Advertise with us | Subscribe

Your Hometown Newspaper Since 1854

print article Print     e-mail article E-mail
Published April 20, 2012, 01:50 AM

Letter: Gateway bus is laughable

The Gateway Commission’s plan for area transit to St. Paul was blasted by members of the Hudson-River Falls Area Rail Group in the recent hearings. The commission discarded commuter rail to Eau Claire, with a stop in Hudson, in favor of bus service.

By: William A. Draves, River Falls, Hudson Star-Observer

Dear Editor,

The Gateway Commission’s plan for area transit to St. Paul was blasted by members of the Hudson-River Falls Area Rail Group in the recent hearings. The commission discarded commuter rail to Eau Claire, with a stop in Hudson, in favor of bus service.

Steering committee members disputed the Gateway Commission figures used to dismiss the commuter rail option. Members of the Hudson-River Falls Area Rail Group found their numbers simply are not believable.

From a business, economic development, brain drain retention, and UWRF perspective, trains are needed to meet the needs of our area for transportation in the 21st century. Business people and professionals don’t take the bus. We ride trains — it’s hard to say “bus” without laughing.

Instead of a win-win for St. Paul and western Wisconsin, there is no “Gateway” at all in this plan. Instead of planning for the future with passenger train service, the Commission chose to waste time and money on fading bus transportation.

The local rail group took issue with costs, ridership estimates and economic benefits. They say:

  • Rail costs $8 million a mile, not the $12 million in the Gateway study;

  • Just the Twin Cities college students going to UW-RF and UW-Eau Claire would surpass the meager ridership estimates presented;

  • The 25,000 college students at UWRF, Stout and UW-Claire alone constitute far greater ridership numbers than the stated estimates;

  • Trains are recording record ridership all over the country; and

  • The most successful commuter rail line in the Midwest is in Wisconsin.

    If we want to reverse our local and state brain drain, we need trains to bring back our best and brightest young people. Department of Transportation data clearly show young people switching from cars to trains, accounting for the record train ridership since 2005. They see how commuter and high speed rail provide opportunities that cannot be attained by cars and highways alone.

    Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough was right in stating at a Gateway briefing the economic the value of light rail and commuter rail, including increased housing values, private investment, job creation, and keeping our young here.

    The steering committee of the Hudson-River Falls Area Rail Group will continue its efforts to educate the public on the essential role of trains in our area.

    William A. Draves, River Falls

    Hudson-River Falls Area Rail Group

    Tags: , , 

    More from around the web