(click on ads for more details)

Please Derail TARC's Light Rail Proposal

by Donna Mancini

We Libertarians believe the proposed light rail trolley project is a mistake for several reasons.  It is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money, which will take away dollars that are needed for the construction and maintenance of highways.  It will not reduce and probably will increase traffic congestion.  It will not reduce air pollution.  It would be on a fixed route and could not change with the needs of the community.  Finally, a much better solution to the needs of our community would be to eliminate the government-enforced taxi cab and bus monopolies and permit entrepreneurs to establish competitive shuttle van services that would provide inexpensive service catering to the needs of consumers.

The construction of the proposed trolley would cost $2,000-$3,000 for each family of four in Jefferson County.  In addition, if the trolley operates in the same manner as the TARC buses, taxpayers will also spend $5 in subsidies for every $1 collected in fares.  A large portion of this money would come from state and federal gasoline taxes, which are paid by people who drive cars and trucks.  That gasoline tax money is supposed to be used to build and maintain highways and bridges, so the $500 - $800 million used to build the trolley would be unavailable to build and maintain our highways and bridges.  The cost per passenger mile of recent trolleys is far greater than the cost per passenger mile of highways, with trolleys costing over $1.40 per passenger mile, and highways around $0.20 per passenger mile.  The data and findings of the Orange County California Grand Jury concerning trolleys should certainly be considered by anyone making that decision for Louisville.

The experience of light rail systems in other areas, and TARC’s own projections, are that this trolley will not reduce traffic congestion in the short term.  These projects attract very few additional riders who are not already riding buses, so they take few if any cars off of the roads.   The trolley in Portland, Oregon is 56% below expected ridership after twelve years of operation.  In addition, if the money that could have been spent for new highways is instead spent on an expensive trolley, the trolley will prevent us from building needed new highways and bridges, thereby increasing congestion in the long term.

While TARC claims that its trolley would reduce air pollution because trolleys do not burn gasoline or diesel fuel, it ignores the fact that some type of fuel must be burned to generate the electricity needed to operate the trolley, which also creates air pollution.

In addition to requiring a huge construction cost, a light rail system can only serve a single, fixed route.  If commuters’ needs change, and they want service along different routes, that is just too bad.  While buses, cars, and vans can change their routes as needed, the trolley would be stuck on its fixed route whether anyone used it or not.  If a trolley were a financially sensible proposition, private investors would line up to put their money into the project.  However, we have already tried trolleys in Louisville and other cities, and they have gone the way of the horse and buggy and have been abandoned for other preferred alternatives. 

Finally, there is a much better solution to the needs of commuters than TARC buses or trolleys, and that is to end the government-enforced monopolies in the bus and taxi cab businesses and permit entrepreneurs to establish competitive shuttle van services.  The government currently protects TARC's monopoly in city bus service and refuses to grant additional taxicab licenses, thereby creating a monopoly in taxicab and shuttle van service.

In cities where competitive shuttle van services have been allowed to develop, they provide very inexpensive, flexible transportation.  The vans are supported entirely by the entrepreneurs and the people who use the service -- not by taxpayers.  Such services would permit many families to save money by not having to buy a car.  They would reduce highway congestion by putting several people into a van who would otherwise be driving individual cars.  They would also provide needed transportation options for people who are not currently well-served by bus service.  Imagine our teenagers, low income citizens, and elderly citizens being able to have a shuttle van pick them up at their door and take them to the place they need to go at very reasonable prices.  Instead of coming up with new ways to waste taxpayers’ money, let’s encourage free market competition to work its usual magic and provide what our community really needs!

We Libertarians believe that government's proper role is to defend life, liberty and property against aggression.  It is not the government's proper role to micromanage our personal lives or our pocketbooks or to forcibly take property from one of us to benefit another.  Government should let the free market work to meet our community's needs.  The Kentucky Libertarian Party convention will be March 31 at the Executive Inn near the airport (also near the proposed trolley route).  We welcome anyone who is interested to come and see what we are all about!

**************************************************

Light side - bumper sticker:

HAM AND EGGS -- A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.