Via Ann Althouse comes this interesting factoid from P.J. O’Rourke:
Then there is the cost, which is–obviously–$52 billion. Less obviously, there’s all the money spent locally keeping local mass transit systems operating. The Heritage Foundation says, “There isn’t a single light rail transit system in America in which fares paid by the passengers cover the cost of their own rides.” Heritage cites the Minneapolis “Hiawatha” light rail line, soon to be completed with $107 million from the transportation bill. Heritage estimates that the total expense for each ride on the Hiawatha will be $19. Commuting to work will cost $8,550 a year. If the commuter is earning minimum wage, this leaves about $1,000 a year for food, shelter and clothing. Or, if the city picks up the tab, it could have leased a BMW X-5 SUV for the commuter at about the same price.
The traffic in the Cities is terrible, which is par for the course for a region of almost 3 million people. However, the Hiawatha boondoogle shows that mass transit only works if it’s done right — the city would have been better off to just expand and renovate the existing bus services rather than throw millions of taxpayer dollars for a boondoogle project that’s done little to nothing to ameliorate the traffic situation in the Twin Cities.
UPDATE: On the other hand, perhaps Minnesota can follow the North Dakotan model for transportation. It would certainly be cheaper, and the Legislature already provides us a plentiful supply of jackasses…
Personally, I would have just taken the Beemer…
“the city would have been better off to just expand and renovate the existing bus services rather than throw millions of taxpayer dollars for a boondoogle project that’s done little to nothing to ameliorate the traffic situation in the Twin Cities.”
Insert Dallas and Houston in to that sentence, too. I live right next to the light rail station (literally, my building is part of the station) in Dallas and it is pretty much useless to me. It can’t take me to the airport like I hoped (wouldn’t that be convenient!), and if I go south on it, it takes me so much time to wait for a connecting bus and all the stops on the way that it is useless. Driving is just easier. Our cities are just laid out wrong for rail systems to work properly.
On the other hand, I don’t even think about the bus system here. I see the busses around me all the time, but they never even pop into my mind as an option to get somewhere.
Hey, I work at the Legislature! So yeah, you’re probably right.
The TC’s need to start up an express bussing line, such as is used in metro Seattle, rather than wasting more money on their light rail… thank you, Gov. Ventura…