The one thing about Progressives and Big Government types – they can’t seem to want to let go of 19th century technology – trains. They get all goose-bumply every time it seems to come up and provide yet another opportunity to spend other peoples’ money to advance their fascination to relegate the many for paying for the few “privileged”. Oh sure, they have lots of excuses and obfuscations – they’ll wax eloquently about “working while riding”, Green transportation, evil cars, emissions, economy, and oh yeah, the economy.
Always the economic benefit but none of them can refute one Important Fact – NONE of them wants to pay full boat themselves for the cost of it – and how can it stimulate the economy when it can’t even pay for its own existence?? In today’s UL is an article talking about the options that are making these old fashioned tech fanboys and girls – and it summarizes it well be asking “Who REALLY pays?” (reformatted, emphasis mine):
The Manchester Regional option calls for $246 million in total capital costs, with half that coming from federal grants and another $51 million coming from the value of MTBA supplying the trains and track rights. Calculations show about $7 million beyond ticket and advertising revenues would be needed annually to pay the debt service and the remaining operating costs. By comparison, the Nashua Minimum scenario would cost $120 million in capital costs or $39 million after federal and MBTA contributions. That would leave a $4 million yearly gap to bridge. The Concord Intercity option would cost $256 million, or $128 million after federal funds. The Concord option would not get any MBTA contributions, so $15 million a year would be needed beyond ticket and advertising revenue.
Put another way, that annual cost that still would need to be funded breaks down to $10 per estimated rider per one-way trip under the Manchester option, $22 for the Nashua alternative and $61 for the Concord option, according to the study.
Get that? They should just have a someone there at the stations, checkbook in hand, just handing each and every passenger a check each time they get on board. That sound like a GREAT idea for us forlorn taxpayers, watching even more of our bucks flowing out of our wallets because Smart People say it is good for us (I am trying hard not to use “Grubered” here).
Yeah, I’ve written about the Downeaster train running from Maine to Boston – it still needs boatloads of taxpayer cash as well. This time, these folks trying to blow smoke up our butts aren’t even trying to hide the fact this new choo-choo train hare-brained idea can’t pay for itself – they just assume that we all think it is a great idea for us all to pay for them to listen to that clickity-clack and train whistle…
