Proposed Downtown Trolley Service—Is Boise Big Enough to Need it?
By: Regan Shumway Student Reporter
Boise has been proposing a downtown rail loop for nearly three years now, and not much has been established. Public debate on this issue has been heated, so where do you stand?
The discussion first started in early 2008 when Mayor Dave Bieter made his State of the City address. Bieter stated that he, “wants a steel wheel, fixed-route streetcar system in downtown by 2012. If we can do it in 1908, we can certainly do it in 2008.”
The comment he made about 1908 was referring to the streetcar system that Boise had from 1891-1928. This system was successful, but only because this was before the popularity of the automobile. As soon as people started trusting and buying cars, the system no longer made enough money to support itself, and was shut down.
One of the biggest arguments against the system is that we need to first concentrate on improving our bus transit system before we move on to something so big and expensive. It has been estimated that the trolley service would cost roughly $55 million, and run a three mile figure eight route through downtown Boise.
So how is Boise going to get the $55 million? Through both an increase in taxes for anyone and any business along the streetcar route, and through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to Chris Blanchard, this act “gives state governments $1.5 billion toward any sort of transportation related project, but it must achieve certain outcomes, such as increasing livability, sustainability, economic competitiveness, and job creation.” So why not take that money and put it toward improving our already existing city bus transit? That money could help increase the number of buses and therefore the number of routes and the area covered by bus routes.
Mayor Bieter, and others who are for the streetcar system, continues to insist that a streetcar system would be successful here in Boise, but they do not have a lot of facts or statistics to back that up. Their strongest reason that it will work is because the streetcar system in Portland, Oregon works so well. They continue to compare the system there with what ours would be like. So if it is so successful there, then it will obviously be successful here, right? Wrong.
At the end of 2009, the population of Portland, Oregon was roughly 583,000 people. At the same time, Boise’s population was a mere 205,000, making Portland over twice as big as Boise. Just because it worked in an area like that, does not mean that it will work here. Building this system is going to do nothing but increase taxes, increase the already large amount of ongoing construction in Boise, and take away from the bus system and the jobs that go along with that. When it comes to voting on the subject, vote NO, and help keep our city the way it is.
Regan Shumway covers community issues in Idaho. She can be reached at reganshumway@boisestate.edu.
Boise Trolley off the Rails By: Jacy Skeen 273 Reporter According to New West Boise, a local online news source, back in 1891-1928 Boise had a rail system that ran out to Collister, Pierce Park, through Eagle, Star, Middleton, to Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian and back to Boise. It actually served the community well but ran out of funding in 1928.
In 2008, Mayor Dave Bieter said that he wants a steel wheel, a fixed-route streetcar system in downtown by 2012, according to the Idaho Business Review.
The idea of the streetcar system is something that has been very beneficial to other communities throughout the country. Places like Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco have been relying on them for at least part of their daily transportation and the communities are seeing the systems as clean alternatives to buses and cars.
New West Boise states that the trolley would be on a fixed loop around downtown and is intending on getting part of the 55 million it would take to get the project done from the business owners on the loop, by levying an additional tax on them.
One hold back is that there has been no consensus among business owners as to whether there is a need for it or not.
One of the main reasons behind the streetcar is the hope that it will boost the economic development in the downtown core; it is not a transportation project according to New West Boise.
The places that see a success with the trolley system are far larger than Boise, and have a larger area to cover. Most businesses in the downtown area are within walking distances from one another, the area that the trolley would be fixed around.
Would it not be a smarter idea to fix the transit system to reach the areas that are farther away? To provide a alternative means for all of the commuters coming in from Nampa, Caldwell, Star, and Eagle would reduce our carbon footprint far more than providing a system for people to travel around to grab lunch down the street.
The Idaho Business Review stated that the trolley system is just the first step in a long-term regional mass transit plan. Eventually a creation of a “high capacity corridor” along Interstate 84 from Caldwell to the downtown area is all part of the plan.
But before we go and spend 55 million on a trolley system to keep up with the other “hip” cities, we should take a look at the real transportation problems and provide our citizens with reliable options. Jacy Skeen can be reached at 921-7887 or jacyskeen@gmail.com
Proposed Downtown Trolley Service—Is Boise Big Enough to Need it?
ReplyDeleteBy: Regan Shumway
Student Reporter
Boise has been proposing a downtown rail loop for nearly three years now, and not much has been established. Public debate on this issue has been heated, so where do you stand?
The discussion first started in early 2008 when Mayor Dave Bieter made his State of the City address. Bieter stated that he, “wants a steel wheel, fixed-route streetcar system in downtown by 2012. If we can do it in 1908, we can certainly do it in 2008.”
The comment he made about 1908 was referring to the streetcar system that Boise had from 1891-1928. This system was successful, but only because this was before the popularity of the automobile. As soon as people started trusting and buying cars, the system no longer made enough money to support itself, and was shut down.
One of the biggest arguments against the system is that we need to first concentrate on improving our bus transit system before we move on to something so big and expensive. It has been estimated that the trolley service would cost roughly $55 million, and run a three mile figure eight route through downtown Boise.
So how is Boise going to get the $55 million? Through both an increase in taxes for anyone and any business along the streetcar route, and through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to Chris Blanchard, this act “gives state governments $1.5 billion toward any sort of transportation related project, but it must achieve certain outcomes, such as increasing livability, sustainability, economic competitiveness, and job creation.” So why not take that money and put it toward improving our already existing city bus transit? That money could help increase the number of buses and therefore the number of routes and the area covered by bus routes.
Mayor Bieter, and others who are for the streetcar system, continues to insist that a streetcar system would be successful here in Boise, but they do not have a lot of facts or statistics to back that up. Their strongest reason that it will work is because the streetcar system in Portland, Oregon works so well. They continue to compare the system there with what ours would be like. So if it is so successful there, then it will obviously be successful here, right? Wrong.
At the end of 2009, the population of Portland, Oregon was roughly 583,000 people. At the same time, Boise’s population was a mere 205,000, making Portland over twice as big as Boise. Just because it worked in an area like that, does not mean that it will work here. Building this system is going to do nothing but increase taxes, increase the already large amount of ongoing construction in Boise, and take away from the bus system and the jobs that go along with that. When it comes to voting on the subject, vote NO, and help keep our city the way it is.
Regan Shumway covers community issues in Idaho. She can be reached at reganshumway@boisestate.edu.
Boise Trolley off the Rails
ReplyDeleteBy: Jacy Skeen
273 Reporter
According to New West Boise, a local online news source, back in 1891-1928 Boise had a rail system that ran out to Collister, Pierce Park, through Eagle, Star, Middleton, to Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian and back to Boise. It actually served the community well but ran out of funding in 1928.
In 2008, Mayor Dave Bieter said that he wants a steel wheel, a fixed-route streetcar system in downtown by 2012, according to the Idaho Business Review.
The idea of the streetcar system is something that has been very beneficial to other communities throughout the country. Places like Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco have been relying on them for at least part of their daily transportation and the communities are seeing the systems as clean alternatives to buses and cars.
New West Boise states that the trolley would be on a fixed loop around downtown and is intending on getting part of the 55 million it would take to get the project done from the business owners on the loop, by levying an additional tax on them.
One hold back is that there has been no consensus among business owners as to whether there is a need for it or not.
One of the main reasons behind the streetcar is the hope that it will boost the economic development in the downtown core; it is not a transportation project according to New West Boise.
The places that see a success with the trolley system are far larger than Boise, and have a larger area to cover. Most businesses in the downtown area are within walking distances from one another, the area that the trolley would be fixed around.
Would it not be a smarter idea to fix the transit system to reach the areas that are farther away? To provide a alternative means for all of the commuters coming in from Nampa, Caldwell, Star, and Eagle would reduce our carbon footprint far more than providing a system for people to travel around to grab lunch down the street.
The Idaho Business Review stated that the trolley system is just the first step in a long-term regional mass transit plan. Eventually a creation of a “high capacity corridor” along Interstate 84 from Caldwell to the downtown area is all part of the plan.
But before we go and spend 55 million on a trolley system to keep up with the other “hip” cities, we should take a look at the real transportation problems and provide our citizens with reliable options.
Jacy Skeen can be reached at 921-7887 or jacyskeen@gmail.com