Since I don't have "Republican allies" and not all lrt opponents are Republican, I don't listen to all kinds of interviews with Republicans or Democrats or ..., I don't know what words Krinkie used.
Please call Leslie Davis of EarthProtector, who studied the lrt eis documents, made many comments on them to the FTA, for the opinion of someone who is definitely not a Republican. Since there are a couple of messages missing from the web archive, I don't know all of what was said in response to what I posted. Was there any indication that someone read the article by the Federal Reserve economists? I stand by my comment that most rides turn into round trips. If a person takes the lrt to the airport, they probably will take it back when they return. An air traveller coming in and taking the train in will most likely take the train to leave. This evens out overa few days. A big reason advanced for building the train was commuting. How many work commuters don't go back home at night or make the same trip every day? Let's see, if the 9,000 "riders" don't mostly make round trips, then after a year, everyone in the 7 county area will have ridden the train once, using the transit industry standard assumption that weekend ridership will be about the same as that on one weekday. Wonder how they get home? I was talking about the same costs as the economists. Total annualized costs, and I would compare that to the total annualized costs of owning and operating a car. I believe that the most recent ISTEA transportation authorization said that each state should receive at least 95% of its gas tax money back for projects. Of course, it would be even better to convert the federal gas tax to an additional state gas tax (zero change in total) and let the state decide how to spend its own money without the feds taking a slice and maybe giving us back the rest. Since the Wakota bridge project was moentioned by someone, please find the total length of ALL roads being rebuilt and report that. Also report the number of vehicles and passengers that use the bridge and pass under it on the roads being rebuilt each day. I believe, without checking, that that number would be well over 150,000 passengers a day. And remember that the bridge is heavily used by trucks for freight, which the Hiawatha line is not. In other words, multiple purpose. I believe that you can find a number of references to what the range of costs per mile for roads and trains is. It is wide. Adding a lane within existing right of way can be relatively inexpensive. But I don't have time to argue about that and it's not a Mpls list issue. The megamall stop was moved across 24th Avenue at a cost of $39.9 million, which was supposed to buy buses (100-200 of them, depending on size). Metro Transit says we didn't need them because of route cuts. I could go on to point out cities that lost total transit ridership after adding trains, but I won't. While more than half of the people in the state live and work in the 7 county area, the train will either not be used by them or only occasionally as entertainment transportation, after they drive to it. Research has shown that if you double the number of buses per hour, you will get an additional 50% in ridership. I could refer you to a transit consultant who often works on rail projects, and is proud of at least some of them, who will tell you that he believes that the main criteria in transit projects is getting the most increase in ridership without overcrowding, etc. for the least public money. What is needed is more frequent bus transit and more/expanded roads that carry people around the region without going through the center cities and causing traffic and other problems. Visit www.EffectiveTransit.org The Independent Unsubsidized Voice of Citizens for Effective Transit in the Twin Cities (no lrt) * lrt isn't a potato chip, you can stop at just one * Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul MN [EMAIL PROTECTED] REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
