I thought I was in the Twilight Zone this morning when I read this editorial in the News and Observer cautioning against selling land that has been acquired to support long term transit planning.

Linking fast-growing Wake, Durham and Orange counties and beyond with fast, cheap (and less-polluting) mass transit realistically is a when, not an if. But the only revenue now set aside for a system is a 5 percent tax on car rentals.

From its start in 1998, the tax has raised far less than expected or hoped for -- just $7 million last year, for a project whose total cost has been put at $810 million. Yet state Sen. Neal Hunt of Raleigh, for one, says collection of the tax probably should be halted until a new plan is adopted. He also suggests that the authority sell some of the land it has bought for rail stops and development around them.

Good news paving contractors! A new "report" by an "expert" at the John Locke Foundation says the answer to the Triangle's long-range traffic problems is . . . you guessed it:

Build more roads!

Go read the silly "report" by ex-Puppet Christopher Goff and see for yourself what myopic, short-term, simplistic "thinking" looks like.

If you track the rhetoric of government haters at the John Locke Foundation, you know that one of the things they hate most is planning. Just ask their "expert" from Houses R Us, an objective group of homebuilders who think nothing should stand in the way of them throwing up more houses wherever they want. These folks are fundamentally opposed to smart growth because it costs more than stupid growth. Imagine that! Well, hold on to your hat, because stupid-growth advocates are also hot and bothered about transporation planning. Consider John Hood's silly column today.

Foolish or dishonest advocates of transit argue that there is a huge pent-up demand for bus or rail just waiting to be tapped if only those skinflint conservatives would get out of the way. More sensible advocates realize that building transit must be only part of a far-larger agenda of transforming the way most of us live, work, shop, and recreate.

What Hood doesn't understand - on purpose I assume - is that no "responsible advocate" has a far-larger agenda of transforming jack shit. "Responsible advocates" understand that the path we're on is leading over a cliff. From global warming to dependence of foreign oil to the massive loss of productivity resulting from poor transportation systems, the costs of our current development model are unsustainable. And we can't wait until the the problem is acutely destructive before we act.

Below is a letter to the editor that I sent to the N&O following their story on I-40 congestion that failed to address any alternative transportation options. They responded that they would consider publishing it if I cut down the length in half. Three reasons that I do not want to do this: 1) I did not spend much time at all on it and do not want to put it in print if I horribly missed something; 2) I do not think that I could that many cuts and still have a good piece; and 3) I can put it up here and probably have the same number of people actually read it (and I like you guys better). But go ahead and try to edit it down if you want, or even use the ideas to write your own LTE.

The TTA has just reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern that ensures that they have access to all 28 miles needed to complete the proposed Triangle Regional Rail Line:

The agreements with Norfolk Southern gives the TTA access to the corridors necessary to build the 28-mile rail transit system, which is schedule to have 12 stations connecting Durham, Research Triangle Park, Cary and Raleigh.

For the battle cry of high costs levied against the proposed Triangle Rail Line, there is counterpoint being conveniently ignored: Roads cost a ton of money themselves. In fact, the cost of building roads is artificially lowered by not considering the long term costs to maintain the roads. Those of us in the Triangle have seen the results of those costs being ignored with a plethora of potholes, which increase wear and tear on a car, reduce traffic speed, and are a general hassle.

Potholes are caused by neglect of road surfaces over years. The best way to get rid of them is repaving the road. But repavement costs money to perform, wastes productivity by increasing traffic jams, and creates a hassle for every commuter. For a visual effect, I have pasted a list of repaving projects scheduled for this year in just Durham, Wake, and Franklin counties (from Crosstown Traffic):

I have been watching the debate and negative response to the TTA's proposed 18 mile diesel train route between Raleigh and Durham, and before they can even get anything together, China announces that they are building a train to travel over 1,300 kilometers at over 350 km/hr. The train will use magnetic levitation technology to reduce friction.

So, the supposedly tech-rich Triangle cannot get a diesel train going while China can build a super-advanced high-speed train. This is just one more example of America losing its competitive edge. Of course, we cannot produce engineers to supply large companies when we do not provide the funding that projects that would encourage advances in engineering. I am sure that we will be the world's leader in building roads (a technology as old as history) but we need some imagination, vision, and commitment to progressing toward a better society.

For those in the Triangle who are against Regional Rail as a way to ease congestion, here is the alternative:

North Carolina officials visit Austin for toll road advice
2/23/2006 11:36 AM
By: News 8 Austin Staff

Some North Carolina transportation officials are visiting Austin this week to take a long, hard look at Texas roads. They want to see how our turnpikes are paid for.

Officials from the North Carolina Turnpike Authority say Texas has taken a "visionary approach" to funding roadways by passing some of the cost to those who drive on them. They want to take the same approach in their state.

I have been reading Carter Wrenn at Talking About Politics complaining about the TTA's Regional Rail proposal for the last few days. His posts always are composed of mere rants that contain information or even links to places to find information on what he is talking about, and in fact, it seems as if all the information that he does include is either off base or misleading. I have been choosing not to post about this bashing to keep from giving it any credence, but I have finally taken the bait. Why? Because I feel that Triangle Regional Rail proves who is truly progressive. To me, any progressive (or person of any political stripe that cares about our area) would support the project to improve density of development, improved public transportation, and decrease the road buildup in the area.

When I think about all the things I expect from North Carolina, "the good roads state" doesn't jump to the top of my list of priorities. But along with forever bragging about our accidental claim to First in Flight, we sure seem to have a hang up about spending on highway construction.

There was probably a time when visionary thinkers could make the case that a network of world-class roads would be key to a sustainable future . . . like 90 years ago or so, when we pioneered the practice of making untold public investments into a miraculous network of highways . . . ready and waiting for Peak Oil.

I have been super busy today. I was negotiating to buy a house, and just when we thought that we were just down to money and closing date the owner decided that she wants to rip up the yard because a bush has been in the family for generations (which I do not even think is possible by the way). Anyway, I wanted to pass on this quick link to a new site dedicated to bring better public transportation to the Triangle, including a regional rail.

The site is here. It evens includes a petition to sign for those of us into action (I did it). I cannot go into all the reasons that we need more public transportation right now, so I will just leave you with three: reasonable commutes, reducing pollution, and getting poor people to work without wasting all the money that they earn on gas. If you need more, check some of my earlier posts here.