A quick and simple way to distinguish a sales pitch from business analysis is how the pros and cons of a decision are handled. The one page notice for this evenings Streetcar Opportunities Forum lists four positive points and no negative considerations, so this is simply Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Infomercial Professional Charlie Hales putting on their version of a “Make Money in Real Estate with No Money Down”, huckster pitch to the suckers.
Charles Hales is a former Portland, Oregon City Commissioner who was the lead individual in getting a streetcar system built in the city. He points out that streetcars are not light rail because street cars require miles of wire to be suspended overhead, breaking up sightlines like some gigantic overhead spider web. Hales is currently with HDR Inc. which is an engineering consulting firm on the prowl for new work. Hales job is to find projects for HDR, Inc. and they smell money in Madison. How much money? Charlie Hales gives hints in his 2002 exit interview.
Your business card says you're now a transit planning principal. What does that mean?Twelve million dollars a mile to take away existing roadway in downtown and clutter up the skyline with wires and the streets with tracks. Twelve million dollars a mile and it does not get people to and from work. Long term operational costs are another matter and of course, structure alone does not guarantee ridership. Ridership depends on convenience as Hales admits.
It means I'll be doing a combination of streetcar projects and planning projects around the country. There's a rising interest in the streetcar. It's really a new tool in the transit tool kit. There have been subways for a long time. There has been light rail for the last 30 years, and there have been buses for, you know, 50 years or longer. But the streetcar is really a different animal than the other forms of transit. … It's for circulation within an urban area, not to bring people in for jobs or entertainment and then back out at high speeds and high volumes. And it's much cheaper.
How much cheaper?
The typical light-rail project is $50 million to $100 million a mile. The streetcar was $12 million a mile. So there are lots of cities that can afford to build a streetcar that couldn't afford to build a light rail.
There's nothing wrong with the streetcar. Its goes fast enough once you get on. How many of them there are on the track at any given time determines how long you have to wait for the next one.It’s a matter of taxpayer money and Mayor Dave and his allies, Downtown Trolley and Dane Rail and Transport 2020, want lots and lots of it for his favorite pet project.
So we could have streetcars every five minutes?
Absolutely. You can have streetcars every three minutes. It's a matter of money.
