Say No To Light Rail
PYPO (Protect your Pockets Organization)
Please take action to stop it TODAY by signing the petition below:
The reasoning for the expansion of light rail is the Virginia Beach City Council and Hampton Roads Transit selected a preferred route to extend light rail from Newtown Road to Town Center in Virginia Beach. The selection was made based on the results of a multi-year study that compared a range of alternatives. The study took into consideration extensive public input and conceptual comparisons of each alternative.
Whereas:
- Light Rail in Norfolk under performs in ridership and operates under a budget deficit
- The price of construction is estimated to be $100 million per mile and will likely increase even higher, it will cost an additional $5 million to operate, and future maintenance expenses will likely be more than the original construction costs
- Taxes and fees on Virginia Beach residents will be raised to build, operate, and maintain Light Rail
- Virginia Beach can opt to expand city bus services into neighborhoods.
Brian Solis the interim director of the city’s Strategic Growth Areas said,
Which is crucial because in the coming months the city may have to buy the light rail cars if it wants to have any. Therefore the large amount of money used to pay for them is coming out of somebodies pockets and if the petition is signed whether to extend it or get rid of it they still would have to be paid for. In other words the faster this petition is signed to oppose light rail the better.
Randal O’Toole, a transportation analyst for the free-market Cato Institute says,
“The financial stresses created by the high cost of rail often lead transit agencies to raise fares and cut bus service, thus harming low-income families.”