Much has been said about the high-speed rail and commuter rail projects, but most of the discussion has been superficial without a lot of facts or personal experiences, so I decided to look into it.
First, there are two entirely separate projects being proposed; high-speed rail between Madison and Milwaukee, and commuter rail from Middleton to east Madison. (Amazingly, there’s no plan to link these two into a unified system at this time.)
The cost of the high-speed rail in Wisconsin is an estimated $817.6 million, but the real cost is $7.2 billion across eight nationwide rail projects. Reports say fewer than 50 permanent jobs will be created in state, and even though the trains are being assembled in state, they are still being purchased overseas, which means no benefit in terms of longer-term manufacturing jobs. (From a dollars-and-sense view, it’s really more of a stimulus package for Spain.)
If this was anything other than pork barrel spending, all the trains for all the systems would be assembled in one U.S. location.
Worse is the story that they are not telling, which is the cost of operating the high-speed rail. So I looked it up. Surprise! The estimate is that the State of Wisconsin taxpayers will have to fork over a minimum of $7.5 million each year in subsidies. That jumps to $12.2 million if their alternative proposal is adopted.
You can bet that any government estimate is low and that the true deficit cost will be significantly higher.
Many have argued that the federal funds are “free money,” but it isn’t free. Those dollars come from our taxes, and worse, once the train system is built, there will be significant tens-of-millions of dollars in operating subsidies burdening the taxpayers long-term, and the train creates another expensive government agency.
And the so-called high-speed rail line will not be high speed at all. Sure, the train can travel up to 79 mph, but most cars driving to Milwaukee drive at close to that and the average speed will be much lower given the three stops that the train has to make between Madison and Milwaukee. Why take a train if the travel time takes longer than a car? Think about it; you’ll have to pay for a taxi to the station, then wait, board the train, then wait while the train stops at three stations along the way, then off-load in Milwaukee and wait in line for a taxi there (or bus). I estimate that the 90-minute ride in a car to a destination in Milwaukee will take at least two hours and forty-five minutes with this combination of factors!
Who is going to do that when driving remains the more convenient alternative?
Granted, high-speed trains are exciting; I actually rode aboard a true, high-speed magnetic train in China, and while the train topped out at 230 mph, it did so for only three seconds before having to slow down in order to avoid over shooting the upcoming station. So by comparison, I would hardly call a top speed of 79 mph “high speed.”
In addition, no one has thought to calculate the impact on the Dane County Regional Airport in terms of the lost airline fee revenue resulting from passengers choosing to take the rail to Milwaukee (to fly out of Mitchell Field) rather than fly out of Madison on a commuter jet to Milwaukee.
Then there is the station location issue; WisDOT is looking to bring the high-speed rail into the Madison airport, but in conflict, the city wants it to end at First Street. In contrast, the commuter rail station will probably be located just beyond the Interstate, which makes sense if you’re trying to attract commuters to take the train, but this means the two systems will not be connected.
And then there is the commuter rail (or light rail) system that is proposed for Madison, which is estimated to cost $337 million dollars in 2015. (I’ve also ridden on a light rail system, and trust me, this is not light rail.)
In order to fund the system, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is planning to tax $42 million out of the economy in the form of a half cent sales tax. In addition, the state will have to kick in another $4 million on average each year to subsidize the system.
They expect fare box revenue, or ticket sales, to cover only about 20% of the operating expenses each year. Unfortunately, their spreadsheet doesn’t clearly show the total operating deficits and subsidies, so it’s difficult to know what the true annual cost will be.
And while the original legislation included a provision for sharing the tax revenue with local governments for road construction, the Governor removed that provision from the RTA enabling legislation.
So while the taxpayers are paying endless subsidies for the trains, the roads will continue to crumble and the North Mendota Parkway will continue to lag without a firm, binding commitment to road improvements.
You should also understand that the RTA is an unelected body that will have taxing authority, but worse, the RTA will answer to no one except itself. (Remember that State Senator George Petak was recalled and ousted for voting for the very similar Miller Park sales tax.) The RTA does not have to abide by the referendum that is anticipated in late 2010, and the RTA can simply repeat the referendum as many times as it takes to achieve success. The RTA can also decide to pay its commissioners whatever it chooses in compensation and benefits. There will be no checks and balances with an unelected taxing body that is accountable to no one. Watch costs balloon.
And the average speed of the commuter train will be 23 to 26 mph, and they expect to run 70 trains a day, even though they can’t fill the buses presently! That means that traffic traveling through the Isthmus will be stopped 70 times a day while the trains lumber through. Combine this with an expected 17 stations and you begin to see the picture — it will take forever to get across town.
And there’s no determining exactly how much of a subsidy will be needed. But I did find that they estimate the RTA’s cash balance on the system will increase over time. That’s right, even though the system requires a massive subsidy; somehow their funny math yields a positive balance from operations! Talk about pulling a rabbit out of the hat!
The bottom line is this: I love trains, too, and having taken a train to work every day when I worked in London, I can testify to their convenience and nostalgia, but this country simply can’t afford $7 billion of unnecessary expenditures right now, and Wisconsin can’t afford the annual operating losses. America is broke. It’s time to stop the spending madness; it’s time to not spend more than the nation takes in, before it’s too late.
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