Light rail is a loser. However, TKC's plan is the only hope for regional mass transit!!!

I've long contended that Mayor Funkhouser's regional light rail scheme is nothing more than a pipe dream and a drastic mistake that depends on white people from the outlying suburbs paying their fare share - Something they are always loathe to do.

Still, I think that mass transit is a good idea and I'm all about saving the planet for the multitude of brown people who seem to be the future of humanity - Ultimately, all of our descendant will most likely look like Tiger Woods and Rosario Dawson (if they're lucky).

ANYHOO . . . The fact that light rail is expensive and unworkable has been documented by people much smarter than I . . . But that doesn't mean that Kansas City or even Mayor Funky has to give up on the necessity of getting people out of their cars and onto public transit in order to save gas money and the enviornment.

So far, light rail advocates have been comprised of clueless Kansas City cheerleaders who giggle like women whenever there's talk of something being built . . . And then there's folks who stand to make money from the construction process. Local architectural companies want light rail bad because it means big contracts and they're willing to float cheap PR stunts to bolster their cause. Even worse, what they're really after is cash and not concentrating on moving people around the metro from point A to point B. They want to tear up streets, stop traffic and construct a monstrosity at a cost of more than $50 million a mile in order to mainly benefit their firms.

But there's another way and it's right before our eyes . . . Driving around this town I realize (along with a lot of other folks):

THERE'S ALREADY HEAVY RAIL TRACKS CONNECTING ALL OF THE METRO AREA!!!

Surprise (not really)

If we're talking about really moving people from throughout the area that it would be a FAR LESS EXPENSIVE OPTION to simply reuse, refurbish and reapply the heavy rail infrastructure that already runs through the metro area and repurpose it for public transit (again).

Obviously, I'm far from the first person to have this idea but it's clear that practicality isn't even a consideration when the dumb idea by Clay Chastain is what initiated this town's light rail discussion. His goal was a silly tourist attraction that didn't have the "stigma" of poor people riding and included dumbass gondolas.

A plan that I think makes more sense is to use existing rail lines (obviously with a few modifications) and transport people from throughout the area. Unlike Chastain's asshattery, this plan isn't trying to recreate some lame Victorian fantasy but is akin to Pancho Villa's brilliant move to commandeer (steal) trains in order to transport his soldiers during the Mexican Revolution.



Again, the rail lines already connect most of the metropolitan area from Olathe to Lee's Summit. It's clear that the reason so many people rarely mention this option is because they're unfamiliar with the area's cowtown history or the fact that using railways to transport people in this part of the country is a really old school idea.



Nevertheless, all of the rail lines still lead to Union Station and other than housing dead (and probably stolen) Chinese bodies that place is still underutilized . . . Using heavy rail (tracks) instead of building not-as-clean-as-everyone-thinks-and-super-expensive light rail line acutally fits the same plan that Mayor Funky promoted in terms of connecting a regional system to the KC landmark.

Utilizing the existing rail system is the only practical solution. All of the other plans I've seen are pure fantasy and would be either completely cost prohibitive or essentially meaningless . . . The Star's starter line idea that would transport people a just a few blocks is probably the best example of why the coming obsolescence of newspapers isn't entirely a bad thing.

So there it is . . . From what I heard . . . TKC readers shouldn't be surprised if a few more people push this same idea (hint), already touted by KC Southern, in the near future. As always there's a lot of neat ideas regarding light rail and every a-hole (like me) seems to have one . . . Thankfully, KC's lack of money has quieted some of the discussion but talk of clean(er) mass transit seems to be a priority for the people in the Kansas City area, which is good because that will eventually mean less traffic when I'm still in my car and so many other locals are riding a train that could almost be powered by their smug sense of self-satisfaction . . . Sadly, in the end the technical details aren't that tough whereas getting suburbanites to help pay is the real challenge.