Passenger Rail Aids Growth

The debate over public funding of transit and rail passenger projects has for too long focused on the single, combustible word, "subsidy," but as an article in today's New York Times shows, wordplay loses to reality.

Murray City and Hamlet Homes are taking advantage of growing buyer interest in living and working near the regional TRAX light rail system, which has operated in the Salt Lake Valley since 1999 ... And it is one of a growing number of transit-oriented developments in the Wasatch Front, an urban area with a population of more than two million that is looking for new ways to get around — less by car, and especially by rail. A host of other American metropolitan regions, among them Minneapolis, Denver, Dallas, Sacramento, St. Louis, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and Portland, Ore., have invested billions of dollars over the last decade to pursue the same idea.  ("Rail Drives Utah Development")

We pointed out the problems facing Utah almost two years ago:

Utah has a population of just 2.2 million, less than the 2.9 million of suburban Orange County, California. Yet, according to the Utah Foundation, a non-profit research group, “Utah faces a major challenge as the demand on the state’s transportation system continues to rapidly grow.”

And just last week we reported that Amtrak's president, Alex Kummant, told the Surface Transportation Board how passenger trains are spurring economic development. The "subsidy" canard is dead. Public investment in rail transportation creates an economic engine that aids development of new and revitalized downtown areas. Builders and real estate developers recognize the growing demand for residential, retail, entertainment and work environments that are accessible by train and lend themselves to foot traffic, and they are providing these new communities all across the county.