Trimming Houston Bus Service (Already)
Isn't it interesting what comes out in the Houston Press only one day after voters narrowly approved the light rail proposal:
Downtowners may be delighted to have the Main Street light rail line finally operating in January -- but the price they pay could be more than the $1 train fare.It really comes as no surprise. And further cutbacks in bus service (it's not really a trolley -- the Main Street line is the glorified trolley, truth be told, whereas a bus decorated like a trolley is... still a bus) will almost certainly follow as METRO gets in over its head with rail expansion, as we know from the experience in Dallas.Metro confirmed last week that it will propose to eliminate most of the north-south free "trackless" trolley routes and will cut Midtown service entirely.
Under the draft plan, to be discussed in a public meeting next week, riders accustomed to taking the Milam/Travis, San Jacinto/Caroline and Midtown trolleys would have more complicated travel itineraries. Depending on the destination, they'll have to take an east-west trolley -- those routes are to be expanded -- over to Main Street, pay a dollar and use the train.
Metro spokesperson Maggi Stewart wouldn't weigh in over whether the proposal to curb the two north-south trolleys is a veiled move to boost train revenues. "I don't know about that," she said. "It's really just to serve the light rail route, because it's a direct route to Midtown and Reliant Park."
Here's a letter on the topic in the same issue:
Any light rail project is doomed to be an abject failure, and it does not matter the location or the proposal ["Trainspotting," by Richard Connelly, September 11]. The size of the failure will be proportional to the amount of its funding, and none of this is a revelation to the federal or state governments.That would be funny, if it weren't a multi-billion dollar joke.The Federal Transit Administration is receiving more and more grant requests for light rail projects from all over the country than it has money. Light rail projects have no hope of getting off the ground without federal funding.
No light rail system has ever turned a profit, let alone paid for itself, and light rail projects are being canceled across the United States.
Meanwhile, America's love affair with the automobile has facilitated and fueled expansion of the American free enterprise system by freely allowing more social interaction and economic transaction to take place than otherwise would have been possible.
Besides, Houston had a passenger rail system once before. Many Major League Baseball fans drive their cars to Union Station, which once handled rail passengers. The fact is, free-market forces have driven advancement in Space City, and most Houstonians have found their automobiles to be their best transportation choice.
Do you reckon the Houston Sports Authority has a "light rail failure contingency plan" involving visions of a "corporate name here" Formula 1/Grand Prix racetrack?
Shawn Christopher Phillips
Texas City
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/03 20:25 | Danger Train | Technorati
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