Flying Cars
Why is it so bloody difficult?
Time Is Running Out for the U.S. Air-Traffic Control System
If this is a funding issue, privatization may be the answer. Let a newly private ATC system fund itself with fees per flight.
‘America’s ATC system employs a significant amount of outdated technology for which no replacement parts exist, partly because the FAA often waits until a unit fails before trying to repair or replace it. Well-managed, well-funded ATC systems in Australia, Canada, Germany and the U.K. are able to plan large-scale technology replacements before systems begin breaking down. Many ATC providers buy replacement systems in bulk and roll them out to all facilities over a year or two. By contrast, the FAA in some cases takes 10 to 15 years to install replacement systems, by which time the systems may already be obsolete.’
Terrifying.
‘The headaches at Newark began last Monday when the Philadelphia air traffic control facility that oversees flights at the airport had equipment malfunctions. After the FAA finally resolved the technical snafus, flight disruptions persisted because of a shortage of controllers.
‘United Airlines on Friday canceled 35 daily round-trip flights at the airport going forward. “In the past few days, on more than one occasion, technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes coming in and out of Newark airport failed,” CEO Scott Kirby said. He also cited a walkout by more than 20% of controllers at the site.’
Air-Traffic Control Overhaul Needs Billions in Upfront Investment, Transportation Secretary Says
We need Operation Warp Speed but for air traffic control.
Come to think of it, we may need Operation Warp Speed for lots of things.
‘At the press conference, Duffy pointed to equipment he said looked as though it came from the set of “Apollo 13” or the Smithsonian, rather than a modern tower. Unless aging systems are replaced, he said the problems at Newark could crop up around the country. ‘
Air Traffic Reform in Our Lifetime?
We’re decades behind on reforming US air traffic control.
Is anyone surprised?
‘Enter Mr. Duffy, who is proposing to accelerate upgrades to air traffic control communications and surveillance systems. Many of them were supposed to be complete by this year as part of the NextGen overhaul that Congress mandated in 2003—yes, 22 years ago. He plans to replace analog-device technology with faster and more secure digital networks.
‘Some of these improvements on current course won’t be complete for more than a decade, but Mr. Duffy’s goal is to finish them in two to three years if Congress gives the FAA more money. House Republicans plan to allocate $15 billion for modernizing air traffic control technology in the budget reconciliation bill.’
Pasadena says it’ll take 500 years to underground its power lines
This is not a Babylon Bee headline. It’s a passive-aggressive plea for funding.
‘PWP cites limited undergrounding funding and high costs as driving the half-millenium timeline.
‘ “Generally, it will take an estimated 100 years to complete undergrounding the remaining Category I streets,” wrote PWP. “Work on Category II streets would likely not commence until after Category I streets have been completed. According to that construction timeline, Category II streets would be completed in approximately 400 years.”’
100 Years, $4.77 Billion: New York's Second Avenue Subway Disaster
American bureaucracy is the most conservative institution one can imagine. If the purpose of a system is what it does, then American bureaucracy’s purpose is to make change and progress impossible. Its secondary purpose appears to be making people outside of the accountability of working for agencies immensely wealthy.
‘American transit agencies have outsourced their brains to consultants who get paid by the hour. The MTA recently approved a $186.6 million consultant contract for Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway alone; the project’s consultants have already collected checks to the tune of $665 million dollars for three redesigns over 31 years.
‘The damage extends beyond inflated budgets. As agencies hollow out their in-house expertise, they squander institutional knowledge. By 2011, the MTA had slashed its capital projects management team from 1,600 employees to just 124 overseeing $20 billion in investments. One agency staffer admitted, “it was the consultants who knew everything about past projects rather than agency staff” — creating a vicious cycle that ensures agencies remain dependent on the very consultants driving up costs.
‘Regulatory Hell
‘Try to build anything in America and you’ll drown in paperwork. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) adds 3-5 years to transit projects through environmental reviews that nobody reads. The Second Avenue Subway’s environmental review (for Phases 1 and 2 combined) was 11,000 pages and required 147 permits. That stack of paper cost hundreds of millions and delayed construction for years.
‘Then there’s the Buy America Act, which forces agencies to pay premium prices for domestic equipment. The MTA paid $75 million for tunnel boring machines that European projects get for about €50 million.
‘It doesn’t have to be like this. Spain, far from a deregulated capitalist utopia, needed just a 19-page environmental assessment for a four-mile subway extension. And based on my amateur opinion, the environment seems fine over there.’