Story Published:
Dec 6, 2011 at 10:30 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Dec 8, 2011 at 6:17 AM CDT
The headline read: "Author -- Light rail isn't for Nashville." Let's go one step further by saying that light rail isn't for any city. Light rail survives only becauseof Government subsidies. And just where does the Government get those subsidies? From gas taxes for the most part. That's as in 40% of your gas taxes paid at the pump every time you struggle to fill up. That's money that is supposed to go for the construction of roads and bridges. You know, the public thorofares that vehicles travel on. Certainly roads are not what light rail tavel on. Light rail construction costs millions per mile to build. It is not the same as the Music City Star which uses railroad tracks owned by a short line such as the Nashville & Eastern Railroad. Light rail requires first the construction of rail tracks--and that's really expensive. Rights of way must be purchased first, and land isn't cheap.
Oh, the urban planning set wishes to vehemently disagree. They are up in arms with the author Joel Kotkin who wrote "The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050." He says tht rail service doesn't make sense. Only a small amount of the population would benefit from light rail. Even the Music City Star isn't performing to its potential. Less money would be wasted by increasing bus service over existing roads.
Most people don't work downtown any longer. They work in the suburbs. Why would they need any form of light rail? If anyhing were to change, these same people would end up working from home as telecommuters. After all, technology is improving by leaps and bounds. What will it be like in 2050?
So, what's behind the light rail push? Land speculation by real estate speculators. But land will be bought away from the cores of cities--i.e., the suburbs where people will work. That's where land is cheapest.
Light rail is so expensive to build and the returns so small that it simply doesn't work.
And, finally, the jobs that light rail construction brings don't last. They are temporary for as long the building of the line lasts.
