They need you, boomers to millennials, to come show your support for making government transparent. Right now the State is in the works to sell the Sooner Sub line behind closed doors. To put that in perspective: any hope for passenger rail service all along the Sooner Sub line hinges upon the outcome of this sale. If its sold to BNSF, its not going to be cheap as if the State kept it and leased it to a small, local business like Stillwater Central, who not only rebuilt the line after BNSF left it derelict and abandoned, why the state owns the Sooner Sub line to begin with, but Stillwater Central is also amenable to running passenger trains on the line at $15 a fare. These are train cars that would be equipped with WiFi and other modern upgrades. They sell this line and chances of passenger rail, along with the hope of reasonably priced tickets, dramatically plummets. Im not being hyperbolic either. BNSF contracts only with Amtrak for passenger rail. And they arent not offering cheap fares when compared to smaller companies like Iowa Pacific - who were the ones to come up with the $15 ticket price in their proposal to Mary Fallin and ODOT. (Amtrak fare from Austin to Dallas is $28 one-way in coach, just for a comparison in price differences.) Bear in mind, that everyday for the next 19 years 10,000 people are turning 65. Im just saying, if you want to be able to travel around on a fixed income later in life, it matters that you show your support now. Plus a number of social demographics point towards millenials favoring public transportation over cars. Texas had to bust up its department of transportation plans to include more trains, especially around Austin, and theyre currently conducting studies on a passenger rail between OKC and Austin. And last, Missouri, of all places, is so into public transit, theyre getting connected to a national network of high speed rail. Anyway, every City Council from OKC to Tulsa supports passenger rail service. Although Tulsas Mayor tried to gum up the works on their joint resolution, keep in mind he was involved with the Oklahoma Transit Board Authority (turnpike). Seriously, if you really want to see this happen, youre going to need to make time to show that you care. There are competing interests and this is one of those cases where the government is not working for the people as much as special interests in and outside of the State of Oklahoma. Even if you cant go, consider calling a few of your legislators. Visit them. Whatever.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 01:00:00 +0000
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