When I was in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, I marveled at the ease with which I could get around such a huge place. The D.C. Metro took me darn near everywhere I wanted to go for a relatively low cost ? an all-day pass on a Saturday was only $7. The train could go underground at speeds of up to 85 mph and was a lot more efficient than taking a taxi. I even had a delightful woman telling me, ?Stand back. Doors closing.? at each stop to keep me from getting caught in the doors of the rail car. Affordable. Efficient. Safe. Maybe a train in Madison wouldn?t be such a bad idea, I thought.

That thought lasted about five seconds before I realized how wrong I was.

First of all, the population of Dane County (the most popular proposal is for all of Dane County, not just Madison) is a mere 426,000 people. Not even half a million people on 35 million acres? With the proposed placement of the train stations and stops, it is estimated that less than 5 percent of the population will actually benefit from it. That means that in all of Dane County, the equivalent of half the students on the UW campus would use the train. When the taxpayers (yes, you are a taxpayer) of Dane County are shelling out more than $45 million per year forever and ever, does it really seem fair? I think not.

If we leave the rest of the county out of the equation for a moment and just focus on UW students, the concept of a train that runs along campus becomes even more ridiculous. Assume that the rate of benefit from Dane County carries over to UW students, which would mean that only about 2,000 students would benefit from the light rail system. The rest of the students, especially those who utilize the Metro bus system, would suffer great setbacks.

First, look at the cost breakdown. The buses cost an average of $1.50 per passenger; the train would cost an average of $65. That?s per ride. At $1.50 per ride when most the student body uses the buses, it?s perfectly feasible for ASM to provide bus passes through our segregated fees at the beginning of each semester. If ASM provided train passes to students and 95 percent of campus didn?t use them, we?d be out a ton of money with no way to get it back.

Having a light rail system in and around campus would cause other problems with the more frequently used bus system. According to Transport 2020, the county committee that recommended the rail plan, buses are not allowed to compete with train routes. That means, if there?s a train that goes down University Avenue, as proposed, all the buses that go down it would have to either be eliminated or rerouted. So, anyone who takes the bus down University to get to class, or work, or home, or go to the grocery store, had better be willing to walk or pay a heck of a lot more for a train. To the Madison Metro system, it wouldn?t make much sense to reroute the trains. Instead, they?d cut the routes, gut the entire bus system, and reroute a few buses to feed directly into the train system so you?d be forced to take the tram.

Not only would the bus system suffer because of the trains, but you could too. Right now, it?s federal law that trains have the right of way. All traffic must be stopped in all directions at any train crossing when a train is passing. That makes perfect sense, right? Well, not so much when you think about the number of hospitals in the area and the fact that all emergency vehicles would have to stop for trains, too. If there?s an emergency and you need to get to the hospital at a time when a light rail train is going past you, too bad.

The environment suffers, too. Wisconsin is ever concerned with the amount of pollution thrust into the air by our vehicles, but we want a train? Yes, a train itself would save energy and cause less pollution, but if traffic is stopped several times per hour during rush hour at multiple points, those standing vehicles only add to the air pollution we?re worried so much about.

If that doesn?t convince you, visit www.thegreattrainrobbery.org for more information. When it comes down to it, light rail in Dane County would be excessively expensive, a huge inconvenience for students who utilize the Metro bus system, a burden to hospitals and other local emergency services, and environmentally unfriendly.

Sounds like a great idea, doesn?t it?

Sara Mikolajczak ([email protected]) is the chair of the UW-Madison College Republicans.