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[quote user="blue streak 1"] [quote user="Sam1"]It is poster child for the argument that government should not do anything that can be done by a market driven business organization.[/quote] The question that has to be asked.  Was this whole operation a deliberate way to torpedo any consideration of light rail and commuter rail in the lone star state for the future?. Or the question can be:  Is the state oversight so completely inep that it could not discern that there was malfecense going on? Maybe a federal investigation is necessary. Were Fed funds used?  [/quote] Planning for Austin's Capital Metro Rail got underway long before I moved to the area from Dallas.  Accordingly, my knowledge is based on a read of numerous articles that have appeared in the Austin American Statesman, as well as several conversations with a member of the Capital Metro management team.  I knew him in Dallas, where he was part of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) management team.  He joined Capital Metro after the rail project was well under way.  He had significant input in the development of DART's light rail system as well as the Trinity Railway Express. He is a competent executive.  The problems that beset the opening of the Leander to Austin rail line were probably a function of two causes.  First, the management team had no experience in building and operating a commuter rail line, although they had been overseeing the operation of the Austin & Western, which is a freight railroad operated by a contractor for Capital Metro.  In addition, the appointees to the Capital Metro Board, who have no hands on public transit experience, did not in all probability provide the kind of oversight required for the project.  They probably did not know what questions to ask the experts, who made the recommendations regarding equipment, routings, financing, etc., let alone whether the answers that they received made any sense. I have not seen any evidence that Capital Metro or anyone associated with it was attempting to torpedo commuter or light rail in central Texas.  I believe most of the problems besetting the project stemmed from a lack of experience in putting the project together or incompetence.  I understand that the federal government has not provided any money for Capital Metro Rail.  It has been funded with local funds.  Moreover, I don't think that it received any money from the Texas Department of Transportation. The good news is that the trains are running on time, or at least the ones that I ride several days of the week.  And the passenger loads are picking up.  A Capital Metro employee told me this morning that most of the morning trains are approaching their seating capacity (108) by the time they get to MLK Blvd. which is the transfer point for passengers going to the University of Texas as well as the State Capitol complex.  However, this is well below the seated and standing capacity of 200 passengers per train set.
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