- April 25, 2024
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This week we offered "Our View: Pull the rapid-transit plug," giving three reasons to nix the idea:
• No one will ride it. Ridership on the rapid-transit buses will prove slim and disappointing. That is the history of mass transit everywhere outside of the most densely populated areas, such as Manhattan. Sarasota’s experience with its normal SCAT buses is that they are lightly used and heavily subsidized. And some of the rapid-transit riders will be those who would otherwise ride SCAT.
• It is too expensive. Total estimated cost of the project now is at $100.7 million. It has already gone up and, again, the experience of other locales is that the prices of these systems continue to inflate. (Look up how the cost of California’s high-speed rail project is now estimated at $98 billion, up from the original $43 billion.)
• The subsidy required annually is $1.56 million. That amount would be built into all future budgets, which will rise each year, and is on top of the existing, heavily subsidized SCAT budget. It will require more in taxes or less in other services.
Do you agree? What is your view?
