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It's amazing to me how Americans have invested Billions and Billions of dollars on sports arenas & stadiums that don't have a real economic impact in terms of connecting people and ideas from place to place but we all get in a tizzy when it comes to investing in HSR.
REAL HSR has the possibility of having an amazing impact on the growth of our state. Frankly, I'd like to see more money poured into it with speeds dialed up to 125 MPH+. Alas, that will never happen because we seem like a country that is afraid of its own future as it deperately holds on to its past. If anyone wants a wake up call, go to SE Asia and take a look at how THEY are planning and building for the future. Places like Hong Kong and Singapore are starting to make the US look like a backwater "has been".
The truth is that the airline industry is the biggest opponent of true HSR. Let's face it; a 200 mph plus train from Charlotte to Raleigh would be an hour trip (and that's with stops along the way). This is a video of a 357 mph train. Notice how the train is actually keeping pace with a plane at the 42 second mark of this video.
It's amazing to me how Americans have invested Billions and Billions of dollars on sports arenas & stadiums .....
Indeed:
Charlotte:
$300M - Bobcats Arena - NBA
$220M - Nascar HOF
~$60M - BofA Stadium - NFL
Trying hard to come up with a scheme for a minor league BB stadium that won't get into legal issues but where costs can be obfuscated from tax paying voters. $35M - $100M
Yet no money available for any local rail projects.
I'm glad the Republicans in our state are smarter than the ones in Florida. Even if you oppose rail funding, it makes no sense to turn down money that would simply be sent to another state.
Trying hard to come up with a scheme for a minor league BB stadium that won't get into legal issues but where costs can be obfuscated from tax paying voters. $35M - $100M
Yet no money available for any local rail projects.
All of these things you've just mentioned actually boost local rail ridership.
Bobcats Arena Station
All sizes | DSC00183 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofsuperfly/4281151492/sizes/l/in/photostream/ - broken link)
Panthers Crowd on light rail
All sizes | DSC07787 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonofsuperfly/2725276435/sizes/l/in/photostream/ - broken link)
I do agree that rail should be a MUCH higher priority, but with rail comes land use (ie, higher densities, downtown arenas and stadiums, etc etc etc). Right now, we don't have the money to build arenas and stadiums (thank goodness they were already built during better economic times). Keep in mind that we did build our first rail line during the high economy, so its not like rail was ignored. Later this year, we will be starting construction of the city's streetcar line from uptown to midtown. More needs to be done, but this is a start.
All of these things you've just mentioned actually boost local rail ridership.
If they had spent the money, instead, on the rail line to UNCC that would have definitely boosted rail ridership. The dubious claims of the value of sports venues, I simply don't believe. (though if they produce a creditable study of this, which has never been produced, I am willing to be convinced)
If they had spent the money, instead, on the rail line to UNCC that would have definitely boosted rail ridership. The dubious claims of the value of sports venues, I simply don't believe.
You don't believe what you can see with your own eyes?
"Charlotte Area Transit said 24 million people rode CATS mass transit last year. This year, there is already a two percent increase and the numbers are expected to rise as gas prices increase"....
This number includes all the buses in Charlotte. Rail ridership, which I was referring to, has been falling. These disingenuous arguments are exactly the sort of thing that I am talking about.
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