BIKE: Cap Met's Vehicle Choice is No Choice, Yet

[Patrick Goetz]

Phil Hallmark wrote:
> I think the most compelling part of your argument is the shuttle bus 
> component. And I have been nodding in agreement with it. But, I'm not 
> sure it is totally accurate to claim that every single rider must 
> transfer to a shuttle. How many high-rise offices are within a 5-block 
> radius of the stop downtown? Aren't there quite a few? Yes, the Capitol 
> and UT people will need to use shuttles. That could be a disaster as you 
> predict. But there are possibly thousands of people who could walk from 
> the stop to their office. TOD may not happen out in Leander, but it sure 
> might downtown. If you were going to build a high-rise office and there 
> was a commuter rail stop down there, where would you build it? I would 
> build it as close to the stop as possible.
> 

Phil, in principle this is a good point, but where would those thousands 
of people be coming from?  Which inner city stop is within walking 
distance of a sizeable residential area?  Yes, TOD could solve all these 
problems, but as I explained to someone on this list, in order to get 
TOD, you must have at least some critical mass of riders to get the ball 
rolling.  TOD and mass transit ridership are a chicken and egg circle of 
mutual reinforcement.  However, if you have neither chicken nor egg, 
don't expect poultry products to just magically appear, it doesn't work 
that way.  From this perspective, the commuter rail plan violates bullet 
item #4 in the definition of a Metro:

     4. Stops at or near major and core urban destinations

A deal killer, as other communities implementing such systems have 
already discovered.

Alas, the Red line plan is long on wishful thinking, short on 
rationality, common sense, or appeal to prior experience.  In short, 
it's a complete piece of crap and I too will have to hold my nose and 
beg forgiveness from the God of Righteous Behavior when I vote for it on 
Saturday.  The best case scenario right now is that we pass the commuter 
rail plan now and then quickly repeal it with a better plan in 2006.  I 
agree that there is some merit in sending the message to politicians 
that Austin voters support rail in principle.

If it loses, and it will if the majority of voters base their vote on 
the merits of the system their voting on rather than principle, then we 
must be strident in protecting this money from being misused on 
ill-conceived road projects.