Posted on Thursday, 6th May 2010 by Patrick Dorwin
The Tommy Ville Choo-Choo is alive and well.
Committee Votes for Milwaukee Streetcar Line
Yep, they are going to spend millions of dollars we don’t have, and millions more ever year to operate Tommy Barrett’s choo-choo, just because he wants it. The fact that the choo-choo line is already served by about 15 bus routes already, doesn’t mean a thing… Because they want their toy.
I’m pressed for time, but feel free to discuss.
UPDATE: Wrong map posted
Oops, my bad, I posted the last stupid idea for a downtown choo-choo. But rest assured, the newly approved route is also covered heavily by existing and massively less expensive county buses.
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56 Responses to “The Tommyville Choo-Choo rides again”
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May 6th, 2010 at 10:53 am
So what kind of economic and/or social benefits are backers claiming we’ll see from rolling like it’s 1905? I want to make a snark about “teh Obesity Crisis!” and “walkable cities”…
May 6th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Ummm the route you are showing the map of, yeah that is not the proposed streetcar route.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:19 am
[...] Blogger has this graphic which shows the bus routes that service the area. Review it and once again tell me why Mayor Thomas [...]
May 6th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
What will this choo choo service that the busses don’t? Answer: Nothing Why isn’t there a private company that wants to build it to get all the graet profits it will generate? Answer: Because it will be a money pit. At least Berrett can pay back his construction contributors with taxpayer money. This choo choo will make Milwaukee trendy, progressive and bankrupt.
May 6th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Leftists are in all probability fully aware that the Streetcar proposal in Milwaukee represents a redundancy with existing mass transit.
I don’t think that’s their primary concern.
My hunch, is that much like with the refusal to sensibly expand our freeway system, making downtown more difficult to navigate with automobiles is their focus, in order to help save the planet from a non-existent climate problem.
The fact that it will in all probability be utilized as much as the bus bike racks is inconsequential to them.
Dave, what is the proposed streetcar route?
May 6th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
From the article:
“The line would not stretch to Marquette University, UWM or Miller Park, missing out on thousands of potential student and stadium riders.”
Yet another reason why it will be a money pit. If they ran a light rail line from the western suburbs into downtown with a stop at Miller Park, we could talk. Leaving Marquette and UWM off the route is also a stupid idea. Then again, consider the source.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Jaeson, judging from the article, the line would run up 4th St. from the train station to the Bradley Center, then cut east somewhere between State St. and McKinley to Water, and follow the Water/Brady combo already served by MCTS’ Route 15.
Speaking of Route 15, Google Maps says it should take about 5 minutes to walk from State/Water to the Bradley Center, 5 minutes from Kilbourn/Water to the Arena, 6 minutes from Wisconsin/Water to the convention center, and 8 minutes from St. Paul/Water to the train station. All of those distances are less than a half-mile from existing MCTS bus stops.
The only possible distance justificiation would be to connect the Bradley Center and Arena to the train station - they’re 0.6 and 0.5 miles from the train station. Of course, how many people are going to take the train into Milwaukee for the Bucks or the Wave? Perhaps Nobody’s Senator could open up his pocketbook for that shuttle.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
No one seems to know where this choo-choo is going to run, one news channel says it will go to places like the Bradley Center, and others show maps that say the closest it will come to the BC is the goofy new Amtrack/Greyhound station, south of the interstate. How would you like to make that walk after a late Bucks game, or in the snow?
Since no one seems to know where the stupid thing will go, here is a map of the bus routes through downtown.
May 6th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Here’s the proposed route, http://www.milwaukeeconnector.com/streetcar_maps.html
May 6th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Jeff K and Jaeson both hit what the longer term goals are here. It’s all about establishing legacies and keeping power at the current levels - I’d guess this will all also be unionized, so Barrett can empower both unions and his construction donor friends, while also establishing another manner in which the automobile is a little more neutered / emasculated. These are all long-term goals of the fringe left, an entity on which faux moderates like Barrett ultimately depend to win elections.
May 6th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
So here we go again, another stupid idea to blow taxpayer money.
Road construction in downtown Milwaukee(have a small business downtown? good luck), overhead lines, tracks that are useless if there is significant snow or ice, can’t re-route if fire or accident, redundancy and competition with a struggling transit system.
“Free” federal money to get the ball rolling, then of course local taxpayers will sustain and maintain this idiocy, because ridership sure won’t.
May 7th, 2010 at 6:00 am
Oh great, so the first hundred million dollar$ won’t even get us to the Grand Ave. Mall, Bradley Center, Arena, the… I guess now it’s the Frontier Airlines Center or anything west of the river that anyone would want to go to except the failing intermodal station that no one is paying taxes on.
This will not service anything that is not already covered by the existing buses. The only people that will take the choo-choo is people that already take the bus. Since the cost to ride the choo-choo will only be $1, that means there will be a massive taxpayer subsidy on each and every rider. the new power lines hanging over the streets will be so much more attractive. The several years of construction through downtown and the loss of thousands of already hard to find parking spots will add to the warm fuzzy feeling that a few dozen liberals will have after they bankrupt us.
After this first $100 million has no riders, they will tell us that “this is because the choo-choo doesn’t go anywhere.” So they will start wasting more of our tax dollar$ on the extensions that they are already planning on.
It must be nice to be able to spend other peoples money on stupid things that make you feel good.
May 7th, 2010 at 9:00 am
@Patrick Umm yeah the first $100 million gets to those locations, the “extensions” are part of that price, though hitting the population centers is actually more important. Further “the loss of thousands of already hard to find parking spots” is not true. Both in that downtown has some sort of shortage of parking, and that the streetcar will have any significant negative impact on the number of parking spots. It won’t.
It’s clear that no matter what route was picked you’d oppose it, and that’s fine, but on occasion would it be so hard to try and have the facts right?
May 7th, 2010 at 10:51 am
@Dave Reid:
Facts like we can’t afford it?
Facts like there will be a massive subsidy per ride?
Facts like the existing buses already do the same thing the choo-choo will do?
Facts like almost every single rider will come from those already taking the buses?
Facts like these choo-choo’s don’t run well in deep snow?
Facts like several years of construction through downtown will add to the congestion?
Facts like the millions of extra dollars this will cost Milwaukee taxpayers every year to operate this toy choo-choo?
Facts like the choo-choo will spend $100 million to cover 3 to 4 miles, but buses can already cover the entire 1,450.5 miles of streets in the city of Milwaukee.
Yeah, you are right, I would oppose this no matter where it goes, because it is a foolish way to spend money that we just can’t afford.
May 7th, 2010 at 11:04 am
FACT: We are BANKRUPT.
FACT: No one will ride this boondoggle.
FACT: Tommy Choo choo is insane.
May 7th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Gentlemen,
Since when did facts get in the way of a passionate liberal arguement? Facts don’t matter, hope matters.
May 7th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Having these CHOO CHOO’S?
What PROBLEM are they supposed to be solving??
anyone??
Tommy Choo choo??
Beuhler??
May 7th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
so Barrett can empower both unions and his construction donor friends, while also establishing another manner in which the automobile is a little more neutered / emasculated.
Does Barrett have a designated parking place at City Hall? Maybe he should lead by example and take the bus to work.
May 7th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Nope, Barrett has his own police officer to drive him every day.
May 7th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Huh, I didn’t know that.
May 7th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Every time I have dealt with Barrett in his capacity as Mayor or with Norquist for that matter, they have had 2 officers.
May 8th, 2010 at 7:36 am
But he would give up his limo and escort and ride the train, right?
May 8th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Elite liberals don’t operate that way.
What was that saying? “Good enough for thee, but not for me?”
May 26th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Baby-talk … I love it. It’s just so cutesy-poo referring to streetcars as ‘choo-choos’, even though that’s a sound they never made. But gosharooties, kids, actually the streetcars will definitely alleviate our need to drive our chug-chugs out there on the congested zoom-zooms, saving lives in the process so we can reduce the number of whoopsies and owies or worse, fatal bumps-a-daisies with the resultant boo-hoos. Ta-ta for now …
May 27th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Karen, how many cars do you think Barrett’s streetcars will take off our “congested zoom-zooms?” Rather than create a non-functional showpiece just so Barrett can put his name on something, why not put that money into modernized clean diesel or hybrid or natural gas buses? Isn’t the community better served, especially in this tough economy, by more functional transportation?
So long as Barrett persists with this infantile approach to public transportation, we will continue to refer to it with the appropriate terminology.
May 27th, 2010 at 9:47 am
@KarenJeffries Will your choo-choo do anything the rubber wheeled trolleys and buses already do at a tiny fraction of the cost? Only a koo-koo would think so. But it doesn’t mater since you are just spending other peoples money.
July 30th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Patrick, those fake imitation “trolleys’ turn you on, do they? You could be a closet railfan, because cities that buy those rubber-wheeled “trolleys” - the Elvis-impersonators of the transit world - are trying to attract riders by pretending that they’re not buses. (Like anybody’s fooled by some curlicue decals, arched windows and a bell as they bounce along in a cloud of diesel exhaust.)
But yeah, Big Oil and the roadbuilders wouldn’t object to those; they love anything that mixes in with cars and semis and burns BP, no matter how goofy it look.
And there could be hidden speakers to make your steam-locomotive “choo-choo” sounds, too, Patrick. Heck, why not a big smokestack on the roof as well to please you Big Oil-loving internal-combustion guys?
Fake trolleys, huh? Great idea, Patrick; keep thinking ‘em up, and while you internal-combustion guys are thinking, think about why nobody ever made a real trolley look like a fake bus.
July 30th, 2010 at 11:27 am
A brand-new Chicago Tribune/WGN poll shows a majority of Chicago-area residents think improving bus and train service is so important to the region that repairing and expanding expressways and toll roads should take a back seat.
Most suburbanites support investing more in transit than in roads, as does a majority of city residents, the poll found. Suburbanites also said they are driving less and using expanded suburban train service.
Drivers who said they would back spending more on mass transit cited congestion stress, high gasoline prices, and the avoidance of inhaling belching emissions.
Fifty-two percent of suburbanites say they support investing more of limited government resources in public transit. Only 32 percent chose improvements to highways. (In a 1999 Tribune poll, only 34 percent of suburban residents said more money should be spent on mass transit than on roads.)
Even way out in the collar counties, half say transit deserves a higher priority in spending. People see that a car-oriented culture limits economic development and quality of life.
The opinions mark a reversal from 1970s attitudes. Back then, residents and elected officials opposed seeing any of their tax dollars going to transit.
Worsening traffic congestion may have a lot to do with it. Drivers using I-290 since spring suffered through some of the longest travel times in memory when lanes were closed for resurfacing. Even die-hard motorists finally parked their cars to ride trains.
Traffic congestion is worse than it was five years ago, according to 45 percent of suburban residents in the poll conducted July 8-14, and a slightly smaller percentage of Chicagoans who were polled. About half the drivers polled say they changed their driving habits because of rising gas prices. Environmental concerns motivated four in 10 drivers to drive less.
For decades, 80 percent of federal money or ground transportation has typically been allocated to roads and 20 percent to mass transit. Public opinion often shifts before political leadership senses the shift.
Some elected officials — such as Scott Walker who personally flew down to accept an estimated $50,000 in campaign cash from the roadbuilders consortium in Orlando, Florida last winter — are clearly biased in favor of the automobile.
July 30th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
A brand-new Chicago Tribune/WGN poll shows a majority of Chicago-area residents think improving…
Who cares what FIBs think?
btw, the seven largest transit systems in the country, which includes Chicago, have a $50-billion backlog in needed repairs (feeling safer?), not including CTA’s $300 million 2010 operating deficit.
July 30th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
KarenJeffries,
Impressive copypasta. Want to talk poll numbers? 75% of Wisconsinites don’t want a no-bid, not-so-high-speed Madison-Milwaukee rail line rammed down our throats. That’s trumps anything in your beloved Trib/WGN poll. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
And who comes to a Wisconsin website bearing polls about what Chicagoans want? Are you suggesting that Milwaukee is a northern suburb of that cesspool to the south that gave us Obama, Tony Rezko, Rod Blagojevich, and the Daleys? If Chicagoans want anything, it only guarantees that the rest of us should run in the opposite direction as quickly as humanly possible.
You Socialists and your blasted trains. No one with any ambition or responsibility wants to be at the mercy of some behind-schedule train that gets us blocks or miles from our ultimate destination. And because a few idealist lunatics want something because you think it’s “cool” shouldn’t enslave the rest of us into paying for it. Much less give Barrett the satisfaction of his happy little trolley and that bald-headed criminal the teachers and state employees unions elected TWICE the joy of realizing his TALGO wet dream.
There’s a revolution coming because people like you have over-reached and over-imposed, and I don’t mean simply in the voter booth. The producers in this country are on strike because we’re sick and tired of the arrogance of people like you and the corrupt regime you and people like you placed in power because you thought it would be “groovy.” Hope and Change, oooohhhh, what a platform! You’ve got anyone with any assets of their own (i.e. ‘stuff they’ve worked for’) hiding in the closet underneath the basement stairs in fear, asking ourselves “Dear God, what next?”
The people who pay for all of your folly can only take so much before we push back. Guess what: We’re there. You want ‘fundamental transformation?’ Be careful what you wish for, because it’s on the way.
July 30th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Oh, one last thing. @ Ray LaHood. Shove your federal money up your ass, you arrogant prick. You smug, snickering tool of a human being.
July 30th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Public transportation makes sense in Chicago. It’s a large densely populated city with no room for freeway expansion. If I lived there I would find a house in the burbs within walking distance of a train. (I have to have a yard. Part of my DNA.)
Here I live less than ten miles from downtown yet I live in a different county and have a 2/3 acre lot. If the freeway gets backed up I take Wisconsin Ave. Blue Mound, Canal, or St. Paul. I’m downtown within 20 minutes. Why would I want to take a train or a bus? And what if I need to go to, say, UWM? There is nothing nor will there ever be anything more convenient than the automobile or my motorcycle.
We are re-thinking the auto. There will come a day when we travel in autos that do not require petroleum or lead and acid. To force people to ride public transportation is an idea only a statist would come up with, while that statist rode in a chauffeur driven luxury limousine.
We could always go back to the horse and buggy. A little research would reveal that there was a big push to get people into autos 100 years ago because of the manure problem in every big city. There was also a lot of opposition because horses were much more reliable than the cars of the day.
While Michigan is known for the first mass produced car, Waukesha County was the first to introduce the numbered highway system. The freedom that the automobile gave the average person is unprecedented. I like freedom so much I have fought for it and I will fight for it until I die.
July 30th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
TerryN: Thanks for your service to country and liberty.
I spent 10 hours at EAA/Airventure yesterday, and watched the family members of the HonorFlight attendees as they strolled the grounds. I wished we could have stayed until the flight made it back, but we had other commitments and left right after the airshow.
Watching the HonorFlight family members, with their t-shirts adorned with their veterans, was really cool. I wonder if those veterans and their family members truly realize how many of the freedoms which they fought for, watched their friends and brothers and schoolmates die for, are being seized each day by the 1,000 or so out-of-control statists ruling the other 300 or so Million of us. It sickens me.
I’ve been to D.C. and I’ve ridden the Metro many times. Similarly, I’ve been to NYC and ridden the subway. I’ve ridden the BART in the Bay Area. I’ve been to Europe, have ridden Eurail and The Underground and Irishrail and the grand-daddy of them all, the TRUE “HIGH SPEED” Eurostar from Waterloo Station to Gare Du Nord and back.
For all but the Eurostar (which you’d best not try on a budget) they are great ways to get around, if funds are limited and you don’t absolutely HAVE to be anywhere at any particular time. (Fortunately, this “not having to be anywhere at a certain time” rule applies not only to most European tourists, but, in the absence of jobs, or any form of non-state-driven/non-service-sector commerce, also most Europeans.)
Americans (for the time being) are still different. We’ve got things to do, people to see, places to go, kids to take to soccer practice, clients to pitch, landscape materials to haul, frivolous expenditures to drag home from Best Buy, campers/trailers/ATV’s/boats to haul up to the lake for the weekend to go fishing with our families. I, for one, won’t make apologies for it, or have it any other way.
Our liberties and freedoms are what made this country great, and we’ve surrendered them to a bunch of textbook-educated micro-managers who don’t understand ANYTHING about the real world - not economics, nor human nature, nor criminal justice, nor military strategy - who only know that they need their government paycheck and sorta dig the power and control that comes along with it.
I refuse to have these hypocrites, these people who insist that we must embrace their more “progressive” way of living, while they turn their backs to their own overlords pumping BILLIONS of gallons of their own fecal matter back into the same body of water which affords them a fresh water supply, tell us what is in our best interest. This is the government they trust? They should have their fricking heads examined. American society would be better without them.
I’ve lived a “green” lifestyle since before anyone knew what “being green” meant. I drive cars that get better-than-average gas mileage, and unlike most Americans (and Tom Barrett’s campaign manager) I actually keep them maintained. Not one “check engine” light has gone ignored on my watch. I’ll be damned if I’m going to surrender my freedoms just because some bastard Socialists decide my life would be better in the United States of America if I lived more like a European. I will not be forced to figure out a way to drag 20 bags of bark mulch back from Home Depot on a trolley.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Karen, put down the bong. Doyle has taken money for every frigging “consortium” of liberal freaks known to man. Would you feel better if Scott Walker got his money from CHOO CHOO LOBBYISTS?
Get real sister.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Ahhh…if only SE Wisconsin could learn from the collective wisdom of Chicagoland.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Hey J Rawson. The Milwaukee I lived in had dirty skies and soot. And plenty of clean water. And jobs. Lots of manufacturing good paying jobs with pensions. The jobs and dirty skies are gone.
The Lake is filled with A BLENDED CRAP SMOOTHIE!
Our schools are a joke, and liberal policies are to blame for all of it.
So naturally after they shyte all over our city all liberals are left with is CHOO CHOO’S that nobody wants. Liberals cannot fix a problem. They are blood sucking parasites.
And our African-American brothers and sisters are told it’s REPUBLICANS fault.
It’s hilarious.
ONLY LIB MORONS WANT THIS USELESS BOONDOGGLE.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Commenter “Gus,” I know I am the new contributor here, but from what I’ve read at BB in the past, you also have some family members who have protected our liberties and defended America’s honor around the world.
We thank them for their service, also.
August 24th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Over a ten-year period, Portland achieved investments of about $2.3 billion in property-value upgrades following its $55 million streetcar investment in what was a rundown industrial district, or a 4,112% return on that rail investment.
Closer to home, Kenosha invested under $6 million in a new streetcar line (half of that expenditure going into the new carhouse) for about a $150 million or 2,400% return.
Portland commissioned a 2008 economic development report, which found that homes within 200 feet of the since-expanded rail line increased $2,300.
In D.C., commercial property values drop incrementally the farther they’re located from a rail station.
Vancouver sees almost a $5.00 premium per square foot near rail stations.
August 24th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Interesting. What are your sources Ms Jeffries?
August 24th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Can you tell us what effects choo choos have had in Chicago or Detroit for instance?
August 24th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Ms. Jeffries gets around. Doesn’t seem to like “TEA Partiers ‘and their ilk’” too much, based on published comments.
Has opined on everything light-rail related from BART to KRM and everything in-between.
Google “karen jeffries rail.” It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Guessing some tie to the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, although, that’s pure speculation on my part.
August 24th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Rawson. This is nothing new. Libs like anything that creates more government. They live off of government and taxpayers. Libs are misfits.
October 18th, 2010 at 11:04 am
Scott Walker’s decade-long effort to achieve statewide power is based on a strategy of telling people what he thinks they want to hear and blaming others. Milwaukee County, meanwhile, continues to lose population and just plain money — like what happened to Detroit, which no longer has the tax revenues to fix the structural problems that are causing decreasing tax revenues, etcetera.
One thing Scott Walker mistakenly thinks people want to hear and is gambling on is him stopping the Milwaukee-Madison link in the Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative that Scott Walker conveniently didn’t mention is a huge project to go far beyond Madison and connect to lines all over the nation. Here’s a statewide poll: http://poll.fm/1r88o . Yes, it will cost as much as $8 million a year to run, and forget about the positive benefits for a second. The Wisconsin DOT has a $6.4 billion biennial budget, 93% of which is roads for which fuel and registration taxes and fees pay for only half (51.4%) of that expense — the rest comes out of the general fund or federal tax dollars.
Funding the Madison-to-Chicago trains makes is 0.23%, or one fifth of one percent. Support to all rail programs by the DOT has dropped by a third (36.2%) since 1994, while in that same period, highway construction increased by 110.4%, making it tough to support that “all this rail stuff is killing us” crap.
Wisconsin’s yearly auto registration fee is one-half the average of surrounding states. With 3 billion gallons of auto fuel sold yearly in Wisconsin by 1/2-cent per gallon would raise well over that.
October 18th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Goofball…
October 18th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Gosharooties, Mr. Patrick Dorwin, you and the baby-talking choo-chooers above really know how to debate. Whew … hard to stand up to that kind of powerful logic. Journalism major, were you?
===
Hey, I found this from Steve Hiniker just today:
“The $54 question: Is rail worth it?
By STEVE HINIKER
Sept. 25, 2010
With anti-rail activists whipped into a frenzy over threats that passenger rail services pose to Wisconsin and the state’s finances, it’s time to step back and take a closer look. Are rail opponents onto something, or are they on something?
Rail opponents rail against the cost of rail. They would like to have the money for rail either returned to Washington or spent on highways. Dream on. The $810 million is a part of a larger plan to restore intercity passenger rail across the United States. This is a federal project that won’t be derailed by Wisconsin politics. Restoring rail is expensive, but transportation projects are expensive. The Zoo Interchange will cost more than $2 billion to reconstruct. The Marquette Interchange was close to $1 billion. Where’s the outrage over that spending?
In any case, the money can’t be spent on highways, and even if it was sent back to Washington, it would be reallocated to another state to build their rail system - leaving Wisconsin in the dust. (We also would be sending millions of our tax dollars to another state to build rail instead of us getting the hundreds of millions from other states.)
The core of rail opponents’ argument seems to focus on the $54 question: Can we afford the annual operations costs of the added service? Those annual costs will amount to around $6 million a year. That amounts to one-fifth of one cent of our gas tax. So when a driver fills up with 20 gallons of gasoline at $2.70 per gallon, the bill will comes to $54. Just .04 (yes, 4 cents) out of that $54 will go to pay for intercity rail.
Their argument also assumes that there are absolutely no benefits associated with the 4-cent investment that comes with a $54 purchase. It assumes that no one will benefit from jobs created to build the service. That no one will benefit from the development that occurs around rail stations. And that no one will benefit from being able to relax rather than fight traffic on the interstate.
Opponents also like to say that the train fares will be unaffordable. According to the state Department of Transportation, one-way fares will be between $20 and $30 for the ride from Madison to Milwaukee. Compare that to the cost of driving. Using federal reimbursement rates for mileage, driving the 78 miles between Madison and Milwaukee costs $39. That means taking rail saves between $9 and $19 each trip. It saves a lot more for someone in Madison taking the train to Mitchell International Airport to catch a flight due to the saved costs of parking. And it will boost traffic at Mitchell.
It seems like there’s a lot of rage over just 4 cents out of every $54.
The real issue seems to center on divisive politics: Since most people won’t ride the train, let’s not build it. Imagine if that argument really took hold on other issues. Most people in Wisconsin won’t use the Zoo Interchange, so let’s save $2 billion and not rebuild it. Most people in Wisconsin won’t drive on I-39 between Madison and Janesville, so let’s save a billion dollars by not building that. The argument can be extended to schools, libraries and other public services that we can’t afford to lose.
Wisconsin needs smart investments to grow and to be competitive with other states and other regions. Passenger rail is one of those investments. Passenger rail serves those who would rather relax - or work - on intercity trips. Rail stations attract development that adds value to host communities. Rail becomes an attractive option to driving as gas prices rise. Rail provides mobility to those who cannot drive.
Passenger rail has been a priority for many leaders in Wisconsin’s business community for decades. It has also been a priority for one of Wisconsin’s most irrepressible cheerleaders, former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson - proving that rail does not have to be a partisan issue.
Sadly, opponents to rail are more interested in creating wedge issues than looking at the real potential of rail service. Otherwise, they would look at the 4-cent investment of a $54 purchase through a different lens.
It’s time to stop the bickering and move ahead with an eye on Wisconsin’s future.”
October 18th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Heard the pro-rail folks had one hell of a closed-door rally in a conference room at the Country Springs over the weekend. There were like 25-30 people there.
That’s $29,000,000.00 worth of enthusiastic support for every person in attendance. Nice.
October 18th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
All Politics Blog From Madison and beyond, a daily dose of political news and glimpses behind the scenes
New poll shows Walker 50%, Barrett 41%
By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel
Oct. 18, 2010 2:10 p.m. |(60) Comments
Madison — A new poll has Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker leading Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 50%-41% in the race for governor.
The poll of 402 registered likely voters by St. Norbert College in De Pere has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. It was conducted Oct. 12 to 15 and sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Walker is a Republican and Barrett is a Democrat. The election is Nov. 2.
The poll also showed 53% opposed to a proposed high-speed rail line from Milwaukee to Madison. Forty-four percent supported the rail line.
Those who oppose the rail line also feel more strongly about it — 39% said they strongly oppose it and 16% said they somewhat oppose it. Just 14% said they strongly support the rail line, and 30% said they somewhat support it.
The $810 million rail line — which is being paid for using federal economic stimulus money — has been a hot issue in the governor’s race, with Barrett supporting it and Walker promising to stop it.
October 18th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Those numbers in favor of / against the (not so) high-speed rail, Glenn… notice any similarity to anything else?
53% opposed, 44% in favor.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that in 2009, roughly 47% of Americans paid no federal income tax. (I would guess that means 53% of us did.)
I’m sure it’s just a strange coincidence.
October 18th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
BTW, “Karen Jeffries”:
According to the WI DOT’s own website, the environmental assessment on which the Madison-Milwaukee proposed corridor plan is based was conducted between 1997-1999, with executive summary issued in 2001, and federal opinion of “no significant impact” issued in 2004.
In commercial real estate, an environmental assessment is considered “out-of-date” if it is more than 24-36 months old, depending upon the property / development / circumstances / pre-existing conditions.
Would YOU go on record, supporting a fresh environmental assessment for this project, conducted by an independent third-party, the conclusions of which would be shared with the taxpayers of Wisconsin before any construction for this project begins?
Because, after all, it’s not as though anything has changed along that proposed 70-mile-long rail line since 1997, right?
I anxiously await your response.
October 18th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Rawson, all I know is that on November 3rd, Scott Walker will be Governor-elect, Tom Barrett will still be the Mayor of Milwaukee, and Dave Clarke will have Deputies posted on the Hoan Bridge in anticipation of all the pedestrian traffic.
October 18th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Can someone help me here?? What is this HALF FAST train supposed to provide for the CITIZENS of WISCONSIN, that WE REQUIRE or WANT??
It isn’t more COST EFFICIENT/EFFECTIVE than driving my SATURN from Downtown Milwaukee to Madison. If fact 3 people in my Saturn drive to Madison from downtown in less than 90 minutes…EASILY. At a cost of less than $25. at 30cents per mile. My car can go TO and FROM MADISON. (Whatever my destination/destinations might be on less than 6 gallons of gas and at $3 @ gallon, thats 18 bucks. Versus $198 at the current quoted price per leg for 3 peeps.
I don’t have to drive to the INTERLIBTARD station down on St Paul. I don’t have to park and pay and walk and buy 3 tickies then WAIT for the SUPER DUPER FAST JIM BARRETT/TOM DOYLE train.
Then the TRAIN stops in Tosa, Brookfield, Oconomowoc, Watertown etc etc etc, only to arrive on the FAR NORTH SIDE OF MADISON at the AIRPORT.
(that is the plan that exists and the CASH expenditures that have been so far LIED ABOUT).
WHAT KIND OF MORON WOULD RIDE THE TRAIN????
Nope. NOT EVEN LIBTARDS.
We as a NATION and a STATE are in a FINANCIAL and ECONOMIC CRISIS. And LIBS keep on trying to spend OTHER PEOPLES MONEY.
Who BACKS THIS???? LIBTARD PARASITES.
October 18th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
STEVE HINIKER?????
Who the F@#$ is Steve Hiniker???
GOVERNORS TASK FORCE ON GLOBAL WARMING.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahhaaahaha!!!
Karen? Get help.
October 18th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Oh and Karen???
“”Using federal reimbursement rates for mileage, driving the 78 miles between Madison and Milwaukee costs $39. That means taking rail saves between $9 and $19 each trip.”"
I’m laughing at you so hard that I might hurt myself. Do MORONS like you think that WE the PEOPLE get REIMBURSED at FEDERAL GOVT rates when we drive our families to Vilas Park???
Seriously Karen, this is meant with ALL DUE RESPECT. (all due respect).
Are you a moron, a fool or a clown?
You can choose more than one answer.
Lets see. 6 gallons of gas TO and FROM…and that is assuming downtown Milwaukee. equals roughly $17, THAT IS FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR KAREN!!!!!!
ROUNDTRIP KRAZY KAREN. No parking fees!! DOOR TO DOOR KAREN. My door to Madison..WHERE EVER I WANT TO BE KAREN!!!!!! No cabs. no busses, no smelly libtards sitting next to me AND MY FAMILY.
Heck, I want to go to the West Side for DINNER!!!
BUCK FIFTY IN GAS. Maybe Ruth’s Chris.
Quivvy’s Grove in Verona. BUCK.
Ella’s Deli!!! ON THE WAY HOME, already paid for that.
Karen, I’ve seen your nonsense and I’ve just DESTROYED IT. Ideologue libtards don’t care, they post FANTASY facts.
You did.
Have a nice day.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:52 am
THE LIBTARD STRAWMAN MORON, that just keeps on giving.
“”The real issue seems to center on divisive politics: Since most people won’t ride the train, let’s not build it. Imagine if that argument really took hold on other issues. Most people in Wisconsin won’t use the Zoo Interchange, so let’s save $2 billion and not rebuild it. Most people in Wisconsin won’t drive on I-39 between Madison and Janesville, so let’s save a billion dollars by not building that. The argument can be extended to schools, libraries and other public services that we can’t afford to lose”"
I drive the Zoo interchange everyday. So do thousands and thousands. Trucks. THOUSANDS OF TRUCKS. They don’t take the HALF-FAST CHOO CHOO.
Yes Karen and Stevie, your LIBTARD NONSENSICAL STRAWMAN ARGUMENT CAN BE EXTENDED TO SCHOOLS!!!
1.3 BILLLLLLLLLLLLION for ABJECT LIBTARD FAILURE.
Tell me Karen and Stevie…..WHICH LIBTARD PROGRAMS have WORKED????
This is way way too easy.
October 19th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Karen? You still with us? Karen? Karen?
October 19th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Karen scolds Patrick for being unwilling to “debate” while she does nothing but copy/paste someone else’s work and ignores any questions put to her.
This blog post is from May 2010, Karen. You appear here to copy/paste every couple months. Are you on some kind of lunar or astronomical cycle?