MacIver Perspectives by James Wigderson – Drivers along I-94 near Oconomowoc may have noticed a new billboard attempting to distract them. The Environmental Law and Policy Center, based in Chicago, is trying to revive the debate over so-called high speed rail. Read More Four Years Later – Another Liberal Group Whining about (Not-So) High-Speed Rail?
It won’t connect two cross-state cities, and it certainly isn’t “high-speed,” but a new light rail train line connecting the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul has garnered attention, and also concerns over whether it can deliver promised benefits. Read More Expensive Minnesota Light Rail Train Raises Speed and Safety Concerns
Mary Burke, presumptive Democrat nominee for Governor, said she would have accepted taxpayer money from the federal government to establish a high-speed rail line in Wisconsin if she had been Governor back in 2010, in response to a question posed by an audience member at a taping of “On the Issues” with Mike Gousha held at Marquette University on March 25th. Read More Mary Burke Supports High-Speed Rail
If City of Milwaukee Officials were truly concerned about providing affordable transportation options to their residents, they could provide expanded bus service initial cost of less than $2 million and annual operating costs of less than half a million per year, nearly all of which would be covered by fares, according to the report. Read More MacIver Study Refutes Economic Development Claims of Milwaukee Streetcar Project
That’s a lot of rails, roadwork and infrastructure moving for a streetcar that could easily be replaced by a trolley on tires, or for that matter the Milwaukee County Bus System that already services all of those destinations. The only thing missing would be the huge price tag. Read More What Tom Barrett Could Learn from the Trolley