Minneapolis’ light rail impresses

I recently had the enjoyable experience of traveling on the Minneapolis light rail system’s Hiawatha line from the Mall of America to downtown. The ride was swift, smooth and clean, and the round-trip price was less than downtown parking.

Later, I saw TV news coverage of the light rail’s five-year anniversary celebration. In less than two years after opening, the line had already reached (and far exceeded) its 2020 ridership goals. I understand their daily ridership was 37,000 people as of 2008.

 I did find one inconvenience, however. The line was closed for the weekend while they expanded the line and improved the existing stations.
 
While Minneapolis is making huge strides with light rail, Kansas City drags its feet and continues to shuffle off to an antiquated bus system. Minneapolis expands its rail service to make it even more user-friendly, while we cut back funding on our unreliable bus system.

Why can’t we in Kansas City learn by the examples of other cities? I think the answer is special interests and lack of leadership in our city government.

Richard Honeycutt 
Lee’s Summit

Comments

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

Devin you should be doing standup, tax dollars spent efficiently, now that is hilarious. You don't really expect lawyers and deadbeat politicians to spend OUR money correctly do you? These clowns can;t even keep a check book ledger balanced.
BTW in case you didn't know this, people die at some point not everyone will live to the same age. Of course Iwould imagine Obama has come up wiht some government plan that will guarantee all people will live to the same age, you know to be fair and just.

[solomon]

devin,

Your argument is poignant, precise, well thought out and has nothing to do with the fact that light rail has little compatibility with the metropolitan Kansas city landscape.

.....here's an idea...how about the folks who don't live in Kansas City pay to build trains to get them here.....Johnson county to downtown.....Lees' summit to downtown.......that seems fair to me.....burdening Kansas City with the cost of building a light rail system when we have no true need for one is a bad idea.

[devin]

It should be pointed out, marctnts, that not only is no rail system in the US self-sufficient, no transportation system of any kind is self-sufficient. You rarely pay tolls to use the roads, and the fuel taxes don't even come close to covering the costs (in Missouri, I ran the numbers once--for 2007, I think--from the state budget numbers and found that expenditures on roads are roughly eight times the revenues from the fuel tax). Self-funding roads (i.e. private roads) were tried again and again in the early days of the automobile, but they all failed. Transportation is simply one of those areas that markets haven't been completely successful and government intervention has been required. So it simply comes down to a choice of government priorities--should we subsidize fuel-inefficient travel that ultimately puts more money in the hands of terrorist organizations and causes numerous other harmful side-effects (40k people killed annually by cars, huge numbers of lung problems in densely populated areas, etc.) OR should government focus on subsidizing more efficient modes of travel? Personally, I like my tax dollars to be spent efficiently.

[JoCo]

NMMNG,

OK!! Wait, NO.

[Flash]

Sky Tran.

http://www.skytran.net/phpsite/home/Home%20Intro.php?bg=neg

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

Why don't you just move to Minneapolis?
Their city is twice the size of KC for one.
had we built the casinos DT or Midtown, we might be able to justify a rail system from MCI to Joco and let's make ONLY Jackson Countians pay for it.

[JoCo]

Sol,

GREAT on both counts!! Sis AND NY deli tongue.

[solomon]

JoCo.....edible but not what I had a taste for.....my sister is coming in from NY next week and I've asked her to bring me three pounds from the Carnegie Deli.....

[JoCo]

Sol,

How was the lengua? Have you become deli-independent?

Agreed on the e-tax coffers and the alien "nose". You'll likely (or not) see the e-tax, as well as farepaying, argument that metro area residents, as well as tourists, will support. Luckily, the polls, for whatever THAT'S worth (Chastain,etc.), are for KCers only.

[Jazz-Man]

Richard i'm sure you read other post on here but yet you still felt the need to say something.

Why?

[Marctnts]

BTW, NO rail system in the US turns is self-sufficient. The subway system in NYC gets close, with its extremely high rider levels, but most systems require over half their cost be subsidized.

Now add KC's extremely large geographic area (more area = more rails) and reasonably uncongested highways (easier drive = less riders) and guess where a system here will end up.

[Marctnts]

It's too bad that infrastructure improvements aren't as "cool" as light rail. Perhaps then we'd see more people focused on the BILLIONS in required improvements our antiquated systems need and less worked up about a nifty attempt at "keep up with the Joneses" (ignoring the fact that the Joneses' situation and ours are very different).

Oh well, let the letters continue...

[Kee]

Rick that touted Minneapolis system was billions and billions into the red during and after construction. It has not even come closing to providing any roi on the construction costs.

Suck it up and get on the bus, or just pump a few more gallons of reg. into the mini-van.

[solomon]

That 1% tax does buy the guy a little cred if he indeed pays it, but it does not change the fact that we get letters like this from people who want a rail service connecting folks who don't live here paid for by people who do.

There is no money in the coffers of the e tax to build a train system.

[JoCo]

Careful, careful. Maybe Mr. Honeycutt works in the huge KC geographic boundary and pays the detested 1% E-tax.

Doubt he works Downtown, though, or, if so, has a window. Doesn't take long there to see the renewed hustle-bustle criss-crossed by city busses on their way with passengers to the four corners of the Greater KC.

[whispering_to_kc]

"... Why can’t we in Kansas City ... our city government ..."

You're "in Lee's Summit". You aren't "in Kansas City". The KC government is "their city government".

If you're ever been near, let alone on, an ATA bus I'd be surprised. Sorry, but following an ATA bus down Troost doesn't count either.

[solomon]

...unreliable bus system? Are people being left on street corners by buses that never come?

Here's another guy that chose not to live in Kansas City who believes those of us who choose to should spend money on a rail system.