M-1 rail discussion

[mwilbert]

So $140M to change a perception? Interesting. I have ridden both a street car and a bus. Both accomplished the same thing, i.e., got me from A to B. They didn't impact my perception of the city I rode them in one way or the other.

Of course it is possible the folks funding the bulk of this are mistaken. But possibly just because two transit modes can get you from A to B doesn't mean they are equivalent. We could have regular ox-cart service which would also get you from A to B, but it would be a rather different service. To get bus service between Downtown and New Center we wouldn't need to spend anything, because there is already bus service--by your logic buying CNG buses wouldn't make any sense either.

Since the M1 will be operational fairly soon, we will actually be able to see how successful it is, and judge whether the return on that investment was good, mediocre, or poor, not that I expect everyone to agree on which it is.

[corktownyuppie]

Of course it is possible the folks funding the bulk of this are mistaken. But possibly just because two transit modes can get you from A to B doesn't mean they are equivalent. We could have regular ox-cart service which would also get you from A to B, but it would be a rather different service. To get bus service between Downtown and New Center we wouldn't need to spend anything, because there is already bus service--by your logic buying CNG buses wouldn't make any sense either.

Exactly. It's gonna be interesting if the demand for this service is there. If we go and look at the Whole Foods debate from 5 years ago, I remember hearing a lot of the same things. And, to some extent, their basis was sincere and accurate. Despite the rousing success of Whole Foods in Midtown, I'm fairly confident that if a Farmer Jack opened in that same location, the results would be very, very different.

Since the M1 will be operational fairly soon, we will actually be able to see how successful it is, and judge whether the return on that investment was good, mediocre, or poor, not that I expect everyone to agree on which it is.

That's where I'm at with it, too.