What’s wrong with rail.
There is so much information on light rail, heavy rail, monorail and commuter rail in the news right now it is difficult to keep track of it all. The main problem is the increased costs associated with building, maintaining and operating rail is escalating rapidly. This is threatening rail projects all around the country at the very time that Hawaii and Honolulu is considering it, which, of course, will prove to be a mistake.
First there is this from Chad Williams of the Carolina Journal about the Raleigh - Charlotte rail project:
Ah, but then trouble from on high (and it is a problem) happens when the Federal Transit Authority (FTA decided that Raleigh and Charlotte essentially weren’t ready by relegating them to the “promising projects” category and cutting requested funding significantly. This and the fact that the federal deficit is starting to soar like a raptor on a thermal plume should also make you wonder why we need this.
This is the second time that the federal government has cut or reduced promised spending. (The congress recently cut the funding for the downtown Santa Ana to John Wayne Airport rail putting that project on hold and in doubt.)
To see the whole article go here.
Another city that is questioning the wisdom of rail due to its tremendous cost is Seattle. The planned monorail project there is now also in doubt although taxpayers have been paying increased car license tab taxes. Significant to the problem is the
. . . 20 percent increase in costs . . .
Last week, state Treasurer Mike Murphy said that showed the project should be terminated as unaffordable, and on Thursday state Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, asked Gov. Christine O. Gregoire to call a special legislative session to kill the project.
“The ballooning cost of the monorail is ridiculous,” Jacobsen said in a written statement. “There’s no end in sight. Taxpayers deserve better.”
This for a project that isn’t projected to cost what Honolulu’s rail will. The rest of the article is here.