Commuter rail? NO! 13 against, 4 in favor in WSJ Forum 8/23/07

The Wisconsin State Journal asked their readers if they "support commuter rail for Dane County" in Aug 19 paper. Here are the thirteen "NO" answers and I could not resist adding my own-even if it didn't get published. For the four in favor, please see the link above. Important: Please see Eileen Bruskewitz's Guest editorial here on "Why the Trolley is not dead" and a plea for a truly comphrehensive transportation study- not just a WE WANT A TRAIN!!! groupthink that is Transport 2020. Put train lovers together with car haters like County Exec. Kathleen Falk and Madison Mayor Dave and their appointees - politicians and urban planners who see private property rights as a threat, add in consultants* that consult on building commuter rail and those who will be building the project, provide public money, time, meeting space and Surprise! you get a unifed push to build commuter rail with a recommendation to raise taxes to do it. * The same consultants (Parsons Brinckerhoff) who gave Boston "the big hole" that tunnel in Boston that has run multiple times over budget and you wonder why citizens here are grasping their wallets and purses? Here are the letters against commuter rail from the primitive thinkers (as we were characterized by County Supervisor Matano and the cavemen - Supervisor Soebig.) County needs to expand bus service A common sense look at a Dane County map virtually screams: "expanded bus service i- yes; commuter rail - no. Commuter rail works well on the Eastern seaboard, where New York City, a huge job center, is flanked by a long, narrow corridor of high density suburbs. An average New Yorker's rail commute might run 40 or more miles, one way. In Dane County we are spread out, at fairly low density, in all directions around our lakes, and most people prefer to keep it that way. Buses are the obvious public transit solution here. I would support a regional transit authority with a focus on buses, especially electric hybrid buses. Hybrid buses average 30 percent to 40 percent better fuel economy than diesel buses, and since they accelerate using electric power, they cut typical diesel emissions by around 90 percent. Hybrid buses are still more expensive than their diesel counterparts, but since they are heavily used, even the present cost penalty is usually recouped, and then some, in fuel savings alone, during a bus's operating lifetime. Perhaps most important, federal money is available for buses, not just commuter rail. Bus money can come from the Department of Transportation, and for hybrid buses, also from the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. Responsible policy makers should have made the public aware of this a long time ago. - Tony Finch, Madison Commuter rail won't help traffic congestion Dane County doesn't need commuter rail. Other communities that have built rail systems continue to experience traffic congestion without experiencing greater economic growth than Wisconsin's fastest growing county. Those communities also have the burden of covering their systems' operating deficits, making them less competitive than ours. We are told that the Regional Transportation Authority will address the rail system costs with a half-cent sales tax. Dane County already has such a tax, used to build the jail. With the jail completed, how about using that tax to fund transportation improvements? Why invest additional taxing authority in an undefined RTA and the same group that shifted the "jail tax" to other purposes? On Sept. 1, our transportation corridors will be clogged as 70,000 badger fans head to Camp Randall, even though these fans will be car pooling and Metro Transit will be augmented with private sector buses. A week later, with the Badgers traveling, those fans will be watching from dispersed locations, causing no congestion. Large congregations of people are the cause of congestion. Why don't we follow the path less traveled and look to disperse our growth throughout the county, thus spreading the wealth and avoiding the congestion? - Bob Bucci, Fitchburg Time isn't right for commuter rail idea One day, perhaps, rail will be needed, but presently, no. The plan as presented takes care of Middleton, Sun Prairie and employees of the University of Wisconsin and University Hospitals. How will other communities be served and when? A plan to integrate the rest of Dane County hasn't been presented. Begging the question, has it been considered? Furthermore, nothing is being said as to how buses will integrate into this plan. We are being asked to buy into a Dane County rail plan, and the funding, without a comprehensive plan. As presented, we simply can't afford this idea. - Gari Berliot, Madison Let the voters decide this contentious issue Mayor Dave Cieslewicz says the RTA will enhance life in Madison, but at what cost? The estimate for this rail service is $250 million, but it's wise to multiply estimates by four for the real cost. It could be $1 billion. And what about the cost during construction? University Avenue is a main artery and major retail strip in Madison. How much business will be lost when it's torn up constructing the route? How many small business's will suffer or close? Madison is already getting a reputation as a city that does not want small business. Cieslewicz may be choo-choo crazy, but something this important should be put to the voters in a referendum. Let the people of Madison vote yes or no for the RTA. - Michyle Glen, Columbus Madison continues to wage war on cars Since a couple of mayors and decades ago, Madison has waged war on cars in the city. This time around with the RTA, the nanny-city and controlling county might be about to succeed. Imagine paying hundreds of dollars more in property taxes for a train you'll never use. But even worse, imagine being slowed down on your daily trip to the inner city because trains have the right of way. How will you react when you see passengers from out of town co-opting that right of way, and trains as empty as the buses that already roll over most of the city? Won't you be tempted to move outside the county to avoid RTA taxes so that you can put your money into your personal choice - your car? Tell that to your city and county representatives before they effectively take away your choice. - Bill Fetzner, Madison Derail commuter train idea for Dane County I would like to see commuter rail for Dane County derailed. A more immediate solution to the commuter problems in Dane County would be to expand the present bus services to outlying areas and increase services within the city. It would not take a multi-million dollar sales tax increase to accomplish that. - Linda E. Gerke, Madison Taxpayers railroaded into transit authority First, thanks to those Dane County Board supervisors who took the time to write back expressing their views on the RTA. It's reassuring to know that some of you listen and do not simply vote for a pre-planned political agenda. I oppose the RTA not because I may be against commuter rail, but because I feel we as taxpayers are being railroaded into it. I would like to know: Is it true the Transit 2020 Committee was made up of mostly pro-rail members? Is it true that the Madison trolley is imbedded in the 2020 plan? What would be the effect on the Beltline and University Avenue if there was a North Beltline? Why not test the light rail proposal by putting an express bus on the same route. The bus fare could be 50 percent of the rail fare. Give it six months, then discuss the need for a $250 million project. Questions like these must be answered so citizens who do not simply vote for pre-planned political agendas can make informed decisions. - Russ Frank, Madison Bus and road options cost less, work better I don't want an increase in our sales taxes for the proposed commuter train system recently passed by the Dane County Board. There is no need for a train system in this county when the problem of transportation could be solved with a better bus system or a north or south bypass. This would be a more economical alternative than an expensive train system. Why would the County Board choose an expensive alternative that only 1 percent to 5 percent of the Dane County population would actually use, versus a less expensive plan that 90 percent or more of the population would use? Write your representatives in opposition to the RTA, commuter rail and the large sales tax increase. - Bill McDonald, Middleton Madison, Dane County priorities out of order The city and county need to get their ducks in a row before they are given the opportunity to start taxing $42 million a year for commuter rail. Show the taxpayers they can handle the taxes they are taking now before they ask for more. How? First, they need to get their priorities in order. Give the police the tools they need so every neighborhood is safe before they consider bringing commuter rail to Madison. Then consider the county taking over Metro Transit and expanding it to serve all the communities that have a need for the service, include using vans and contracting out. Consider road construction that will divert traffic around Madison. Once ridership is established, do a cost effectiveness evaluation of a rail system. If it is determined that a rail system is needed and will have users, address all the taxpayers' concerns, lay out the phases of the planned RTA and how its board will be selected. Meanwhile, continue to plan ahead and take into consideration the rail system when planning new developments. Call it the Dane County Transportation Network until other counties hook up, then go for the RTA. - Dorothy Borchardt, Madison, former City Council member Don't tax Oregon for Madison transit plan As residents of Oregon, we think the Regional Transportation Authority is an unjust taxation area for those living outside of areas requiring mass transit. Mass transport should be supported financially by those in that area. Taxation of the entire county to primarily support any rail or trolley system is not justified. In any case, a bus system is much more economical and feasible. - James and Ann Hillestad, Oregon Please, no more taxes The proposal for light rail between Middleton and Sun Prairie is too expensive and will serve far too few people to be economical. My preference would be to extend Interstates 39/90/94 to Highway 12 in Middleton, thereby creating a loop around Madison to provide an alternative to the South Beltline and provide a safer route from the Northeast Side of Madison to Middleton than the current Highway 113 to County M to County Q. I can remember the opposition years ago to building the Beltline through the marsh and for re-constructing Broadway. Can you imagine how congested Broadway would now be if we had gone that route? Let's do it right and build a north highway route, let traffic flow un-impeded and let travelers drive safely with off- and on-ramps, not stoplights and cross traffic. A look at a map of the U.S. shows that most larger cities are surrounded by a highway loop allowing for efficient and time-saving routes, not a hodge-podge of partial highways, light rail, park and rides, etc. The people of Dane County do not want the added taxes that this light rail will incur just to serve a few individuals. We already have a bus system that is working, is flexible and allows for adjustments to accommodate changes in demographics in and around the Madison area. Please, no more taxes. No expensive, inflexible light rail. And no to the RTA. - Mike Cerro, Madison Reader doesn't trust mass transit planners There's bad news for those who ride the bus and like the convenience, price and efficiency. Transport 2020 and Regional Transit Authority people plan to remove the efficient Middleton-to-Madison bus line in favor of a feeder bus to the rail. To artificially boost the projected rail ridership numbers, the bus trip will "count" as commuter rail and make the ridiculously low rail numbers look better. In fact, after the train is in, any bus line that "competes" with the commuter rail will be converted to a feeder system to take riders to the train depot. No more near doorstep-to-workplace, 15 minute bus commutes for UW, Capitol or Downtown people. Now they'll take a bus, wait for the train, take the train and maybe take another bus to the final destination. That's a great example of efficiency in government. Why do they think people will use a more complex, expensive and time consuming mass transit than the present bus system? I think I'll start driving my car to work. - Bonnie Abrams, Middleton Bus transit upgrades make more sense When I was an engineering student in the 1950s, my co-op employer was GM's electromotive division, at that time the world's largest diesel-electric locomotive manufacturer. My lifetime interest in trains has included visits to several steam narrow-gage railroads, rail museums and other railroad attractions. In retirement, one of my hobbies is a garden railroad. I should be pro-commuter rail, right? I am not. To paraphrase the line from the baseball movie, "Field of Dreams," what if you build it and they don't come? We will then have millions of dollars invested in rail bed and rolling stock that will require a draw on taxpayers if ridership doesn't provide at least break-even revenue. A far more flexible solution is to expand the bus transit system, which can be rerouted to meet changing needs without laying down new tracks. - Ron Tilley, Madison I'm fudging it here- I submitted the letter below but it didn't make it in. Myths about trains, trolleys and traffic congestion I attended last Thursday's County Board meeting and heard several myths about trains and traffic congestion repeated by the proponents of commuter rail. The 2006 book, “The Road More Traveled" Why the Congestion Crisis matters more than you think… by TED Balaker, Sam Staley has facts on better mobility in Dane County. My review on Amazon.com is here. Myth: Americans are addicted to driving. Not Addicted, just smart. The car is a better tool than public transportation. Office workers avoid typewriters for computers to accomplish tasks faster, more efficiently. Same with cars to transit. 96% of commuters use cars, less than 2% use transit. Myth: Key factor for commuting by transit or car is gas prices. NO. Key factor is Wealth. Wealthier people around the world choose the convenience, comfort, efficiency, flexibility, freedom, privacy, safety and advanced technology, advantages of driving themselves. 80% of poor people also use cars to commute - with 31% of America's poor owning two cars. Anti-Car policies make driving more miserable, cities less vital, exacerbate the ill effects of congestion, reduce mobility, lower the quality and standard of living. Myth: Public transit reduces congestion. False. Kathleen Falk, Mayor Dave made this statement at the June 28 press conference. Transport 2020 report says trains and trolleys will increase congestion at all crossings and not get drivers out of their cars.

Wis. State Jrnl. Forum Section Su. 8/12/07 Your Views: A War We Just Might Win

Some irony here - Bob Hall, former Marine Vietnam era Vet and 5 time MASS. legislator, me (4 years Marines 66-70, 26 yrs Warrant Officer in Army N.G. (all as a noncombatant) (treasurer) and Wendy Fjelstad married to career Air Force/Air Guard 4 tours in Mid East. (Pres. of Vote No to Cut and Run) the group that fought the "Bring the Troops home now" for the last 2 years all got our letters to the editor published on 8/12/07 WSJ. Opposing views can be seen by following link above. Question: Should Congress sustain the troop surge in Iraq? War is unwinnable, thanks to Democrats If Forum columnists Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack think that Iraq "is a war we just might win," these Bush critics will find themselves the subject of attack. There is no chance to win the war, or even achieve stability in Iraq, because the Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, have staked the future of their party on an American defeat, and they must now do everything possible to deliver that defeat. That Bush's inept leadership of the war gave them the chance to advance their party at great cost to America will be his worst legacy. O'Hanlon and Pollack recommend Congress extend the "surge" until 2008, but the Democrats were saying it had failed before it got fully under way. What happens in Iraq no longer matters; only what happens in the media. Robert A. Hall, Madison Continue surge to honor commitments Indications are that the "surge" may need to be sustained. Gen. David Petraeus should be the one to determine the number of troops required to maintain and improve stability in Iraq. The number of troops needed there should decline as security levels improve and political stability is attained. It is ironic that the opinions of two individuals from the Brookings Institution, both describing themselves in the State Journal Forum section as liberal and anti-war, seem to have more weight politically and with the "mainstream media" than Petraeus has. Our military won the war in short order in Iraq. What has been won by "the surge" is the perception that, despite the sniveling and politicization of this war, the U.S. intends to honor its commitment as specified by the Congress and as a condition accepted by the president, that we not only topple Saddam Hussein, but stay until a stable government is in place. If a continuation of "the surge" is needed to honor our commitment, it should be continued. Jerry Johnson, Sun Prairie

Continue surge; drop 'Cut and Run'

If it takes "two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration's miserable handling of Iraq" to convince people that the military surge and new commander is working in the Iraq war, so be it! Before the war began, the President pledged, "When the Iraqi troops stand up, we will stand down." That statement and the definition of victory when the Iraq nation has established democratic institutions and achieved a stabile security for its citizens is as clear an exit strategy as any commander in chief has ever declared, even after a war is over. What is our exit strategy from Germany, Korea, the Balkans? The surge is working. In spite of the Democrats in Congress and their investment in defeat, led by our own embarrassing Sen. Russ Feingold and meekly mimicked by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, the constant white flag waving is not working. Their "Cut and Run" retreat is not a winning strategy for anyone. However, the surge is working. Yes, if we have the will to continue real support of our troops we will win in Iraq. Is now the time to finally ask, "Do you want to win or lose in Iraq?"

Bill Richardson, Middleton, treasurer, Vote No to Cut and Run Petraeus, troops need help from homefront We are winning in Iraq and now we need to win at home. Our troops are performing brilliantly under Gen. David Petraeus and they deserve our continued support until their mission is completed. Even the liberal mainstream media can no longer ignore the success our military is having in Iraq. Those on the left, who hold a deep-seated animus towards President Bush and the U.S. military, can be expected to continue their drum beat for withdrawal. But the improving situation in Iraq calls for a fresh assessment by fair-minded Americans, who understand the importance of success and the seriousness of retreat and failure. We can either have confidence in Gen. Petraeus and the successful efforts of our troops, or we can let the defeatists at home prevail in their efforts to bring about failure in Iraq. Wendy Fjelstad, Cottage Grove (President, Vote No to Cut and Run)

Questions and answers about Traffic Congestion, Fix the transportation systems we have now,Polution, Choice

Questions for the Dane CTY Exec. Falk, Transport 2020 David Trowbridge, Cty Chair O'Donnell, others at the Combined Dane CTY Towns and Cities meeting, 7:30 pm Fitchburg City Hall W Aug 8, 2007 (Video available on Fitchburg cable)

This one was posed at this meeting:

Kill this proposal for now or table it and have the RTA Referendum at the regular elections next April - then decide.

Given that: The Feds - FTA (Federal Transportation Agency) in charge of RTAs (Regional Transit Authorities) have as one (of many) criteria that they need to know if the local area supports commuter rail before they will fund it.

Both the County Exec and Madison mayor haved stated they will not build any rail system if the FEDS do not provide money.

Then why not have the commuter rail Referendum next April during regular elections? The county Exec has said it will be "years" before a final decision is made on this issue. If so, kill this resolution now (or table it) until after the April 08 Elections that would include the RTA referendum question.

Why spend time and tax dollars now setting up the Wisconsin Legislative initiative to get approval for a RTA and the FTA pitch for Federal dollars before you know if the people support it?

After the referendum you will know either way. Then, either drop it or move on with it depending how the vote goes. Why waste time, tax dollars ptiching this to the State Legislature and the Feds if you don't know if the public supports it? Traffic congestion Is one of the problems you are addressing with commuter rail and Trolleys Traffic congestion as stated several times in the recent City of Madison and the Dane County resolutions favoring the RTA? Isn’t it true that the transport 2020 Report states that a Commuter rail system will INCREASE traffic congestion, not decrease it? Isn’t it true that Commuter rail stopping traffic in both directions on all the highways it crosses during rush hour up to 13 times an hour will cause sudden and massive traffic jams at every one of those crossings? Won’t it take a lot of time to disperse that traffic after each train crosses? Won’t this rail route effectively shut down a great deal of the North to South internal Madison traffic also? Do you really think the 90,000 car/truck commuters daily into the Madison area ( Mayor Dave’s numbers from the last meeting here in July) while waiting for the third or fourth train to cross will just smile, relax and say, (sweetly) “Who’s great idea was this?” or, Will they say, (sarcastically) whose great idea was this? Then get on the cell phone to the Mayor or County exec’s office. Fix the transportation systems we have now! (Questions) What is the largest most comprehensive Transportation system we have in Dane CTY? (Roads) What transportation system have we invested the most money in over the last 50 years? (Roads) What transportation system is used by about 96% of our Dane County citizens as well as tourists, travelers, businesses, manufacturers? (Roads) Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend more money on roads for the 96% of the population that uses them rather than a billion dollars for a trolley and commuter rail system for the less than 2% of the population that are projected to use rail?, What would you estimate is the total investment we have in County Roads only? Wouldn’t it make more sense to upgrade our huge investment in roads and their proven mobility, rather than spend millions for a new, unproven system? What condition would you judge our Dane County roads to be in?

Excellent- well maintained and built ahead of growth and usage, Excellent mobility at all times. (Free flowing traffic at all times very little traffic congestion) Good – fairly well maintained and keeping pace with growth and usage. Good mobility at most times. (Free flowing traffic with traffic congestion in rush hours) Fair – not well maintained and barely keeping pace with growth and usage. Fair mobility some of the time (heavy congestion at rush hours) Poor – poorly maintained, way behind in keeping pace with growth and usage. (Congestion can happen anytime)

(If the answer is anything but excellent isn’t that where we should be spending money?) How many cars were there in Dane County 1856? How many roads in Dane Cty in 1856? Why build new transit systems - commuter rail and trolleys that are based upon 19th Century technology –surface rails that were not built for commuting (elevated or subways) but were cutting edge rail roads in 1856? (And, that will only serve less than 2% of our population?) Is this rail system going to be an elevated one or a subway like many of the cities you are comparing it with? Pollution One of the arguments you have offered is that commuter rail and trolleys will help cut pollution. If both or even one of these systems is built, traffic congestion will increase, not decrease due to the RR crossing main highway arteries and the 6 mph pace of the trolleys. The fact that a Trolley will hog the middle of the street and be immobilized by any errantly parked delivery truck in their path will have a huge and immediate impact on traffic congestion as will all the train crossings for the Commuter rail. Free flowing traffic means cars and trucks are running efficiently and not polluting anywhere near as much as when they are stalled in traffic congestion. Today’s cars compared to those of 1960 run 98% cleaner. (Balaker and Stanley book) 50% of the pollution comes from 5% of the vehicles. Get the polluters off the road and you can reduce pollution markedly. (Balaker and Stanley Book.) Do you have the kahunas to take away smoking jalopies from poor people to really reduce pollution? (That is the question.) Choice One of the County board members Supervisor Al Matano District 11 in defense of the Commuter rail and Trolley system said at the July 19th meeting, (paraphrased here) but V-tape available here "any one who can't see the advantages of commuter rail is guilty of 'primitive thinking' and “I walk, I bike, I take the bus. I drive my car, but I want to have the CHOICE of taking a train to a county board meeting” My reaction was twofold One: I would like the choice of a red head, a blonde or a brunette when I get home. But I won’t have that choice. Suck it up, put your big boy panties on and get used to not getting all your choices - particularly at other people’s expense. My second reaction to him was; You paid for your shoes to walk, you paid for your bike, your bus pass, your car. Are you willing to pay $45 to $65 dollars to ride the train one way to go to a County Board meeting? If not, why should we have to pay for it.?

Need more info? Please see the book "The road more Traveled"by Balaker and Staley. New and used available online, and at Madison Public library.

Dave Blaska strikes again: Dane CTY blows $2,$3 Mill a year shuffling prisoners-Death of a trolley-why can't the Left pay for their campaigns

Dave Blaska has a great column in WisOpinon about how the Dane Cty. Exec. (Katherine "Queen of the Falklands" Falk and most of the Dane County Board of Supers maintain "Supervisor denial mode" that we need NOT drop some cash on a new prison (sarcastic side note from me-"NOT drop a billion buck$ on a train and trolley folly"- and the really big bucks spending comes later). NEWS FLASH: Madison Mayor Cheesesandwich just announced he is dropping the Trolley folly for Madison and he is just sick about it. A week of pouting will need to be held for the far Lefties to regain their composure. How can we "live" without a Trolley!! Anyway- I digress onto parallel tracks about how the County has a tin ear on spending- one last shot- 25 million bucks to buy up prairie land so that the evil developers can't get their hands on it? OK take our tax dollars to buy up land at $30K per acre so that it can not be developed? That also means nobody is paying taxes on that land now - so you will now pay more taxes to make up for the loss of taxes on the land your taxes paid for. Only in the Soviet Union or Madison would this make sense. And on Thurs. Aug 16 they are spending their time and your taxes on a Resolution to urge us to "Impeach the Pres. and V.P" contact them via E-mail at "Email all supervisors" link and very politely include your name address and phone and ask them to just do their job- they are not in charge of Congress or the country- the County not the Country! Question: Everyone else has to pony up for a cause. Raise money to oppose a trolley, buy ads in newspapers, and radio or TV to convince the public to do something like write or call their congressman and ask that they Impeach the President. But the PEE DEES (progressive danes) think YOU the taxpayer should finance their hate campaign and the city councils and Dane county Supervisors should put their stamp of official government approval on a strictly individual action and a blatantly partisan one at that- I guess the myth of PEE DEES being 'nonpartisan' does not apply in this case. WHY does the Left here feel it is the job of Government to carry their tainted water. Get out of the public trough long enough to pull a $20 out of your own pocket- you pay for it ,not the rest of us!

TEN steps to [Traffic] Congestion Relief

Ten Step to [Traffic] Congestion Relief

A condensed version of the Balaker & Staley Book. Talking points to oppose rail transit for Dane Cty as a solution for traffic congestion. Most are exact quotes from the book.

Dane Cty. Exec. Kathleen Falk specifically mentioned building a rail system to “reduce congestion” in her press conference with Madison Mayor Dave on June 28 2007. Since about only 2% of commuters use transit, bus and rail additions have not reduced traffic congestion.

Adding 6-13 train stops per hour blocking all lanes of traffic in both directions, even if only for 45 seconds to a minute (as stated on 8/8/07 in the Dane Cty. Towns Assoc. meeting by Mr Trowbridge of Transport 2020) will cause a massive and sudden increase in congestion and travel time in the Madison area. Do we want to spend 800 million dollars to prove that?

FROM: The Road more traveled; Why the congestion crisis matters more than you think, and what we can do about it. By Ted Balaker & Sam Staley. Rowman & Littlefield Pub. 2006. $24.95. Available in new and used editions at http://amazon.com/ and at the Madison Public Library.

Traffic congestion is a top quality of life issue in America. Because congestion in Madison area is “not nearly as bad as Chicago, Minneapolis or St. Louis” does not mean we should accept deteriorating traffic flow, poor highway and intersection design, increasing commuting times and an underperforming bus system. Accept it, and eventually you will have that level of congestion as the cities mentioned above.

From page 177 “final thought” – The notion that we cannot build our way out of traffic congestion is wrong. Wrong historically, wrong technically.

Projects in U.S. and worldwide show us that we have the engineering skills to build new capacity and manage existing networks more effectively. High levels of congestion are due to our failure to make reducing it a local and national priority.

Mobility must be established at the local, county, state and national level as a high priority.

What has been lacking is leadership. “America has never had permanent shortages, except in one thing: transportation. Many Americans think congestion is inevitable; it is not. It is a breadline, it is un-American, and we should not tolerate it” (Texas legislator Mike Krusee who ramrodded the change of legislation in Texas to change the laws to allow public-private projects.)

Pages 168-176 Ten Steps to [traffic] congestion relief.

1. Step one: Admit that mobility is Good

Many urban planners and other “experts” believe congestion is a good thing. It is considered a tool to force commuters out of their cars by making congestion intolerable enough that they will spend more time, energy, money, give up personal privacy and choices to conform to the trolley/train/bus schedule.

Accepting the “congestion is good mantra” means surrendering to a lower quality of life and a lower standard of living.

Congestion is the effect of a failure to keep road capacity and the transportation network on the same pace as economic growth - an indication of a shortage. When one blocks market forces to supply a demand-free flowing, efficient transportation- the result is a Cuba/Soviet style acceptance of shortages and a lower standard and quality of living.

We don’t accept this in any other area of our lives, why would we accept it here?

In Dane Cty. and Madison, we have had in place for years an anti-car moratorium on building better, highways that are more efficient and parking facilities. When was the last major highway built in Dane County or Madison? Road construction is nearly all for maintenance only.

Even Hwy 12 & 18 Middleton to Sauk city took far too many years to approve and rebuild into a modern (1970’s) highway. It handles traffic much better today, but is a study in compromise with stoplights and cross traffic major roads that are an invitation to an accident.

At the very least, roads need to be built to keep up with growth and usage. At best, in a progressive community, transportation networks should be built ahead of demand. Dane county has road capacities that should have been dealt with 15-20 years ago. They have been intentionally ignored. Adding road capacity needs to be a fundamental and defining component of a modern transportation network.

2. Step Two: Recognize that sound transportation Policy should Increase Mobility. (Amazingly enough, this obvious statement needs to be emphasized.)

Local, county and state efforts to force people to change their commuting habits do not work. Nearly 98% of commuters CHOOSE to drive because it is comfortable, convenient, efficient, and flexible, utilizes state of the art technology and is safe and private.

52% of drivers make stops before and after work to run errands, pick up kids, do myriad after work activities that a transit system simply cannot do. 78% of Europeans drive to work and that rate is growing faster than America’s driving rate even though their rail/bus system is firmly established as top notch, more advanced and efficient than ours is and gas is much more expensive there.

Level of wealth of the individual is the single most reliable indicator of choice using a private auto or using public transit. Even 80% of our “poor” have autos.

Madison’s bus system costs $40 million a year in federal, state and local tax subsidies ($9 million from Madison) with only 20% coming from rider fares. In the Transport 2020 report (which could be renamed “Transport 1920” for its championing of trolley/rail and ignoring upgrading the bus system, the least expensive method recommended for improving mobility was streamlining the bus system, not a rail system. The trolley/rail proponents have ignored this recommendation.

Forcing higher housing densities, using zoning to restrict housing choices and growth diminishes both our quality of life and our standard of living. New county motto: “Dane County: We will tell you where to live, where to work, how and when you will move between them and how much it will cost you”

3. Step Three: Recognize there is No Free Lunch

Roads and transportation systems are not a free lunch. We have built roads that are not the right roads in the right places at the right capacities and we have allowed capacities to be grossly exceeded instead of increasing capacities with usage. We need to use fees to tie costs to benefits more directly. Public/private alliances to rebuild and build new capacities in mobility and the wider use of user fees- tolls, gas taxes are needed to pay for the lunch.

4. Step Four: Choose tools that make sense.

Would road tunnels or elevated double Decker quadruple one way reversible express or bus lanes relieve congestion? Would a relatively small investment in computerized and controllable traffic light coordination relieve congestion and speed a free flowing pattern?

Would widening bottlenecked roads, improving intersection design, adding bus and express lanes, brand new toll roads with variable tolls, private sector building and running of toll roads work? (Chicago now leases the Skyway to two companies recently rec'd $1.83 Billion, Indiana has approved leasing out their Toll way to private concerns and rec'd $3.85 billion)

Would upgrading local and arterial roads improve overall mobility? Would faster response times to traffic incident removals increase mobility?

From Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) database find bottlenecks, where most congestion occurs most frequently and determine if it is lack of capacity- road lanes- or poor management of existing infrastructure- traffic lights, turn signals, poorly designed intersections, on/off ramps, lighting etc.

5. Step Five: Identify Leaders and Champions

No one will address congestion unless there is leadership. Identifying the right people to take charge is critical to success. Only a highly visible pro-mobility campaign will identify them. In Dane County and Madison not only do we lack this leadership, the leaders are firmly in the anti-automobile camp.


Business community must be involved. High or rising levels of congestion or higher taxation than surrounding communities for transportation systems that do not relieve congestion is simply a waste of their money and will heavily affect their bottom line.

Measure the number of hours of delays removed per millions of dollars spent to prioritize congestion reduction funding. (Most bang for the buck is NOT a rail system, but higher capacity and better-designed highways/toll ways for bus/car mobility in nearly all cases in U.S. is.)

6. Step Six: Enable Real Solutions

Must have the right legislation locally and statewide to encourage innovation and creativity.

Rule of thumb: New services should be allowed if they make money when users pay for them. This applies to transit as well as new roads. Dismantle government monopolies and controls on transit, taxicabs, and roads and let market forces pay for transportation options rather than only tax dollars.

Provide an environment where different approaches can be tried over a reasonable timeline is critical to transportation policy. Congestion reduction strategies need to embrace the most effective tools for local area- queue jumpers, ramp meters, signal optimization, High Occupancy Toll way (HOT) lanes or express busways.

7. Step Seven: Cut off Ineffective programs

Transit, while popular among the elite, simply has too limited a role in most places to be a major player in congestion reduction.

Transit investments need to focus on maximizing mobility for the transit dependent. Since this segment is normally less than 2% of the commuting population, transit has too limited a ridership to influence regional congestion and mobility for the other 98%.Similarily, roads that do not significantly add to mobility in a region should not be built.

All transportation projects should be subject rigorous cost-benefit analysis that gives a more prominent role to congestion reduction.

Applying cost-benefit analysis to all transportation projects that will reduce congestion will eliminate inefficient projects.

8. Step Eight: Adopt performance measures

Performance measures must be tied to congestion reduction to maintain accountability transparency. Texas and Houston specifically adopted standards that measure the hours of delay and average travel times that became benchmarks to measure effectiveness of congestion reduction and became the benchmarks for measuring other transportation projects, which limited patronage and pet projects appeals.

Performance standards will force policy makers to make commitments to specific goals and standards. Example: a 1:10 travel time index- where peak-hour travel is 10 % longer than free flow travel time on average for the typical commuter. Highway redesign, traffic signal optimization, turn signal coordination can all be evaluated with this tool.

9. Step nine: Require Accountability

Measurable congestion reduction, travel time reduction can be built into the institutional accountability. Congestion fighting is not a one-time event. It is ever changing and must be measured regularly to meet the challenges in a variety of ways. Having congestion travel time triggers in place that automatically start congestion reduction projects must be long term and ongoing goals. Waiting until congestion cripples the local economy and lowers the standard and quality of living is waiting too long and is too expensive to repair.

Accountability should include:

Transitioning to new effective policies as the region changes
Terminating ineffective programs based on performance measures
Expanding effective programs in a timely manner

10. Step Ten: Take the long View

Use hard data and evidence to determine congestion and mobility problems. Local regional planning agencies may be helpful, though some must be forced through the Freedom of Information Act to provide the needed data.

Meet with groups, individuals that have vested interests in seeing mobility improve-business community, community organizations.

Consult experts who have a record of accomplishment for designing and implementing successful congestion relief strategies in U.S. Dane Counties' RTA consultants are the same ones that did Boston’s “Big Dig” Tunnel that is running about ten times its estimated cost. Are these the experts we should be talking to?

Develop long range strategic planning for improving mobility, with measurable targets for routes and corridors (travel speeds not falling below 10% of free-flow travel) specific strategies (variable rate toll roads, HOT (High Occupancy Toll way) lanes, traffic signal optimization) and a timetable for implementation

Develop a ten-year implementation plan, which includes public education, marketing for moving the project forward, with benchmarks for achieving specific elements of the plan

Bill, the media whore on WIBA this morning talking about Commuter Rail

I was invited to appear on Mitch Henck's radio show, "Outside the Box" this morning on WIBA AM 1310 from 9 to about 9:30.

The subject: Commuter rail and the trolley folly here in Madison as proposed by Mayor Dave and County Exec. Falk at a NEWS conference around June 27 or so.

Mitch is truly an amazing guy. Funny, (he does professional stand up) smart, (also works as a Mortgage Banker) and a memory that is pornographic....ah. ... photographic. Note how he pops out dates like when the rails were put in Madison.

He is a lot of fun to work with and has been way out ahead on the traffic congestion and the crushing effect a RR or Commuter rail system will have on traffic congestion. He grew up in Lafayette, Indiana where freight trains just stopped auto traffic cold for long, long times....he knows of what he speaks! His mind travels at the speed of thought.

I have linked the show to 'show' above but have never put up a audio link before, so if you try it give it about 2 minutes to load- big file- but if it doesn't work for you fagettaboutit! (I will check to see if it works first.)

It works! On my DSL connection it took about 2 min to download and then a few more seconds before it begins. Get a cuppa coffee and a donut and it will be waiting for you by the time you toddle back.

We need to be upgrading our present shaky transportation system- Madison Metro Bus system and the circa 1975 condition of Dane County's highways and county roads, but.....guess what they what to drop a mere billion bucks on?

Yep. A commuter rail that even the Transport 2020 (the study committee)
says will "increase traffic congestion" and may only take 4500 people of 90,000 commuting by car off the road! Yipes!

"The Return of Dumb and Dumber- The Rail Plan" for Madison comes to mind. The commuter rail will stop traffic 13 times an hour in all directions on nearly all of the major highways during rush hour. At the top of this posting is what it will look like on Day ONE if this tax boondoggle is allow to be birthed.