Transit bashers in Charlotte have been having a field day recently with
the increased costs of the South Corridor light rail line. In print and on talk
radio, the anti-transit crowd is trying to create the impression that there’s
widespread opposition to these plans. This is a pattern that’s been followed
in most American cities that have constructed light rail lines: small but vocal
pressure groups kick up a commotion, but after the system starts working and
people see the advantages of transportation and increased lifestyle choice,
the opposition fades away and people wonder what all the fuss was about.
No doubt the escalation in the cost of construction materials is causing some
heartburn among CATS administrators. The system as designed was intended to
provide the best engineering solutions to a number of tricky construction problems
that will now have to be reconsidered, and alternative, cheaper solutions found.
It’s disappointing, but this kind of redesign to save money is normal in most
projects within the American construction industry where there is no independent
financial watchdog profession. In my professional practice as an architect in
Britain, by contrast, it was normal to work hand-in-hand with professionals
called “quantity surveyors,” who costed out design options throughout the design
process to avoid the shock of high bid prices. As a designer I could get fast
feedback on my latest designs — actual costs using up-to-the-minute prices,
not estimates — and I could amend the designs in advance of the bidding
process to come in or under budget.
Without such stringent cost controls, construction bids that come in higher than expected are not unusual in the States, and this has given transit bashers grist for their propaganda mill. However, critics don’t stop there. They vent their spleen on preliminary estimates of costs for future projects, such as Charlotte’s planned east-west streetcar line from Johnson C. Smith University through the center of town to Eastland Mall, merely for being “preliminary.” They act as if this is somehow unreasonable.
In fact, it’s totally normal procedure to prepare preliminary designs, derive approximate costs from estimates for similar projects, and only then do the detailed design work to provide more accurate figures. It’s pretty straightforward.
But these armchair critics of transit are so ideologically warped against light rail that their critical integrity becomes very suspect. They find huge amounts of money spent on roads quite acceptable, despite the fact that these roads actually increase Charlotte’s environmental plight — not to mention that they put a potential damper on economic growth due to worsening air quality from ever-widening sprawl and longer commutes. However, when it comes to paying for something that will actually help the city’s economic development by providing new urban lifestyle choices that attract the new, skilled workers that Charlotte needs, the transit bashers fall all over themselves to bray the loudest about wasted money and social(ist) engineering. They talk darkly about “forcing people to live in high-rise towers,” or “taking away people’s cars.” These are simply lies; there is no truth whatsoever in these wild statements.
To the contrary, development patterns around light rail stations add a vital element to the housing and transportation choices available to Charlotteans. How anything that increases choice can be misrepresented as social engineering is mind-boggling. People who preach these fantasies either know they’re false and are brazenly trying to scare you, or, if they really believe their own rantings, they are truly deluded and out of touch with reality.
They talk darkly about “forcing people to live in high-rise towers,” or “taking away people’s cars.” These are simply lies.
In the 1970s, Charlotte launched a wild plan to build a circular loop freeway (I-485), without any detailed cost estimates. Yes, that’s right. Charlotte began a 30-year project with no idea how much it would end up costing! In 1987, the estimate was given as $700 million. The most recent estimate in $1.2 billion, and everybody knows that’s not the final figure.
It’s interesting that transit bashers are very quiet about the vast sums spent on the outerbelt. They never question the cost of roads.
The positive economic development impact of light rail can already be seen in the private developments along the trolley line in South End. Terry Shook, a leading South End businessman, has conservatively estimated that property values in that area have increased more than 150 percent since 1995. Moreover, in the last ten years, the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County has received more than $12 million more in taxes from the South End area than it otherwise would have (based upon 1994 valuations). No other kind of transit attracts this kind of investment, and this increased tax revenue from central city areas helps keep suburban property taxes stable.
Charlotte needs light rail to create the transportation and development choices that can keep this city competitive amid global competition. It’s all about your freedom to choose how you want to live and work in the coming decades. Why do the transit bashers want to limit your liberty?
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2005.
