From Christopher Boardman:
Republicans and other so-called conservatives have railed against my points in favor of the Red Line. One of their criticisms is that it costs too much to build. Imagine, the proposed tunnel for the Red Line WOULD COST ONE BILLION DOLLARS! These people should know that One Billion Dollars is mere chump change. They supported The Iraq War (including the not-so-bright mostly Democratic members of Congress) which has rung up to Two Trillion Dollars on the taxpayers’ tax bills. Now how much is Two Trillion? It is One Billion Dollars times Two Thousand. And what have we gotten for this Two Trillion?
We have ISIS beheadings, Syria civil war, destruction of ancient archeological sites, Mid East in chaos, sectarian wars in Iraq, reintroduction of torture from the Middle Ages, a huge refugee crisis that threatens to upset the political order in Europe, and continuing threats to our security. That was real bright, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Bill Krystol, Benjamin Netanyahu, Paul Wolfowitz et al. The taxpayers are still paying for this and will continue to do so, and the world continues to suffer and people suffer indescribable losses. If One Two Thousandth of that amount were spent on the Red Line tunnel, the rail line would serve the public for maybe two hundred years and Baltimore’s infrastructure would be improved. In my previous posting (“The Remarkable Value of a Hole in the Ground”), I pointed out that the Fort McHenry Tunnel was built in 1985 for three quarters of a billion dollars, which easily could be 1.5 billion in today’s dollars. No one complains about that It was a great infrastructure improvement. As for the C & D Canal, one responder totally missed the point about that which is that the Port of Baltimore clearly owes 40 percent of its traffic due to the canal. The cash registers have been ringing in both the public and private sectors because of that canal for nearly 200 years. Where are the deficit hawks now?
I’ll tell you one place they were not at, and that was at demonstrations opposing the Iraq War. I was down there in Washington in 2003 with my signs, trying to stop the senseless slaughter, destruction and waste of money. One guy I didn’t see down there either was Larry Hogan or Bob Cassilly or all the penny pinchers who are so concerned about a billion bucks when their government is squandering 2 Trillion. We missed you, Larry. We could have used some of that money to improve the infrastructure of Baltimore and Central Maryland.
Some of the replies stated the Red Line wouldn’t help traffic congestion generally or Harford County in particular. I differ with that. Anything we can do to reduce traffic congestion helps everybody generally. Okay, traveling from east to west and back from Woodlawn to Hopkins Bayview – East Baltimore on the Red Line seems only to benefit people living near the line (and who would want to be one of them anyway?). Traveling from east to west is a nightmare of poor transit connections and the problems should be fixed. Anyway, it’s peoples’ fault they cannot afford a car even though they are working in essential jobs such as in prisons. That’s why the Red Line was designed, to correct some great inadequacies in the Baltimore regional transit network. All you rich Harford County suburbanites with big lawns and living near farms way out don’t have to worry about that, but it should worry you. There is not so much space left to build out on and there are only costly roads that have to be built and widened and repaired, not to mention the congestion when people are trying to drive to and from their palaces to jobs in Baltimore or on the other side of Baltimore. I am disappointed too that the Red Line does not serve Harford County, but as one reader pointed out MARC improvements can go forward on a line that was built for an earlier time.
Also, if you were paying attention in the election campaign last year I proposed that a spur line be built to connect Bel Air with the Hunt Valley light rail. But respondents in Darlington were mostly against that because it would supposedly enable darker skinned people from the city to invade our pristine suburban neighborhoods and steal our treasures. (I was having trouble imagining dark skinned people toting TV sets from homes in the area to light rail stations and traveling with them on light rail cars, but this is something people have nightly nightmares over.) A Bel Air spur on the light rail would enable people who live in Harford County to travel to Hunt Valley for work or to the city or to the state office building complex or to Howard Street, or to attend baseball and football games downtown. You could even travel to the BWI airport. It wasn’t such a bad idea, and we need to think about those kinds of improvements for the future.
Now for the Red Line, what other benefits would that bring? Very simply, it would help to revitalize Baltimore and Central Maryland. Not only would people get to and from their jobs more easily. The line would help to create many more jobs in many more ways. First of all, all that money that Larry Hogan doesn’t want to squander would be spent putting people to work building The Red Line. That money recirculates from wages to various businesses in the city and Maryland. The new rail stations also become hubs of activity, not just for travelers but for employers and retailers. Since it is easier for people to travel a work force can be accessed more easily, leading to the creation of new industries and businesses. This kind of investment and reinvestment will have many unknown benefits. There are a lot of reasons why this will work. The creation of new jobs will not only help people in Central Maryland but also relieve unemployment in the city and help break the debilitating cycles of poverty that drag everyone down.
It should also be said that the lessening of reliance on automobiles will help reduce carbon emissions and benefit the environment. This is not an effort to replace the car as a primary means of transportation but we need a better blend of other modes of transit to improve the overall mix. I travel frequently by car from Frederick on I 70 and see lots of rush hour congestion on I 70. If we had a light rail line from I 70 Frederick and perhaps also further out, we could have a connection to the Red Line from Woodlawn which would enable travelers to get throughout the city to East Baltimore and beyond.
In the history of Baltimore, there were many examples of trolley lines being built on the streets to enhance local transportation. In some places of the city there are still some old tracks left. My understanding is that the Rockefellers and Standard Oil were instrumental in persuading the city to dismantle the old trolley lines not only here but in other cities in the U.S. All of this was to encourage automobile traffic. But at one time public transportation was important because people did not have cars. We can’t go back to the past but we can recapture some of the better ideas from the past for our use in the future.
Me thinks Mr. Boardman had too much time on his hands this holiday weekend.
Uh….no!
Well said Mr. Boardman. A very detailed and informative comment (whether someone agrees with you, or not).
Thank you.
Mr. Boardman, thank you for insulting those of us who live in Harford County. Where the hell did you get the idea that everyone in Harford county is rich? I am not a rich suburbanite with a big lawn who lives near farms. Most of us in this county live like I do, modestly. I live in Belcamp. In a small house with a small lawn. Not exactly rich. You say we are against ‘dark skinned’ people? Really? Come visit APG and see how racially diverse the work force is. Belcamp is diverse. Come visit some time (if you even know where it is).
The problem the people of Harford county have with the Redline is this: Money. Baltimore City wants more of our money to create additional transit choices for them? Where are my transit choices? And the Redline would create jobs? Only temporarily while it is being built. Mr. Boardman, if you want the Redline built, why don’t you pass your hat around Baltimore and get them to pay for it. I’m tired of my tax money going into a city that continuously goes to the other taxpayers in this state to pay for something they want. If they want it bad enough, they can pay for it themselves.
He makes perfect sense to me. Since the Fort McHenry Tunnel cost somewhere around a billion dollars to build and is a good addition to our transportation infrastructure, we shouldn’t hesitate to build ANY tunnel that costs a billion dollars. Thank God someone with common sense took the time to explain it to the rest of us morons.
Decent letter but….. What new industry’s would be created by the red line? Hot dog sellers at the stops? Hokey carts selling knock offs and bottled water? The current light rail is slow and dangerous depending when you ride it. I don’t think it runs at night and stops about a hour after Oriole games leaving people stranded. The much better alternative is rapid bus. It is millions of $ cheaper,the routes can be easily changed and additional buses can be added anytime they are needed. Thank you Gov. Hogen for stopping this “big dig” before it got started and saving taxpayers multi-billions.
Where does this guy get off?
First, this Red Line is not the greatest idea. Everyone “pro” Red Line keeps talking about how it will bring life back to Baltimore and Central Maryland. I have not heard any really good arguments / talking points about how this is good for Harford County?
Why should I, as a Harford County Resident, pay to revitalize Baltimore? Maybe we outer counties would not have to provide so much funding via taxpayer dollars if the Mayor would stop worrying so much about her personal appearance and actually get to the issues that face her city. A simple metro line is not going to solve it…
What it WILL do, however, is tax an already overworked police department in dealing with the rash of crime that a new line will bring.
Everyone in Harford County rich with farmlands? Have you heard of Aberdeen? Have you heard of Edgewood? If anything needs to be revitalized…it is those areas and I for one would rather my tax dollars go to helping that area in plight over the slums of Baltimore.
“…be spent putting people to work building The Red Line.”, then what? Once this line is finished, that is another round of welfare and jobless claims.
“The new rail stations also become hubs of activity,” you are correct. They will bring a wave of beggars, vagabonds, homeless and crime.
I really did stop reading this after the first paragraph. Mr. Boardman states that the estimated $2 billion cost of the Red Line is “a drop in the bucket” compared to the trillions of dollars of debt accrued during the war in Iraq. Mr. Boardman seems to believe that the Red Line would be funded by the United States Department of Defense, rather than the State of Maryland Department of Transportation. For the most recent year I can find, the 2012 annual budget for our MdDOT was just under $3 billion. It’s not a drop in the bucket, Mr. Boardman. It’s two-thirds of the bucket.
I will assume that in his manifesto Mr. Boardman goes on to say things about how the Red Line will help create jobs in Baltimore. He fails to mention that the Red Line will also do what the Light Rail did: allow criminals from Baltimore City easy access to the suburbs to commit more crimes. The decline of Hunt Valley Mall began with the opening of the light rail station. Crime in the area and at the mall in particular skyrocketed and the locals began to take their money elsewhere.
I will also assume that in his manifesto Mr. Boardman declines to say how the Red Line should matter to us here in Harford County. Public transportation in this county is a disaster at best. The Red Line does nothing to alleviate the traffic concerns we have here, so none of the taxpayer money should go towards funding it.
Chris the facts are there just isn’t the riders the red line would need to make it feasible. If you are going to waste money on something that you know doesn’t work tack a stroll thorough the hood and hand out fitties to the step sitters.
Maryland Area Rail Commuter (MARC) operates out to Frederick and even to Harpers Ferry, WV.
Love the drop in the bucket. Marylands Department of Transportation and subsequent agencies are not the United States Department of defense. Where do you come up with this stuff old man? Smoke another one.
Why is this old dudes articles always filled with snarky innuendo? You’re just jelly you don’t have big acres with no neighbors
Boardman, is undoubtedly a lunatic. Call him the “Rambler” as he drones on and on about nothing more than pie in the sky and wishful thinking. NO facts, Boardman, get a clue. Go move to the City that Bleeds if you care so much about it. As long as Demo-Socialist Mayors get elected there no progress will result. The current pathetic excuse for a mayor is totally incompetent and everybody knows it. The recent riots, arson, looting, et. al. have pretty much sealed the downfall as evidenced by the population exodus outbound that’s been ongoing for decades.In case you’ve not been in the City, Boardman, there are many areas that NEVER recovered from the riots, burning, and looting after MLK was killed.
news flash: white people don’t use mass transit.
This would certainly be news to all the people who ride the Marc trains into DC, NYC subway riders, Baltimore and DC Metro passengers. Or those boarding planes at BWI.
People of all sorts use mass transit if it makes sense, in terms of time and money.
You actually think white people from Canton and Harbor East will be taking the Red Line west to frequent businesses by the Harlem Park, Rosemont, Allendale or Edmonson Village stops?
Hello clueless Chris,
They don’t take their loot back on the light rail with them, they steal a car to take it home. I know they stole mine twice when I lived in Cockeysville. Both times the cops said give it a week it’ll show up, out of gas and abandoned near the projects, and it was.
I think Mr. Boardman is a well meaning liberal democrat who is trying to help. Sadly he doesn’t live in the real world. Conceptually the democratic party worked to help people get back on their feet so to speak, not to be a bottomless pit of hand outs. Just because some one is poor or unemployed does not mean they are no good. If one were to look at what political party the majority of criminals support ,or are a member of, in this country they could come to some interesting conclusions. Sadly the answer is overwhelming D’s. If the line would only be used by good and honest people with integrity looking to better themselves that would be great. Sadly it doesn’t work that way. The price tag does not factor in monetary losses due to crime. It will come. One only needs to look at areas such as Cockeysville to see the impact that the felon line has made on that once mostly crime free place. Keep the felon line out of Harford County.
High speed rail-“Worse, while we were told in 2008 it would cost $39 billion, now California’s Gov. Brown says it will cost $68 billion. Yet there is no budget, there is no money available, no investors, and no way to pay for what is now estimated by some to cost $200 billion to fully build. Others say it could cost even more.”
What’s a drop in the bucket here and there…..
Why is this dude so passionate about transit in Baltimore Shitty?
Go start up your Joppa community pool or whatever man.
By the way, enjoy your new residents. Wut? Once that big marina gets bulldozed and waterfront homes erected, you’ll have even more people who will want a dip in your pool. LOL
As a rule I would let the idle ramblings of Mr. Boardman go by without comment, knowing the state of a terribly confused mind. However, this oen just cries out for comment. It has been a good many years since I took my college logic courses so perhaps I fail to understand the lack of logic because of some new age approach, but, holy smokes- comparing a billion dollars for a tunnel from nowhere to nowhere with a federal defense action! It isn’t just the billion dollars, Chris, it’s the futility of the project. Just because you or some other poor soul says it will be good for society or the economy, just doesn’t make it so. The last two times that the democrats in Annapolis had to raise gas taxes and user fees it was because of the failing infrastructure of roads and bridges. We got a great bang for our buck when we financed a toll road that services for the DC suburbs. No, Chris, the red line is a terrible idea that has already caused far too much money to be wasted. Just pave our roads here in Harford County and let the city continue as it is.
Good grief.
Congrats Mr. Boardman, on the most Holier-Than-Thou post of the year.
Red line is a no line not to be created. The professional politicians want to keep the WORKING americans under control by keeping them burden with debt and poverty! I say, put the red line in their communities, take away their vehicles so they and their family members would have to take the red line.
A few points need to be answered. Two responders said the transportation funds for the Red Line would not come from the Defense Department. Do you really think that’s where I think the funds will come from?
My commentary on the Iraq War stated that two trillion dollars were mis-spent on that misadventure. Not a single person came forward to defend the Iraq War, because it is generally agreed this was an enormous mistake. I did not get any credit for being against the war; but surely there would be more money for transportation infrastructure projects in the U.S. if so much money had not been spent on that war. So, no, I don’t think the money will come from the Department of Defense, please don’t be confused about that. What happened is that the O’Malley Administration got a tentative commitment from the federal government for $900 million to assist with construction of the Red Line, and Larry Hogan and his team blew it by cancelling the project.
Additional monies were to come from the increased gasoline tax passed by the legislat8re. These monies were intended to help finance the Red Line. There were not to be any direct taxes on Harford County residents as some people stated. Now that gasoline prices are in a nose dive these taxes are hardly noticeable.
Now let’s talk about crime. If criminals are to determine which projects we will support or not, then let’s put them on a transportation advisory board and then do the opposite of what they recommend. If a bridge is ready to fall down and needs to be repaired, do you think some tight-fisted senator in the legislature is going to stand up and say, “Don’t do that. Drug dealers will transport their drugs across the bridge if you fix it.”? No, that is a law enforcement function. If we held up every project because of our fear of crime, we wouldn’t have any infrastructure and people would protect themselves with moats around their homes filled with crocodiles. There is so much absurdity in that argument, but it is a valid point that crime needs to be held in check. But we shouldn’t be doing it at the cost of not improving the infrastructure.
There were some people who stated they didn’t live in mansions and big homes. The Red Line does not serve Joppatowne, Edgewood, Belcamp, Aberdeen, Havre de Grace and other high density areas of the county. I regret that. But the Baltimore region is far behind in these kinds of infrastructure improvements and will have a long way to go even after the Red Line is completed. We need to be thinking about long-range improvements when the population has grown even more than it has now. At some point, after the Red Line is completed, there will have to be further improvements such as light rail in Harford County because the automobiles congestion will be much worse than it is now.
Experience with the MARC trains demonstrates that even people with cars will prefer to use a commuter service for travel to and from work if it is available, and there are many in the county who already travel to Washington D.C. to work. If the transportation is good and available to those who need to do various commutes, they will use the service.
Some people complained that I made no mention of other infrastructure needs. As a member of the Public Advisory Committee of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board, our group sends recommendations and comments about all kinds of projects. We have an ad hoc committee for Harford County that reviews recommendations for various improvements such as bridges and roads in the county. It is not all about the Red Line. One of the projects is for the redesign of the Route 22 and Beards Hill Road intersection in Aberdeen. That project has already begun even though some of us said that $8 million seemed to be a lot to spend on that. Other projects are being funded.
Which brings me to the subject of costs. How much does it cost to build a mile of highway versus the cost of one mile of light rail? Hogan Administration penny-pinchers should look into this before proceeding too far. Maybe I can come with some answers in the meantime.