Editorial:

Climb on board or get out of the way
Business leaders need to make their political counterparts understand that a transportation system including commuter rail is essential to the region's economic health.
Jan. 27, 2008

Journal Sentinel

Business leaders get it. They understand that economic development and a healthy economy require a healthy infrastructure. They understand that a key element of that infrastructure has to be a sound and balanced transportation system that can move their goods and their workers. And they understand that "sound and balanced" refers to shipping, roads, air and, yes, rail.

Too many politicians fail to understand those basic concepts. That failure is largely why plans for a Milwaukee commuter rail line to Racine and Kenosha remain on hold, as the Journal Sentinel's Larry Sandler pointed out in a recent article (www.jsonline.com/704417).

"Business leaders see a need to invest in growing the economy" through transit improvements already in place in other major cities, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Tim Sheehy told Sandler.

That's good, but those business leaders have to hammer home that point to politicians such as state Rep. Robin Vos (R-Racine), who so far has been a l roadblock for the KRM commuter link. Vos has said that commuter rail could be an economic development tool in eastern Racine County but has balked at a funding mechanism that would spread the cost to his constituents in more rural areas of the county.

Politicians sometimes talk a good game about their support for KRM, and leaders such as state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greenfield) did help create the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to oversee planning for the $200 million train line. Plans call for the line to connect Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Milwaukee's southern suburbs. Passengers could transfer to Chicago's Metra commuter trains at the Kenosha station or ride shuttle buses from a Cudahy station to Mitchell International Airport.

Planners had hoped to have trains running by 2010, but those hopes fell through when politicians were unable to agree on a system to fund the trains and the region's public buses. Linking the current bus systems to commuter rail - and finding an independent funding source for the whole package - makes the most sense. If a funding deal comes through this year, trains could be running by 2012, according to Ken Yunker, deputy director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

That's important because having trains running in 2012 could relieve some of the congestion that's going to come with the reconstruction of I-94 between Milwaukee and the Illinois border.

We continue to believe that a regional sales tax dedicated to mass transit is the best solution. Such a financing system could sustain KRM as well as regional bus service and would take mass transit off the property tax.

We do not think that a recent proposal on regional transit funding supported by Vos and others is the answer. The proposal does help restart the conversation over KRM funding, and Vos makes some good points in its defense and about the need to convince more people in the region that the rail line is a good idea. But the proposal that Vos has signed on to won't do much to move KRM forward.

Originally proposed by Rep. Alvin Ott (R-Forest Junction), communities would be able to create regional transit authorities funded by sales taxes after approving a binding referendum. The idea is to make sure that those who would be paying for transit have a say in determining what kind of transit system is created.

That's an understandable sentiment. And the political reality may well be that referendums are the only way to get something done on rail, although we would argue that politicians are elected to make tough choices. Besides, communities don't hold referendums on highway projects that go through their areas. Why should they hold referendums on regional mass transit?

Still, it's not so much the referendum that bothers us; as we said, that's probably a political necessity. But the way the proposal is framed makes funding rail more difficult than funding buses and gives smaller communities in the region veto power over the wishes of their neighbors. Vos is right when he argues that small communities should have a voice, but that voice shouldn't be a virtual veto.

Milwaukee Ald. Bob Bauman called the proposal a Trojan horse designed to block development of commuter rail.

Separating bus and rail transit makes no sense to Phil Evenson, SEWRPC executive director, because it "denies the fact that they're interrelated."

Patrick Curley, chief of staff to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, also questioned separating bus transit and rail transit and argued that referendums should be done on a broader basis such as counties.

Kerry Thomas, interim executive director of Transit NOW, a group that supports KRM, agreed. She said separate referendum votes in each community simply would drive a wedge between those communities. She also argued that fixating on a sales tax doesn't give regions or communities enough flexibility in funding.

Those are all good points, as is the argument - made by several critics of the proposal - that funding KRM or any rail proposal is not just about who rides the rail. The fact is that even those who don't live near the rail line will benefit from the increased economic development benefits that rail can bring if done right. Commuter rail could benefit the entire region. As such, the entire region should pay for it with state and federal help.

The impasse over funding could continue for a long time. In fact, it may never be resolved. But that would mean that southeastern Wisconsin would fall further behind its competitors in the global marketplace.

To avoid that, state legislators need to find a proposal that actually serves to move commuter rail and mass transit forward. And business leaders need to keep reminding them of why that matters.