My Point of View by Peggy Bennett

Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, is the District 27A representative.

The controversial Southwest Light Rail line has been high on the political radar of late due to its role in derailing important legislation for our state: $900 million in tax relief for Minnesotans, $700 million in road and bridge funding and many good statewide bonding projects — including an important Riverland College project and the Stables area sewer upgrade.

It is less than genuine for people to say that SWLRT is only a metro issue that will have no financial impact on the rest of the state. The fact is, state law says that 50 percent of light rail operating and maintenance losses must come from the state budget. It behooves us all to know the facts so that we can make an educated decision about this subject, because it will affect all of us.

It is my job as a state legislator to gather information on issues and then use that information to make responsible decisions for our area and for our state. I particularly look at how our local communities will be impacted, and I always keep in mind that this is not just tax money I am spending, it is my neighbor’s money — yours and mine — and I want to spend it wisely.

Here are some important facts to consider concerning SWLRT:

• This 14.5-mile proposed train route is projected to cost almost $2 billion to build ($129 million per mile.) To put this in perspective, with the money to build just one mile of SWLRT, MnDOT could replace every bridge on its local bridge (GO) waiting list — 135 total bridges — and still have $50 million left over.

• The operating costs of our light rail lines have never even come close to breaking even and, by law, the state has to pay for half of all maintenance and operating losses. Even the best performing line has taxpayers forking over 70 cents for every dollar of ticket costs. The current operating losses for our two existing light rail lines are at approximately $45 million annually and SWLRT losses are projected to be at least $15 million annually. Half of those losses will come out of our state coffers every year.

• The governor and DFL lawmakers who are pushing this light rail project have understood for some time that there is no longer an imminent need to rush this funding through. The Met Council notified the governor last January that, because of ongoing litigation surrounding SWLRT (next court case slated to begin September 2017), the Federal Transit Administration will not release funding any time soon, most likely not until later 2017.

• The SWLRT environmental impact study shows that this $2 billion train will have little to no impact on travel times for drivers or commuters. In addition, it shows that travel times in general (without SWLRT) are projected to increase from 30 minutes in 2010 to 34 minutes in 2040 during peak periods. In other words, spending $2 billion on a train would save drivers just 8 seconds per year.

It gets tiring to see politics get in the way of getting the people’s work done. Funding for SWLRT was not in the governor’s nor the DFL Senate’s bonding requests this year. It received no official hearings last session in the DFL-controlled Senate or the GOP-led House. I have no problem working across the aisle when I know what their issues are, but when political games are being played it becomes very difficult.

Friends, I don’t think anyone would disagree that transit is important for the metro area. This is a subject that needs to be addressed. However, to sink $2 billion into a project, which its own study shows will have little to no impact on the end goal of reducing travel time is just plain irresponsible. To top that off with forcing Minnesotans across the state to perpetually pay for the tens of millions in ongoing operating losses every year is just inconceivable. This money would be better spent on things like education, jobs, property tax relief for farmers, care for our seniors and the disabled, and roads and bridges that will benefit everyone in our state.