I’m not going to rant and rave about PART asking for more stimulus money. I’ll just present an interesting back-and-forth between NCDOT public transit director Miriam Perry, PART executive director Brent McKinney and transportation expert David Hartgen:
Hartgen, an emeritus professor of geography at UNC Charlotte, said he thinks that public-transportation and highway projects should be competing directly for stimulus money instead of being funded separately. Those that have the most economic impact should get the funding, he said.
Hartgen also questioned whether PART needed its own park-and-ride lots in rural areas where parking lots at churches and shopping centers could be used.
“Where are the new jobs being created by this?” he said. “The only ones I can think of are drivers and maintenance workers.”
Money that only supports capital projects can be a drain on the economy because local governments must come up with the money to run and maintain what has been purchased, he said.
Perry disagreed. She said that the stimulus money will improve the state’s transit infrastructure, help keep costs low and make public transportation safer. And because stimulus funds don’t require a match from local government, using it frees up other money that can be used for operating costs, she said.
McKinney said that the stimulus money will also create jobs for construction of the lots, and will help stimulate the economy by making it cheaper for people to get to work.
Somehow I’m not convinced.
