“Smart Growth” and “Mass Transit”
If there was ever two terms that belong in the same category it’s “Smart Growth” and “Mass Transit”, they both are so very deceptive. Just as there is very little smart about “Smart Growth”, the only thing “Mass Transit “ has to do with the general masses of citizens is that they end up paying the massive majority of the massive bill. Mass transit's share of miles of U.S. surface transportation decreased 10 percent from 1990 to 1995 from 2.3 percent to 2.1 percent according to 1990 and 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey by the U.S. Department of Transportation
So what fuels this magic sensation between “Smart Growth” advocates and mass transit, and in particular the rail systems of mass transit. This takes us to the long range vision that they have about the future of American cities, and the citizens of those cities. They see us all leaving home each day and walking, or bicycling, to the bus stop, where we catch the next bus to the light rail station. From there we are whisked away to our destination city, or community. From the rail station in our destination city we either bus closer to our workplace, or we walk or bicycle. Sounds glamorous, and turns your 25 minute commute to work into an hour and a half affair, complete with benches at some of the bus stops to sit on while you wait for the bus, in January. For this we gain the luxury of not having to drive. If you use the park-and-ride lot you could knock a half hour off the trip, but then you wouldn’t get the luxury of not driving. “Smart Growth” advocates see mass transit as the answer to all transportation problems. The problem is that the masses don’t want to use mass transit, so the “Smart Growth” advocates will use whatever methods necessary to force them into the busses and trains.
One of these methods include deceiving the public into believing that mass transit is the only way to go, or that we have to build expensive rail systems. A great example of this is Dane County’s "Transport 2020," an intergovernmental group representing the state of Wisconsin, city of Madison, and Dane County, who recently asked Parsons Brinkerhoff to evaluate "transportation alternatives for the Dane County/Greater Madison Metropolitan Area." After examining the projected ridership growth from enhancing the bus service and from adding a rail system, they found both would increase ridership by about the same amount, less than a few percentage points different. The "enhanced/express bus" alternative would cost $60 million, while the rail project would cost $242 million and have higher operating costs.. However, using the exact same data as the Parsons report, the summary report compared current ridership, no build, and commuter rail, but did not mention the "enhanced/express bus" alternative. Why would this intergovernmental group leave out the obvious choice? Because “Transport 2020” is actually a “Smart Growth” advocacy group, and “Smart Growth” advocates love rail systems of any kind for a simple reason, they are permanent. Busses allow the routes to change as the community changes; the bus system follows community growth. However, a set of rails can’t be moved so easily and therefore if businesses and homeowners want to use the transit they must build along the rail line, the rail system determines community growth. In this way the people who determine where the rails go also determine the future growth of the community. Also, rail systems, by their nature, discourage people from building small developments off the rail line, which “Smart Growth” advocates define as sprawl.
Another of the methods of promoting, or forcing, mass transit on the general public is traffic congestion. Transport 2020’s study also showed that light rail in Madison would actually increase congestion because the trains would block busy intersections for up to 13 minutes per hour during peak traffic times. “Smart Growth” advocates will never vote to fund highways and roads because they say it will not cure the congestion problem. The truth is they don’t want to cure the congestion problem unless it involves mass transit. Congestion serves two purposes for them. First, it discourages people from building or buying homes further away from their job. Secondly, it supports their claim that mass transit is the only solution. But at what cost?
A quick look at Madison Metro gives a good example of the
cost we all pay for mass transit. The
city of
Total cost per rider is almost $4000/year
The rider pays about 18% of the cost
Madison taxpayers pay about $68 for each citizen or
over $200 per household in 2004, to pay their share of the subsidies.
While smart growth advocates will say that we also subsidize the highway system, they misunderstand the meaning of the word subsidize. Subsidize means to take money from one group of people to use for the good of another group of people. The government does take money from everyone to build the roads, but we all use the roads. Even the people who don’t drive use the roads when the trucks bring the food to their local grocery store. Madison Metro accounts for less then 1% of the rider miles in the Madison metropolitan area, yet we all fork over millions of dollars to pay for it. Compared to light rail and the other transit systems Madison Metro is a bargain. On average, in terms of cost per rider mile, mass transit costs 28 times as much as building roads.
Recently the Dane County Executive, Kathleen Falk, announced a proposal to build a combination rail and trolley system from Middleton through Madison. Although the projected startup cost for this project is about $50 million, the final cost will probably be 50% or more above that. Also, Ms. Kelly currently will not give projected operated expenses or the percentage that riders will pay of the cost. If Madison Metro is the model we can all be assured that this will add more to our tax bill for the benefit of very few people. As Portland found out when they installed rail systems, 76% of the riders were former bus riders; they had gained very few new mass transit users.
Read what others are saying about “Smart Growth” and
mass transit.
Myths of Light-Rail Transit
A Policy Study by the
Reason Public Policy Institute
Madison Commuter Rail: Let Taxpayers
Beware! by:
Randal O’Toole
The Search For The Holy Rail by Rachel DiCarlo
Let's Get Real: Commuter Rail In Madison is Dead -- Dead Wrong by Mike Byrne & Bob Bowman
Light Rail’s
Impact on Traffic a Scandal Worth Investigating by David
Strom
Why Light Rail
is Wrong for Tampa and Hillsborough County by
Harry E. Teasley Jr. (applies to
Rail Transit Not
About Congestion, Pollution, or Choice
by Art Webb
Light Rail: Boon or Boondoggle? by Molly D. Castelazo and Thomas A.
Garrett
The Strange Thing About Light
Rail by Ted Balaker
Myths
and Facts About Rail Transit American
Dream Coalition Fact Sheet
Higher Density Means Greater Traffic Congestion and Air
Pollution by Wendell Cox
Wendell Cox
Closing Statement at Railvolution Conference
Smart Growth Makes Traffic Congestion and Air Pollution Worse
Portland
Chooses to Create Gridlock: Less Livability Assured