Austin Business Journal Says Urban Rail Plan Will Fail

"The latest rail plan rolled out last week.... Already, folks are decrying its high cost, but I don’t think it’s the cost that’s the real issue. It’s the fact that it’s a very small plan benefiting a limited group of people. That makes this price tag hard to swallow.

Frankly, I don’t see how you can put forth a plan that doesn’t connect downtown to the airport. And that’s just for starters.

Extraordinary problems demand extraordinary answers, and thus far in Austin’s history no one has come forward with a comprehensive transportation plan that will incorporate both light rail and increased highway capacity.

No one wants to be nickel and dimed to death for a mediocre and limited public transit system. Add to that the public perception that the MetroRail from Leander to downtown has been only marginally effective and has been fraught with issues from the get-go. Combine those two factors and this latest plan doesn’t have a chance for ever leaving the station."

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www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/at-the-watercooler/2014/05/jans-take-austins-new-1-4-billion-transit-plan-is.html