Didn't WMATA already conduct an alternatives analysis for the proposed Pike streetcar system? And didn't that alternatives analysis determine that articulated buses, also known as bus rapid transit, would cost taxpayers $50 million versus spending $250 million for a streetcar system? Why do we need any more meetings?
Know what these streetcars have turned into? A classic taxpayer rip-off. Not only is money being wasted on something we don't need or want, but state-of-the art bus service using double deck buses isn't being mentioned. Nor are safety and environmental issues involving construction and operation of streetcars. It's gotten so bad that Arlington County employees who don't live in Arlington are being ordered to post anonymous comments promoting streecars
to local blogs using material they are handed by County public information staff.
I don't know about anyone else, but I called and am sending an e-mail to the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General. The number to call to reach the DOT IG here in the D.C. area is 202-366-0377.
Pike Rider
30 comments:
Yupette, the U.S. DOT Inspector General recently began conducting investigations and audits of transit programs where the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has oversight.
From the U.S. Transportation Department's IG Web Site:
"Audit Initiated of FTA's Oversight of Major Transit Projects in New York City".
The Transportation Department IG is also conducting audits of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and Phase 2 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
How about the Crystal City streetcar system? The County Board refused to allow an alternatives analysis to be conducted. How fraudulent is that?
Time to demand an DOT IG investigation and audit of the County Board's streetcar shenanigans.
Coming soon to an intersection near you.
http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Seattle-light-rail-train-slices-Mountain-Dew-truck-156377325.html
County Board wants to scam the Federal Transit Administration into awarding federal tax dollars to both the Pike and Crystal City streetcar systems. After the Zimmerscam the County Board pulled on the City of Alexandria it's time for a DOT IG audit of the entire mess before another federal tax dollar gets spent on the Reitsfuhrer's boondoggle.
Our Beloved Reitsfuhrer is only concerned about creating another Unter der Linden on what is now a strip of Bolshevik shops catering to the inferior races.
The Fraudsters at Pike Transit are deliberately keeping us uninformed about safety and environmental issues involving streetcars.
Arlington and Fairfax County transportation staffs have spent countless hours planning how to scam FTA out of at least $200 million to fund the Chris Zimmerman - Penny Gross Streetcar System.
Lock all the REITsleeze m-fers up in the Plutocrat Dormitory at Allenwood.
Lock down Zimmy and Moran in the same 'secure residential unit' at Allenwood. Make them get up at 4 AM to milk cows, like honest Americans. They would likely both croak from the shock of having to get out of bed before 9 AM.
Don't forget to mention the Reitsfuhrer's consultants and transportation lobbyists.
I have to laugh at the discussion occurring on another local blog about the 'independent' media.
Don't forget to mention WMATA - aka we'll get around to fixing that life-threatening problem after someone is killed.
How many Democratic ward heelers will Zimmerman mobilize next Wednesday and Thursday?
The alternatives analysis is not real at all. It's conducted by the Columbia Pike Transit Initiative (not WMATA). They have established the options and they are now asking for "public comment." But it's a sham: the County in 2006 already endorsed the trolley. The CPTI has established that bendy buses are a fifth of the cost and would deliver almost identical service. But when you hear the sycophants at GreaterGreaterWashington or the hackish Mary Hynes, they keep making false comparisons, saying a trolley is cheaper than Metrorail or a highway, when the alternatives analysis doesn't even consider those options. A lawsuit challenging funding for this project is inevitable, and the Board is asking for it.
The latest Deuce double deck buses which are wildly popular on the Las Vegas Strip cost about $700,000 each, so thirty buses with a seating capacity of about 100 passengers would altogether cost $21 million dollars. Saving the taxpayers $229 million versus a streetcar system. Not even being considered by anyone in Arlington except for the Green Party.
Yupette...Time for Occupy Arlington.
I love the Arlington Yupette blog. It's all about making life better for us, not the sleazy politrickster weasels and their ward heelers who control us.
The County Board is not merely looking at a lawsuit, it and its staff and consultants are looking at serious time in a federal prison camp for "attempted bribery of federal officials".
"Attempted" Bribery? LOL
I would like to know why Arlington County hasn't been sued for massive re-segregation through gentrification that violates Virginia's fair housing laws.
Why don't you ask the Arlington County Attorney, who signs off on all the development deals?
He's another Arlington decision maker who doesn't live in Arlington.
Montgomery County is going for dedicated BRT.
Bus Rapid Transit (articulated buses) don't require dedicated lanes.
County should have long ago been sued for violating Virginia's fair housing laws. It's illegal to use affordable housing funds to remove minority groups from some neighborhoods and concentrate them in other neighborhoods.
June 6th and 7th Pike Transit meetings were the worst public meetings I've ever attended.
Latinos who live and work on the Pike and use public transit day in and day out were told they would be arrested if they attended. So who attended? Elderly people who don't use public transit.
John Dittmeier, who moderated the meetings, lives in Montgomery County, which just said no to streetcars.
Post a Comment