Rep. Ed Murray (D-Fremont Statue of Lenin) and Chairman of the House "Transportation" Committee, admits in Tuesday's op-ed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that Sound Transit, which has back-burnered its plan to build a light-rail station at the densely populated First Hill neighborhood, is a pointless project:
If you can't serve the densest population center in the state, what's the point of building a mass transit system?Indeed, as Emory Bundy makes clear in his recent media alert -- the only point is to ask for more money. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at July 25, 2005 11:00 PM | Email This
1) forgot to delete 20mph sentence
2) lift began in 2005, budgeted in 2002
3) cars are dtachable, thus can be moved from
one line to another easily
4) click on name above for link to gondola site
5) given politics in Seattle is full of sky-high
and lofty aspirations, this is a perfect fit.
6) I STILL am totally serious. Can you see one
of these spanning Lake WA from Seattle to Bvue?
RM
Love how Ed is so happy about this line "You don't need a car at all." I bet he dreams of the day when cars are gone...they are evil you know. :-) Oh wait, then where will all the tax revenue come from? Oops, but then again $.05 a breath or per step taken should cover some of that. Tax me please Ed!!
1) IT WAS BUILT ON TIME!....ONLY 4 MONTHS LATE.
2) IT WAS BULIT ON BUDGET!....BUDGET WAS $60 MILLION, THE PROJECT CAME IN AT A COST OF $80, MILLION ONLY A 32% COST OVER RIDE.
3) IT WILL REPLACE ALL THE UNPRACTICAL & POLLUTING BUSES!....NOT ONE BUS ROUTE WAS CHANGED OR DELETED. IN FACT THE BUS ROUTRS HAVE BEEN EXPANDED THROUGH DOWNTOWN TACOMA. MUST GET THAT BUS UNION VOTE!
4) IT WILL TAKE CARS OFF OUR STREETS!....PLEASE
5) IT IS SAFE TRANSPORTATION THROUGH THE CITY OF TACOMA!....IF IT IS SO SAFE WHY ARE THE POLICE RIDING ON EVERY TRAIN. WHO IS FOOTING THAT BILL?
6) OVER 750,000 BOARDINGS A YEAR!...HOW DO THEY KNOW NO TOLL IS TAKEN, NO ONE COUNTS, THIS IS AN ESTIMATION.
7)ITS FREE!...USING SOUND TRANSITS OWN NUMBERS IT COSTS THE TAX PAYERS $5.30 FOR EVRY BOARDING AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS. THE TAX PAYER ALSO PICKS UP THE TAB FOR "FREE" PARKING. SO MUCH FOR BEING "FREE".
So what's progress? I mean, isn't that what being a Republican is all about? Progress, capitalism? Why aren't we privatizing the roads so that our decisionmakers aren't in control of who gets what?
Posted by: Ben Schiendelman on July 26, 2005 01:16 PMIt's good for tourists and business travelers. Woo Hoo!!!
Posted by: Brent on July 26, 2005 02:34 PMThe most important destination on the southern leg of Link is South Center. (Hint: Seatac is a place you go to when you're going somewhere else). South Center was ruefully bypassed, (nearest Link stations are 2 miles away on the other side of I-5), and cannot be readily served with connecting transit.
First Hill 'can' by bypassed because the nearest Link station at Capitol Hill is 1/4 mile away, and connecting bus service is in place through a transit-dependent corridor. Furthermore, Link First Hill station has a limited walking distance due to hilly topography, (less than 1/4 mile). Thus, improvement to connecting bus service in this case is as important as Link, even if the First Hill station were built.
Ed Murray's knowledge deficiency is somewhat excusable because all-knowing Sound Transit provides the talking points, and they don't go this far into design consideration either. They chose to bypass South Center because.. because.. well, somebody told them to. Sound Transit said it would save money, but they know this is not true.
Posted by: Artie on July 26, 2005 07:52 PMI love the last paragraph:
"Now Seattle City Council must approve the monorail's financing plan before letting building go ahead. Weeks ago, approval seemed certain, but not any more. This, in a way, is unfair. For though the monorail scheme has flaws aplenty, the real culprit is the political culture that allowed its creation in the first place."
Damned straight. People voted for this idiocy because they believe anything mass transit that is splashy is a solution to traffic problems, and the powers that be sell it because they believe that for Seattle to be a "real" city it has to comply with some sort of pre-defined image. Unfortunately, that image will soon change to one of a ghetto as anyone with sense will leave Seattle to the ultra rich that can afford the tax burden and the ultra poor that survive off the misguided KingCo largess.
Posted by: Marc on July 26, 2005 09:45 PMWhat's the sound of one liberal clapping?
Ron Sims watching himself on TV.