By Alan Reed
Former city councilor and government professor
The New Mexico Department of Transportation, propelled by Gov. Bill Richardson and the Legislature, is roaring down the track toward building a commuter train system between Belen and Santa Fe.
The Legislature has already committed $75 million to buy equipment, although, as its own study reported, "the project's viability, operational requirements and revenue sources" have not been demonstrated.
Still to come: $200 million more to get full operation of a train while our health care system is starving for funds.
Apparently Santa Fe's City Council sees some gain and committed $8 million to buy the tourist line from Lamy. Of course! Santa Fe expects a jillion more tourists, and fewer problems with traffic and parking from state employees who live in Rio Rancho, Placitas and environs.
Sandoval County commissioners cheered the New Mexico Department of Transportation director by committing $6 million to the purchase of an engine and two cars. Of course! Sandoval County is the location of the only identifiable local riders for the proposed service, that is, state employees who are tired of commuting on Interstate 25 and look forward to easy cruises on the train while they read the newspaper, sip espresso, and swap tales from the bureaucracy.
Shades of the Washington D.C. metro! On the other hand, Rio Rancho city government wisely said "no way" last September.
Rio Rancho is right. If the governor and Legislature are convinced that a commuter line from Belen to Santa Fe is urgently needed, although legislative studies indicate there is no viable plan for building and operating it, state government should pay for it.
State leaders' arguments in favor of the train must be:
It will relieve traffic on I-25, saving state money and aggravation in the future;
It will make life easier for state employees and make them more productive;
Tourists who must land at Albuquerque's Sunport will have reliable all-weather transportation to the tourist fields and ski resorts to the North;
State politicians will get national recognition for their visionary project.
In other words, all of the benefits are benefits for state politicians and the whole state's economy. Why should the local taxpayers in the railway's proposed corridor be saddled with the gross-receipts tax burden of at least $10 million per year?
The way in which the commuter train project has been pitched is reprehensible. The campaign has been conducted with a minimum of public awareness and with a maximum of forceful presentations by politicians and Mid Region Council of Government committees, which are not representative of the voters in the five-county region now being asked to pay for the train's unspecified costs
MRCOG has been the ramp down which developers and highway builders slide massive federal funding that forces the region to develop as a freeway-centered clone of sprawling Los Angeles.
While light-rail is recognized as an alternative to the Los Angeles model, a train running in a straight line connecting Belen and Santa Fe, but not serving any destinations off the straight line, is pointless. Albuquerque and Bernalillo County officials are scheduled to vote soon on a permanent commitment to pay for a train that makes no sense. They had better focus on the following:
Train proponents have failed to provide a complete plan for financing it.
They have failed to demonstrate value to most of the region's residents.
They have failed to secure commitments from the state's leadership that taxpayers in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County will not be stuck with the most expensive lemon in New Mexico history. Rio Rancho has it right: "No way."
Alan Reed, a former city councilor and government professor, is senior fellow with the Center for Strategic Dialogue in Albuquerque. E-mail: areed@veregister.net
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