I read and reread Bruce Siceloff’s story in the News & Observer on the proposed commuter-rail corridor, searching diligently for any inkling of information that a new, fixed-rail system might not, you know, pay for itself or reduce congestion.
There was this:
Students and workers would have to accept the new way of getting around – and they would have to be assured of convenient bus connections to get them from rail stops to their destinations.
And taxpayers would have to agree to help pay for it as part of the proposed half-cent sales tax for regional transit improvements. The proposed sales tax could go to voters in the fall of next year.
Ah, yes. People “would ahve to accept the new way of getting around.” But nothing points out that, as CJ’s Anthony Greco pointed out in this report, only about 4 percent of the population rides transit.
Or that even with the sales tax, passenger rides would be heavily subsidized ? Cato Institute scholar Randal O’Toole puts the average national subsidy for commuter rail at $15 per trip.
Wouldn’t want to complicate a feel-good story with any, you know, reporting.
If you’d like to see the always-provocative and entertaining O’Toole in action, be sure to sign up for Monday’s Shaftesbury Society meeting. Details here.
