Combined General and Maryland "Freak State" PING!
Posted on 04/06/2017 4:01:35 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Federal funding for Maryland’s Purple Line is in jeopardy, as are Metro’s hopes for a significant increase in money from the government under President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget released Thursday.
Trump’s proposed spending plan, which slashes the federal transportation budget by 13 percent, also curbs long-distance Amtrak service out of Washington and cuts millions in federal grants that the region’s governments have relied on for new rapid bus lines, road work, bus stop improvements and bike paths.
The cuts came as a shock to many, considering Trump’s campaign pledge to pump $1 trillion into the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
“I find it hypocritical that [Trump] talks about infrastructure, and then he takes away infrastructure-funding programs,” said Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.). “This is a devastating budget for the Washington region.”
Concerning to many local officials is that the initial transportation budget didn’t include many details or potential cost savings. That has left them bracing for more cuts if the administration is to reach its goal of reducing transportation spending by $2.4 billion.
Though Metro isn’t specifically mentioned in the skeleton document, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) ticked off a list of grant programs he’s worried about that have allowed the beleaguered transit agency to address safety issues and make long-delayed infrastructure improvements. And the news comes as Metro and its supporters are attempting to make the case for more federal funding for the transit agency.
Since 2008, Congress has appropriated $150 million annually for Metro’s capital improvement budget under the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, known as PRIIA, which designated $1.5 billion for Metro over 10 years. Maryland, Virginia and the District match the $150 million each year.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Combined General and Maryland "Freak State" PING!
Dems love Choo Choo trains which are the least efficient method of travel.
I priced out a train trip from Pennsylvania to Colorado a few weeks ago. Not quite 48 hours station to station and nearly eight hundred dollars. Each way.
That is simply untrue. Trains work wonderfully in Japan and Europe - but that is because the transportation infrastructure is largely based on trains, so that you can actually get from point A (near where you live) to point B (work, shops) efficiently.
It doesn't work in the U.S. because our transportation infrastructure is based on the two car owning suburban family. The light rail line does not run through your neighborhood, and the village center with pub and food market is not just down the street from you.
It is a very different pattern of development. Running a high speed train from LA to SF is just a train between two points. It is not a transportation infrastructure with all necessary connecting modes. People don't live in walking distance of either terminus of that line.
No need for added Mass Transit in Metro DC. Hopefully there will be 30,000 less Federal parasites and their spawn in four years. The problem will take care of itself.
To make a dent in the swamp you need to knock off about 300,000 parasites and their spawn.
This is the problem with the long-distance travel option of rail service. You won’t mind eight hours in a passenger cabin with 100 people. But once you go to 24 hours...you need an entire cabin and that where the majority of your 800-dollars ends up going.
When you sign up for European travel....six hours gets you from Hamburg to Munich. 188 Euro one way, no cabin. First class rails....no bouncing around....a diner-car available. And at the end of six hours...you can check into a hotel and rest for the night.
All the Maryland Metro lines do is spread the crime around the area.
Short of that, let's prohibit any federal subsidies to any jurisdictions that are above the national median in income.
The DC metro area is very affluent. Like most other parts of American, however, its political establishment has been conditioned for generations to expect federal funding for any project of significant size. That's a hard habit to break, regardless of where you live.
Amtrak and its operations should be bid out to major railroads. It will run better and cheaper. As to the Purple line, uneconomic and unnecessary boondoggle.
I tend to agree. States can fund their own stretches of interstate highway.
Good thing we ripped out all the community-level transit infrastructure in the 40’s and 50’s to make room for the automobile.
As a transition, Congress could approve the transportation freedom bill, which leaves most transportation decisions to the states and drops the gas tax to 3.7 cents per gallon, used only for interstate highways. The states fund the rest.
Seen Manasas VA recently. It's horrible. Don't go there. It used to be rural outside the beltway. The Beltway has devoured it whole and is spitting out the detritus into the ugliest mess you have ever seen in your life. It is a suburban hell.
No wall, no subway.
In Atlanta they call it MARTA: Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta.
NOT ONE FOOT of this encroaches into the District of Columbia. Why in the hell spend any federal dollars on this so Maryland bureaucrats can have another teat to feed off?
Not no, but HELL NO!
In the Baltimore metro area, a light rail line was built in the ‘80’s to serve as a connector between downtown Baltimore (ghettos) and the western Baltimore County suburb of Owings Mills where a large regional mall was developed. Around the same time in the eastern section of Baltimore County, another large regional mall was developed in White Marsh. No light rail ran east to the White Marsh area. The light rail served mall in Owings Mills died a painful and protracted death in part because the ghetto dwellers could travel quickly and cheaply to steal and harass at the mall. The buildings were recently razed and apartments were developed on the site. However, the non-rail served White Marsh mall has thrived and other retail developments on land surrounding it have sprung up and it is the healthiest retail sub-market in the region. It still has its “teens” problems but they are dealt with. Defunding these rail expansion projects is the best thing to be done for law abiding citizens with purchasing power. Confine the rats to the ghettos. Keep the disease in check.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.