Here's a real grabber: in Lake County, the mean earnings of rail commuters were more than double those of people who drove to work alone. Those demographics say a lot of people on Metra's trains are political conservatives.
It's easy to understand why conservatives ride commuter trains like the planned Red Line from Charlotte to Mooresville. On the train, we can work on our laptop, read or get a nap. On the road, our attention has to go to the rear bumper of the car in front of us. Commuter trains whistle past the traffic jams.
Rail transit of all kinds, including commuter trains, serves other conservative goals. It promotes economic development and raises property values. Many of Chicago's Metra stations have become densely developed hubs that bring lots of real estate tax revenues into town coffers. Rail transit offers suburbanites a way to get around when gas prices soar or events in the Middle East make gas unavailable at any price, as they did in 1973 and 1979.
Whenever a city moves to build more rail transit, one of the "anti-transit troubadours" shows up armed with a lot of questionable numbers that purport to show it is a bad idea. One recently paid a visit to the Charlotte area to oppose the Red Line. They present themselves as conservatives, but they are not. They are libertarians. While conservatives support some transit projects and oppose others, depending on the merits, libertarians oppose all rail transit all the time. They say things that are blatantly untrue such as "Highways pay for themselves while trains are subsidized." In fact, according to the Federal Highway Administration, highways cover only 51 percent of their costs from user fees such as tolls and the gas tax. Nationwide, rail transit covers 50 percent of its operating expenses out of the fare box. It's a wash.
Because rail transit raises property values, it can also self-fund some of its construction. That is what the Red Line is proposed to do, through "value capture." In effect, some of the additional tax revenue the train will generate is made available up front to help build the line. Additionally, a special assessment for adjacent property owners would only go into effect if approved by the majority vote of affected property owners. Conservatives like this, because the people who will benefit pay and local governments need levy no new taxes.
For a commuter rail line to gain conservative approval, it should meet some tests. The Red Line does. It will serve an upscale area whose residents can afford to take trains, which charge more than buses. The capital cost is reasonable at about $18 million per mile.
Conservatives in the towns and communities served by the Red Line will find it makes their lives better. It will ease their commutes, including the commutes of people who still drive because it will take cars off the road in rush hour. It will increase their property values and give their local governments more revenue without any tax hikes.
Conservatives like things that work, and the Red Line promises to work well. It deserves conservative support.
William S. Lind is Director of The American Conservative Center for Public Transportation and co-author, with the late Paul M. Weyrich, of Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation.
