The Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal |
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Informed but opinionated commentary and analysis on urban transportation topics from the Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal. Names have been omitted to protect the guilty. Our Mission: Monkeywrench the Anti-Transit Forces
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E-mail: transitcabal -AT- gmail.com (EDIT before sending!) Please report dead links News Sources www.planetizen.com www.lightrail.com www.lightrailnow.org www.funimag.com. Funicular RRs Skepticism/Baloney Detecton Practical Skepticism Site The Fine Art of Baloney Detection (Carl Sagan) www.spinsanity.org Pro-Transit Sites Victoria Transportation Policy Institute Vitriolic Critic of American "Urbanism": www.kunstler.com Protransit Site in Cincinnati Protransit Site in Toronto SeattleMonoJabsAll.pdf Critics / Anti-Transit Sites Prime Transit Disinfo: www.rppi.org Wendell Cox's Website Randal O'Toole: www.ti.org/antiplanner |
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
More Opinion from a Cabal Friend From the Cabalmaster: The Washington Post ran a detailed story August 3rd on how totally lacking in ethics (most) economists are, including some professors. I find it very true and have also found Harvard to be a den of iniquity at least in the School of Government and the Business School. The Medical School may be first rate. I both agree and disagree with Dr. George Smerk www.bus.indiana.edu/Marketing/bcards/bcardgs.htm, a very fine person. Yes, cost benefit ratios and the Holy Bible can be used to prove any point, BUT they can not be so used by honest people with a grain of intelligence. It comes back to the old addage that "Figures don't lie, but liars can figure." We would have no science without numbers but just because we have some numbers does not make them honest or correct. For cost benefit ratios, just look at the record. Light Rail in Buffalo, Portland and Pittsburgh each increased downtown business by twenty (20) percent. That makes jobs, and higher tax collection to pay the bills. In Salt Lake City after one year, downtown business increased about 15 percent. In Northern Virginia, MetroRail reduced property tax rates forty (40) percent and at the same time, earned a 19 percent annual return on the state's share of the investment. KPMG twice confirmed that, but can we trust auditors? The tax rate confirms it. In Dallas, the university found that DART LRT increased property values 25 percent more than other Dallas property. Seattle should seek the truth, not just negative sound bytes.
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