Transport Infrastructure
BTW - as my blogging activity indicates - I'm procrastinating from doing research for my Note draft, which was due last Thursday.......damn.
Anyway - this is going to be my last post today - but I wanted to mention something about our local transport infrastructure.
The Post-Gazette has reported that a portion of Pittsburgh's light-rail expansion is in jeopardy because of budgetary constraints. I just have a couple of things to say - they'll be largely conclusory - but I hope to back them up in the coming weeks.
- Pittsburgh needs to think regionally - the light-rail expansion isn't really gonna do much for the city in the long-run - it's going to give a couple thousand suburbanites and easier way to get to Steelers games and a couple thousand convention-goers an easier way to get to their hotels. WE NEED to think about regional solutions - we need a comprehensive plan to improve transport in the City and the region to improve access & mobility and reduce the auto-dominance/dependence in the region.
- We need regional government - at least insofar as planning is concerned. The biggest problem facing the region is the fiefdoms cum municipalities that are proliferate - each fighting for its own interests, while affecting the disintegration of the region as a whole - we need authoritative co-operation. As it is now - the city can only focus on Downtown - because that is all that the suburbanites care about and will pay for - and that's all that they'll allow politically. If forced to think/plan as a region - the whole region becomes important - including les miserable that don't live in Mt. Lebanon. Development will be forced to become sustainable - If the suburbanite are forced to internalize their externalities we can expect more efficient and equitable markets in housing and social services
- Port Authorities 2020 Vision is a pile of shit - its a lowest common denominator report, which will do next to nothing for the City except for maintaining the status quo. We need a plan that seeks to innovate and change and one that demands implementation sooner rather than 15 years from now.
- Also, though unrelated to the light-rail funding problems. Maglev is a waste of time and money - it's only $500,000,000 from the federal gov't - the project is going to cost over $2,000,000,000 - I say - walk away - tell the FTC they can keep their money and take that $1.5 billion that the state and local gov't's would spend and build a comprehensive light-rail system in Pittsburgh - complete with cross-city links!
posted by AML @ 11/20/2005 05:44:00 PM
1 Comments:
I'm almost scared in how much extreme disagreement I am with you on your first point, yet very much aligned amongst the final three. I think the light rail system to the South Hills is fantastic. I never knew it existed until I had to work out in Mt. Lebanon and rely on it on a daily basis. It is on time, clean and oh so unlike the buses that take me north and east. At first, I was vehemently opposed to the expansion of light rail because I saw it as a waste of money, but I'm not so sure anymore. The thing about Pittsburgh as a city as opposed to other major cities is its ease of transport if you own your vehicle. The problem is parking. To get from one area to the next is easy but then you pay out your nose to park. Additionally, you always end up getting caught up in rush hour. Light rail to other destinations besides Wood Street is great for the city. I just wish it would be built out North and East. However, despite our disagreement on that, you are right on with the importance of regional government. It has been implemented in Buffalo and Minneapolis so far where the county government had merged with the city to envelope several communities. Here I could see that working but with certain outlying towns staying intact, e.g. Penn Hills, Moon Twp., McKeesport. Others like Etna, Swissvale, Robinson would merge with Pittsburgh into the county administered government. This would not only consolidate services but would significantly increase the tax base as well as provide for more equitable treatment across the board. You wouldn't have parking taxes or wage taxes so much anymore because the city and the region would be getting from the same populace. I think that the light rail is important to this process. I think that the light rail is a way of Pittsburgh moving forward. The reason why Pittsburgh had a trolley system unlike every other city (the width of the track) was that there was real concern about the trains that frequented the mills would begin using those tracks and the city would be inundated. I think it's time to get passed that fear and embrace the marketing tool that the light rail can be. Until Pittsburgh truly expands this system, it will never be a major player and will continue to lose the marketplace without even putting a viable one together. Looking forward, we need to put together a regional marketplace, unparalleled in the country to which other industries will have to come. It goes to the adadge from Field of Dreams - "if you build it, they will come" - and I truly believe it starts with light rail.
Post a Comment
<< Home