A plea for transportation sanity

While Dallas and the rest of the state insist of relying on outdated and wrongheaded transportation alternatives such as tollroads through parks and toll-supported statewide transportation corridors, Californians will go to the polls next week on something called Proposition 1A, a statewide initiative seeking to raise $10 billion as a down payment for a bullet-train route that could ultimately stretch from Sacramento to San Diego.

It is envisioned that the train, which could reach speeds of 220 miles an hour, could carry passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in three hours at a cost of $55 a ticket. Advocates of the bullet train estimate that total state ridership could be as high 117 million passengers annually.

Think about something like that beginning in Texas' so-called population triangle: Dallas to Houston to San Antonio back to Dallas through Austin. Later on additional high-speed spur lines to connect to other cities, the lower Gulf Coast and the Mexican border.

But I wish Mayor Leppert and others would not only look at this notion as a transportation alternative but as another economic stimulus for downtown Dallas. Think about what such rail service would mean for a more active downtown, especially in conjunction with a new convention center hotel. It could mean a lot more business development around Union Station and the West side of downtown. Imagine the people who would rely on DART light rail and the TRE to take them to Union Station to catch the bullet trains to or from Austin, Houston or San Antonio. And then imagine all the visitors from those cities walking through downtown Dallas after getting off the train at Union Station. Thousands and thousands of individuals could come from Austin, Houston and San Antonio to, say for example, Fair Park entirely by rail.

Not only that, the construction and implementation of such a system would create a significant number of much needed jobs.

The City of Dallas prepares its legislative agenda that it takes to Austin before each regular session of the legislature. I hope there's someone within the city's administration with the vision to include this transportation proposal and then push for legislative and eventually voter approval. It makes transportation sense. It makes environmental sense. It makes economic sense. It makes common sense.