Brewster McCracken has promised to oppose a bond election for light rail in 2010. Leffingwell wants a bond election in 2010, but doesn't think the election should include any money for rail because it would cost too much.
If you think light rail is a bad idea for Austin, then you will oppose a bond election next year whether the economy is good or bad.
But if you think Austin needs light rail — and both Brewster and Lee have said they do — then this seems incredibly shortsighted.
Light rail will never be cheaper to build than it is right now. Labor and materials are cheaper than they have been in a long time, and much cheaper than they will be after the economy recovers.
Austin will never have a better chance of getting a large chunk of federal money. The Obama administration likes transit. It is willing to fund transit. But who knows whether Obama will still be in office on January 23, 2013. Approval ratings are fleeting. And even if he remains in office, gargantuan budget deficits might tie his hands. Now is the time to act.
A lot of people are having a tough time right now. But which pinches more: Paying 60 cents on the dollar during relatively tough times, or 100 cents on the dollar during relatively flush times? The first is the better deal, in my opinion.
And who’s to say things will be so dire in 2010, or in 2011, when the first bond payments would be due? If the economy has improved, then we will have lost a great opportunity by not preparing for the bond election. And if things are still bad, then Austin’s good citizens can vote down than the bonds. That’s what democracy is all about.
I do think the city could make a bond issue more palatable by scaling down the initial line. Rather than building 19 miles all at once, the city should start with a more modest 5-mile line through the core of Austin. I think a line connecting the dense employment centers, South Congress and UT would draw lots of riders. It would be a rousing success, like Houston's Main Street line. The starter line would then build support for later extensions. See Houston's Main Street line. And it would be much, much cheaper, which undoubtedly would make a bond election an easier sell.
Vision, fellows. Vision.
