AUDITORS: YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO BORROW THAT MUCH!The Insite has learned that state and federal auditors have those spearheading light rail plans for Houston on the defensive. A state report reveals METRO's plan for expansion of the existing light rail system could be met with substantial delays and financial obligations that the company can not possibly meet. Auditors say METRO is way too optimistic in its projected ridership and federal funding sources. State authorities say the transportation company wants to borrow more than it can afford to. That report indicated METRO would have to go back to voters for another referendum to issue more debt. In that audit released Monday, METRO denies the allegations and says auditors do not have a full picture of its financial stability.
link to full report: http://www.sao.state.tx.us/Reports/report.cfm/report/09-013/src/list
2 comments:
Plain and simple, METRO needs to build lines where people want to go. Then ridership will increase.
Building whacky lines that do not go to and from where people are to where they want to go is going to remain a dice throw.
Metro is notorious for being optimistic in their analysis - they always overestimate the ridership and underestimate cost. It appears to me that they have an "end justifies the means" attitude - whatever it takes to get rail in Houston, since they know better that we do that we really want rail.
And what do we have? An outrageously expensive boondoggle rail that goes only from downtown to the medical center. It actually makes traffic worse, and is incredibly dangerous since it's at grade and competing with automobile traffic for the same roads.
Metro has received a lot of criticism from all over - they just never listen to it!
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