A few weeks ago the House Transportation Committee had a meeting at which the Rail Runner and its finances were discussed. Of course, the train was shut down for nearly a year and it just reopened for service.
The following budget documents were presented during that meeting which was held over Zoom. Can you tell from looking at the budget documents that the train was out of service for approximately a year?
So you have the costs. Do we have an idea of what they are claiming for revenue?
This is a money losing venture in the best of times, complements of big Bill Richardson. If ridership is down, revenue is down. Much like the City Of Albuquerque bus system which loses at best $50 million per year. The train should have drastic expense reduction since it hasn’t run for the last year, if expenses are remaining the same, one can only look at the books, it smells like a rat is in the roadrunner’s book’s. Sounds like time for an Independent audit. The taxpayer’s need to know what is actually spent on this train.
So in barely eight years ridership dropped 40%
Businesses with a 40% drop in sales generally close their doors, and do something else
Another Richardson boondoggle was widening I-10 from Las Cruces to the Texas line. This on a highway functioning at level of service (LOS) “A” (highest) before construction began.
$65 million down the drain
A great trifecta – Rail Runner, I-10, and Spaceport; somewhere north of $650 million, and no way to pay for it except taxes.
And please remember, corporations/businesses pay NO taxes; they COLLECT taxes and hand them over.