METRO Gets $50 Million For Rail Expansion

Metro is getting $50 million from the feds to expand rail in Houston. I'd paste the press release here, but for some reason, instead of sending out the release as actual text, it came as a typed sheet of paper scanned into a document that was then turned into a PDF. I guess there must be a new intern.

METRO TO RECEIVE $50 MILLION FOR RAIL EXPANSION.pdf

Well that sounds like good news. Hopefully the NEW Metro will be more responsible and allow better transparency.

Well that sounds like good news. Hopefully the NEW Metro will be more responsible and allow better transparency.

This would have been even better news had it not already been budgeted for 2011.

I think METRO should be proactive and go after the rail money that the newly elected Tea Party Republicans turned down in Wisconsin and Ohio (hundreds of millions of dollars for high-speed rail was earmarked for those states and the new Governors TURNED IT DOWN). Lets turn their idiocy into our rail!

I think METRO should be proactive and go after the rail money that the newly elected Tea Party Republicans turned down in Wisconsin and Ohio (hundreds of millions of dollars for high-speed rail was earmarked for those states and the new Governors TURNED IT DOWN). Lets turn their idiocy into our rail!

Is that what happened? I thought it was strange that construction is underway on the HSR link between Chicago and Saint Louis (259 miles), while the link to Milwaukee (86 miles) hasn't. I guess the mystery is solved.

Wow, this will help build about 500 ft of light rail, woohoo!

Wow, this will help build about 500 ft of light rail, woohoo!

Considering how little people in Houston like the idea of walking, every foot helps!

Is that what happened? I thought it was strange that construction is underway on the HSR link between Chicago and Saint Louis (259 miles), while the link to Milwaukee (86 miles) hasn't. I guess the mystery is solved.

Does that mean that Amtrak's 'Spirit of New Orleans' is about to get cut back?

If METRO is smart, they'll somehow get the money to buses and route planning.

In Wisconsin, Governor-elect Walker (Tea Party) turned away $810 MILLION in federal stimulus money for a light rail line connecting Milwaukee and Madison. It's rumored that the Spanish company that had promised to build a train car facility in Wisconsin has now backed out of the deal. Estimates are that over 5,500 future jobs just vanished.

In Ohio, Governor-elect Kasich (Tea Party) announced that he would kill the rail plan to connect Cleveland to Columbus and then on to Cincinnati. He asked the Feds to use the $400 MILLION alloted to Ohio for highway projects. The Feds told him to beat it.

Unfortunately, it looks like that $1.2 BILLION has already been given to California, Florida, Washington, and a few other states.

In Wisconsin, Governor-elect Walker (Tea Party) turned away $810 MILLION in federal stimulus money for a light rail line connecting Milwaukee and Madison. It's rumored that the Spanish company that had promised to build a train car facility in Wisconsin has now backed out of the deal. Estimates are that over 5,500 future jobs just vanished.

In Ohio, Governor-elect Kasich (Tea Party) announced that he would kill the rail plan to connect Cleveland to Columbus and then on to Cincinnati. He asked the Feds to use the $400 MILLION alloted to Ohio for highway projects. The Feds told him to beat it.

Unfortunately, it looks like that $1.2 BILLION has already been given to California, Florida, Washington, and a few other states.

I'm not saying that these guys in Wisconsin and Ohio aren't utterly insane (even Ron Paul knows better than to turn away pork), but I have absolutely no faith in the estimates regarding job creation either. Your argument is perfectly fine on the face of it, without inflated jobs estimates.

Does that mean that Amtrak's 'Spirit of New Orleans' is about to get cut back?

No, it just means that the City of New Orleans will run faster on that stretch of the route, as it won't have to wait for the freight bottlenecks at the Mississippi River in Alton, and the one further north near Joliet.

No, it just means that the City of New Orleans will run faster on that stretch of the route, as it won't have to wait for the freight bottlenecks at the Mississippi River in Alton, and the one further north near Joliet.

Once this project is complete, perhaps some insightful rap artist can splice in a higher-tempo sequence to Willie Nelson's classic song. Yeah...that'll sound fantastic.

I'm not saying that these guys in Wisconsin and Ohio aren't utterly insane (even Ron Paul knows better than to turn away pork), but I have absolutely no faith in the estimates regarding job creation either. Your argument is perfectly fine on the face of it, without inflated jobs estimates.

Actually, the Dems up in Wisconsin have been stating that 13,000 jobs will be lost. The 5,500 figure I came up with was a conservative estimate based upon this;

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements

click on the 2nd link. I actually even undershot the politifact estimates.

Actually, the Dems up in Wisconsin have been stating that 13,000 jobs will be lost. The 5,500 figure I came up with was a conservative estimate based upon this;

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements

click on the 2nd link. I actually even undershot the politifact estimates.

Are these jobs "lost" in the real world, or in politics where "not created"="lost?"

No, it just means that the City of New Orleans will run faster on that stretch of the route, as it won't have to wait for the freight bottlenecks at the Mississippi River in Alton, and the one further north near Joliet.

Probably not, since the City of New Orleans runs on a completely different route than the CHI/STL route.

Actually, the Dems up in Wisconsin have been stating that 13,000 jobs will be lost. The 5,500 figure I came up with was a conservative estimate based upon this;

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements

click on the 2nd link. I actually even undershot the politifact estimates.

There are two categories of stakeholders on this issue: Wisconsiners and Americans. Since the funding for HSR is already allocated to that purpose, this decision has absolutely no effect on the average American. As for Wisconsin, the effect is two-fold: they don't get the benefits of the project and they lose share of allocated federal funds.

The jobs argument is highly suspect, a blip on the radar. First of all, as Politifact points out, most of the jobs are temporary and construction-related. Many of the jobs would not entail full time employment or will be seasonal. And the big caveat is that a lot of the jobs will involve off-site out-of-state regulatory, engineering, and pre-fabrictation activity. (OTOH, even if Wisconsin loses out on a big construction project, this means that some nominal number of Wisconsiners will probably still be involved in HSR construction, somewhere in the world.)

Unfortunately, not many states have economic development programs so sophisticated (or intellectually honest) that accurately measuring economic impact is attempted. And none of the economic development consultants that generate these expensive reports use a standard set of methodology, meaning that there is no such thing as an apples-to-apples comparison. These figures have no relationship with or any bearing on BLS data, are designed for a special interest to justify outside investment, and should be disregarded completely and absolutely in the political realm. The data is garbage!

There are two categories of stakeholders on this issue: Wisconsiners and Americans. Since the funding for HSR is already allocated to that purpose, this decision has absolutely no effect on the average American. As for Wisconsin, the effect is two-fold: they don't get the benefits of the project and they lose share of allocated federal funds.

Good analysis, Niche, except that the effect on Wisconsin is more than two-fold. You forgot the effect of the costs Wisconsin taxpayers would have to pay for the project in operating and maintenance costs (and possibly in funding any cost overruns in construction costs, not that federally funded construction projects ever have cost overruns).

Good analysis, Niche, except that the effect on Wisconsin is more than two-fold. You forgot the effect of the costs Wisconsin taxpayers would have to pay for the project in operating and maintenance costs (and possibly in funding any cost overruns in construction costs, not that federally funded construction projects ever have cost overruns).

I was about to say the same thing, good point. They would have been throwing money in the garbage basically.

Good analysis, Niche, except that the effect on Wisconsin is more than two-fold. You forgot the effect of the costs Wisconsin taxpayers would have to pay for the project in operating and maintenance costs (and possibly in funding any cost overruns in construction costs, not that federally funded construction projects ever have cost overruns).

Yeah, I should've used the phrase "net benefits of the project" rather than simply "benefits of the project". That number could be a negative, but I don't feel like making that a battleground issue from which we'd undoubtedly stray off topic.