Does Clark County need light rail? That’s one of the most crucial questions in our community. Often, though, the debate deteriorates into a shouting match and everyone gets so wound up that we never get to the second question, which is almost as important as the first: Will our grandchildren need light rail?
Many local residents don’t want to look beyond the here and now when it comes to light rail. They’re not much interested in what happens elsewhere, or what our grandchildren might need 50 years from now. Blinders on and heads down, they’ve got their minds made up. But for those of you who haven’t already turned this page in disgust, here’s some information — good and bad — about light rail in other communities, plus a couple of links to valuable online sources that both support and criticize light rail.
Seattle — Last month, Sound Transit extended its six-month-old light-rail line two miles to Sea-Tac, establishing a 16-mile link from downtown to the airport. The negative news pertains to ridership, which at 14,639 riders per weekday is 31.3 percent lower than projected. This prompted Michael Ennis, director of the Washington Policy Center’s transportation research, to declare: “Sound Transit officials failed to deliver their promised ridership projections” of 21,000 riders per weekday. Oh, my! That sounds pretty bad, right?
Perhaps, but we who understand the difference between a projection and a promise are able to discern the positive news: 14,000 riders per day is a large load of people, and there’s ample reason to believe that number will increase, especially as Seattle’s grandchildren grow up. But please, don’t take that as a promise; it’s only my guess. For all I know, those light-rail cars might be rolling along cobwebbed and empty in a few years.
