To all Prop 1 opposers (Austin, Round Rock: 2013, taxes, living)

[A-Tex]

It's not that the people who voted against it don't support rail, most simply don't support outrageously expensive rail plans that do nothing.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

It's not that the people who voted against it don't support rail, most simply don't support outrageously expensive rail plans that do nothing.

Well let's just wait and see the price tag for IH-35 improvements in Travis County. I believe the words of choice will be 'staggering' and 'unprecedented.'

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

It's not that the people who voted against it don't support rail, most simply don't support outrageously expensive rail plans that do nothing.

Agreed, at least partly. I do think there is support for rail -- and I do believe that many people who voted against this proposal would have voted for rail in another form. I don't think this rail plan would have done "nothing", but I do think it was far from adequately addressing any of the transit woes of this city. The reasons this failed were not because it was rail, or even the pricetag alone. It failed because the starter route was not good, and the path to a complete transit system was not at all well defined. This was known to the planners for a long time, it was told to them repeatedly by the public and many urban transit activists. First and foremost, when you ask the public to fund something you have to show them value. Whatever the positive arguments for this particular route were, it was destined to fail if it couldn't show any benefit to the majority of voters.

The fact that rather than addressing the core problem, they chose to tie in road spending as a hostage and revert to scare tactics ("ignore the flaws -- if we don't pass this we're doomed forever") just strengthened the belief by the public that this was a really bad plan. It ended looking like an acknowledgement of what everyone suspected.

I do hope that a new council and new mayor will reach out to some of the transit supporters who opposed this plan, learn from this mistake and come up with a better plan. I actually don't think it will be long before another proposal comes up -- there is no way the new council will ignore the traffic issue. Remember that after the 2000 rail proposal was defeated, the red line vote came only a few years later in 2004. Of course, the red line itself (and the master plan they proposed then -- All Systems Go") then set us back 10 more years. It was very hard to put up a new proposal in 2008 or 2010, when the Red Line was suffering delays. Then after it finally opened, the ridership was too low for another rail proposal to stand a chance for another 4 years.

Honestly, when I'm stuck on Mopac tomorrow, I'll feel a lot better because I'm not going to have my already high property taxes skyrocket for a rail system that won't help Mopac traffic at all. And I'll be happy that a poorly designed plan wasn't rewarded with $1.3B of our tax money.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Well let's just wait and see the price tag for IH-35 improvements in Travis County. I believe the words of choice will be 'staggering' and 'unprecedented.'

The number is known. $1.25 to $1.91B, to improve 35 from Round Rock to Buda. Or roughly the same price as nine miles of rail. In comparison, seems pretty reasonable. And much more effective in improving mobility throughout the metro.

[Danbo1957]

The rail price was too expensive.

I am a life-long westside Austin resident. Here is how I handle bad traffic: I don't drive in it. I simply do not use IH35 between 183 and Ben White, ever; and I pretend that Mopac and 360 do not exist between 7am and 6pm. I drive happily like it was 1968...

[Reggieray]

Cmon mayor leffingwell. Step away from your pc, stop making new threads and go to bed already. Hey man, be happy you live in a historical landmark.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

I simply do not use IH35 between 183 and Ben White, ever; and I pretend that Mopac and 360 do not exist between 7am and 6pm. I drive happily like it was 1968...

Shh! You've said too much already.

[lndigo]

I am disappointed in the election results. We just passed up a huge opportunity to stimulate development in the core. Developing the core instead of the suburbs would've in itself alleviated congestion and have been more environmentally sustainable. Furthermore, are people forgetting that Lamar/Guadalupe is already served by TWO rapid bus lines? Each time we delay the development of light rail, it becomes more expensive. The ideal situation would've been to vote for rail back in 2000.

EDIT: I think an even smarter solution would be to develop a PROPER rapid bus system (with their own designated lanes) instead of light rail. It would accomplish the same thing in a more cost-effective manner. Such a proposal lacks the glamour of an LTE, but I think a proposal could still fair a chance in Austin with its pragmatic and educated voters.

[ppp38]

The City had ample opportunity to choose a better route for rail. Had they actually listened to the people in choosing a route instead of going with their own special interests, rail couldve passed. Rails failure falls squarely on the city leadership, thankfully most of them are being ousted.

[sojourner77]

The rail line should have run along I-35 and been packaged with I-35 improvements while the highway was torn up. People would have rejected it anyways because it didn't help their own situation if they didn't live along I-35. Same for Mopac rail improvements, or any other highway that received special attention, so what are we do? Try to pass a 6-7billion bond to tackle all the areas at once? That won't happen.