Rep. Shelley Madore was one of several DFLers elected in 2006 from traditionally Republican suburbs. She’s a first rate public servant and the people of Apple Valley are lucky to have her.
This video has been sitting in my inbox for about a week now (law school has been beating me up these past few days), but its footage from transit forum held in Apple Valley a little while ago. Madore makes the case for a new investment in transportation and its well worth a watch.
Its also satisfying to see a constituent put Sen. Chris Gerlach (an opponent to transportation investment) in his place at the beginning of the video.
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… and this will be the MN GOP’s big transportation idea next session:
From the SC Times:
“[Rep. Dan] Severson and Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, called for new approaches to funding and for studying transportation alternatives, such as a system of elevated rails on which small pods travel a fixed route, known as Personal Rapid Transit.”
Rep Olson has been pitching PRT for at least a decade now. The problem here is that it is almost purely theoretical. (If memory serves correctly, the U of M holds a patent on PRT.)
Let’s all ask ourselves a question: How feasibe would it be to place a system of elevated rail lines throuhout our metro areas. It was hard enough to get the Hiawatha Line through Mpls. Using existing freight rail lines, like Northstar, should be one our top two options, along with expanding the existing light rail system.
Oh, and as far as I know, there is not federal matching $$ for PRT lines.
PRT? I hope that is not all the R’s have to offer in terms of a transportation “plan”.
Wow, you would have thought that the Republicans were in charge for the last 30 years the way that guy was talking. Truth is, of course, that the DFL was in charge of the legislature for most of that period, but that won’t stop them from using this issue to cast blame on the GOP. Madore is no rising star and even in a predictably bad year for Republicans, will most likely be sent back home. Apple Valley had a great public servant in Lloyd Cybart and even though he is not running again, AV will go back to the GOP.
Rep Olson is also known to be bat-crap insane and despised by half of his own party. There are some Republicans who have real communications ideas - if it cuts down on your suburban voters commute, the inner suburb’s reps get bi-partisan really fast.
I meant, real transportation ideas - my bad.
Isn’t Bachmann a big PRT backer?
“Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is claimed by its promoters )J. Edward Anderson, President of Taxi 2000 Corporation, and Jerry Schneider of the University of Washington, among others) to combine the advantages of rapid Transit private cars. Actually, this is an imaginary system based on an operationally and economically infeasible concept (elaborate infrastructure, yet low capacity) and has no realistic potential for application in urban transportation.”
- Professor Vukan Vuchic, “Transportation for Livable Cities” (Rutgers 1999)
The U of M connection was J. Edward Anderson and Sheffer Lang who were part of a bunch who opposed rail transit in Minnesota going back to the 1970’s. I doubt there’s many people at the U who still support PRT.
Michele Bachmann did indeed sponsor legislation for PRT and promoted it in an MPR interview.
The Elwyn Tinklenberg campaign gave me a statement that Tinklenberg will challenge Bachmann on her support for PRT.
More about Bachmann and Olson and the PRT scam at the PRT is a Joke web site.
She actually says raising taxes will bring in more business??? Meanwhile companies like 3M are leaving town because of high taxes here.
Yeah that makes sense.
Speaking of taxes… the Taxpayers League President Phil Krinkie is a big supporter of PRT.
Kevin, what do you think of Rep. Severson and Rep. Olson’s desire to put PRT monorail structures everywhere?
Rep. Mark Olson’s pod pal Dean Zimmermann (now in extimated the cost of building his PRT system just for one part of South Minneapolis would cast $400 million to $600 million.
On this one, I agree with and trust Scott Duncan.
Everyone does, Jack, everone does.
Madore did what to prevent the bridge from falling down? Does she know why the bridge fell down? Does firing Carol Molneau make bridges safer? I’m trying to figure out what she means. The Democrats, after winning in the suburbs, delivered massive cuts to suburban schools, expanded government welfare, and drive up the price of health insurance through mandates. Is she running for reelection on the idea that the 35W bridge fell down, so she is even more entitled to vote against her constituents?