Boondoggle transportation projects aren’t just for cities like Austin anymore. Apparently unconcerned with government intrusions into the free market, Fort Worth is prepared to venture into a bike-share boondoggle program, and it’s only going to use a million of our tax dollars to get started.
What’s a $1 million of our money among bureaucrats?
That’s how much the Federal Transit Administration is giving the Fort Worth Transportation Authority to get their new bike-share rental program started. It’s expected to have 30 stations and 300 bikes up and running by next spring.
Like the big-spenders on the Austin City Council, Ft. Worth seems to have no concern with expanding government into a program that intrudes upon the free market – unfairly harming small businesses that cannot use your tax dollars as capital.
But beyond the philosophical reasons to oppose such a boondoggle program are the practical concerns over using $1 million of tax dollars on bicycles instead of roads. Transportation will continue to be a pressing issue as Texas continues to grow, and how we choose to address it will have long-term implications.
Are new roads or new boondoggles the priority in planning Texas’ future? That’s a question taxpayers need to ask of their public officials before we get stranded by bloated budgets and higher taxes.
