The Conservative Media has a great post about state Rep. Bill Rogers' sudden interest in mass transit, after he did absolutely nothing to further the WALLY rail line between Livingston County and Ann Arbor as head of the Livingston County Commission.
Check it out here.
Showing posts with label WALLY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WALLY. Show all posts
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Details Emerge for Economic Stimulus Package
Democrats in the U.S. House have released a draft of the economic stimulus package designed to get our economy moving again.
Several aspects of the package would immediately benefit Michigan and Livingston County>. Money to increase the federal share of the Medicaid program would help out the state budget. Money for road and bridge construction would help Livingston County's backlog of road projects. Funds to repair schools, increase food stamp payments, and on and on.
There are even funds for mass transit, which Livingston County might have benefited from had our county commission moved ahead with the commuter line to Ann Arbor, known as WALLY.
I'm wondering how Mike Rogers will figure out a way to vote against this.
Several aspects of the package would immediately benefit Michigan and Livingston County>. Money to increase the federal share of the Medicaid program would help out the state budget. Money for road and bridge construction would help Livingston County's backlog of road projects. Funds to repair schools, increase food stamp payments, and on and on.
There are even funds for mass transit, which Livingston County might have benefited from had our county commission moved ahead with the commuter line to Ann Arbor, known as WALLY.
I'm wondering how Mike Rogers will figure out a way to vote against this.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Republicans Setting Up Roadblocks to WALLY
A while back, Livingston County Commissioners released a report claiming that a proposed commuter train between Livingston County and Ann Arbor needed to average 60 mph to attract riders. The report recommends spending $32.5 million before getting the train, nicknamed WALLY, up and running.
Apparently, the authors of the report (summarized here) written well before gas spiked to $4 a gallon, were under the delusion that speeds on U.S. 23 average 60 mph.
On my way to Ann Arbor at 7:20 a.m. on Thursday (Sept. 11, 2008), I decided to test the assumption that speeds on U.S. 23 average 60 mph.
As I came up the entrance ramp, things looked good and I managed to get my car up to 70 mph ever so briefly. In less than a mile, I was at a complete stop. This was cutting seriously into any 60 mph average. For the next mile, I crept along at less than 5 mph. Progress, but still a long ways from 60 mph.
Within two miles, I was whizzing along at 45 mph, which felt really fast after what I had just been through. But after reaching my exit, I calculated I had gone 9 miles in 18 minutes. Is that 60 mph? Don't think so.
But of course, I wasn't even in Ann Arbor yet, just on the exit ramp, waiting my turn at the light -- for almost five minutes.
And that doesn't count the 15 minutes it took me to get to the freeway from my home, which is only about a mile or two from the proposed commuter line.
So if Wally can get me to downtown Ann Arbor at anything greater than 30 mph, that would be a big plus.
The all-Republican Livingston County Commission seems to think that Michigan residents are so wedded to their cars that they'll keep paying ever larger shares of their disposable income on gasoline so they can sit in traffic on U.S. 23.
Maybe it's time for new leadership on the commission.
Apparently, the authors of the report (summarized here) written well before gas spiked to $4 a gallon, were under the delusion that speeds on U.S. 23 average 60 mph.
On my way to Ann Arbor at 7:20 a.m. on Thursday (Sept. 11, 2008), I decided to test the assumption that speeds on U.S. 23 average 60 mph.
As I came up the entrance ramp, things looked good and I managed to get my car up to 70 mph ever so briefly. In less than a mile, I was at a complete stop. This was cutting seriously into any 60 mph average. For the next mile, I crept along at less than 5 mph. Progress, but still a long ways from 60 mph.
Within two miles, I was whizzing along at 45 mph, which felt really fast after what I had just been through. But after reaching my exit, I calculated I had gone 9 miles in 18 minutes. Is that 60 mph? Don't think so.
But of course, I wasn't even in Ann Arbor yet, just on the exit ramp, waiting my turn at the light -- for almost five minutes.
And that doesn't count the 15 minutes it took me to get to the freeway from my home, which is only about a mile or two from the proposed commuter line.
So if Wally can get me to downtown Ann Arbor at anything greater than 30 mph, that would be a big plus.
The all-Republican Livingston County Commission seems to think that Michigan residents are so wedded to their cars that they'll keep paying ever larger shares of their disposable income on gasoline so they can sit in traffic on U.S. 23.
Maybe it's time for new leadership on the commission.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Rogers' Foot-Dragging Leaves Livingston Without Mass Transit as Gas Prices Soar
As gas prices soar, mass transit use is doing the same, according to The New York Times' editions on Saturday (May 10, 2008).
Wouldn't it be nice to have the WALLY commuter train between Howell and Ann Arbor up and running so that Livingston County residents could get to work and actually have some money left over from their paychecks after filling up their gas tanks?
The proposed commuter train has been in the works for months, but Livingston County Commissioner Bill Rogers helped delay it, as the county commission dragged its feet by asking for more and more information on the proposal.
Meanwhile, the price of oil has been skyrocketing. It was only $94 a barrel in November, when Rogers was throwing up one roadblock after another to participating in the project. Livingston County has finally agreed to participate in a WALLY study, but in the meantime, the price of oil is over $122.
Every $1 that Michigan residents spend to fill up their gas tanks is $1 less that they have to spend at area restaurants and stores.
So when Republican Bill Rogers comes asking for your vote for the Michigan House's 66th District, be sure to ask him what he's going to do for YOU, rather than what he will do for OPEC.
Wouldn't it be nice to have the WALLY commuter train between Howell and Ann Arbor up and running so that Livingston County residents could get to work and actually have some money left over from their paychecks after filling up their gas tanks?
The proposed commuter train has been in the works for months, but Livingston County Commissioner Bill Rogers helped delay it, as the county commission dragged its feet by asking for more and more information on the proposal.
Meanwhile, the price of oil has been skyrocketing. It was only $94 a barrel in November, when Rogers was throwing up one roadblock after another to participating in the project. Livingston County has finally agreed to participate in a WALLY study, but in the meantime, the price of oil is over $122.
Every $1 that Michigan residents spend to fill up their gas tanks is $1 less that they have to spend at area restaurants and stores.
So when Republican Bill Rogers comes asking for your vote for the Michigan House's 66th District, be sure to ask him what he's going to do for YOU, rather than what he will do for OPEC.
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