Minneapolis - St. Paul Subway System

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

You really have no idea what you are talking about. Your B's should be M's first of all. $30 million is the cost of a mile of streetcar, while light rail costs more than that.
Secondly, there is no system of transportation that is self-sustaining. It is not economically feasible for a homeowner or business owner to pay for a sidewalk. My walk down a city street is subsidized by taxes. Certainly, a tangled system of roads and freeways requires constant subsidy in order to function (or do you plow the road you drive on yourself and fill its potholes in the spring?) I could paddleboat to work and still have to rely on the function of the the Minneapolis and Hidden Falls locks and dams.
Actually, come to think of it, bikes would require no subsidy. They can be rode on unpaved surfaces and require litte supporting infrastructure.
So while it may be difficult for you to rationalize as a taxpayer, it is even more difficult to rationalize a position on which you had a predetermined conclusion.

You are right, I was dealing with a bridge project that was estimated in the billions and should have been millions so I had B on my mind... all the numbers are in the right range if you will substitute an M for the B. Sorry.

I am not arguing that transportation infrastructure should not be subsidized by tax payers but more warning of the scale and the cost/benefit for the majority of the population. Rail just happens to cost the majority a notable amount to benefit a minority of the population.

[Minnehahapolitan]

It is a diversity of transportation options that is beneficial to a society as a whole. While I seldom use freeways to move about the Cities personally, they allow goods and services to move more easily. That is why I will always support freeway projects that do not promote further physical growth with my tax money, regardless of my use. While Metro Transit only serves 250,000 rides per day, it allows that many people to not have to use the road system. That is the equivalent of I-94, or two I-494s. That benefits you. A good transit system also allows for a healthier city core. Even if you live thirty miles out of the city, that directly benefits you and your property values. The analogy I always use to illustrate that point is the "Saint Louis model"; you could get the same house in Saint Louis and it may only cost you half or 3/4th of what it does in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is a healthier city, and it draws people and ideas to it that benefit us all. To maintain Minneapolis as a healthy city, measures such as development of public transit must be taken.