Posted on 07/21/2010 5:53:01 AM PDT by Willie Green
When Judy Garland sang: “Ring, ring, ring, went the trolley / Ding, ding, ding, went the bell” in the Trolley Song in 1944’s movie Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), she was celebrating the trolley car, the all-American streetcar that summed up down town US cities from the 1900s to the 1940s. No city worth its name would have failed to build a streetcar system as a form of civic pride.
In the 1940s, a mix of vested interest and the growing levels of car ownership and aspiration worked to kill off systems from the West Coast to the East Coast and the Mid West. Down towns were then left to the automobile as the buses that were supposed to replace the trolleys were then abandoned by all but the desperate.
Then the oil crisis of the early 1970s brought a wake-up call: oil would never be as cheap again. Fast forward to 2010 and the Gulf oil spill is exacting a terrible price for motorists’ freedoms.
But the motorist of 2010 is a different creature of the aspirational driver of the 1970s and now is quite willing to look at alternatives to the Tarmac for their daily commute. That is one reason why light rail is making a comeback.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.suite101.com ...
In other words, the same folks who pimp Obama and the Democrats are pimping light rail.
That should give any conservative pause. The fact that it doesn't give you pause, Willie, speaks volumes.
The street car lines were all privately built and privately run, big difference.
It does give conservatives pause.
Once again, a pro-rail article without a single word about costs to deploy or subsidize. It’s because pro-rail people know it’ll never break even, it will always be a big drain of tax dollars, and thus you cannot justify it other than as a feel-good project.
3-Words
COST PER MILE
http://soundpolitics.com/archives/013562.html
A survey of North American light rail projects shows that costs of most LRT systems range from $15 million per mile to over $100 million per mile. Seattle’s new light rail system is by far the most expensive in the U.S. at $179 million per mile. And Seattle’s Sound Transit estimates two-thirds of its light rail riders come from the existing bus system, and at its peak, light rail is only carrying about 2,688 new transit riders per day.
The fact that it doesn't give you pause, Willie, speaks volumes.
Yes, it says that I have no confidence in myopic pinhead partisan candidates who oppose an issue simply because some other candidate is for it.
If the GOP can't scrounge up some candidates that have the competency to provide and maintain the public transportation infrastructure that our society needs, then they don't deserve to govern.
Are you a member of the ruling class?
Nah, Willie, it means that deep down you are a stinkin' big-government liberal.
So our society 'needs' light rail systems that cost $15 million to over $100 million dollars a mile to build (See post 6)? Society 'needs' light rail systems such as those in Austin, TX that give free rides to city and university employees who are more than capable of paying for those rides?
You're just another subsidy pimp, Willie - but most subsidy pimps at least admit their liberal bias. You act like light rail is a conservative issue when it is just another capital-wasting liberal agenda.
Are you a member of the ruling class?I'm just an average, Middle Class, conservative, tax-paying, law-abiding, American Citizen.
So yes, I suppose you could say that I'm a member of the "ruling class".
University of Texas Students, Current and Retired Faculty & Staff
(with current, valid ID)
Capital MetroBus- Free
UT Shuttles - Free
Capital MetroExpress - Free
Capital MetroRail – Free
Austin Community College Students and Faculty
(with current, school ID and valid Metro Pass card issued by ACC Admissions)
Capital MetroBus- Free
Capital MetroExpress - Free
Capital MetroRail – Free
City of Austin Employees
(with current, valid MetroPass cards issued by the City of Austin Human Resources Dept.)
Capital MetroBus - Free
UT Shuttles - Free
Capital MetroExpress - Free
Capital MetroRail – Free
So our society 'needs' light rail systems
In our densely populated and growing communities... yes, we do.
Light rail systems facilitate commerce and transit while alleviating traffic congestion and gridlock.
Light rail also helps improve the air quality in these communities because it is electrically powered and doesn't belch exhaust fumes into the air.
You're just another subsidy pimp, Willie - but most subsidy pimps at least admit their liberal bias.
No dirtbag, YOU are just another self-centered irresponsible libertarian who won't chip in to provide/maintain infrastructure that benefits everybody in the entire community.
and what creates the electricity for those “clean” light rail systems? unicorn farts? coal-powered elecectric plants prehaps? you are not reducing pollution - just relocating it away from the urban hellholes and screwing up cleaner areas.
Light rail just about EVERYWHERE is lightly used, heavily subsidized (see my link to the Austin system - college and government employees ride FREE!) and very limited in scope.
Light rail also helps improve the air quality in these communities because it is electrically powered and doesn't belch exhaust fumes into the air.
Yeah, move the pollution to more remote areas where the power plant is. Next.
No dirtbag, YOU are just another self-centered irresponsible libertarian
Hardly, Willie. I am a fiscal conservative who doesn't believe in blowing $100 million a mile for light rail boondoggles. There are far better alternative, such as buses and tax incentives to promote telecommuting.
There, there, don't go wasting facts on Willie, he's impervious to them when it comes to his light rail and high speed rail fantasies - kinda like telling a kid that Santa Claus isn't real, and for the exact same reason - both transit projects and Santa imply something for nothing.
Does our society need this, Willie?
No dirtbag, the City of Austin needs that to alleviate traffic congestion and improve air quality or else it would be just as stinking bad as it is in Houston.
The numbers don't back you up, Willie. First of all, an analysis of what light-rail pimps like you promised:
Texas Policy Institute (From 2000)
Capital Metro and CAMPO projections indicate that light rail will carry, at most, 0.5% of travel in the Austin area in 2025. This very small share of travel is in contrast to the more than one-third of transportation tax resources that will be spent on light rail over the period.
Capital Metro projects that 43,200 daily riders will be carried in the first year of operation of the initial 20 mile system. This is a significantly higher patronage level than any other new light rail line has achieved in the first year, and seems overly optimistic.
The speed of the light rail line will be similar to that of buses and considerably slower than rush-hour traffic speeds on both freeways and non-freeway arterial streets.
Capital Metro does not appear to have properly evaluated and considered the benefits and cost-effectiveness of transportation options other than light rail, particularly bus rapid transit (BRT), High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes, and High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes. These options appear to provide benefits equal to or significantly greater than light rail for a significantly lower cost.
Light rail is being promoted in Austin as a mechanism for development. But, the record around the US indicates that most light rail related development has been subsidized by taxpayers (such as tax abatements, direct subsidies, reduced utility charges), as opposed to a natural outgrowth of market forces. Moreover, higher density developments will increase localized traffic congestion and air pollution.
And what has been delivered after promising 43K ridership? - 917 boardings on the first day they charged for tickets - some congestion relief.
Rail boardings down, Capital Metro officials say
Capital Metro tallied 917 MetroRail boardings today, the first day that the transit agency charged for rides on the new commuter rail line.
Agency officials have predicted 2,000 daily boardings.
Monday’s tally is about a quarter of the number of boardings the line had on Friday, the end of its first week of service. That week, during which Capital Metro offered free rides, average boardings numbered nearly 2,900 a day.
So just like you, Willie, the Capital Metro transit pimps promise the moon and deliver jack squat.
Hardly, Willie. I am a fiscal conservative who doesn't believe in blowing $100 million a mile for light rail boondoggles.
You're not a conservative, dirtbag.
You're nothing but a b/s liar and conartist.
Even when 17% over budget, the Austin Capital MetroRail cost a mere $3.3 million/mile to build, including the cost of the trains themselves.
Let people read post 18 and see who is the liar and con artist, Willie.
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.