Over at Market Urbanism, economist Emily Washington argues that Washington, DC’s Silver Line was the result of a deal between property owners, urban planners, and Washington Metro (WMATA). The result was a new rail transit line that harmed just about everyone except those who were party to the deal.
Washington’s tale is correct in general, but my memory of it differs in the particulars. She is right that the main pressure for the Silver Line came from the owners and developers of Tysons Corner, who wanted to build more high-rise housing, hotels, retail, and office space. Fairfax County wouldn’t approve these plans because the area wasn’t served by adequate transportation.
Far from favoring the rail project, however, Fairfax County planners recognized that too few people would ride the rail line to support the proposed new developments. Though the planners questioned the new plans, they were overruled by the county supervisors.
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Back in 2001, Dulles rail was expected to cost “more than $1 billion” (the actual cost so far is nearly $7 billion) while bus rapid transit was estimated to cost just a quarter of that amount. So the Federal Transit Administration and then-Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters rejected funding for rail in favor of buses. However, they were overruled by President Bush after intense lobbying by Virginia’s congressional delegation on behalf of Tysons landowners.
No doubt many planners and WMATA officials favored the Silver Line. But it didn’t take an economist to see that the project would hasten the deterioration of Washington’s Metro Rail system, which was already visible at the time the decision was made to build the Silver Line.
Whatever the details, Washington is correct that rail transit projects are invariably the result of political dealmaking that ends up creating a few winners and a lot of losers. Cities contemplating new rail lines should take a serious look at the impacts of the Silver Line on taxpayers and Washington’s transit system as a whole.
“Though the planners questioned the new plans, they were overruled by the county supervisors.”
Should we now refer to Antiplanner as ProPlanner?
No, but we should refer to you as “Mr. Planner, anonymous”.
@metrosucks:
I am a qualified transport planner, working for a major international consultancy. So, not that anonymous.
If you are really that daring, you should call me, “Captain! My captain!”
Same thing happening in Maryland with the Purple Line. If the riders knew it would be cheaper for the state to purchase new cars for them than to build this boondoggle all 30,000 of them would revolt!
Rail is still the cheapest way to move freight overland, but it is really only a viable option to move passengers in a very few places (most of them being in the densely populated East coast), but Portland OR is certainly not one of those places. Here in Portland light rail is simply a boondoggle that serves only a tiny fraction of population slowly and undependably. Bad weather, even rain, can stop a whole line down when it’s need most when another bus would have simply picked up the stalled busses passengers and keep going. Not to mention that had we spent the billions of dollars light rail has cost us tax payers on our real transportation system, our roads with bus driven public transport, we would have a terrific transportation system right now. The Mount Hood freeway would have been a boon for S.E., but for pedophile Democrat Goldschmidt, the rose garden, I-5 bottle neck embarrassment would have would have been fixed years ago, all the main roads like Chavez and 82nd would have been widened to at least what Glisen is East of 102nd St. and bike lanes would abound. Even at rush hour traffic would move well and neighborhood wouldn’t see spill over because street capacity would match their load. But no, instead we have stupid light rail that costs billions while it serves few and that only big government bureaucrats and their ignorant supporters relish.
We’ve created monopolies in certain niche sectors like this, mass transit. We shouldn’t be surprised that their actual actions they show themselves to be serving where 80% of their money comes from, politicians.
Should we now refer to Antiplanner as ProPlanner?
Why? I read Randal’s comment as positive, not normative.