Stan Geiger

Old Ideas are New Again

There are a lot of new and innovative ideas floating around Tulsa these days. Or are there?

The notion of a commuter train line from Sand Springs to downtown Tulsa is being presented. There used to be one. It died for lack of interest. If I’m not mistaken, the line made its last run in the 1950s. The “new idea” is to bring it back.

Playing minor league baseball downtown is a done deal. Some $60 million was spent to make it happen. Back in Tulsa’s early days, baseball was played downtown. It was moved to the fairgrounds many decades ago. The “new idea” was to move it back to downtown from the fairgrounds.

Now, of course, we have the problem of figuring out what to do with a perfectly good minor league ballpark on the fairgrounds that no longer has a purpose.

News reports say Oklahoma is vying for $2 billion in federal funds to build a passenger train line from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. Passenger trains used to crisscross the nation. They died out. The “new idea” is to bring them back.

Passenger trains disappeared for a reason. What reason? Well, basically, trains disappeared because of the proliferation of cars and planes. Cars and planes were preferred over trains when it came to getting from one town to another. Has that equation changed? Aside from the speed of the trains, the answer is no.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not totally down on the idea of point-to-point high-speed trains. I think there are a few spots around the nation where they would have value.

For example, I hear some want a high-speed line running from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. That, I think, makes sense. LA is hugely populated. Vegas is definitely a destination, and it is well-fed by LA. I was in Vegas on New Year’s Eve back in the mid ‘90s. I recall seeing a local news report that said the city was expecting an influx of a quarter of a million visitors for the holiday from LA alone.

The trip, I think, is four hours by car. That’s eight hours roundtrip. High-speed trains could easily cut people’s commute time in half. And, given the trains would likely run full, trains would probably get folks from LA to Vegas and back cheaper than driving.

Of course, planes would still be in the equation. But, these days, I think airlines would have a hard time competing with trains on that run.

But traveling between Tulsa and Oklahoma City is whole different animal. Can you imagine, in your wildest dreams, a quarter of a million people traveling from Tulsa to Oklahoma City, or from Oklahoma City to Tulsa, on any given day?

I saw a TV report yesterday on this matter. The Heartland Flyer---a traditional train that runs back and forth from Dallas to Oklahoma City---was mentioned in the piece. The reporter said the line hauled about 80,000 people last year. If that was supposed to impress me, the effort failed. My calculator tells me that averages out to about 219 people a day. The combined population of the Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City metro areas runs well into the millions. But few people seem interested in the train. People that ride are likely riding just for fun.

Let’s assume a high-speed line between Tulsa and Oklahoma City was in place today. I live in Tulsa. If I wanted to go to Oklahoma City, I would have three choices: I could take the train, I could fly or I could drive. I would choose to drive.

OKC is, what, about a hundred miles from Tulsa? The drive takes maybe an hour and a half. There are people all over this country that spend more time than that driving to work in the morning. I mean a run to OKC ain’t no thang. And the shorter the trip, the less high-speed trains can save you in time.

Trip time is one issue, cost is another. If my car gets 15 miles to the gallon on the highway, at current fuel prices my fuel cost for the trip to OKC would come in around $17.50. Turnpike tolls would add to the cost. But would a train get me there cheaper?

If the train would run me there cheaper than I could drive, it would be because of heavy taxpayer subsidies. That would mean I would be paying for going to OKC everyday, whether I went there or not. And on an occasion when I did go to OKC, I would pay directly for a ticket. So, no, the train would not be cheaper.

Fly? Oh, please. Given the stuff that goes on today---even absent a flight delay---I could get to OKC driving faster than I could get there flying. And I doubt any airline would fly me there for less than I would pay on the drive.

But there is more to the story. There are issues of hassle and potential added costs related to mass transit.

For example, if I opted to take a train to OKC and back, I’d need additional transportation. I could drive to the station and leave my car. That would likely mean paying to park until I got back. That’s additional cost. I could take a cab. That’s additional cost. Absent those things, I could trouble someone with the task of dropping me off---and picking me up when I got back to town. That’s hassle. And what to do when I get to OKC? I still need transportation. That means taking cabs or renting a car. That’s hassle and additional cost.

If I drive, all the problems mentioned above are eliminated.

And then there are people. If I ride a train, I might encounter a guy that is an asshole; I might encounter a guy that hasn’t had a shower in a couple of weeks and stinks; I might encounter a woman that whoops out a boob and breast-feeds her baby in my face. I might encounter all sorts of things.

If I drive, it’s just me and the road.

Summed up, a super-train couldn’t compete with cars when it comes to running to and from Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Ergo, it would be a huge waste of money to build a high-speed line between those two cities. Such a line would be just another burden on taxpayers.

I saw the head of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation make a comment on a local TV news report. He said a high-speed line between Tulsa and Oklahoma City would be all about economic growth for the state. There you go. Anytime you want to justify more taxation, play the economic-growth card. We heard it with Vision 2025. You know, “Cranes in the air!” We hear it a lot from educators. Hey, if you want economic growth, throw all your money into public education.

Maybe the ODOT chief should stick to engineering and leave economics to people that know that they’re talking about. I see no way a high-speed passenger train line between Tulsa and Oklahoma City would do anything at all for the state’s economic condition.

You know, we’ve got a federal government that is running nearly $2 trillion in the red for this year alone. News stories report the woes of the state government. State general fund revenues are dropping month to month. Our city’s budget problems have been in the news as well.

In Oklahoma alone, there are billions upon billions that need to be spent on existing infrastructure. Nationwide, the number runs into the trillions. Simply stated, it’s silliness to be talking about new stuff when we haven’t yet figured out how to pay for the old stuff.

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