Bob, That quoted argument is so faulty in its conclusion as to be laughable. The 7,700 "poor riders" (lack of a car being the factor defining the riders' impoverishment)do not necessarily number the entire ridership of the light rail, yet 7,700 is the number of extra vehicles that the author suggests would hit the road if the light rail service ceased. That is clearly wrong. And what of the car owners who choose not to commute by car, because of either the running costs or a lack of desire to drive in peak traffic, among many reasons? Shouldn't they be subsidised for their extra costs, and that figure added to the equation? If not , why not?
IOW the St Louis Federal Reserve is attempting to promote a point of view by the use of deception. It's rubbish. Regards, Anthony > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Bob Sullivan > Sent: Friday, 5 December 2008 6:04 AM > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: Re: PESO: Union Station Grand Hall > > Scott, > Good article from the Federal Reserve of St.Louis. > I especially like the part that says, > "Based solely on dollar costs, the annual light- > rail subsidies could instead be used to buy an > environmentally friendly hybrid Toyota Prius > every five years for each poor rider and even > to pay annual maintenance costs of $6,000. > Increases in polution would be minimal with the > hybrid vehicle, and 7,700 new vehicles on the > roadway would result in only 0.5 percent increase > in traffic congestion. And there would still be funds > left over - about $49 million per year. These funds > could be given to all other MetroLink riders > (amounting to roughly $1,045 per person per year) > and be used for cab fare, bus fare, etc." > > PJ, it's the public's choice NOT to support mass transit. > Always has been. Taxes never killed it, cars and suburbia did. > > Regards, Bob S. > > > On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Scott Loveless <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 12/4/08, Bob Sullivan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Oh well, I guess a couple of A's and a B+ ourtank my Masters Thesis in > >> urban transportation planning, and work experience in Cost and > >> Economic Analysis for the railroad plus 24 years at Mickey D's doing > >> Real Estate Market planning. Oh well... Regards, Bob S. > > > > This is an interesting read. > > <http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional/04/07/light_rail.pdf> > > > > -- > > Scott Loveless > > New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA > > http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ > > > > -- > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > PDML@pdml.net > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.