This LA Times op-ed by transit experts Jim Moore and Tom Rubin examining the LA area’s MTA transit system over the past 20 years. They provide a daunting warning for those who rationalize the massive deficits of Houston’s light rail system by contending that the system will become cost-efficient in the long run:
. . . the MTA has spent more than $11 billion since 1986 to build its rail network, and the effect has been to reduce total transit ridership on the system by more than 3 billion boardings. That’s a bizarre result.
Shouldn’t investments in transit infrastructure encourage, not discourage, transit use? So, why is Houston continuing to barrel down a path that LA has already shown is a poor way to invest in mass transit?
Either because they are lemmings, or, they are expecting “incentives” from the multi-national corporation which happens to be dealing with bribery and corruption charges.