Roundhouse Robert,
As a taxpayer, I would certainly appreciate it if some of my financial
contribution to society were spent on alternatives to the automobile. I
have known AT LEAST twenty people who have been killed in car crashes,
including my own mother in 1995, and zero who have been killed in trains.
Doesn't that count for something?
And call it minutia if you will, but there's a lot to be said for people
being productive and/or relaxed on their commute instead of trying to drive
AND fix their eyelashes and talk on the ph*#king phone. There is VALUE to
this aspect of "one driver-hundreds of passengers" transit that has no term
in the financial equation, and it should. Ther should also be a Smoking
Car - Phones Not Allowed. And a gambling car. And a salon/massage car.
And a newsagency. And an adult entertainment car? The Cabooze II. You
can have Happy Hour and still get home on time.
The railroads were handed a fortune by the Feds during the "Great
Expansion." Granted, that enabled expansion, but it's time we made new use
of all that right of way.
AMH
Petticoat Junction
Andrew M. Hine
Corporate Research Materials Laboratory
3M Center 201-1W-28
St. Paul MN
55144-1000
USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: (651) 733-1070
Fax: (651) 737-5335
Lab 201-W110
Bob Spaulding
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]
o.com> To
Sent by: St Paul Issues Forum
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Subject
02/23/2005 11:52 Re: [StPaul] ... Transit
PM
Dear "Blue State Curmudgeon",
You raise a question that I too initially asked.
Like it or not (and I generally fall into the latter category), the
Twin Cities is going to expand around the fringes. We've expanded a
ton since I was a kid, and walked across what is now I-394 regularly.
The question is how we are going to grow. Do we add highway lanes,
that encourage the more sprawling auto-oriented development? Or do we
do a mix of new highways and new transit lines, that encourage the
development of more traditional town centers, like those that developed
in North St. Paul, Hopkins, Stillwater or Excelsior, often around the
streetcars?
In the case of Northstar, there is a direct tradeoff between plowing
more money into adding lanes to I-94 and US 10 that go from Minneapolis
to St. Cloud. Northstar will direct us to more traditional, compact
growth in town centers, and will eliminate the need to add 1.5 highway
lanes (according to http://www.northstartrain.org)
I can't cite a specific study, but I understand it holds true that a
train increases the likelihood that an "exurban" commuter will commute
into a downtown core, and reduces congestion on urban freeways. Would
you rather drive an hour, or take a train for an hour? Now you have a
choice, and we Americans generally like choice. Commuter trains
therefore also makes the urban core more attractive for new jobs,
corporate headquarters and investment.
The link to St. Paul here is why, then, Red Rock and Rush Line are
important. The train lines help direct growth to more compact town
centers, as opposed to directing it to sprawled suburban development we
see with a highways only approach. But most significantly for St. Paul
in particular, it will provide a needed boost for downtown. And even
if you never go downtown, the downtown can and should pay a big chunk
of the property tax bill, so you don't have to. So in that sense, you
should care.
That said, there is an order to the transit projects that is frankly
pretty much written in stone at this point. Hiawatha, then Northstar,
then Central Corridor, then Red Rock/Rush/Southwest (in some order).
Questioning that wisdom may be a good discussion topic, but the
consensus is so broad, including so many governmental units, chambers
of commerce, legislators, congresspeople, and corporate leaders, that
it's not really going to change. Perhaps someday our highway
expenditures will receive a comparable amount of scrutiny.
Bob Spaulding
Downtown
On Feb 23, 2005, at 10:38 PM, Gail wrote:
>
> I have a hard time seeing the benefits in the Northstar line. Like
> other transportation projects, its highest recommendation seems to be
> that it's there. So we should forge ahead in order to get Federal
> money.... but why? So more people can move out of the Cities, taking
> their tax support with them? I'm not interested in supporting a
> megalopolis. I want efficient transit within the Cities. I don't
> want more and more people moving out, failing to support schools and
> public services, pouring back in every day to wear down our roads, use
> our water and sewer system, and demand services for which they don't
> pay. Call me a Blue State Curmudgeon.
>
> Gail O'Hare
> St. Paul
>
> T H E G O O D :
>
> - NORTHSTAR MAY FINALLY BE FUNDED. The Republican-controlled Minnesota
> House, spurred by electoral losses that seemed to be related to
> underfunding public transit, approved funding for the Northstar
> Commuter Rail Line. Northstar serves Minneapolis, but it paves the way
> for other projects (see below). The House had not approved the
> Northstar funding before, yet still only approved $10 million of the
> required $37.5 million needed to leverage $132 million in federal funds
> for the train line. It is thought that the full amount will be secured
> in conferencce committee, with the Governor and Senate supporting the
> full amount
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