Don’t let sticker shock prevent progressDate: 2/19/2020 I realize that some people who read the story I wrote last week about the study so far concerning east-west passenger rail automatically rejected the idea based on price.
To get the ridership needed, we would need an actual high-speed rail line with the capacity of reaching speeds of 150 miles per hour. That project would cost, according to the reports so far, $25 billion.
For some people, the concept of spending that kind of money on this project is unrealistic. They have no faith in this idea.
What is unrealistic is continuing our present course when it comes to transportation infrastructure, economic development, housing costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
We can’t afford $25 billion for high-speed rail? We can’t afford the continued economic stagnation in the four western counties and we can’t afford the congestion and skyrocketing costs of living in eastern Massachusetts.
This is a project that will truly change the nature of life in the Commonwealth. The Big Dig at $22 billion didn’t do that. This would actually allow people to have greater choice about where and how to live and work in Massachusetts.
It would be a tremendous game changer and would put Massachusetts in the lead once again nationally as a place for innovation.
We have world-class colleges and universities. We have high tech companies that attract employees. We have a state with a coastline and mountains and cities and forests. We have both agriculture and industry. There is a diverse population that has created a vibrant statewide culture.
Do you want all of those elements to work together in building a state with a healthy economy from border to border? A high-speed rail line would be the missing piece to our puzzle.
You want to be a naysayer? Why? Because of the money? How are you going to feel when our economy starts to slow down? How do you feel now about the differences in the east and west economies?
There are elected officials and business leaders who are seeing the wisdom on this investment. I hope you will as well and support the effort to truly consider it.
For entertainment purposes
When I worked at WREB talk radio in the 1980s, we had a salesman who every week during football season distributed the football “card,” a harmless looking piece of paper that was marked “for entertainment purposes only.”
Yes, sure. He took wagers on games. Yes, it was illegal.
I never played because I know nothing about football, but he had eager customers.
That was in the mid-1980s. Sports betting has certainly evolved due to the Internet and the Supreme Court decision that has made it legal.
Massachusetts is moving like a glacier in establishing sports betting here. There is a movement to allow sports betting in any establishment with a Keno machine. The casinos want it now because it would boost their revenues. New Hampshire is moving forward with a sports betting plan.
Will we be left behind in the Northeast? Will other states establish sports betting programs before us?
We can’t afford to leave money on the table.
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