Comments on: More Lakeville Transit Tax Whining

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:41:32 +0000

Karl,

I have no problems with a “pay as you go” type arrangement. I also agree that the HOV lanes are pretty wasteful.

I have only posted comments to the HomeTownSource Blogs. Two comments, against their agenda were approved, one (on a different blog there) was not.

Bill

By: KarlB

KarlB — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:13:01 +0000

I will be completely saddened if Lakeville does join the taxing district.

If only 200 out of 30,000 Lakeville residents utilize the Apple Valley Transit station, the Met Coucil can incorporate a pay as you go system. Those Lakeville residents can pay the actual cost of the ride - not the taxpayer subsidized cost.

At least then, I won’t have to put up with Met Council’s plans to extend the HOV lane along I35W which will further jack up the congestion all in a brazen attempt to make their under-utilized transit services look more appealing.

Also, the Met Council proposal for I35W also includes the future addition of a toll-lane similiar to I394. That makes a lot of a sense; make people pay additional fees to be to utilize a road they already paid for in gas taxes.

The Met should ditch the HOV lane altogether - it decreases traffic flow by 33% and increases the potential for accidents.

I don’t work downtown - and I really wonder what percentage of the working population in Dakota county does.

(I posted this same comment at ThisWeekLive - funny how any comments against their agenda get mysteriously erased.)

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:32:51 +0000

Looks like the pansies backed down and have removed the language which would have forced Lakeville and Farmington into the transit taxation district. You can read more about it here.

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:44:19 +0000

It’s the 50,000 people in Lakeville that will never ride a bus or train again in their life that probably don’t want to pay for it.

Well, it’s the same for any of those already in the taxing district I guess. It’s not like the majority of Apple Valley residents are utilizing the transit options available either :)

Oh well, nothing we can do about it but complain ;)

By: jf

jf — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:42:00 +0000

This is one of those issues where I see both sides, but your last paragraph sums everything up fairly well. What Madore did is a shit move. BS politics crap and counter productive to finding a reasonable solution that works for everyone. Having said that, I’m sure the whopping 200+ people in Lakeville that use the transit center would have no problem chipping in for the transit center. It’s the 50,000 people in Lakeville that will never ride a bus or train again in their life that probably don’t want to pay for it.

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:37:46 +0000

JP,

They have other transit stations in Apple Valley including the completely empty and nearly unsupported one over by Apple Valley Target South and also the Palomino Park-n-Ride near Cedar and 35E.

To your point about those coming as far south as Faribault, I have spoken with someone that comes from Northfield and parks at the AV Transit Center and while that does annoy me a bit as a taxpayer, it’s not nearly as bad as the 200+ known people from Lakeville using the transit station.

We’ll never win :(

By: JP

JP — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:14:44 +0000

This kinda BS is what subsidies create. I was going to ask why the AV bus station is so far south in the city. But people will drive a long way to get to one, so that doesn’t really matter. If Lakeville pays, what about further south. I bet people drive from Faribault to the Burnsville station off 13.

In the end, someone is paying for someone else. Buses could easily be self-supported if rates were set appropriately.

Maybe our south metro lawmakers should be spending their time trying to create an attractive business climate so that we don’t have to cross the river. Instead of figuring out how to take money from one person and give to someone else.