Myths & Facts About Rail Transit
With rare exceptions, rail transit is a costly and foolish investment
that is more about pork barrel than it is about moving people.

In the last few decades, some two-dozen cities have spent around a hundred billion dollars building rail transit lines, and many other cities want to follow suit. Proponents say rail transit reduces congestion,
cleans the air, and promotes economic redevelopment. Yet a look at existing rail lines shows that rail transit does none of these things. READ MORE

ABOUT LIGHT RAIL

What Is It? (It is not about moving people or relieving traffic congestion) One of the most highly touted light rail systems in the country is located just south of us in Portland, Oregon. "MAX" attracts light rail wannabees from all over the world, yet along with almost every other light rail system in America, It's a failure by any measure. Here in the Puget Sound region, we have a higher transit ridership than Portland without light rail. Why is that?

In order for light rail (mass transit) to work, there must be a population density of about 20,000 persons per square mile, (like New York, where rail works). In downtown Seattle, density is around 6,000 per square mile.

The 2008 Prop-1 campaign was widely supported by those business interests who were getting contracts from Sound Transit. If you were a contracted business with Sound Transit, it is unlikely you would continue working for them if you didn't financially support the campaign.

The Puget Sound Regional Council estimates that traffic in the Puget Sound region will double by 2030 to 16.4 million trips per day. With that in mind, consider the following facts about 2008's Prop-1 ballot measure for light rail:

1) Cost: $105 billion, through the year 2055. It is the largest local tax increase in U.S. history at approximately $35,000 per Puget Sound household. Sound Transit denied our claim that the total cost exceeded $105 billion. They told voters the cost was $17.9 billion, but they were only including capitol costs and failed to tell voters about ongoing maintenance and operation costs, bonding and interest, or the fact that the taxes are never-ending.

2) Ridership: Sound Transit ridership projections by 2030 are 213,000 trips per day out of 16.4 million total trips. This represents 1.3% of all daily trips. Once light rail's displacement of bus trips is factored in, the ridership is reduced down even further to 0.4% of all daily trips. There will still be 99.6% daily trips by car or bus in 2030.

3) Efficiency: If Sound Transit succeeds at capturing the I-90 bridge center roadway, the bridge will become 25 - 35% less efficient, which means even more slow downs for commuters and freight coming in from and leaving the Port of Seattle.

4) Taxes: Sound Transit taxes from Prop-1 are "FOREVER" taxes, which mean that there are no sunset provisions. This was an important part of the story that Sound Transit failed to tell voters when they asked for the new taxes in 2008. One only needs to add up the amount of taxes that will be collected by 2055 (the year the bonds are set to pay off), which total $105 billion to know the truth. That is how much each of us will pay.

So, after spending $105 billion to reduce congestion, traffic still doubles. We certainly can do better than that! Taking ridership projections into account, whatever light rail is about, it is not about moving people or reducing congestion.

RESOURCE LINKS

Elections and Voting

The Necessity of Initiative 1125

LEARN MORE ABOUT INITIATIVE 1125 AT:

CITIZENS' GUIDE TO INITIATIVE 1125 pdf by Michael Ennis Director, WPC’s Center for Transportation Sept. 2011

THE WASINGTON POLICY CENTER Learn more about Initiative 1125

ELECTIONS AND VOTING Initiative 1125: Washington Secretary of State - Sam Reed

BALLOTPEDIA - INITIATIVE 1125 Washington Transportation - Initiative 1125

VOTERS WANT MORE CHOICES Learn more about Initiative 1125

THE NECESSITY OF INITIATIVE 1125 Washington State Impolite

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© 2011 Washington Traffic Institute - Initiative 1125