Yes Kristine, I have dreamed of a subway in Minneapolis. While riding on the 21 bus this winter, I imagined a day when a subway would run underneath Lake Street -- making it even more of a cultural corridor. I agree with Ross Kaplan's initial assessment of the costs and benefits of a subway, and I appreciate his reference to the subway in Washington. I lived there for three years and admired their rail system. This year, the Washington Area rail system is celebrating its 25th anniversary (http://www.wmata.com). In other words, Minneapolis is three decades behind Washington in the development of an intelligent transportation infrastructure. I suggest that's pathetic. If we imitate rail systems like the one in Washington, we must not repeat the unequitable mistakes they made. The first routes in the Washington area served predominantly white neighborhoods, while predominantly black neighborhoods had to wait several years longer. In particular, the red line to Bethesda was built first, and the green line to Anacostia was built last (http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.htm). Unfortunately, I see us beginning that pattern by building our first rail line to the airport and the Mall of America. Who benefits most from such a line? Is it the poor and middle class residents of Minneapolis? Or is it tourists and the downtown jet set? On another note, I am also interested in the possibility of augmenting a Twin Cities rail system with Personal Rapid Transit (http://www.cprt.org). Mark Knapp Minneapolis Green Party City Council Candidate - Ward 10 --- Kristine Harley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Okay, I'm going to say it--and everyone's going > to laugh at the idea, but with the amount of > snow we get each year, and all the sanding and > salting and shoveling and plowing that results, > couldn't Minneapolis use a SUBWAY? Or skyway- > level monorails? Considering that we can barely > get it together for Light Rail Transit I'm not > going to wave this flag too emphatically, but > has anyone besides John and I even thought of > it? After all, how much snow does Boston or New > York get compared to us? Get your Free E-mail at http://vailplace.zzn.com ____________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE Web and POP E-mail Service in 14 languages at http://www.zzn.com. _______________________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
