This is why I say Texas has a lot of money for high speed rail and other rail projects. They just do not want to spend it on rail. So you have to ask why this project was necessary? Because some wanted to bring Austin together more socially? A lot to spend on a road project for such a short distance.
Then again the future high speed rail proposal through Dallas of an underground station and tunnel is going to be expensive if it ever gets built. I don’t think we will see it built in the next 25 years at least and it will be a lot more expensive then, when it has to be built.
I wish that businesses and institutions that build, own, or operate parking spaces or loading docks were required to pay for highway capacity needed to serve them.
Texas had a high speed rail project that was viable in the 90s, until Herb Kelleher and SW Airlines worked to get it stopped. He feared the competition would kill his airline.
Here in Maryland, if you build a new housing development, shopping center, etc, your zoning and building approvals often include the requirement that you pay for upgrades to the public roads nearby.
This can be as minor as widening the existing road you branch off of, or can include upgrading intersections, installing traffic lights, adding turn lanes, etc.
Sometimes the developers only have to pay part of the cost, sometimes most or all. Depends on what the State and Country highway departments determine the project impact to be.
The problem in NYC is similar to some of the larger Midwest cities it has become beholden to the developers (including the POTUS). The cost of living in NYC is entirely self imposed via past NYC administrations which have believe it or not been beholden to developers. Rent control is a band aid from lack of proper zoning in NYC. So it is within the powers of the Mayor and the City administration to lower the rents in NYC and make the city more affordable. They have not done so. Instead they have all these social band aids in place and city management has been incapable in NYC of fixing much in the affordability area. Instead the cost gets higher and higher to live there with more and more new regulations.
Drive around the suburbs of some large midwestern cities and look at the complete lack of planning with the zoning. It is zoning ala carte and the developers are pulling the strings. Texas is actually a little more Socialist in that department than NY State or Midwest will ever be. When a subdivision goes in where I live the developer puts and pays for the sewers, sidewalks, concrete streets with curbs through the subdivision as well as the adjoining city street adjacent to the subdivision. Phone company puts in decent fiber optic infrastructure usually with a local PBX on a concrete pad.
After I built my $148k full brick 2000+ sq foot home in 1999, I had visitors from where I used to live in the Midwest. They were shocked I got full sodded lawn, sprinkler system, all brick home, 9 foot ceilings a cathedral attic, concrete curbs, concrete driveway, concrete sidewalks, 8-10 foot concrete walking and biking path, etc, etc for a little as I paid. It’s within 2-3 miles of a light rail line into downtown, and now a new express line to DFW Airport. New regional airport opening in McKinney next year (fairly close). The value of the home has spiked substantially and so has the tax base. In effect this is the true role of local government, grow the community via proper apportionment of infrastructure costs. The existing taxpayers did not have to shell out money for me to move here or build a home. It should be this way everywhere in the US.
Look at a suburb of Milwaukee (same is true of Illinois). Watch how that goes in and all the cheapo shortcuts the developers use there. Lets say you lose your car in the Milwaukee area. Can you walk to the supermarket? Can you walk to the elementary school? Can you walk to a local restaurant. Can you walk to a City park with recreational building and pool? I can do all that. No longer need a car as I can use an E-Bike to get around and light rail has storage lockers right off the platform for E-Bikes. So I really do not have to move to Europe to get a European like setup, I can stay where I am.
Back to your point and sorry for the long post. People are way too caught up in political labels in this country. Milwaukee had a Socialist Mayor and he did good things for the City. Gold Meir educated in Milwaukee and she was Socialist PM of Israel. It is not the political label that matters in anything it is the policies and how the policies are implemented (paraphrasing what Jamie Dimon said on this topic). The exact same thing is true of rail and high speed rail. It has always been bipartisan and always will be. You have to present differently to a different audience though. Thankfully Amtrak has figured that out. A lot of people have not though, including a lot of rail passenger advocacy groups.
I have a hunch NYC might surprise us all with the ideas the new Mayor comes up with. Maybe, maybe not but I am going to wait and see.
Also, I still remember the argument about the new streetcar in Milwaukee “The Hop”. Charlie Sykes: “It will get stuck in the snow and be useless”. I still cannot believe how many people in the opposition to it… repeated that line like a parrot without thinking it through. The street car was in Milwaukee before many of them were born and did just fine. BTW, the whole Street Car in Milwaukee business started under Mayor Henry Maier in the 1970’s. Look how long it took and all the heat Mayor Barrett took for getting that project done. If it was a new street or freeway…same opposition?
One of my nephews runs a design//Construction firm out of Rockford. A lot of municipal infrastructure work. He gets so angry at a large Chicago development firm that always puts in substandard streets and roads.
Long ago I had an interest in economic geography. The Structural tension among competing views. Landed on the importance of checks and balances. The referees Shouldn’t be players.
I suspect that is in part how Mr. Gardner of Wisconsin and Southern got into trouble with the law. He saw what road and freeway construction firms were getting away with in Wisconsin and thought he might try something similar.
I recall Fred Smith of Federal Express, saying how he was slammed by his professor for his idea. That it would never work. But it was important that the full system be in place at inception or it wouldn’t work. I think it’s the same way with many innovative projects.
Without getting too political. I think he lived in Iowa for a while on a farm. All that aside.
China hit it’s peak already in my view. Some folks do not want to recognize reality and still think after 3 revisions on dates, China will surpass the United States economically. Others want to fear monger pointing at their overbuilt military. Neither side is correct in my view.
Flew on Southwest Airlines a few months again. The only thing they got going is one free beer if you book their version of a first class ticket otherwise it’s like a flying bus. 0/10 Do not recommend.
Compare their flight schedules with an airline next door. Also compare how fast they get the checked bags to the belt. No other airline I have flown can compare. Watching them prep in the very early morning at Love Field is just amazing, very well synchronized and planned. It makes a difference if you are a business traveler to cut 15-20 min each
way from your flight to Kansas City from Love Field, throw in the savings
from a car service (shorter trip than to and from DFW) and Southwest
has a fairly big advantage in Dallas or used to. Not sure about now.
If you fly regularly out of Love Field they recognize you and will block off the seat next to you if you are nice to the crew.
The whole deal in Texas was their core money making routes were internal to Texas back when the Texas Triangle High Speed rail project was being proposed and that is why they were so vocal against it because good old Herb saw a potential end to the gravy train. I have a hunch Southwest used it’s Texas core routes to compete with other airlines and lowball their ticket prices out of state. Southwest loved the Wright amendment which pretty much prevented the other major carriers from setting up shop at Love field. They just printed money with their Texas routes and used the Wright amendment. Nobody in Congress wanted to cross Congressman Wright to mess up that whole quid pro quo either. What was Herbs favorite whiskey again? Wild Turkey or something?..lol. A lot of folks know that in Dallas. Herb let it be known that was a key to his heart once upon a time. It got of control at one point…job applicants were shipping bottles to him. I don’t know any of this personally, just that Dallas is like a small town with items like that and word of mouth carries.
The same thing in Illinois everyone knew what former speaker Madigan favorite wine was at his restaurant in Springfield were he ate dinner everyday the house was in session. To the point if people wanted to make him angry they would buy out that brand in the area.
