Sunday, August 01, 2004
Hiawatha Light-Rail Users Hog Residential Parking
Residents in a neighborhood on Minneapolis' Hiawatha light-rail line complain that rail riders are using their neighborhood as a park-and-ride station. "You can't park in front of your own place," complains one resident, who calls the rail users "hide and riders." The transit agency, of course, provides feeder bus service to connect people from distant areas to the light ral, but, just like everywhere else, hardly anyone uses it.
One hide-and-rider says she can ride light rail for $40 a month, while it would cost four times that to get a downtown parking space. Of course, downtown parking is available at market rates, while the light rail is heavily subsidized. If, as is typical, the Hiawatha's cost per new rider is more than $10, the $120 per month this rider is saving by switching from driving to rail is costing taxpayers at least $440 per month.
Transit officials will claim that parking problems are proof that the light rail is successful. But face it: it would be far less expensive to build more parking downtown than to build a light-rail line along with park-and-ride parking lots at every station. If the agency reacts to residential parking complaints by building more station-area parking, the cost of this parking will merely increase the subsidy to a handful of transit riders.
One more thing: To what extent can we call people "light-rail users" if they drive five or ten miles to a station that is located just outside of downtown, park, and ride the train for the last couple of miles? They certainly aren't reducing air pollution, as cars generate most of their pollution when the engines are cold; if they were warm by the time they reach the rail station, another couple of miles of driving wouldn't add much pollution. A better name for such commuters would be "parking fee evaders."
One hide-and-rider says she can ride light rail for $40 a month, while it would cost four times that to get a downtown parking space. Of course, downtown parking is available at market rates, while the light rail is heavily subsidized. If, as is typical, the Hiawatha's cost per new rider is more than $10, the $120 per month this rider is saving by switching from driving to rail is costing taxpayers at least $440 per month.
Transit officials will claim that parking problems are proof that the light rail is successful. But face it: it would be far less expensive to build more parking downtown than to build a light-rail line along with park-and-ride parking lots at every station. If the agency reacts to residential parking complaints by building more station-area parking, the cost of this parking will merely increase the subsidy to a handful of transit riders.
One more thing: To what extent can we call people "light-rail users" if they drive five or ten miles to a station that is located just outside of downtown, park, and ride the train for the last couple of miles? They certainly aren't reducing air pollution, as cars generate most of their pollution when the engines are cold; if they were warm by the time they reach the rail station, another couple of miles of driving wouldn't add much pollution. A better name for such commuters would be "parking fee evaders."
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