Downtown Shuttle System

[mirage1]

From the previous post..."Don't forget the exorbitant amount of money that everyone is forced to pay toward auto infrastructure."

.....you mean the auto infrastructure actually PAID by the users of the system through the taxes on fuel and the dedicated road use tax funds.

as has been posted here many times, road use funds pay for about 130% of the costs of the system....user pay is a GREAT concept.

[QuadCityImages]

So the billion dollars that the QC is hoping to get for the new I-74 bridge is going to come entirely from gas tax, eh?

[Braniff]

So the billion dollars that the QC is hoping to get for the new I-74 bridge is going to come entirely from gas tax, eh?

Well off topic, but this comment begs a question, has anyone considered tolls on the new I-74 bridge, or the Interstate highways in Iowa for that matter? Perhaps that would be a great way to raise money for local and regional transit systems from the D-Line to railroad service. I was thinking that with such technology as EZ-Pass(R) transponders, it would not not be too difficult to implement on Iowa's interstates and other freeways (such as US 20 from Webster City to Independence).

[DMRyan]

From the previous post..."Don't forget the exorbitant amount of money that everyone is forced to pay toward auto infrastructure."

.....you mean the auto infrastructure actually PAID by the users of the system through the taxes on fuel and the dedicated road use tax funds.

as has been posted here many times, road use funds pay for about 130% of the costs of the system....user pay is a GREAT concept.

Can you please find a source (preferably non-biased towards the auto industry or pro-transit crowd) that confirms this? That seems pretty far-fetched that gas taxes and tolls pay for more than enough to fund the construction and maintenance of every road in the country.

[Mastermind]

From the previous post..."Don't forget the exorbitant amount of money that everyone is forced to pay toward auto infrastructure."

.....you mean the auto infrastructure actually PAID by the users of the system through the taxes on fuel and the dedicated road use tax funds.

as has been posted here many times, road use funds pay for about 130% of the costs of the system....user pay is a GREAT concept.

Can you please find a source (preferably non-biased towards the auto industry or pro-transit crowd) that confirms this? That seems pretty far-fetched that gas taxes and tolls pay for more than enough to fund the construction and maintenance of every road in the country.

My guess is that states like Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, etc, are actually being subsidized by other states.

[dogbo]

From the previous post..."Don't forget the exorbitant amount of money that everyone is forced to pay toward auto infrastructure."

.....you mean the auto infrastructure actually PAID by the users of the system through the taxes on fuel and the dedicated road use tax funds.

as has been posted here many times, road use funds pay for about 130% of the costs of the system....user pay is a GREAT concept.

Can you please find a source (preferably non-biased towards the auto industry or pro-transit crowd) that confirms this? That seems pretty far-fetched that gas taxes and tolls pay for more than enough to fund the construction and maintenance of every road in the country.

Here...let me help a brother out....

Report: Road costs not covered by gas taxes

The Iowa Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released a report yesterday that the nonprofit public policy group says disproves a common misperception: that road building costs are fully paid for by user fees. The report, "Do Roads Pay for Themselves?" concludes that gasoline taxes cover barely half the costs of building and maintaining roads, and can be expected to cover an increasingly smaller percentage over time.

Among the findings of the report:
* Federal gasoline taxes were originally intended for debt relief, not roads.
* U.S. highways, roads and streets have received more than $600 billion in subsidies over the last 63 years in excess of the amount raised through gasoline taxes.
* The amount of money a particular driver pays in gasoline taxes bears little relationship to his or her use of roads funded by those taxes. Drivers pay gasoline taxes for the miles they drive on local streets and roads, even though those proceeds are typically used to pay for state and federal highways.
* Iowa's gas taxes are partly offset by subsidies that exempt gasoline from sales taxes.

Link to full article:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com ... 4wZUAzw%3D

[dogbo]

Yes! I can't wait to raise our taxes to pay for our self sustaining roads in Iowa.

http://dmampo.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/ ... was-roads/

Darn those buses and their need for subsidies!! Why can't they be self supporting!! /

[Mototail]

Looks like there's an adjustment in the D-Line route because the State of Iowa has withdrawn their part of the funding beginning March 14th.

http://www.desmoinesmetro.com/partnersh ... eSection=1

[DMRyan]

I'm curious what the ridership to and from the State Capitol was? There's an awful lot of state workers up there to leave behind. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that the remainder of the D-Line service was able to make the budget cuts this time around. Seems like an easy target to cut since it's entirely a free service. This is likely many downtown workers' only exposure to local public transit.

[dsmspence]

I know this is an awfully old topic and it's more than likely a pipe dream at this economic point, but is there any hope for it? I'd still love to see a streetcar system in DSM, even if just in Downtown/EV to replace buses on the streets.