Saturday, February 28, 2015 – 11:30 a.m.
San Bernardino County leaders, not Inland Empire as a whole, seem fascinated with building public works projects that will never be self-sustaining. Even though they say otherwise.
Some of the projects are public necessity. Some are flat out boondoggle’s. Some are just ill-conceived.
The latest is the hoopla over the planned MetroLink extension from San Bernardino, otherwise known as Gotham City, to Redlands.
The project is referred to as the Redlands Passenger Rail Project. A project with an expected price tag of $242 million.
Supporters say the project, funded by federal grants, sales tax and Proposition 1B bond money, will eventually sustain itself.
Wrong. It’s another project that won’t sustain itself. Just like the $300 million-plus, and counting, San Bernardino International Airport (SBIA) to nowhere.
Just like the $200 million-plus, and counting, scantly-used SBx Bus Line (SBx), which happens to have a dedicated route from the campus of Cal State San Bernardino, through a high-crime area located in the heart of the aforementioned Gotham City, and on to Loma Linda University Medical Center.
I know. What a brainchild.
Other high-dollar projects such as the San Bernardino Justice Center and I-215 Widening Project fall into the category of public necessity. But they aren’t, nor will they ever be, local economic drivers, as some say.
Unlike the other two “Build it and they will come” SBIA and SBx boondoggles, the Redlands Passenger Rail Project seems more like an amenity than anything else.
I love Downtown Redlands. It’s still quaint. It has a busy nightlife. It has relatively low crime.
It’s a college town.
The thought of having a passenger rail service landing at the old Orange Street location is very appealing. Even if it’s just for the image.
But if anyone believes there is going to be some broad demand for the Redlands and Yucaipa area crowds to hop on the train and ride to San Berdoo and beyond, you can forget it!
Interestingly, the guy who is trying to cleanup on the whole passenger rail deal is ESRI Founder Jack Dangermond, who has bought up property all around the planned rail route.
Whether Dangermond’s bet along with the planned high-density housing will pay off, remains yet to be seen.
It’s also interesting to make note of the extreme disconnect between the West Valley and East Valley regions of San Bernardino County. The forward thinking and long-range planning differences, between the two, is absolutely amazing.
But that’s a conversation for another day.
Now back to the point.
Does anyone really believe the rail project will ever be self-sustaining?
Is the $242 million, money well spent?
Is it good for local leaders to snow taxpayers on the idea that the project will be self-sustaining?
As always, your comments are welcome.
It’s obvious the goal is to create various methods that will get people to arrive to downtown San Bernardino.
It won’t happen.
San Bernardino is still obsessed with “Family Friendly” and Route 66… Blech!
Redlands and Riverside Threw “Family Friendly” out on it’s ass… their activities and businesses are flourishing.
What will happen, is that the people of San Bernardino can hop aboard a train and take their family to Redlands or Riverside for a break from the City. And thus, taking cash FROM San Bernardino to Riverside and Redlands.
It seems Redlands knows exactly what it’s doing as far as the train.
There are thousands and thousand of people that live in the Downtown area that would love to get out and go to Redlands;
Those of us that have a car and live in San Bernardino and Highland have long stopped considering “What can we do locally?” and headed South. (Taking the money we would have spent in Highland and San Bernardino with us.
Between the two…. Highland is the absolute worst.
Similar to the state’s Browndoggle N-to-S High Speed Train to Nowhere, the train from Gotham to Redlands is just another SANdBAGgle like the aforementioned OmniTrans SBx, I215 Corridor Redevelopment and SBIA MillionAir bust of a passenger airport not getting off the ground, the Doctor and his ex-CalTrans boyz over at SanBAG keep on scamming the public.
And how does OmniTrans supposedly have an excess in funding to support the SB-Redlands $242M (and rising quickly) price tag for this NTA approved SANdBAGgle, being shown in the EIR as a way to fund this unsustainable transit project during the first few years-o-operation?… or is it just OmniTrans Chairman-o-the-Board and self-proclaimed Transportation Planning Consultant Alan “Ex-police” Wapner lying from his bully pulpit again (for the Devil) to decieve the public??
Don’t tell us this time it’s any different Alan (it’s like deja vu all over again), that the fine staff over at OmniTrans and SanBAG all need to keep their high paying jobs too like you, Mr.Transportation Consultant to the CTC, so the DEVIL MADE US DO IT!?
Bet anything that Alan, Gregory, Raymond, Garry, Farhad and Khalil still believe in the DESIGN-BUILD alternate project delivery being approved by CalTrans as the GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD… but what about small business participation requirements for state/ federal/ Measure I funding you bureaucratic bozos, not to mention your Program Mismanagement contract with PTG and LAE (and throw in Chad the I-10 PM Clown formerly with RBF for good measure too!)
The $242 million is just a start. Future Measure I sales tax moneys have been borrowed against to the tune of $77 million. The debt service on this loan is $77 million! Then add in the $104 million for the first mile of rail from the San Bernardino Santa Fe depot to the transit center and you have a cool $423 million. Then there is the cost for the DMU’s at $13 million each (power car, center car and cab car)and who knows the cost to acquire the remaining property along the right of way?
This entire project is driven by SANBAG staff. There is no need or demand for this train route. Ridership is actually decreasing on the SB to Union Station route. Why would Redlands businesses want to trade their existing thousands of customers who arrive by automobile for a few imaginary ones expected to arrive by train?
The Rail to Redlands may not be a done deal, but it is a dumb deal. Retailers have already moved to the North side of the Freeway where tens of thousands of customers have easy freeway access to any thing they want to buy.
Consumers are not going to wait in endless traffic to travel South where the train will leave them stuck behind multiple signal changes. Inching forward one car length at a time.
No one is going to take the train to Redlands only to arrive at soon to be defunct movie theater with the only bathroom being 27 steps upstairs.
Trains that do not connect to airports are useless. The rail to Redlands is not just loaded with a couple negatives surrounding it…it will crush Redlands into the ground.
If the effort was to increase metrolink riders from the East Valley qareas, then the best route would be directly to SBD airport. Commuters will drive there to take the train if they can arrive from 210 fwy.
THey will not drive to Redlands to get on the train for LA because you can drive to Santa Fe station 20 minutes faster than this train will get you there. Three stops one mile apart slows the trip to a crawl.
No one rides the Sbx bus where the fare is $1.75. Jack no one is going to pay $14.00 to take over a half hour to get to San Bernardino.
Redlands already has tried mass transit in town by it’s $3,000,000 trolley system. No one rode it. It just plugged traffic. They abandoned it two years later.
People are going to be massively pissed when they end up sitting in traffic watching empty trains go back and forth.
This is the perfect example of Politically Induced Decrepitude.