Light Rail comments

Divorced from reality

Submitted by Mike Barrett on Sat, 10/29/2011 at 7:30 am.

So there you have it folks. Reid Greenmun, President of the moribund VBTA and a John Moss clone, opposes rail service to the Pentagon, even with full knowledge that the Navy has informed Regional officals that unless our transportation infrastructure is improved, the Navy will seek to relocate many of its functions and personnel. This is a blatant example of the isolation of the moribund VBTA and its total disregard for the econommic prosperity of our region and our citizens. Since the Navy repreent 45% of our economy, Moss and the VBTA show their total disregard for the future our economy both for DoD and for the private sector. Their irrational opposition to light rail reveals the same isolation from reality; these guys are unreal.

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Gee Ed, just like that

Submitted by AlanB on Sat, 10/29/2011 at 10:27 pm.

Gee Ed, just like that government subsidized road, which you forgot to add into your total cost calculations.
At present we drivers only manage to cover 51% of the Federal outlays for highways. The rest is subsidy!

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Ed, you're going to subsidize the travel no matter what.

Submitted by AlanB on Sat, 10/29/2011 at 11:48 pm.

The question is, how much subsidy do you want to provide?
According to the Taxpayer's receipt for 2009, if you represent part of a couple with two kids earning $80K you paid via your Federal Income Tax $3.83 towards Amtrak and $110.06 towards the highways that the bus will be running on. A retired couple with income of $100K, then you contributed $3.11 and $89.38 to the highways.
And the highway subsidies are only getting worse. According to Subsidyscope.com, we drivers only manage to cover 51% of the Federal outlays for highways. Most local streets are paved with property taxes, not fuel taxes.
Amtrak on the other hand managed to cover 69% of its costs via fares and other revenue.
The new Lynchburg service made $2.1M in its 1st year.

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Moribund VBTA

Submitted by Mike Barrett on Sat, 10/29/2011 at 7:17 am.

So of course, herein, we get the immediate negative reaction from John Moss's sycophants in the VBTA; is anyone surprised it is NO. They have opposed every major initiative at the Beach that has increased the commercial tax base and kept our tax rate the lowest in the region. Further, those initiatives like Town Center, the Park/Hotel/Garage at 31st Street, and Laskin Road Gateway have already produced private investment that justify the improvement of public facilities. Now, they turn their irrational angst to train service to Richmond and DC, preferring to rely on subsidized roads instead. These negativists are not just bizarre, they are increasingly extreme in their opposition to our low tax rates. Make sure Moss gets defeated.

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