Texas Corridor Plan & MegaRail Alternative

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Why This is Important to You

• You disagree with current, costly Texas corridor plan
• You have good arguments against the plan – BUT
• You need a better alternate than more concrete
• MegaRail is a viable, low-cost alternate – BUT
• Your support is needed for this new and different solution
• Proposed agreement with Spanish company could–
  • Preclude advanced transit system lines from ever serving Texas!

Please carefully consider the following
Practical & Affordable Alternate Texas Corridor Plan

Affordable Full-capability Alternate

Low-cost, low-risk 21st century solution

Not more concrete roads and steel wheels on rails

Corridor Plan Assessment

The Corridor Plan has serious flaws. While it could possibly reduce through I-35 traffic in urban areas, it does little to reduce overall urban traffic and emissions. Also, the vital connections to cities and towns are often well away from these areas. The very likely long-term effect may be that new and competing urban areas will develop at the corridor intersections, thereby hurting existing urban areas. It could be a close parallel to past cases in which railroads by-passed towns and led to thus lead to their demise. Smaller cites and towns are most susceptible to this effect.

The plan also fails to consider the impact of almost certain fuel cost increases, as oil becomes increasingly expensive. The recent trend of large truck operators to go out of business because of high fuel costs will eventually sharply reduce highway traffic as shippers shift more cargo back to railroads and accept slower shipment. As this occurs, toll revenues will shrink, making it likely that taxpayers may be forced to pick up the bill for toll roads initially built by private companies. A recent Texas Poll indicated that many people have already reduced driving by 60%.

The corridor freeway approach is really an outmoded 100-year old technology, one of putting down more expensive concrete.

Fortunately, there is a reasonable and affordable alternative is available that avoids the pitfalls of the current plan. Electrically powered cargo and passenger vehicles do not pollute and can provide high-speed, direct service to existent towns and cities and require very minimal amounts of additional land use. This system is viable for the long term rather than being a potential financial burden to the Texas taxpayer.

• Are Corridor Plan objectives sound? – Yes
• Is current Corridor Plan a good idea? – No
  • Essentially an urban by-pass plan – Excludes cities
  • Ignores reduced highway need with increasing fuel cost
  • Very costly to taxpayer for very little benefit
  • Little help for urban congestion & pollution problems
  • 100-year old approach – More concrete
• Is there a reasonable & affordable alternate? – Yes
  • Less costly & polluting
  • Minimal new right-of-way
  • Direct, in-city service
  • Not affected by oil cost

It’s time to consider an alternate!

MegaRail Offers Viable & Attractive Alternate

Elevated MegaRail guideways are installed over interstate highway rights-ofway and thus use very small amounts of precious Texas land as opposed to the massive swaths required for the corridor plan. The electrically powered vehicles do not pollute the air and are not dependent upon shrinking oil supplies for operation. This system is thus viable far into the future rather than being doomed to the nearterm obsolescence of the corridor freeways.

Vehicles used rubber-tired wheels operating inside enclosed rail tubes. This combination results in virtually noise-free operation, allows vehicles to climb ordinary highway grades, and enables full-speed service under virtually any weather conditions. The unique, self-supporting rail tube design allows factory fabrication and fast field installation of very low-cost elevated guideways. The pair of small rail tubes for each elevated guideway enable minimum visual obstruction.

Use of space over existent interstate highway rights of way make it possible to install the system with minimal additional land use and reduction in property tax bases. Following existent interstates allows service directly into towns and cites rather than to often distant points.

Finally, the MegaRail system is a very low-risk system that uses only current and proven technology. It does not use any exotic and expensive technology, but simply makes an intelligent combination of proven technologies.

Minimum Sky Blockage - No Wide elevated conventional train shadows

View looking up through guideway

• Elevated steel guideway over Interstate right of way
  • Electrically-powered – Low pollution – Not oil dependent
  • Rubber-tired wheels in enclosed, self-supporting rail tubes
    • Silent operation
    • Up and down hills
    • All-weather service
    • Low-cost guideway
  • Small, separated rail tubes for low visual obstruction
• Little new right of way – Minimum land use & tax base effect
• Direct service into cities – Not to bypass miles away!

Low risk - Current, proven technology!

MegaRail Provides Next Generation Transport

MegaRail offers an immediate next-generation inter-city transport system for passengers, cargo, and eventually for driver-occupied automobiles. Although it is noticeably different in appearance and form from current systems, it provides the same basic services. Inter-city rail passengers are whisked in first-class seats at 120-mph speeds in virtual silence under all weather conditions and directly into cities rather than at often somewhat distant airports. Containerized cargo is also moved at the same 120-mph speed between cities using the same elevated guideways.

Cargo is loaded using standard forklifts into small, closed containers that are then loaded onto special electrically powered rail trains instead of into large over-the-road trucks. The small and lightweight containers may be moved about by standard forklifts and can be loaded on flatbed trucks for local area pickup and distribution.

Initial passenger and cargo transport is via coupled, manually controlled trains such as those shown in the top pictures. The passenger trains are later replaced by individually dispatched, small passenger cars that provide non-stop, 24/7 service on a non-stop basis from city to city. In the same manner, the cargo container trains are replaced by individual container cars that travel non-stop to their destination terminal for minimum time cargo transport.

At the same time that the individual passenger and cargo cars start operations, the system will also start carrying occupied automobiles on special electrically powered car ferries that travel on a non-stop basis at 120-mph from entry ramp to exit ramp.

Corridor Plan is Very Costly to Taxpayers

Ultimate cost to Texans of the current corridor plan is difficult to know because of many presently unknowns that could drive cost sharply upward from the advertised estimates. Considering the known costs, the initial 600mile segment initial cost may be expected to be on the order of $24 billion. The ultimate cost to Texans is likely to be far higher when currently unknown costs are considered.

Although a private company has proposed to build the initial four lanes of pavement at its cost, Texans are sure to ultimately endure most of this cost in the form of expensive tolls paid to a foreign company, thereby placing a long-term drain on the Texas economy.

Should the state provide any type of revenue guarantees to the traffic lanes builder, much or most of the cost of these lanes could end up costing taxpayers when likely increased fuel costs sharply reduce revenue from tolls.

Loss of property tax revenue and loss of individual revenue from the approximately 145 acres per mile taken from the tax roles and out of production as farm and ranch land is also likely to be an expensive cost to Texans.

The bottom line is simply that the current corridor plan could become much too expensive to taxpayers!

Initial 600-mile segment cost (As Currently Proposed):

• 1,200-ft right-of-way – 600 mi @ 146 acres @ $2,000 – $175M
• Corridor Freeways (10 lanes) – 600 mi @ $40M/mi – $24B
• Connections to existent highways – $???
• Taxes lost from reduced tax base – $???
• State guarantees to toll road builders & owners – $???
  • Increased fuel costs would reduce traffic & tolls
• Texan tolls to foreign toll road owners – $???
  • Total 600-mile segment direct cost – $24.2B + ???

Total Texas Corridor plan projected cost – $145 to $184 billion

MegaRail – Better & Less Costly

The MegaRail alternate offers better, faster, more long-term and much lower-cost transportation for the state than the current corridor plan. The chart provides a summary of estimated cost in the same format at the previous chart.

Unlike in the corridor case, in this case, all costs are known. The total of this cost is less than one-third of the estimated "known" cost of the corridor plan. When all of the unknown corridor costs are considered, the MegaRail alternate is likely a much lower portion of the total corridor cost.

MegaRail Alternate – Far Lower Cost (Initial 600-mile segment cost)

• Right of way – $0
• Corridor Freeways – None – $0
• Connections to existent highways – $0
• High-speed dual guideway @ $13.6 M/mile – $8.2B
• Passenger stations and car ramp sets – 80 @ $2M – $0.2B
• Taxes lost from reduced tax base – $0
• State guarantees to toll road builders & owners – $0
• Texan tolls to foreign toll road owners – $0 One-third corridor plan cost!

Total MegaRail lines cost for initial 600-miles – $8.4B

Summary

The corridor plan is very expensive. Much faster, more longterm sustainable and lower cost transportation is possible for Texas with the MegaRail alternate at less than 1/3 the cost.

MegaRail guideways are a highly reasonable and affordable alternate. They use already available right-of-way, are much more environmentally friendly, provide faster and better service and provide that service directly into cities.

Finally, MegaRail is electrically powered and is not subject the impact of almost certain large increased in the cost of oil. Thus, it offers Texas affordable transport as oil supplies shrink and the cost of other forms of transport rise.

• Current plan is very expensive – $24.2B for first 600 miles
• MegaRail cost for 600 miles – $8.4B – 1/3 the cost!
• MegaRail guideway provides shared guideway for:
  • 120-mph passenger trains
  • 120-mph cargo trains
  • 120-mph commuter trains
  • 120-mph automobile ferries
• MegaRail guideways are reasonable & affordable alternate
  • Far Less costly
  • Use interstate right of way
  • Environment friendly
  • Direct, in-city service
  • Electrically-powered – Not dependent on oil for fuel

Plus MegaRail offers better service!