transportation

On November 3rd, St. Joseph County will hold a referendum to determine whether St. Joe will enter into the Northern Indiana Regional Transportation District. The vote on the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) would mean an increase in the County Option Income Tax (COIT) by 0.25%.

While the amount does not seem excessively high, it represents a slippery slope that we can avoid. The RTA would potentially encompass the four counties in Northwest Indiana -- St. Joseph, La Porte, Porter and Lake. Tax dollars would be used to support the Gary Regional Airport, expansion of the South Short Rail, and increased bus service between metropolitan pockets of these four counties. There is no foreseeable benefit to most residents of these counties.

The Indiana General Assembly attached to the state budget a requirement that St. Joseph, La Porte, Lake, and Porter counties vote on whether or not to create a Regional Transportation District, and that if only 2 of the counties agreed, the district would be created. The vote is to be held on November 3rd.

I have several problems with the state government doing this, but let’s break it down a little, because it’s already convoluted enough as it is.

Steve Keltner is running for Indiana Senate District 30. Visit his campaign website at Vote Keltner.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- "But Dad, I need that train!"

"I know it's very cool, son, but we can't afford it right now. Our property taxes went up, we're paying more sales tax than ever, and there's a $700 billion dollar bailout looming to cover a monster governmental screw-up for which I'll have to kick in more money."

"But Dad..."

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- It was clear in 2004. Then-Governor Joseph Kernan and his GOP challenger Mitch Daniels did not want to see LPIN candidate Kenn Gividen in the gubernatorial debates. Their efforts to exclude Gividen from the second debate backfired, not only stamping Gividen's ticket to the Franklin College event, but sending Kernan and Daniels' camps scrambling to point fingers at each other for the oversight.

A cornerstone of Gividen's campaign was putting a stop to the New Terrain route for the I-69 corridor, dubbed the NAFTA Superhighway. Gividen's property rights and tax message was bookended by environmental foes to make one of the strangest coalitions in Indiana politics in years. Gividen was the lone opponent to the new terrain route.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Federal law requires metropolitan planning organizations to produce long-range transportation plans. According to a new study by the Cato Institute, these plans are not cost-effective, attempt to control residents' behavior through land-use regulation and other means, and use unquantifiable measures to justify extravagant projects.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - A central Indiana regional mass transit plan has been bantered about for decades. Expanded bus service? Light rail train? HOV commuter lanes? These ideas and more have been explored, but no solution has met with an approving consensus.

Steve Keltner has attended the public meetings. He has written on the subject on his blog, Plain & Simple. His conclusion is a far cry from the standard responses, however.

Keltner, a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate District 30, counters the rail project with a proposal that is out the play books of the Connecticut state legislature. Telecommute Connecticut has created a program of training and education that coaches private companies into offering employees a telecommuting option.

LAPORTE, IN - It wasn't too long ago that Governor Daniels and the legislature sold Hoosiers on the benefits of selling the Indiana Toll Road to private interests -- oh, a 75-year lease, sorry. Along with the promises of new construction came the assurance that tolls would not increase for years. The fine print stated otherwise. The release today shows that tolls, indeed, will increase for northern Indiana commuters while the rest of Indiana gets a fare-free run on Indiana's highways.