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RIVER LINE: TRUTHS OBSCURED BY NUMEROUS FALLACIES
Genuine 'New Jersey First' Triumph Ridiculed by Supposed State
'Leaders';
Rail Group Salutes Farsighted, Again Rebuts Critics' 'Cooked Facts'
CHATHAM, N.J., March 13, 2004 -- New Jersey political leaders -- including
parent New Jersey Transit -- have only recently, and reluctantly, signed
on to a public project truly deserving of the label "trendsetting," the New
Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers (NJ-ARP) asserted as the River
Line made its long-awaited debut.
"We're proud we played a part in birthing the River Line, but others deserve
plenty of credit," NJ-ARP President Douglas John Bowen said. "Kudos to farsighted
Burlington County planners, and some courageous pro-rail support from people
such as former Assemblywoman Rose Heck, who paid a political price for her
beliefs.
"Ten years from now, many will claim they helped launch the River Line,"
Bowen said. "Former opponents and the faint-of-heart in northern New Jersey
now support Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit (HBLRT) enthusiastically. We
welcome such 'selective amnesia,' and expect the same for the River Line
soon."
For now, NJ-ARP bids others to remember other facts, including the following:
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The River Line is not the only U.S. LRT project built without federal
funding. "In the past eight months alone, both Tacoma (1.5 miles) and
Houston (13 miles) have opened light rail systems without fiscal assistance
from the Feds," Bowen noted. "New Jersey Transit and NJDOT never retracted
this bogus charge; shame on both."
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Local support for the River Line was widespread and substantial. "It's
both amusing and annoying that many people screaming 'Not In My Back Yard'
on behalf of Burlington County came from anyplace but," Bowen noted. "Yet
NJ-ARP, and other supporters, were derided as 'outsiders.' Go figure."
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Access to New York matters. "Burlco planners saw it first: Philadelphia
access counts, intracounty ridership exists, travel to Trenton is a decided
plus. But Burlington County now has Northeast Corridor access to Princeton,
New Brunswick, Newark Airport, Newark, and New York," Bowen declared. "Start
spreading the news."
NJ-ARP, the statewide rail passenger citizens' lobby with members throughout
the state's 21 counties, is the leading proponent of light rail transit (LRT)
options in the Garden State.
These files were created by Bob Scheurle.
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