I'm insane now...

[TeyshaBlue]

If it's such a great idea, why do they need government handouts?

Considering the ton of jobs that were lost due to budget cuts, this is ridiculous.

While I agree with the sentiment that the Formula 1 track is a really stupid idea....

[coyotes_geek]

While I agree with the sentiment that the Formula 1 track is a really stupid idea, speaking strictly from a construction standpoint, it's a tremendous help for a construction community in Austin that has been hammered by the economy more so than the other major cities in Texas.

As it stands right now, there is one single Construction Manager, 7 different General Contractors, and what will probably end up being well over 100 sub-contractors that will all be helping to construct the track.

That's a ton of jobs, and a ton of money for a lot of people that may otherwise have to close up shop if it weren't for this.

So it's not all bad.

It's still pretty bad. We could have gotten the same boost to the construction industry by investing that money in public roads that we would all benefit from. It's not like the road system in Austin is just so awesome that we couldn't have found $250 million of worthwhile projects.

Much like our train, it's a stupid idea that taxpayers will ultimately lose a bunch of money on. But, since the money is already spent, I hope the race is a huge success and people worldwide flock to Austin to see it. I won't hold my breath on that though..........

[Drachen]

It's still pretty bad. We could have gotten the same boost to the construction industry by investing that money in public roads that we would all benefit from. It's not like the road system in Austin is just so awesome that we couldn't have found $250 million of worthwhile projects.

Much like our train, it's a stupid idea that taxpayers will ultimately lose a bunch of money on. But, since the money is already spent, I hope the race is a huge success and people worldwide flock to Austin to see it. I won't hold my breath on that though..........

I thought that the train is doing well. That it is packed to the gills or something. I had heard that they are getting ready to have to add new trains to keep up with the demand (the article I read was about 3 months ago).

[johnsmith]

It's still pretty bad. We could have gotten the same boost to the construction industry by investing that money in public roads that we would all benefit from. It's not like the road system in Austin is just so awesome that we couldn't have found $250 million of worthwhile projects.

Much like our train, it's a stupid idea that taxpayers will ultimately lose a bunch of money on. But, since the money is already spent, I hope the race is a huge success and people worldwide flock to Austin to see it. I won't hold my breath on that though..........

I completely agree.....I'm just saying, at least there is sort of an upside......and the way it's being built, it will touch a lot more contractors than an "equipment heavy" road job will.

[johnsmith]

If it's such a great idea, why do they need government handouts?

Considering the ton of jobs that were lost due to budget cuts, this is ridiculous.

Right, please see Teysha's post just below yours.

[RandomGuy]

I thought that the train is doing well. That it is packed to the gills or something. I had heard that they are getting ready to have to add new trains to keep up with the demand (the article I read was about 3 months ago).

Yes indeed. There was some thread or other here that touched on that.

I think Austin will get to be a test case for the trains in Texas.

[ChumpDumper]

Would this not have been done without the handout?

Would the Super Bowl not have been in Jerryworld had the NFL not received a bribe from the Texas taxpayers?

[coyotes_geek]

I thought that the train is doing well. That it is packed to the gills or something. I had heard that they are getting ready to have to add new trains to keep up with the demand (the article I read was about 3 months ago).

The train is doing better, and I'm glad for that. We paid for it, I want it to work. But it's still a $150 million dollar train that's only carrying about 2,000 passengers per day. Not very good bang for our mass-transit buck.

[ChumpDumper]

That first train project was the easiest one to implement, and even that one had to make compromises like the stupid eastside dog leg.

The big project that is going to make sense is the UT-Bergstrom light rail. Hopefully Cap Metro is left out of that one.

[coyotes_geek]

Yep. UT-Bergstrom is what we should have done from the beginning. That has a chance to work.