MORE ROADS, NOT RAIL

Dallas does not need an "ambitious" regional rail network, says Mary Katherine Stout, vice president for policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Less than two months ago, Dallas Area Rapid Transit announced that it would be $1 billion short of what is needed to meet existing building obligations.
Assuming local taxpayers are hip to the notion of paying more on every purchase so they can cruise around -- or subsidize others cruising around [*] -- in trains, it might be wise to consider how well this expanded rail network can be sustained in the future [**].

Combine inflated ridership projections and enormous cost overruns that have plagued rail projects like this across the country with the reality that people have not given up their cars [***] en masse despite the construction of fancy rail lines, and the only promise taxpayers can count on is that this will require their continued and growing financial obligation for decades to come.

Keeping Texas moving is a high priority, and the inescapable fact is that Texas needs more roads, not more rail cars, says Stout.

[* = survey after survey says a majority of voters support 'mass transit' - for the other guy to use - to better clear the roads for their own use, as evidenced by their consistent answer to what it would take for them to use mass transit - the #1 answer to which is 'nothing'.
** = rail systems are many times more expensive to maintain than pavement, and that's before factoring in labor costs - unionized of course - guaranteed to eventually leave riders stranded come the day they chose to 'renegotiate' their monopoly-protected pay scales.
*** = driving clearly best suits the majority of our life styles, where we often can't leave our jobs at a set time and, due to the prevalence of two-earner households, often run our errands after work. Need proof? Look at our freeways; they're packed. Despite the hour-long commute many of us are stuck with it's still our preferred mode of transportation - and who is government to nay say the wishes of its citizens on the matter?
> Conclusion: Want to realistically help the environment? decrease fuel consumption? improve our quality of life? Build more lanes. Anything else is detrimental wishful thinking (at best, and un-American social engineering at worst). ]

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