Is Las Vegas Light Rail A Boondoggle In The Making?
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, citing a study by Randal O'Toole, calls the proposed multi-billion-dollar light rail line from Henderson to North Las Vegas a 'white elephant'.
"Although the Parsons group was paid gobs of public money for its work, these consultants clearly didn't consider county taxpayers their clients. If they had, they might have told the RTC's empire builders the truth about light rail: It costs a fortune, it doesn't relieve congestion, it never pays for itself and it actually hurts mass transit ridership.
...Mr. O'Toole's research, which is based on more than 20 years of ridership and transit data, exposes light rail cheerleading as delusional."
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The "Reason" this study hates Light Rail
Any study by the "Reason" Foundation is bound to show that any expenditure of public money for any reason is a bad thing. They focus on mass transit operations wherever possible. They run from location to location and "find" that mass transit needs government support and is therefor "bad" often using phrases like "white elephant". They never saw a mass transit project they liked. Presumably the SUVs lined up bumpber to bumper on the strip in Vegas are just fine with them as long as they are owned and operated by individuals and not public entities.
About matters which are certain no one deliberates.