THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607040242
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 52 lines
I would like to go on record in opposition to the proposed light rail project. I have been against this expensive undertaking since the beginning for a number of reasons which I submit herewith:
1) Rail service between Norfolk/ Virginia Beach, which existed until the late 1940s, failed due to ``rising expenses'' and ``competition from the automobile.'' Those economic forces still exist today, 50 years later, and building a ``new and improved'' rail system over the same route is not going to change the uncontrollable.
2) The price tag - initially ($375 million) and for yearly upkeep and maintenance ($11 million) - is far too high for the small number of people it proposes to serve. The fact that everyone's taxes would have to go up to support ``commuters, shoppers, and joy-riders'' leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many of our senior residents, who are on fixed incomes and do not need any more taxes piled on.
3) Look around - we already have an excellent people-mover system in place: the TRT bus system, which now goes to downtown Norfolk and to the Naval Base. I rode the TRT bus for many years during the 1970s and 1980s (from Virginia Beach to the Naval Base, then to downtown, and back home again) and found it to be very convenient and affordable, especially with monthly bus passes as incentives. With the bus system, there is no need to spend money to upgrade tracks, construct road crossings/warnings, or study the issue. The TRT pick-up points serve the public well, and the HOV lanes used by the buses move the commuters to and from their destinations in minimum time at a fair price.
4) People in Virginia Beach have little or no incentive to abandon their cars. There is plenty of parking available at their destination, work schedules and hours fluctuate and especially among military personnel. And people like the convenience of being able to make stops going to and from work.
5) I think Norfolk likes the idea of light rail because they feel it would bring ``shoppers'' into their depressed downtown area. Virginia Beach has plenty of shopping malls where locals can shop.
6) This reminds me of the Southeastern Expressway project - ``someone'' is trying to justify their high-paying job by attempting to revive a dust-covered proposition in hopes government officials and the public will be gullible enough to accept it and its huge price tag.
7) Lastly, I feel such an expensive undertaking such as this should be put on the November 1996 ballot to determine how we, the people, feel about it. If the majority of voters want even higher taxes to support light rail, and vote in favor of the concept, then I will respect their decision.
This project may appear on the surface to be the ``wave of the future,'' but I truly believe that to spend any more taxpayer money (local, state or federal) to study or to approve this will be a huge economic boondoggle.
John O. Parmele Jr.
June 12 by CNB