[GOPcapitalist]

Wham Bam Tram Ping! Follow the money trail and connect the dots to Metro's CORRUPT BARGAIN.

[antivenom]

STV Incorporated, to Citizens For Public Transportation, $3,000.00 03-JAN-03 http://204.65.203.2/public/216570.pdf

Stv Incorporated, to Citizens For Public Transportation, $25,000.00 26-JUL-03 http://204.65.203.2/public/230485.pdf

[razorback-bert]

Saw one of your pretty new rail cars sitting out front of my motel in Sonora last night. The Metro Transit Police were escorting it to make sure no one stole it in transit.

[jettester]

I'm guessing that since you did not get too specific with your "connect the dots" scenario that you want us to believe that you've found a smoking gun of some sorts? That because this contractor contributed to the campaign that was in favor of continuing to build more light rail, that somehow this gave them some kind of advantage?

Have you ever worked on a contract of this type personally? Let me give you a little insight that might calm you down just a little before you pop your "safeties." It is a normal expectation in doing business like this, that as one of the "winning" contractors for a project, that you might be asked to help "contribute" to any cause that furthers the work to be performed. There is no collusion or nefarious dealings in making this happen. STV has the right, as well as any of its' competitors, to make donations to support the legal process by which they work. The fact that STV followed the legal guidelines and publicly admitted they were supporting the side they did shows that they followed the law. If they tried to "slip it under the table" and got caught, that would be another thing and they should be prosecuted for doing so. But that is not what happened here.

Considering STV was already the winning contractor for this portion of the contract for Metro, I do not see any "conspiracies" in the way this worked out. If, instead, STV had not won the previous contract and then made a contribution only to be awarded the follow-on contract, then I would say you should get a little concerned about the awards process.

I bet you there are more freepers out there who have been part of these kind of transactions (especially sales types) who know exactly what I am talking about. This is normal - you might not like it, but it is legal.

[TexasCajun]

Metro and STV should be tried and punished for creating this:

Train of Mass Descruction!

[VOA]

bump

[Hermann the Cherusker]

Here's some costs for our latest highway which may or may not get built around here.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/transportation/8519884.htm?ERIGHTS=6550458327843281561philly::annoying@annoying.com&KRD_RM=5ppstqlpsrmqsropllllllllls|Noneof|Y">http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/transportation/8519884.htm?ERIGHTS=6550458327843281561philly::annoying@annoying.com&KRD_RM=5ppstqlpsrmqsropllllllllls|Noneof|Y

"PennDot's announcement ends for now all design work and land purchases for the proposed nine-mile, $456 million highway from Montgomery Township to Doylestown."

This is a brand new 4 lane highway (2 lanes each direction) through a fairly undeveloped area that runs with the predominant topography (i.e. the road is going down a valley). PennDOT has owned a fair amount of land on the right of way for a while (few or no houses and business will have to go to build it), and the large interchage at one end is already built. No major interchanges or structures en route. $50 million per mile for a basic road through woods and farms and subdivisions. The area the road is being built through is hopelessly congested, and the highway will proabably be pretty full the day it opens with the growth going on up there. Traffic will probably be around 100,000 per day on this segment (we don't have all-day heavy use around here). The entire road will "bring in" $7.7 million in gas tax per year at that rate (actually, most of the people who use it are already clogging local roads nearby, so its not liek the money will really be new, but lets pretend). At a 30 year life, the money brought in won't even be half of just the present construction value, let alone paying for interest, maintenance (much more intensive up here with snow and freeze-thaw cycles), and police and lost property taxes. This is typical for roads in this area.

Notice the cost of this road is over half the cost of your 37 mile 20 lane monster in Houston. That's what a little bit of earthwork at $25 per CY will do to you!

All that being said, this road is desperately needed and should have been built 30 years ago. No thank you environmental whackos.