Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="Railway Man"] [quote user="Phoebe Vet"] Many of us agree with you, but there are a few, I won't mention any names, who subscribe to the belief system that anything that cannot be quantified in the ledger does not exist. [/quote]  Hold on for this, sir -- you're wrong, but right.  The belief system problem is not that all of the values of passenger rail cannot be quantified on a ledger -- because they can.  The belief system problem is that people disagree that some of these values should be quantified. For example, Bus Rapid Transit is cheaper to construct and operate than Light Rail for the same number of riders moved at the same speed.  However, people, as a rule, greatly prefer Light Rail over BRT.  One response to that conflict is "lower taxes are more important than people's rapid-transit preferences, so build BRT."  Another response is "people's rapid-transit preferences are more important than lower taxes, so build light rail."  The first group will argue that if we don't have lower taxes, in the long run we'll ruin the economy and everyone will be worse off.  The second group will argue that if we don't build light rail, but instead BRT, we will lower the quality of life which will make people less likely to live and invest in the city, generate less economic activity, and in the long run we will ruin the economy and everyone will be worse off. I can quantify and monetize either preference and put it into a cost-benefit analysis. But that hardly stops the debate, because whichever side comes out on the losing end of that bottom-line analysis will seek to remove the "bad information" from the ledger, by arguing those values can be reduced to zero by simply forcing people to do something -- pay more taxes, or ride a transit system they do not like.  Neither side to this argument can claim it has exclusive ownership of the "protection of the economy" temple.  Both sides are making some very specific claims about the future, one that people will "get used" to BRT and the other that people will "not get used to" BRT.  The only guide to which one is correct is historic trends.  Cities wondering if they should invest in a transit system, and don't know if they should pick BRT or light-rail, are afraid that if they pick BRT they will lose on the quality-of-life race with other cities and collapse their economy.  Or they're afraid if they pick light-rail they'll lose on the tax burden comparison with other cities and collapse their economy.  Historically most cities have taken the light-rail bet, because they're thinking that the overall national economy will continue to expand, the quality of life will continue to get better, and they are better to be ahead of that curve than behind.  But if you're thinking that the economy will shrink and quality of life will diminish, then maybe BRT looks better. The high-speed rail or more highways issue is just another flavor of the same stew. Ideologues use economics for support, not for illumination. RWM [/quote] Nicely said!  Choosing A or B or vice versa for a commercial option (passenger rail) generates economic and financial consequences within a value context.  Supporters of A will not agree with  supporters of B and vice versa.  It is part of the human condition.  Thus, wherever possible, the market place, or as much of the market place as feasible, should be the final arbiter.  It is the best place to let the people decide what they want and what they are willing to pay for.  I am not a free market ideology.  It does not fit every situation, i.e. the poles and wires business of electric utilities or local transit system.  But I have worked both sides of the fence.  I have seen the waste that occurs in a regulated monopoly, much like I perceive occurs in Amtrak, and I have seen how the forces of competition can clean it out.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag