[Mpls] Tragic "misplanning" by Metro Transit

[David A. Greene]

Nathan Hunstad wrote:

> While I feel comfortable riding the bus whenever, I do know that there are a
> lot of people who will refuse to ride the bus at all, presumably for safety
> reasons.  I think that this is just another symptom of the irrational fear
> that so many people have these days, but for whatever reason, it does exist.

Well said.  Frankly, this is what ignorance and lack of engagement
produces.  It's a symptom of a much larger and more pervasive
cancer in our society.  There's also the fact that the LRT is just
more pleasant to ride.  It is quiet and smooth, with no exhaust fumes
wafting through the rear window.

That said, buses have a place in our transit system.  My feeling is
that they are more appropriate for short-distance trips with
longer routes better served by rail.

> That is why the Hiawatha line is so successful where a dedicated busway
> would not be.  Time after time, surveys show all across the country that
> people would much rather ride light rail (or heavy rail) instead of buses,
> all other things being equal.  And let's be honest: the Hiawatha line is
> really cool to ride.  It's fun, it's interesting, it makes people feel they
> are in a big city.  This is one reality that Metro Transit has to deal with.

Rail also has great environmental benefits.  Drawing electricity from
a central power station is more efficient than putting an equivalent
number of internal combustion engines on the road.  A roadway must
cope with drainage issues while rail does not inhibit nature's
solution to the problem.  In fact, the proposed Greenway Trolley
would use a "rails on grass" approach for drainage and aesthetic
purposes.  Once land is paved over, it is basically unusable unless
significant effort is made to restore it.

> On the other hand, there are a lot of people in the legislature, House
> Republicans in particular, who are either opposed to transit in principle or
> want to skimp as much as possible.  These people, who control the purse
> strings, are much more likely to fund busways than rail if they fund
> anything at all, citing the higher cost of rail (just look at the Northstar
> Corridor).  They do this despite the fact that the very people who are
> electing these legislators are saying that they would never ride buses.  It
> sounds like a recipe for failure to me.

Of course it is.  Building infrastructure on the cheap never works.
Busways have their place, but sometimes I get a sense that certain
legislators and high-ups are happy to fund a minimal bus system,
hoping it will fail for exactly the reasons you cite.  That way
they can make future arguments against funding transit.  Makes it
easier to satisfy the Taxpayer's League that way.

The Chamber of Commerce and business leaders are finally doing
something about this.  The Itasca group is making a big push for
transit.  But we need public engagement to make sure that transit
serves our communities, including neighborhoods as well as
business.

> It's this perception that needs to be changed, not the lack of parking spots
> for LRT riders.  The notion that buses are only for the dregs of society,
> and that they are unsafe for anybody else, needs to be thrown out the
> window.  Metro Transit needs to do its share by having more of a visible
> police presence on the buses (I have never seen a transit cop just riding a
> bus, but ever since the Hiawatha Line opened I have seen at least two
> transit cops at stations or riding almost all the time).  They could teach
> their bus drivers a little customer service, which is lacking all too often.
> They can expand service instead of cutting it.  Of course, all of this takes
> more money.  Considering that Metro Transit no longer relies on property
> taxes for operating funds, the only way to get more money is to raise fares
> (entirely counterproductive) or get money from the legislature, and that
> hasn't happened lately.

I agree with everything you've said here except for the driver
service, which I have found to be almost always cheerful, pleasant
and helpful.  The real crime that our nonexistant legislature and
governor have pulled is the loss of federal matching dollars.
Because we do not have a stable, dedicated funding source for
transit as we do for roads (constitutionally guaranteed, even!)
we have lost countless opportunities to get the 80% government
match for important transit and transportation projects.  We
simply need to come up with 20% of the cost of these project
and the feds will fund the rest.  Otherwise, the money goes
somewhere else.  It certainly doesn't get refunded to us if we
don't use it!

All this is happening despite our having key congresspeople
on the transportation committees.  Oberstar is the ranking
Democrat on the House Transportation Committee and Kennedy
also sits on it.  Sabo has done tremendous work to secure
additional funding for Northstar and other projects, funding
that will disappear because of the failiure of our state
leaders to act.  He is practically screaming at the top of
his lungs about our state inaction.  Other communities know
how much power our state has in the federal transportation
sector and they are laughing at us because we are unable to
leverage it.

All this leads to what is in effect a tax increase for
Minnesota, tax dollars that go to fund projects in other
states, tax money that should be reinvested in our state's
infrastructure.  Pawlenty can cry all he wants about "no
new taxes" but he has managed to raise the rate on us all.
The fact that he wants a bonding bill for Northstar and
highway projects belies his "no new taxes" image.  He
is taxing our future to pay for the present instead of
exhibiting leadership by finding a stable funding source,
raising the gas tax and/or other solutions.

> I think the only way this will ever change is if bus riders themselves lobby
> for more funding, proving to legislators that voters do ride the bus and
> that voting for transit is an election winner.  As long as bus transit is
> seen by both legislators and the public as just welfare taxis, though, our
> transit system will not improve.  That is a real shame.

Absolutely.  We need people who want good transit to work for it.
This is most people, judging by conversations I've had on the LRT
during the opening, regular service and before Twins games.
Everyone wonders when we will get more.  More LRT, yes but we
need buses as well to serve existing roadways.

My feeling is that those opposed to transit have not spent
extensive periods of time in cities with excellent transit
options.  Life could be so much better.

                                      -Dave