New Mexico’s biggest boondoggles (the top 5)

New Mexico’s politicians do a “great” job of wasting taxpayers’ money. The Rio Grande has compiled a list of the State’s 10 biggest boondoggles. First and foremost, these are all physical items. While Hollywood film subsidies are a boondoggle, they are a different kind and not included here. Some boondoggles “just” waste money while others have outright negative impacts (like the Rail Runner’s CO2 emissions and ART’s construction impacts on businesses along Central.

Anyway, this is OUR list. Do you have other ideas?

1. The Rail Runner: The brainchild of former Gov. Bill Richardson, the Rail Runner has turned into a costly tourist train. At a current cost to taxpayers of $150 per ride with $95.3 million in annual costs and plummeting ridership, the Rail Runner is not “green” and it has done nothing to impact motor traffic between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Simply put, NONE of the promises of this train have panned out. If New Mexico politicians were responsible or faced serious budget constraints the train would have been ended a long time ago.
2. The Spaceport: Another Bill Richardson creation, the Spaceport was “purpose built” for Virgin Galactic’s space tourism business. The original cost was $225 million, but it has required consistent support and improvements (at taxpayer expense) over the years. Having been completed in 2011, the Spaceport has hosted a total of 12 Virgin Galactic launches. That’s less than one launch annually since it opened. Virgin Galactic claims to be planning its next launch (after a 2+ year hiatus) in the first quarter of 2027, but whether even a return to space will salvage the considerable investment New Mexicans have made in Spaceport America is very hard to tell.
3. Camino Real Visitors Center: Promoted by consultants who falsely projected 100,000 annual visitors and a $10 million local economic boom, the $4 million facility (built with your money) was doomed from the start. Due to negligible visitors and high upkeep, it closed its doors after barely a decade. After years of neglect, mold, and vandalism, the state determined that repairing the structure would cost $3.5 million. Lawmakers ultimately spent nearly $1 million to demolish it completely. Among other things it is a monument to New Mexico’s haphazard capital outlay “process” and politicians’ misguided belief that people will automatically want to visit a museum on an obscure topic that is located off the beaten path.
4. ABQ Mayor Tim Keller’s Rail Trail. Although still under construction and the price tag could go up (or the project could be scaled back), the rail trail is expected to cost $80 million for a 10 mile “rail trail.” That’s $10 million a mile for a trail that typically costs $500,000 per mile (on the high end).
5. Albuquerque Rapid Transit: With the support of then Mayor RJ Berry, the $136 million ART bus system with its dedicated bus lanes required massive construction along Central in Albuquerque provided a 1-2 punch against businesses along that route (along with forced COVID-era closures in 2020 and 2021). Despite all of this money and pain for businesses along Central, ART ridership remains well below 2019 levels. 

We’ll have the next 5 boondoggles later on this week.