Randall O'Toole Comes to Town - Red Line Plan Gets Knocked Around

Most people don't know the name Randall O'Toole.  Frankly, you'd have no reason to unless you are in the train planning, building, or lobbying industry.  If you are in one of those industries however, then Randall O'Toole is akin to Public Enemy #1.  He's "persona non grata".  He's the guy who rains on your parade.  He came to town today.

As a prelude to The Red Line Chronicle which will start here tomorrow, Mr O'Toole's visit exemplifies exactly why I'm writing it.  He asks hard questions because they need to be asked.  He'll certainly be called names by those who support rail at any cost, and he'll be dismissed as a "critic" or "naysayer" because he has a different point of view.  That's too bad.  If anything, we should all thank the good folks in Cornelius for bringing him to the area.  These types of massive projects do in fact have a tendancy to go awry, and it's nice to have a serious dose of reality thrown in the mix.  While many of the official bodies in the area are actively cheering this project on, I commend the Cornelius Rail Task Force for giving the stage to the other side of the discussion for a change.

There were three meetings around the O'Toole visit.  One in Cornelius at 9am sponsored by the Cornelius Rail Task Force; another at 11am by the Red Line Task Force which was basically just a planned rebuttal of Mr O'Toole; and the a presentation at tonight's Lake Norman Transportation Commission.

A full day for sure.  It started at 9am...

Mr O'Toole started off by calling himself a "rail nut", but he's also a transit "skeptic".

During his 2 hour presentation Mr O'Toole consistently hit the following themes particularly relevant to the Red Line.

1. Transit does not deliver on its economic development promises.  He even sited as study by Parsons Brinckerhoff stating that at best transit shuffles economic development around a region, but does not increase it overall.  --If true for the Red Line, then we'll actually be giving away our future tax base for the train when the development would have happened anyway without the train - just maybe someplace else in the local area.
2. To get the economic development requires more subsidies often through TIF financing which hollows out the tax base and limits the ability to provide services.  --If true for the Red Line, these subsidies will have to come from other funding sources since SAD and TIF have been used already to fund the line itself.
3. Bus service can provide a cheaper and more flexible transit option.  He sited several luxury bus options with wi-fi and other amenities that operate at significantly cheaper cost than rail service.  Some of them are even profitable.  --Considering that the Red Line will cannibalize the existing and highly successful express bus lines which serve the exact same corridor, rail seems like a particularly wasteful option in this case.

          Here's a link to his analysis.

After his presentation there was a lively Q and A session.  Many of the questioners seemed more interested in asking "gotcha" questions about Mr O'Toole working for the conservative Cato Institute, than questioning the content of his presentation.  The most entertaining one came from someone who questioned Mr O'Toole's bias against these projects, and why should any public money be spent listening to him.  His quick response was along the lines that all people in these discussions are biased.  He's just willing to admit it.

At 1100, the "rebuttal team" took the stage. 

Mayor Tarte gave some opening remarks.  He started by saying he certainly was not "wed to the train" at any cost.  Then he proceeded to talk about all the negotiating tactics needed to ensure it happens.

I had to leave before he was finished and before the rebuttal presentation occured, so I can't comment on the content.  I will say this however.  It seemed odd to me that Red Line supporters felt this rebuttal presentation needed to occur.  For months now, if you count all the meetings that led up to the MTC November meeting where the draft plan was unveiled, the RLRR supporters have had the stage to themselves.  In the past few weeks there has been a constant barrage of pro-train presentations.  You'd think they'd have a little more confidence in their position.

Still, one conflicting presentation by Mr O'Toole couldn't go uncontested.  Somehow they still felt the need to pass out nicely printed literature to everyone entering the room trying to refute Mr O'Toole before he even spoke.  I have to wonder if any of his un-biased opponents cared who paid for that literature.

Tonight's LNTC presentation was really anti-climactic.  All the good material had been shown earlier.  Mr Briggs from Parsons Brinckerhoff declined the opportunity to ask questions, and the meeting adjourned quickly. 

Mayor John Woods of Davidson closed the presentation by saying "skeptics are good", and "now is the time to ask some hard quetsions".  If he truly means that, then he certainly got an invigorating dose of both today.




Bonus Observation:  Recently, Mayor Tarte appears to be rivaling Mayor Woods as the face of the Red Line.  Seems like a strange tactic to be using while at the same time campaigning as a conservative in his primary race against John Aneralla.  Running as a conservative while at the same time championing a decidedly unconservative project seems odd, but maybe that's just me.