This earlier post noted that a not very flattering analysis of the economic debacle that is the San Jose, California light rail system might very well describe Houston’s light rail system in a few years if we don’t come to our senses. Following up on those thoughts, this Randal O’Toole post reviews a San Jose Mercury News newspaper article that reports on the state of the San Jose transit system on the 20-year anniversary of light rail there. It’s not a pretty picture:
Santa Clara County taxpayers pay as much or more for transit, yet their transit system carries fewer riders, than almost any system with light rail in the country. ìThe heavy tax commitment to transit,î the article notes, ìmeans fewer dollars for road upgrades.î Especially since a half-cent sales tax that voters approved of for roads was hijacked by the transit agency in 2000. [. . .]
ìThe light-rail system should be considered a 100-year investment,î says San Joseís director of transportation planning. That shows how shallow planners are: within another 20 years, that investment will be completely worn out and San Jose will have to decide whether to scrap it or spend another few billion replacing it.
. . . [the] Silicon Valley, with its jobs spread out more thinly than almost anywhere else in the country, was unsuited for large-bus transit service. So to go from buses to light rail, which requires even more job concentration to work, was a mistake. Having made that mistake, VTA now wants to build BART, which requires even more job concentration. . .
Light rail was the wrong solution for San Jose in 1987, it is the wrong solution today, and it still will be the wrong solution in 2027. We can only hope that San Joseís leaders and opinion makers, including the Mercury-News, come to their senses by then and decide to junk the whole thing.
Meanwhile, in Houston, as our local “leaders” continue planning to spend upwards of $4 billion on expansion of a light rail system that relatively few citizens of the area will use, alternative transit projects that make much more sense are relegated to discussion in the blogosphere.
The Houston area is a big place with a vibrant and resilient economy. But Metro’s light rail system is the one urban boondoggle going right now that has the potential to become a serious economic drag on the local economy in the not-to-distant future. It’s far past time that our local leadership noticed and started taking actions to hedge this risk.
Well said Mr. Kirkendall
What is further troubling, METRO has developed Orwellian characteristics.
What’s really interesting is the consideration of who Metro RAil is being built for and I’ve attempted to analyze that angle but no one really listens. Will the wealthy in River Oaks, Tanglewood, West U and the University area ride the rail? I seriously doubt it. Will the newly arrived, largely Anglo, Dinks, Singles and Gay couples who have moved into the trendy Downtown and Midtown Lofts and apartments ride the rail? Probably not. Based upon my observations of the Downtown rail, those who ride are largely minorities riding to and from their homes on the East and near North ends to their jobs in the Medical center. Rail has been a big improvement for them and would continue to be so if it weren’t for the fact that they are increasingly drawn to the suburbs as they move up the economic ladder. For a glimpse into the future of rail, and you have to look way down the road here past the economic devastation of lost businesses on Richmond and other routes to be built, you have to look at the type of housing that’s being developed inside the loop. That type of housing is mostly large scale, high rent, Apartment complexes that are favored by highly skilled immigrant workers from all over the rest of the world. To sum it up; Rail isn’t for us…..it’s for the current and next waves of highly skilled immigrant workers. Why? Because the current economic model of endless growth demands an endless supply of highly skilled and educated workers in numbers far in excess of those the U.S., and certainly Texas, can produce on their own. And that’s particularly true with the broken and failing public school systems which, as the U.S. and Texas, become ever more true centers of highly paid immigrant employment, will shrink much as I suspect H.I.S.D. is shrinking as it’s prime client base leaves. City planners nationwide see an inevitable truth, the future isn’t about us………..it’s about the others who will come here in the future. And, it’s not necessarily a good or a bad, it’s just an “is” in a nation without borders. The irony of it of course is that rather than have the multinational corporations who fuel the need for this type of housing and infrastructure pay for it, those of us taxpayers who have been essentially blotted out of the future, (as well their children have been discounted), are expected to pay for it. Makes you wonder doesn’t it. Who are we really working for?