My vision would be transit of all kinds everywhere.
But that doesn't matter.
Why?
Because this has been rather badly handled by what I can only call an arrogant left -- which did more or less cram this very important decision down the throats of people, rather than engage the public and form a compromise to get it done. Of course, a compromise might have been impossible, but it was never tried so the initial fault resides with transit advocates.
So what do we do with this mess we inherited? The answer is that we do what we can, with one eye out for the best system possible and the other one out for politics.
Thing is, this is America and this is Saint Paul. We will compromise no matter how we look at it, and we will continue to live next to each other and mostly get along. That is what we have to be looking for right now -- not the ideal system.
And I realize most transit advocates don't like this. Too effing bad.
In this political environment, we have to focus on things that will work, and work right out of the box. We have to score victories that show that transit really is a cost effective strategy, at least in some places. We have to have trains running, and be pretty sure they will work.
Northstar is a great example of a line so obviously effective the Governor had to back it (after pressure from the Saint Cloud CofC). The Red Rock Line is equally obvious, and needs to have the same kind of backing to get off the ground.
Lite Rail on University? You may want it, although it could be built much cheaper as a real trolley and not LRT. But that aside, why not back something we know we can get built, and start developing key infrastructure such as a a downtown train station that might otherwise fall apart and/or be redeveloped?
We have to be real if we want to get anything done. A focus on commuter rail lines is not only practical, but very effective given the network of lines that run just about everywhere (such as the Short Line from Union Depot to Seventh, Grand, Mc/Groveland, and then out Lake Street and eventually to the Warehouse District).
Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.comcast.net/~wabbitoid/ Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth
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