Our View: Riding rails is never free
All aboard! That was the consensus during a public hearing on the prospect of providing better passenger rail service to our region before a full house at Modesto’s City Hall on Friday. What wasn’t discussed, at least in detail, is just who will pay for a ticket to the future.
Assemblyman Adam Gray called the meeting and invited legislators Kristin Olsen, Anthony Cannella and Cathleen Galgiani to join him on the dais. A host of speakers trooped to the microphone, including Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh, Merced County Supervisor John Pedrozo, rail officials and many more. A who’s who of politicos and activists from San Joaquin, Merced and Stanislaus counties were in the seats.
If this meeting was supposed to be controversial, someone forgot to invite the naysayers. Instead, representatives of the Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak’s San Joaquin Corridor laid out plans about increasing the number of trains going to the Bay Area, building ACE stations in Merced and Modesto and finally bridging the gap (northbound) between Stockton and Sacramento. ACE and Amtrak have formed a joint powers authority and are working in concert to build a bigger, better regional rail system.
Benefits were described in glowing detail, provoking dreams of faster commutes, quick trips to see the 49ers, surfing the Internet while traveling, cleaner air from fewer cars and a north Valley link to an eventual high-speed rail terminal in Merced. These are the dreams we should be dreaming. If they come true, they will bring opportunity, new residents and better facilities throughout the region.
His reason for calling this meeting, said Gray, was to “get the political support to make sure these plans can become reality.”
The ACE train extension to Modesto, said Cannella, was a “very high priority” he hoped could be achieved by 2019 with a stop in Merced by 2023.
Galgiani pointed out that 70,000 people commute from the Valley to the Bay Area each day and another 10,000 from Stanislaus to San Joaquin.
To which Olsen added: “Who wouldn’t much rather sit on a train than in a car on 580?”
We were delighted to hear such ideas. But officials peg the costs for building out this program at $1.5 billion, and none of these dreams will come true until we figure out how to pay for them. Yes, the state should help through its cap-and-trade bonanza; but most of that money’s going to projects in Los Angeles. What little we get won’t be enough.
If people here want a ticket to ride, they’re going to have to pay to make their dreams a reality.
Stanislaus Supervisor Vito Chiesa was the only person to broach that eventuality, raining only a few drops of chill on this pep rally.
He likely realizes, as does everyone involved, the only viable means of raising enough money to fund new rail is through dedicated transportation sales tax. And such tax proposals have twice been voted down in both Merced and Stanislaus counties. San Joaquin has such a tax, and that’s why it has four round-trip trains every day.
Even if voters were to approve additional sales taxes, many would want most of the money to fund smoother streets and new highways. It’s unclear how much could be dedicated to mass transit. And some might balk at providing more comfort for commuters.
Even in San Joaquin County, where ACE runs four trains from Stockton and Manteca, ridership is roughly 2,700 per day. While a big number compared to many other commuter trains nationwide, it represents less than 2 percent of the 150,000 vehicles that cross the Altamont every day.
Being able to avoid that traffic, even if you drive only occasionally on I-580, would be a dream come true. But trains don’t run on dreams; they run on steel tracks – and it takes money to build them. If we want to get on board the opportunity train, we’re going to have to pay in advance. We need a transportation sales tax.
This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Our View: Riding rails is never free."