Hello:
The more we look at the articulated bus option for the Pike and Crystal City the more we feel articulated buses are the ONLY transit option for the Pike and Crystal City. The Wright articulated buses, also known as 'Wright streetcars', that provide transit service for Las Vegas as the 'Ace Bus' would cost Arlington taxpayers $100 million versus $500 million for streetcar systems on the Pike and in Crystal City. The 'Ace Bus' uses clean energy, not mountaintop coal, for power. The 'Ace Bus' is flexible, it uses both regular traffic lanes in downtown Las Vegas and dedicated transit lanes in outlying areas. There are no tracks to cause accidents with bicycles and pedestrians. There are no overhead wires. The 'Ace Bus' is a big hit with tourists and residents in Las Vegas. You can see for yourself by Googling 'Las Vegas ACE Bus' and 'Wright streetcar'.
We are appalled by the Arlington County Board's 'dirty tricks' aimed at anyone who might oppose its trolley folly. These ranged from telling minority groups (who heavily use Pike transit) they would be arrested if they attended the June 6th and 7th Pike Transit meetings to cutting off the audio when County Board candidate Audrey Clement spoke against the trolley folly at last Saturday's County Board meeting.
We feel our only recourse is to write both the Federal Transit Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General detailing the outrageous manner in which the County Board has behaved.
We don't have financial interests in any corporation or organization that markets articulated buses. We need the $400 million that would be wasted on the County Board's trolley folly spent on new transit infrastructure to benefit all County residents. Therefore, the 'Ace' Wright streetcar articulated bus is the only real transit option for the Pike and Crystal City.
Cindy, and many others,
South Arlington
21 comments:
Brigid Hynes-Cherin
Regional Administrator - Region 3
Federal Transit Administration
1760 Market Street, Suite 500
Philadelphia PA 19103-4124
Principal Assistant Inspector General for Investigations
Assistant Inspector General for Highway and Transit Audits
U.S. Department of Transportation
Office of the Inspector General
1200 New Jersey Ave SE
7th Floor
Washington DC 20590
202-366-1959
I did an exhaustive Web search on "Wright streetcar articulated bus" and "Las Vegas ACE bus" and it appears that from a cost vs. benefit analysis and based on the performance of the ACE buses in Las Vegas there is NO WAY Arlington County would be justified in paying $250 million for a rail streetcar system vs. $50 million for the Wright streetcar buses.
If Arlington is going to apply to the Federal Transit Adsministration for $100 million in grants for a rail streetcar system the U.S. DOT IG should question whether that is a fraudulent application.
Why did Bill Gearhart resign from the Chairmanship of the Arlington Transportation Commission?
Bill Gearhart was just reappointed to a 3 year term on the Transportation Commission in March.
Bill Gearhart is a staff attorney in federal practice with the International Trade Commission. He would never allow himself to get mixed up with anything of questionable legality.
This is becoming increasingly bizarre because Arlington and Alexandria are working together to flummox the Federal Transit Administration with a fraudulent 'alternatives analysis' in order to have the FTA fund rail streetcar transit on the Alexandria portion of the Crystal City transitway based upon the operation of a streetcar system in the Arlington portion of the transitway.
People, get your letters and e-mail to piketransit.org before midnight tomorrow (June 21st) opposing the trolley folly and send copies to the DOT Inspector General hotline at: hotline@oig.dot.gov. Subject line should be: Contract, Procurement, and Grant Fraud.
Shouldn't there be Congressional Hearings regarding these rip offs of taxpayer funds from the FTA by Congressman Moran's good buds on the County Board?
Same DOT OIG that auditing Jim Moran's good buds who run MWAA?
This is looking more and more like they are going to go to the FTA after this fraudulent Pike alternatives process and ask for a $100 million grant for their streetcar.
Comments should go to info@piketransit.com by midnight tonight, June 21st.
Cindy, please do a posting about how all the local media are being threatened by the County Board and Chamber of Commerce members with loss of access and loss of ad revenue if they even mention articulated buses. I will e-mail information.
Arlington will be going to the FTA for a grant. I would like to see the FBI interview the people from WMATA who conducted the June 6th and 7th Pike public meetings to determine whether the civil rights of Latinos and other minorities were violated when they were told they would be arrested if they attended the meetings.
Start by interviewing John Dittmeier, the meetings' Moderator and Technical Project Manager.
One of ACDC's pet ward heelers went after Audrey Clement in this week's FC News Press because she questioned the costs / benefits of streetcars vs. articulated buses.
Look at it from the perspective of the people who edit the local blogs. How many of them would NOT want to be in the same position as Scott McCaffrey, no matter how many conflicts of interest that generates?
They all thought they could get away with building an expensive streetcar system by comparing it to an 80's vintage articulated bus. Well, the newest articulated buses look and work better than any streetcar and are way less expensive.
His first name is spelled $cott, as in $ara$ota $cotty.
How about asking Las Vegas if Arlington can lease an ACE bus for a month for testing and evaluation on the Pike? Drive onto a railroad flatcar and deliver it to wherever the nearest rail yard is located and then drive it to the Pike.
Can't do that...minute an ACE bus appears on the Pike it's all over for streetcars in Arlington.
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