Gravy Train

A story in the Iowa City Press-Citizen today about how locals there keep waiting for the Federal gravy train to deliver $256 million so that sort-of high-speed rail (up to 79 mph) can be developed between Iowa City, the Quad Cities, and Chicago.

Involved with this guaranteed money-burning scam is former Rainforest apologist Nancy Quellhorst, who will believe any massively-inflated attendance figures shoved under her eyelids as long as the taxpayer is getting fleeced.

Some consultant was paid to lie and suggest that 120,000 people a year will take the route between Iowa City and Chicago for $42. That's 329 people a day. That projection seems ridiculously high for a route that can be driven in less time for about $30 with a normal car. If you have passengers then the driving costs go even further down.

And they want the Feds to spend $256 million in order to maybe/possibly get $5 million in revenue per year? (120,000 x $42). That sounds like a complete disaster.

In the comments was a link to a Press-Citizen story from last month about a bus service called MegaBus between Iowa City and Chicago that starts at $1 per person.

I ran some schedules at MegaBus.com and found that somebody in Iowa City could get a trip to Chicago depending on time of day for anywhere between $5 and $12 one-way, and a return trip between $8 and $15. Des Moines to Chicago prices were the same. That includes free WiFi and electrical outlets for laptops in each row.

Why aren't newspapers deriding this idea as a complete waste of money and lampooning idiots like Nancy Quellhorst? Most everybody already is in the comments. You do the math and it totally does not make any sense to waste a quarter of a billion dollars on 130-year old transportation methods. What's next? Get the Feds to bring back the covered wagon? The Mormon pushcart?