MAKE IT MOVE.

Last week the French TGV set a new speed record... 328 mph. I've personally ridden it for a couple of hundred miles into the Southwest of that country. At 180 mph, telephone poles are as fence posts, but the ride is smooth and mesmerizing. I've driven that route and even on the French equivilent of our freeways, the same trip takes twice as long. Just thinking out loud here but I love the suggestion of a friend who is a regular on the MAD-MKE commute. Why not spend some of those train dollars on this commute route? Taking the thought a bit further, we should all remember that mass transit is about speed FIRST and all those other perks afterwards. In other words, if you can't get me to the Capitol faster than I can drive it, don't solicit my support. HOWEVER, if I could get on train in downtown MKE make one stop in Brookfield somewhere and be in Madison 35 or 40 minutes later, I'd be the first to offer up a slice of my taxes. Where's Tommy when you need him?

What's more, is it not forward thinking (and just plain smart) to link the state's largest economic engine with the state's largest research center? We already do this digitally, it's called bandwidth. Of course moving people in a fast pipeline is do-able... TGV, Shinkaansen, and the Chinese Mag-Lev, to name just a few, all use divergent technologies to produce the same result. Here to there, FAST. It's what those DOT, SEWRPC, and RTA so-called planners cannot admit (or refuse to) because it is, as the Former Next President of the United States says, "an inconvenient truth." Especially in light of their repeated and desperate attempts to massage numbers and rationales for KRM. Advocates know in their hearts, it will never qualify for Fed approval for Fed Funds, but a local PR firm gets half a million dollars to sell the idea to our gullible public regardless.

Here's the rub. I've lived, traveled and used mass transit in a dozen countries besides ours. I WANT mass transit... I just want it for the right reasons. Spend the money, tax me, but make it useful. We live in a world of speed whether I like it or not. If it ain't fast, don't insult me with the bloated PR price tag to build the Big Lie. I've been paid to research several of our newer mass transit systems in this country (yes, including their TOD) and it does grow the region. BUT... in every case, it is about saving TIME first, and convenience second.

I'm just not interested in picking up the tab (a very large one) so a few (very few) folks in Racine and Kenosha can read the paper while they ride to MKE or Chi-Town. I may be dumb, but I ain't no ordinary dummy.