Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Doylet Line ChooChoo to Cost Taxpayers MORE

There's so much wrong with Doylet-Think that it's impossible to fisk it briefly.

High-speed rail critics are overstating the fare likely to be charged on a planned train line connecting Milwaukee and Madison, a top state Department of Transportation official says.

...Chris Klein, executive assistant to state Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi, said riders wouldn't pay a $33 fare "unless it includes dinner and drinks." The high-end figure was developed before state officials knew the federal grant would cover the full cost of the project, including buying trains, which will avoid the operating costs of renting them from Amtrak, Klein said.

$10 bucks for "dinner and drinks"? Well, yah. After all, the riders will be lobbyists and lawyers. You don't expect them to pay full price for meals and cocktails, do you?

Transportation officials expect the actual fare will be closer to the low end of the range and comparable to the fare for Amtrak's Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line, which now charges $22 each way

Oh. Nevermind!

So the taxpayer subsidy will be larger, right?

Sure. That'll sit well with us peons.

No comments: