Light rail will come to Dickinson

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Light rail will come to Dickinson
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Perhaps the Seabreeze was a bit hasty in poking fun at the commuter rail projects that have been springing up all around Houston. We have in the past published a couple of stories making fun of the way people are always getting run over by these contraptions, how they make it easier for city-based criminals to prey on suburban neighborhoods. We have done so, safe and secure in the knowledge that we don’t have to worry about such boondoggles in our neighborhood.
Apparently, we were wrong. The City of Galveston just spent $350,000 and over one year studying the possibility of setting up a commuter line that would run up Highway 3 (where existing tracks exist) straight into Houston.
When Galveston spends that kind of money studying something, it usually means they intend to do it. So get ready for a commuter rail line from Houston to be coming our way. It’s not known how you will be asked to pay for it, but you can bet you will be paying for it.
According to the study, it will cost about $400 million to create the commuter service. Based on previous studies and cost estimates of local projects (new Justice Center, Convention Center, etc), this should be multiplied by a factor of 1.6 – thus the project is more likely to cost $640 million.
The study was conducted by the Goodman Corporation. Barry Goodman, CEO of that company, said that if the project isn’t done, then officials will have “truly dropped the ball”. Goodman also said, when asked whether the project was possible, that “it’s impossible not to do it”. So much for an objective study…
Of course, the rail line will allegedly reduce pollution, ease traffic congestion, and provide a new way for people evacuating from a hurricane to get jammed up. Instead of waiting in cars, they can wait on benches.
The study includes some very colorful pie charts and statistics about how many people are going to ride down to the cruise ships and how much money they are going to spend. It says nothing about other issues – like how rail and bus systems open up whole new areas to bums, criminals, illegal aliens, and other undesirable elements. Most people who use these commuter systems are low-income. A tiny percentage are tourists. The study ignores all of the socioeconomic questions.
Houston METRO already has the proposed rail line on their drawing boards – so, whether you want it or not, this thing is a done deal. You may recall that Houston voters twice rejected their own light rail, then had it built over their objections anyway, when METRO “found” some extra money and started building it without voter approval.
It’s hard to argue against commuter rail, because it’s cleaner for the environment. But this study says it’s going to cost over $4 for a one-way ticket. Sorry guys, but I can get to Houston on less than $4 in my own truck. I’ve rode trains and buses before, and I don’t like being treated like “freight”. Then, of course, there will be Transportation Security Agents in the stations, strip-searching all the women folks and taking milk away from babies. The study doesn’t mention any of that.