LRT construction update

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Perspectives wrote:

Baloney with above post. Rail has annual costs of 20 million, installation has been multi billions to date and you still need to drive to and from the track the vast majority of times.
We would pollute far less living in a prehistoric cave if that is the goal.

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The Truth wrote:

Hey, Schmahl, over 30% of the people riding the Hiawatha light rail formerly used cars. That's thousands of car trips not made, which EASE congestion.
Not sure about EAST congestion. That just shows how ignorant you are.

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Niether of the Above wrote:

<quoted text>UHH we don't know that!

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The Truth wrote:

When it comes to public subsidies, Twin Cities light rail seems a bargain
A few months ago, I was sitting at a meeting of the House Capital Investment Committee at the Capitol. Our elected reps were discussing the bonding bill. It's a list of projects — usually stuff of a permanent nature, such as buildings, roads, dams and so on — that the state will borrow money to finance.
As you can imagine, not every item on the list (a building upgrade there, a heating system here) is riveting.
Just as my eyelids were drooping, one legislator went ballistic and woke me up.
The object of his ire: the proposed Southwest Light Rail Line, which would start downtown at Target Field and wend through St. Louis Park and Hopkins to terminate in Eden Prairie. The Dayton administration was asking for $25 million, an amount the federal government would match nine-to-one.
"Light rail?" the legislator railed (pun intended). "That's a total waste of money."
He went on to complain bitterly about the Hiawatha LRT. The fares didn't begin to cover the expense of operations, he ranted, leaving the state on the hook for endless subsidies. He didn't explicitly say, but it sounded as though he would have been happy to see the entire thing — cars, tracks, stations and passengers — mothballed in a warehouse in Owatonna.
The upshot was that the $25 million for the light rail was scooped out of the bonding bill, and the state left $225 million in federal funds on the table where they could be snapped up by, say, Paducah, Ky., or Lincoln, Neb.
The other day, I happened to mention this incident to Jim Erkel. He's the director of the Land Use & Transportation Program at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, a nonprofit that works with the government, courts and business groups.
It was his turn to go a little apoplectic. The LRT, he said, "does better on fares than any other element in the transit system." This was news to me; so he gathered up some evidence to prove his point.
Before diving into the numbers, however, you have to know that taxes subsidize every form of transportation — even walking. Sure, you bought the shoes and own the feet, but the government of the town you live in built the sidewalks, roads and paths you use — and repairs them. Unless you pay a fee that covers the expense every time you walk down the street to the grocery store, your travel is being subsidized.

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Wade Gustafson wrote:

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"A few months ago, I was sitting at a meeting of the House Capital Investment Committee at the Capitol."
That information tells everyone here all they need to know about you, you're a DFL hack who loves to spend other people's money. I'm sure you believe we're not taxed enough.

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Schmahl Spew wrote:

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Light rail costs less to operate than buses, so you should be pleased with the expansion of light rail.

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Commuter wrote:

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Buses are not profitable but rail is even worse so the problem is compounded not eliminated. Buses go everywhere rail goes but the opposite is not true.
Rail is a annual 20 million dollar burden plus track installation is near two billion so far in the twin cities.

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Up north wrote:

When LRT fails the Met Council rolls busses to replace the LRT.
When a bus fails the Met Council rolls another bus.
LRT could not exist without bus backup.

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Wade Gustafson wrote:

<quoted text>
"A few months ago, I was sitting at a meeting of the House Capital Investment Committee at the Capitol."
That information tells everyone here all they need to know about you, you're a DFL hack who loves to spend other people's money. I'm sure you believe we're not taxed enough.

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Up north wrote:

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Thanks for the insight Wade.
It's obvious the hack has no problem wasteing taxdollars of others.
Socialists.

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Commuter wrote:

<quoted text>
Buses are not profitable but rail is even worse so the problem is compounded not eliminated. Buses go everywhere rail goes but the opposite is not true.
Rail is a annual 20 million dollar burden plus track installation is near two billion so far in the twin cities.