Commuter Rail

Recently the Austin American-Statesman published a lengthy article on the Commuter Rail that is due to open in less than one year. The article primarily focused on the budgetary issues as well as timeliness. In all, the article is well written and very informative. My commentary is focused on the actions of our local government.

The commuter rail was originally proposed in 2000 with a $1.9 billion budget. The voters declined to pass this project. So, in 2004, a new proposal hit the table with a $90 million price tag. This was passed by the voters and we are well on our way to move many people in our great community and surrounding communities. The Commuter rail will run from Leander, through Cedar Park into downtown Austin.

As I read more and more of the article, I was amazed at the many oversights in the budget. Several items not planned for include park-and-ride lots, shuttle busses, consulting fees, and fencing along the rail line for pedestrian safety. Commuter rail is not new, how did we miss so many key points to consider for our budget? Why does it seem as though we must constantly reinvent the wheel?

Capital Metro has defended allocating these costs to other budgets, like freight train use and bus line use, however the argument here is that these costs should be shared and not swept under carpet as though it would have been that departments’ budgetary responsibility anyway.

We have gotten really good at excusing poor judgment and skewing reality. Why is this level of professionalism acceptable? We need to raise the bar on the expectations of the people that run our government!

If you are interested in reading the article for yourself, click on the following link:

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/11/25/1125railcost.html