Rail Transit Realists
It’s taken entirely way too long, but finally a responsible government body (I know, it’s very much the oxymoron, but stick with me here) has stood up to voice legitimate concerns and demand realistic projections for an astonishingly pricey rail-transit project. It happened this week when the Iredell Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to delay a vote of support for the proposed $452 million Red Line commuter/freight rail project, slated to stretch 25 miles between Mecklenburg and Iredell counties.
The Iredell vote has the potential to stop the crazy train dead in its track, largely because the Red Line is dependent on a regional government authority reaching a consensus for moving the project forward. Charlotte Area Transit System and the state are expected to pay for half of the line’s $452 million tab, with the balance coming from a new special tax district in four towns along the route – Huntersville, Davidson, Cornelius and Mooresville – and Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, along with additional so-called “value capture” from a tax increment financing scheme generated by new business expected to pop up along the commuter/commercial rail line.
Proponents of the venture say the project, with its combination of commuter and freight rail components, would yield upwards of $226 million and 23,000 new jobs. Iredell commissioners had the audacity to question the rosy guestimates and – gasp! – to demand specifics before moving forward and putting their constituents on the hook for millions of dollars and higher taxes.
Board Chairman Steve Johnson has made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that he does not support the plan.
“They’re crazy,” Johnson said of the DOT and CATS leaders who are promoting the project. “There is no way in the world that this thing works financially.”
Johnson said the plan for making the rail financially feasible is to attract businesses along its route and to haul freight for those companies.
“But who goes into a business not even knowing if there are any customers?” Johnson asked rhetorically.
Without the freight-hauling component in place, Johnson said the plan is essentially designed to operate in red ink.
“They lose money every time a passenger gets on,” he said. “I wouldn’t get out of an electric chair to vote for this.”
…
Johnson said others have told him he isn’t familiar enough with the “details” of the plan to make an informed decision on it.
“I say, ‘The details aren’t going to save this thing from insanity.’”
Not that details matter when it comes to all things rail transit.
Indeed, this week’s vote by the Iredell commissioners is the first battle in what will surely be a prolonged propaganda war, with CATS officials, rail-transit boosters and Charlotte’s uptown lunch bunch trying to strong-arm the Neanderthals from Iredell to change their misguided ways. Recall how incredibly ugly and wholly disingenuous the debate turned (threats of increased property taxes, slashed core services such as public safety, draconian cuts to bus routes for the elderly and poor) when pro-transit cheerleaders broke out their iron-fisted pompoms to denigrate and malign transit realists during the referendum to repeal the half-cent transit tax, and you have an inkling of what’s in store down the Red Line.
Fortunately, it sounds like Iredell commissioners are up for the fight.
Commissioner Renee Griffith questioned whether other governments in the area would step up to help Iredell extend the rail beyond Mount Mourne in the future.
“The State of North Carolina is broke,” she said. “We need to live in reality.”
She and others are skeptical of project supporters’ claim that the project costs would be capped at $452 million. “We need to look at this as a business and the business model is flawed,” she said, adding that nationally rail projects have exceeded their budgets by an average of 104 percent — more than double their projected costs.
Added Johnson: “There’s a difference between the way the world is viewed in Iredell County and the way it is viewed in the great state of Mecklenburg. In Iredell County we believe it when we see it. In Mecklenburg, they see it when they believe it.”
Here’s hoping the Iredell board keeps its collective eyes focused on reality.
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