I’m a big fan of programs that reduce our dependence on foreign oil and our impact on the environment. I’ve become more impressed with the Rail Runner Express — the commuter train that runs from Belen through Albuquerque to Santa Fe — over time as significant numbers of people have continued to ride and expressed satisfaction with the system.
And, because of that, I like the idea of another commuter train between El Paso and Las Cruces, connecting communities in this populated region like the Rail Runner has done in north-central New Mexico.
But, as an El Paso-Las Cruces train continues to be discussed, another idea keeps coming up that makes no sense to me.
First, it was state Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, who, earlier this year, publicly floated the idea of funding a study on the possibility of extending the state’s commuter train from Belen to Las Cruces.
He introduced a memorial in this year’s legislative session calling for such a study, at a cost of about $100,000. Following some public criticism, he wisely changed courses and introduced a substitute calling instead for a study of the Las Cruces-El Paso idea.
“With 10,000 commuters currently traveling the (Las Cruces-El Paso) corridor daily, the Rail Runner would not only take considerable traffic off the highway, it would facilitate incredible economic development opportunities for our state and our university,” Steinborn said at the time. “With a combined population of over 2 million people, the El Paso region provides a compelling cost-benefit analysis to consider constructing a viable segment of the Rail Runner.”
Even in changing courses, Steinborn added that he eventually wanted to connect a future Las Cruces-El Paso commuter rail system to the Rail Runner up north.
Enter a spend, spend, spend administration
Then came an administration in Washington that wants to spend, spend, spend its way out of recession and into the 21st Century on energy, transportation, health care and other issues. Suddenly, anything is on the table. We can always borrow money from China to pay for it.
Enter Democratic U.S. Reps. Harry Teague of New Mexico and Silvestre Reyes of Texas, who have introduced legislation that would fund a feasibility study of extending the Rail Runner all the way from Belen to El Paso.
“Residents of Las Cruces and El Paso deserve a first-rate transit option like commuter rail. This study will determine whether or not that’s feasible,” Teague said in a news release. “With funding from the Recovery Act we are already adding more lanes to I-10 between Las Cruces and El Paso, which is great. But adding more lanes can’t always be the solution. We need public transportation to ease congestion and save energy.”
Agreed. The Las Cruces-El Paso area is a heavy populated region that would benefit from a commuter rail. In between the two cities are a number of impoverished communities whose residents would have new access to jobs in El Paso and Las Cruces if public transportation were available. If the Rail Runner makes sense in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area, it certainly makes sense in the metro area along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But Las Cruces to Belen? That’s a completely different story.
162 miles and a lot of dirt
I’ve been making that trip regularly for more than a decade for various reasons, and the best word I can think of to describe it is desolate. There are 162 miles between Las Cruces and Belen. Along that stretch of Interstate 25 are the towns of Truth or Consequences (population 7,000) and Socorro (population 9,000). There’s also a lot of dirt.
People aren’t going to commute between Las Cruces and Albuquerque for work like they do between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It’s too long a trip to be practical for most.
And I just don’t see how T or C and Socorro are populated enough to justify spending what would likely be well over $1 billion to connect them via public transportation to far-off metropolitan areas. Belen is close to Albuquerque, so connecting it to that system makes sense, just like connecting communities such as Doña Ana makes sense in the case of a Las Cruces-El Paso train.
But if we’re going to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in rural, small towns, couldn’t it be better spent? Socorro has a college that could use some cash. The state is building Spaceport America near T or C. Both towns probably need upgrades to roads, schools, parks and other public infrastructure. The area is ideal for some sort of solar-power pilot program, if the federal government is looking to get into the business of pushing people to convert their homes and businesses.
If we’re going to spend money we don’t have, let’s at least spend it on things that will be useful.