[Novacek]

Originally Posted by SkyPie

Austin's Commuter Rail Is A Monument To Government Waste
Scott Beyer, CONTRIBUTOR
Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottbey.../#3448c0ee4310

Austin, TX–Last Saturday morning, while stumbling upon an Austin rail station, I was able to imagine at micro level what it must be like to visit one of China’s ghost cities. I was in Leander, an Austin suburb that has the northernmost stop on the metro area’s commuter rail system, when I spotted a multi-acre station plopped across what was essentially a rural area. After parking in the empty lot, I got out and walked around, to find a clean, well-landscaped facility that had not one human in sight. The info center was locked, the train platforms were empty, and no trains arrived. There was even a computerized voice humming out service updates over the platform speakers, to an absent audience. In fairness, the station was closed that day until 4pm. But that just begged the question—why would a train station be closed all Saturday morning and afternoon in a major metro area? Meanwhile, the platform offered an unobstructed view of adjacent US-183, where, in the course of 10 minutes, dozens of cars passed by in each direction.

Every time I drive on I35 at 3:30 AM, I never see any traffic that couldn't be handled by one lane each way.

The whole thing is just a monument to government waste.