implies almost 5% ROI if prices stabilize.
Month Price Source
February ’10 $183,000 Chicago Dispatcher
January ’10 $184,000 Chicago Dispatcher
December ’09 $202,000 Chicago Dispatcher
October ‘09 $185,000 City of Chicago
May ‘09 $170,000 Chicago Dispatcher
April ‘09 $164,500 Chicago Dispatcher
March ‘09 $165,000 Chicago Dispatcher
February ‘09 $158,000 Chicago Dispatcher
Feb ‘07 $ 77,000 Chicago Tribune
2004 >$40,000 Chicago Tribune
1991 $28,000 Chicago Sun Times
Eventually the City of Chicago may post more recent information here (scroll down to “Taxicab Medallion Transfer Price List” for the pdf report.)
Car price trends
January 10th, 2010 by Administrator
I don’t have a car, don’t want one, can’t afford one, always figured they are just way too expensive for intelligent folks to waste money on. But someone close to me has “always” had a car, and when her twelve-year-old one became less reliable and more expensive to maintain, decided to get a new one. Same make, essentially the same model, a Toyota Sienna van. Of course, over twelve years there were some changes, mostly improvements and extra features (power doors, stability control). To me, the amazing part was:
- Cost of new car in 1998: $27,370
- Cost of new car in 2010: $27,133
The above are current dollars, include all taxes and invented fees, and were the result of negotiation by an informed customer. . Now, in 1998 this was a new model, they were hard to get. By 2010, production was more in line with demand, inventories at local dealers were limited but there was some choice of color. The 2010 price was net of a $1,000 rebate, which of course is just Toyota’s way of cutting prices temporarily..
It turns out that this does reflects the general state of the auto industry: Our friends at the Bureau of Labor Statistics say that car prices in November (the latest available) were 2.8% below the 1999 annual average (Earlier figures apparently aren’t available on weekends.)
Of course, auto manufacturers have a big investment sunk into their plants, and prefer to lose a bit of money to keep them active, rather than taking a bigger hit by closing them down.
It would be interesting to compare these figures to the cost of transit rolling stock.
More bad news on seating
December 22nd, 2009 by Administrator
We have known for years that the new CTA railcars would have longitudinal seating. Not particularly comfortable, but allegedly provides more standing room, and more wheelchair space. A few new cars are now on the property and undergoing testing, so now we know that:
- the new seats are the regular substandard width, contoured kind, probably the least comfortable for bench seats;
- the design fails to efficiently use even the limited space available.
Regarding the latter point, if there is, say, an extra six inches in the space occupied by a row of, say, five seats, it is physically possible to space them an extra 1.5″ apart, providing a bit more space. In fact, some CTA buses implement this concept on the rear bench. But not the railcars. The first pic illustrates this.
One wonders what is expected to happen in the several extra inches at the end of the car.
Below are a couple more pics. These were taken yesterday at Howard, where a test train paused briefly at the platform. Sorry about the poor quality (of the images); they were taken thru thehigh-reflectivity glass used on these cars.
Even if they operate well (of which there is no guarantee), it is evident that these are the most uncomfortable cars yet. Unfortunately, the same has been said about every car order since at least 1972, and it is all too likely that captive riders will become accustomed, and the few noncaptives will depart. (Or be made captive by decreasing incomes and increasing parking costs).
Speculating in cab medallions
November 19th, 2009 by Administrator
Prices below are medians (2009), and “average” for earlier years.
Month Price Source
October ’09 $185,000 City of Chicago
May ‘09 $170,000 Chicago Dispatcher
April ‘09 $164,500 Chicago Dispatcher
March ‘09 $165,000 Chicago Dispatcher
February ‘09 $158,000 Chicago Dispatcher
Feb ‘07 $ 77,000 Chicago Tribune
2004 >$40,000 Chicago Tribune
1991 $28,000 Chicago Sun Times
The October list includes two sales atr $190,000.
As medallion prices rise despite a sagging economy, this seems to me to indicate that fares are already too high and should be reduced, which would allow medallion prices to fall and, in theory, drivers would be unaffected while passengers benefit.
But Chicago Dispatcher publisher George Lutfallah sees it differently. Due to difficult conditions in the taxi industry, individual medallion owners are selling their medallions to big owners– the taxi equivalent of land speculators. Lutfallah sees this as a bad thing, “a taxi driver who owns his or her own cab is more likely to take better care of both the vehicle and the customer.” He therefore recommends a fare increase. (source: print edition of Chicago Dispatcher October ’09)
Easier TIF qualification
November 9th, 2009 by Administrator
Now you don’t need to even pretend that your TIF area is dilapidated. Just propose a STAR Line station within a half mile, get the Board to approve, and you can divert tax dollars pretty much for whatever you want. Thanks to ILAPA’s Sharon Caddigan for the alert. Of course, an openly-administered TIF process might be appropriate for development near any transit station, provided that the funds raised are used to actually provide service at the station.
Helluva way to run a railroad
October 5th, 2009 by Administrator
According to the November issue of Trains Magazine (not on the web afaik):
[T]wo key players …on the Amtrak board, Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo and Amtrak president Joseph Boardman, cannot have any contact or even be in the same room together for one year due to federal ethics rules, because Boardman was the previous FRA administrator.
Couldn’t they just hire a lobbyist, or maybe get one of BHO’s Chicago buddies, to contrive a way around the ethics laws?
Walkability pays
September 20th, 2009 by Administrator
Lots of folks like to live at relatively high densities. Though a big house and yard are nice, they prefer easy access to facilities and services. That’s why land prices are usually high in densely-developed areas (One might say that high price is the market’s way of maintaining density).
None of this is news to Georgists or observant urbanites, but it’s nice to note that it’s been documented that “walkability raises home values in U. S. cities.” How much? Well, computing a “walkability score” based strictly on proximity to 13 different services (apparently with no consideration of whether there are maintained sidewalks or paths), in Chicago each one point increase (equivalent to one percent of the total range) increases residential land value by $5260. This incidentally is the highest amount for any of the 15 cities studied
Public transportation is not directly recognized in this study, altho it is acknowledged that walkability is somewhat correlated with transit service. Therefore part of this value may be due to transit.
The walkability study is among many interesting resources identified in VTPI‘s new compilation and analysis “Where We Want to Be: Home Location Preferences and their Implications for Smart Growth (pdf). “
Medallion Prices– upward trend continues
September 5th, 2009 by Administrator
Month Price Source
July ’09 $175,000 Chicago Dispatcher
May ‘09 $170,000 Chicago Dispatcher
April ‘09 $164,500 Chicago Dispatcher
March ‘09 $165,000 Chicago Dispatcher
February ‘09 $158,000 Chicago Dispatcher
Feb ‘07 $ 77,000 Chicago Tribune
2004 >$40,000 Chicago Tribune
1991 $28,000 Chicago Sun Times
August 25th is the most recent date for which sales are reported on the Chicago City web site. Three of four sales that day were at $184,000.
Minnesota looks at funding transport from land tax
July 8th, 2009 by Administrator
A new report from the University of Minnesota looks at ways of financing transportation projects by capturing part of the benefit they provide. Land value tax is only one of the eight options (Land Value Tax, Tax Increment Financing, Special Assessments, Transportation Utility Fees, Development Impact Fees, Negotiated Exactions, Joint Development, Air Rights) considered.
A quick skim indicates that on the whole it’s pretty good, though it seems to overestimate the difficulty of assessing land value, and repeats the error of some previous studies which conflates owners of land occupied by low income people with the low income people themselves. (More likely, low income people are renters living on land owned by someone else, and when taxes on such land increase the owners can’t pass the cost on to their tenants.)
There is also mention of a study, new to me, that seems to document an anti-sprawl benefit from a land tax. The study unfortunately is secured by ssrn; I shall have to try to find it elsewhere.
This study was requested and funded by the Minnesota legislature.
Hat tip to lvtfan.