Posted on 04/12/2010 9:42:48 AM PDT by Revelation 911
I am not often surprised in the course of my job. But on Friday, during a news conference promoting high speed rail in New York state, I couldn't help but be surprised.
Politicians do not usually say, in very clear terms, that the plan is to build first and ask questions later.
Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was in town to help pump up the project. The feds have earmarked $151 million via the stimulus bill for high speed rail in New York state. But that only starts the process of building it; it will likely cost more money to complete, and certainly there will be annual operational costs when it's up and running.
So I had some questions.
In this town, I can't imagine a big project - paid with tax dollars - not receiving heavy scrutiny. Not after the fast ferry. I assume political leaders welcome it. After all, the news media largely bought into the fast ferry, and we didn't ask enough questions about the business plan. But we've learned that hard lesson, so I asked Congresswoman Louise Slaughter a three-part question:
1) What are the projected operational costs for high speed rail after it's built? 2) What kind of ridership is needed to sustain the costs? 3) Who will subsidize the project if that ridership projection is not met?
Check out the video in the top right part of the screen. Congresswoman Slaughter's answer surprised me.
"Oh for goodness sake," she responded. "Do you mind if we build it first?" The other elected leaders laughed as she poked fun at the question, but I might humbly submit that many taxpayers do, in fact, mind if they build it first. There is a weariness in western New York when it comes to building first, asking questions later.
Ms. Slaughter went on to say, "I understand what you're saying, and I know that we've had a disappointment or two along the way in Rochester, but this is not going to be one of them." She insisted that college students and business travelers would be consistent riders of the rail.
No one is saying that high speed rail is the next fast ferry (though I probably would have chosen a different slogan for the project than "fast forward," which was on display Friday - too evocative). But here is a list of questions we asked Friday, for which there were no answers:
1) What are the projected operational costs for high speed rail after it's built? 2) What kind of ridership is needed to sustain the costs? 3) Who will subsidize the project if that ridership projection is not met? 4) How much more money will be needed to complete the project? 5) Will the federal government provide all of any necessary dollars to complete the project? 6) How much will it cost riders to take the high speed rail? 7) How much shorter will a trip from Rochester to Albany become with high speed rail? How about Rochester to New York City? Rochester to Buffalo? 8) When will any feasibility studies be complete?
You can see that there are essentially no answers for the most significant questions. Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman declared that it's time for New York to "get on board!" That might be much more likely if they can begin to fill in these blanks.
We'll keep asking the questions.
"Oh for goodness sake," she responded. "Do you mind if we build it first?
Oh yeah, let’s trust Amtrak. They have done such a good job of running that agency.
Was the Fast Ferry they are referring to that Rochester-Toronto route across Lake Ontario that went belly-up in about one year?
GREAT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!
Her answer is the STUPIDEST POSSIBLE ANSWER- MAKE THIS GO VIRAL!!!!!!
There is never any cost/benefit analysis in government!!!! In fact - they do not even consider it, as shown by her answer!!! The concept is so foreign they ridicule it.
yes- it was- and its too bad, it was a great idea.
I bet a private company starting FROM SCRATCH could make it work.
All they need is a dock and some permits. hey!!! isn’t there a dock ALREADY” BUILT?????
We could go on about the fast ferry all day. 200 mil down the crapper. This 151 mil for roadway improvements is for an 11 mile stretch between Batavia and Bergen, both west of Rochester. Both towns have more cows than people. And if my geography is correct, NYC is the other way. Another boondoggle that no one wants. The Buffalo airport is only an hour drive from Rochester.
Build it and they will come.
Proud of Evan Dawson for asking such questions - give him a raise. New role model for the MSM?
As to Slaughter and her comments... speaks volumes about what is wrong with Washington. Careless and arrogant squandering of your tax dollars in the same breath of considering tax increases and new penalties such as VAT!
Minimally, whoever is running against that Louise should run that video 24x7. It should resonate well here in Rochester.
The Erie Canal was called “(DeWitt) Clinton’s Folly.”
I lived in Batavia during that period.
Batavia is a quiet little farming city, where residents are more interested in staying there than racing off somewhere else; anyone who IS more interested in racing off somewhere else already did and isn’t coming back. It’s right by the Thruway (aka I-90), which can get you to Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany or NYC just as fast as any “high speed” rail which you’ll have to spend time parking, relocating luggage, waiting for it to show up, passing security, boarding, waiting for it to leave, waiting for stops along the way, etc. Everyone in Upstate NY has a car (you can’t survive there without independent transport), and is close enough to a freeway (traffic jams are almost unheard of) to get where they want faster than any train.
The Fast Ferry was a waste for the same reasons: if you wanted to get from anywhere in Western NY to Toronto, it was about as fast, and much easier, to just drive. For the short time it was in service, most of the Fast Ferry traffic was for the sheer novelty of “hey, let’s waste our time & money on this thing just once”.
As for $151M for roadway improvements along the 11 miles from Batavia to Bergen? meh. The road there is fine; I drove it every day for a decade. Last thing the locals want is “improvements”.
And yes, there are existing airports within 1 hour of anywhere in the state. You want to get somewhere fast, there you go.
Meh. Come? Where? This is an area where the #1 place locals take tourists is Wegmans' Grocery Store. I kid you not. This is not a place people go to, and this is not a place people come back to. This is a place where people aren't going anywhere in a hurry; those who do have left for good.
Rochester has nothing to offer tourists. Not a bad place to live, but nothing notable to visit.
Buffalo is, well ... it pretty much just isn't. Best it has is nearby Niagara Falls, which is fascinating for about 10 minutes.
Batavia and the adjoining intermediary region is, as noted above, a place of more cows than people. People live there because they started there and are not inclined to go anywhere else.
The Erie Canal was called “(DeWitt) Clinton’s Folly.”
PLEASE do not give Louise Slaughter any ideas about rebuilding the Erie Canal....
Batavia is a quiet little farming city, where residents are more interested in staying there than racing off somewhere else; anyone who IS more interested in racing off somewhere else already did and isn’t coming back.
Why go anywhere else when you’ve got Muckdogs Baseball?
http://batavia.muckdogs.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t511
Here we go, Muckdogs, here we go....woof...woof....
:-D My comment was a bit of a wink directed at train superfan Willie!
Having visited Rochester a good many times on business ( not so much lately, ahem), I did like a colleague’s house on the Finger Lakes. I never got to Niagara Falls but I’m thinking about making a family tourist trip up there this summer. Maybe a swing by the Thousand Islands too.
Since New York taxes me for working in NYC, I might as well try to get something back for it!
Ok, so I overstated the situation. Finger Lakes are nice, Niagara Falls is nice, Thousand Islands is nice, Adarondacks is nice ... but more as a matter of you’re already in the region so you might as well enjoy it. Sure, if you’re in NYC then head up the 90/87/81 and see what you can see. They’re not, however, worth installing a billion-dollar high-speed rail for; if nothing else, even if you used it to “get there”, you’d still need a car and several hours drive to get there from the train.
LOL! I’ll be sure to stop by the Wegmans too!
I don’t know but I think there are fast ferries that run up and down the Hudson river into New York City.
That would be the SeaStreak (http://www.seastreak.com/). It’s a private company but I’m not sure if or what type of subsidy they may receive.
Im on the west side - have been all my life....youre right - he have little in the way of notable festivals - plenty of them - nothing outstanding - theres the Lilac......smells great if you like fried foods....Theres the Eastman House.....big whoop dee doo....and the planetariam....which is outdone by any home theater youd find at Best Buy - though there is one festival that is HUGE and quickly becoming the best festival in NYS.....www.roccityribfest.com.....I took second place in '08....Its now a National BBQ Competition
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.