"If it seems too good to be true...it probably is."
...and one of my favorites...
"I'm from the government...and I'm here to help you."
It's taken me four months...but I'm finally going to dive into the political pool of discussion for this blog entry. Yes, I'll take a shower afterwards. :D
Wisconsin is in the middle of getting a "gift" from the Federal Government of an $810 million "sort of" high speed rail line connecting Milwaukee and Madison...which from downtown to downtown is about 75 miles or so.
No one wants this train. Even though the people behind it seem to think lots of people will ride it....I just don't see that happening, especially with a round trip fare of what I'm hearing of $65-75. Yet, the head of the Transportation Department, Ray "The Hood" is telling us that it's a "done deal" and that "it's coming."
First of all this "gift" is going to cost the people of Wisconsin money and lots of it. It's going to cost us according to government estimates $10-15 million annually to maintain this boondoggle...and we know how good government estimates are. Second...few if any of these systems, unless they're in an urban corridor make enough money to cover operating expenses. That means on top of maintenance costs, we'll be subsidizing it too.
There is also talk of all the construction and engineering jobs that will come because of this project. Well...I've heard that "The Hood" has already contracted these jobs out to firms from Illinois. And the trains were bid out by the Governor of Wisconsin to a Spanish firm. So, where are these jobs coming from?
Currently, local communities are battling for stops on the route...not sure why...but they are. Maybe they're buying to the sales pitch that there will be development around the train stops. Well, if you go by current train stops especially the much ballyhoo'd Milwaukee to Chicago Amtrak route there is very little if any development at the stop near Racine, WI (south of Milwaukee). In fact, almost everything is automated...because the lack of people traffic doesn't warrant people being staffed there. One of the communities trying to land a choo-choo train stop is Watertown...and they're saying that 12-15 people will be using this stop....wait for it...every day. Oh wow! That many...huh?
Okay...so you can drive to Madison from Milwaukee for about 1/6th of what is will cost to take the train. It's not going to get you there all that much sooner (maybe 10-15 min....that is if the train went 100 mph..which is debatable), it's going to cost me money to keep it running, and it won't make enough money to make ends meet on the route. Now...why would I want this?
Thanks for the offer of the gift....give it to someone else.
BTW...can I get a gift card instead?
We have a similar situation happening here on Oahu but the Fed hasn't given the money yet. State population 1.2 mil with 800,000 on O'ahu. Project estimate $5.5 BILLION. Feds contribution, $1.5 BILLION leaving the rest of us with the $4 BILLION and that doesn't take into account delays and all sorts of other unaccounted dollar figures.
ReplyDeleteThe guy pushing it ran on his first term for Mayor with "Do we need it? Can we afford it? and Can we maintain it?" for any projects. When he was pushing this particular project none of those questions were asked. He promised one city council rep the route through his district/community and once the guy gave his vote, the deciding vote, to have the project move forward, suddenly, the route changes out of the reps district. NOW, after 2 years of his second term in office as mayor he resigns to run for Governor. And he wants my vote for the higher office...yeah, right!