Is there any reasonable way of stopping the RTA fiasco before any more money is wasted on this fiscal horror? I sense that we can almost all agree that the costs per mile are astronomical, and the benefits are basically nil. It must be possible to prevent these billions from going into off into bureaucratic heaven. Or is it already too late?

-- Albert Fosha (AFosha@aol.com), November 18, 1999

Answers

Well, I'll tell you what I intend to do.

It may or may not make any difference, but I am putting together a letter to attach to e-mails that goes over the issues of excessive costs, inadequate demand, the recent vote against the MVET (the local version of which, contributes significant funding to Sound Transit), the problems with the downtown train tunnel, the problems with high speed freight trains through Kent, Auburn, and Puyallup, the 1.6 mile Tacoma amusement ride Link, the controversy about leaving Southcenter out, the controversy about the Rainier Valley, the fact that the route is already served by bus service that'll do the job cheaper and better, and anything else I can find relevant.

I then intend to e-mail everyone on the transportation subcommittee in the House and in the Senate with that as an attachment. Then to make sure they REALLY get it, I intend to e-mail the same thing to the cities that have competing proposals. Then of course to my Representative. Both our Senators, of course, are on the transportation subcommittee.

This thing is hanging by a thread as it is. I an hoping that if we show significant local opposition, that it won't solve the problem, and that the economics don't make sense, we lose the federal funding, and it all goes away. That's a lot of work, but I'm willing to do it. The more the merrier. Any of you who wish to do your versions of this and send it to these people may also be very helpful.

You have to realize though, this is not just a transportation project (not much of a transportation project either) but primarily a PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT. The only way we overcome the greed of the people who will make money building it no matter if it makes logistical or economic sense, is to get the greed of the other contractors in the other states with competing proposals to motivate THEIR senators and representatives to take it away from us. The federal money is going to be spent, it's pork. I wish we could stop it, but unless we are ready to substantially cut the DOT budget, it ain't gonna happen. But I'd rather that our competitors in this race, Dallas, Newark, Memphis, Minneapolis, Orlando, etc.(http://www.fta.dot.gov/library/policy/ns/Table%202.htm), tossed THEIR good money (local taxes) after bad (federal pork) than we did. Because this isn't just going to not work, it will be a millstone around the neck of METRO for the next 50 years if it does get built.

That's what I'm going to do. Why don't you do the same, unless you've got a better idea.

-- Craig Carson (craigcar@crosswinds.net), November 18, 1999.

"I intend to e-mail the same thing to the cities that have competing proposals. " Their senators, representatives, and governors would be good too, as long as you're e-mailing.

-- Mark Stilson (mark842@hotmail.com), November 18, 1999.

"That's what I'm going to do. Why don't you do the same, unless you've got a better idea. " Craig- You troublemaker!

"The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who Is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And if he is not romantic personally, he is apt to spread discontent among those who are." Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) American editor, critic, founder "American Mercury"

-- (mark842@hotmail.com), November 18, 1999.

For those of you who really think that LINK will work, here is a comparison of what Sound Transit is claiming in their documentation to the feds, and what ACTUALLY happened in St. Louis. For comparison, the St. Louis Metropolitan area has TWICE the population and TWICE the population density. Their system was 90% of the length of ours, cost about 1/4th as much to build. They paid 25% of the cost of theirs, the feds paid 75%. We will pay 80% for ours, the feds will pay 20%. We are claiming that LINK will carry 155,000 daily rides. Despite their higher population density and total population, St. Louis has only managed to get 38,000 people riding theirs, about a quarter of what we are claiming. Worse yet, most of these were former bus riders. The per mile cost of their bus transit went UP as routes were diverted to feed light rail. It had NO significant effect on traffic congestion.

Sound Transit (Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority) is planning a 24-mile Central Link light rail transit (LRT) project running north to south from Northgate, through downtown Seattle, Southeast Seattle and the cities of Tukwila and SeaTac. At least 21 stations are planned, with six additional stations along the corridor under consideration. The system would utilize new right-of-way, except in the existing 1.6 mile Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. Sound Transit estimates a total of 155,200 daily riders, including 57,000 daily new riders, on the 24-mile system in 2020. Capital costs for the entire project are $2.9 billion (escalated dollars), with annual operating costs estimated at $44.4 million (1997 dollars). Sound Transit is requesting a 50% Section 5309 share of project costs. Sound Transit will break the system into a series of minimum operable segments as a means of implementing the project.

St Louis Metro area population: 2.5 million. Residents per square mile, within city limits: 6,408.5 National population ranking 17 Light-rail system: MetroLink, built in 1993, stretches 18 miles from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to East St. Louis, Ill. Cost: $464 million. Weekday daily riders: 38,175. Future plans: An additional 17.4-mile line beginning in East St. Louis and stretching further into Illinois to open by 2001. Other mass transit: Bus routes. Light-rail fares: $1 for single ride, $3 for all-day pass, $35 for monthly pass. During peak hours, some downtown rides are free. FYI: St. Louis paid for its first light-rail lines through a unique federal grant that covered $348 million of the $464 million construction costs. The other $116 million came from a 1-cent gasol

-- (craigcar@crosswinds.net), November 19, 1999.