Not to be outdone by the ridiculous public transit ideas from the Austin City Council, the city of San Antonio now wants to spend $180 million of taxpayer money on a boondoggle they can call their own.
An independent report issued from the non-partisan Heartland Institute thinks that the $180 million streetcar proposal from the city of San Antonio would be a “disaster” (their words). Considering this new public transit boondoggle would only cover a whopping two miles of the city, it’s easy to see why.
Here’s what Analyst Jeff Judson said to WOAI regarding Democrat Mayor Julian Castro and County Judge Nelson Wolff:
“They have a burning desire to become members of the Light Rail Country Club,” Judson said. “The initiation fee runs in the billions of dollars, and the monthly dues come at the expense of other important public investments. It makes no economic sense, but it supposedly says that we are a world class city.”
Austin is trying to join that “country club” too to the tune of $1.3 billion. They didn’t learn their lesson the first time after throwing $106 million upon MetroRail resulted only in poor ridership and no traffic relief.
Judson cites a study that finds nine out of ten “light-rail” projects end up costing 40-100% more than originally estimated, a cost that is ultimately passed down to taxpayers. It’s no wonder this occurs, considering councilmen like Mike Martinez of Austin sign off on these projects without any idea of the ramifications.
The San Antonio City Council will be voting on the project tomorrow.
Click here to read the rest of Judson’s analysis of the fiscal calamity this San Antonio street-car will create. To paraphrase it would not do it justice.
