The great Hiawatha Light Rail Project is rapidly becoming reality. Trains have begun making frequent test runs. Everybody I know is getting keyed up, studying the map of the line, trying to find something of interest to go check out.

Seven and a half miles of track, running from downtown to Fort Snelling. Some of the more exciting stops are at Government Center, Cedar-Riverside, Franklin avenue, Lake street, and the VA Medical Center. Twelve stations - that much will open in April... later to be extended through the tunnel they're digging under the airport, and then on to the Appletree Square area and over to the Mall of America.

This light rail project is very close to the epitome of a government project:

• Extremely expensive: $715 million
• Outmoded technology
• Takes property that was already in use
• Heavily propagandized
• Forces people into predetermined paths
• Creates dangers that will be considered acceptable
• Will benefit a few at the expense of many
• Is likely to require continual subsidization

Visualize trains running through a downtown area that's already a bitch to drive in unless you do it frequently. Visualize traffic stopped at every crossing along the route.

Small problems are becoming apparent now... little things like auto, truck and pedestrians stopping and waiting as trains pass by. There is, unfortunately, significant danger at train crossings. Remember when we used to have lots of trains? Remember how crossings used to be considered hazardous? There will be accidents and there will, undoubtedly, be deaths, but, in a time when we so often hear "zero tolerance" from government, these accidents and deaths will be acceptable, because it's a government function.

Naturally, government force will be used to encourage citizens to obey the traffic signs along the line; heavy-duty tickets for pedestrians and drivers... $100 for jaywalking and $130 for disobeying traffic signs. The Metro Transit will be "flooding the downtown with police officers,"

There's even a new educational requirement now that we again have old-style rail traffic back again. Here's the advice if you have children:

Parents: Talk to your child about keeping a safe distance from trains and tracks.

• It's okay to play with toy trains at home. It's not okay to play on or near light-rail tracks EVER.
  
• The overhead wires that power the train are extremely dangerous when touched. Do not fly kites near these wires or touch them with anything.
  
• Always step over the tracks - don't ride scooters, skateboards or bikes over the tracks.
  
• Do not walk on the rails. Rails are slippery and switches are dangerous.
  
• Never throw things at passing trains or put anything on the tracks.

This is gonna be fun, isn't it? Don't ride bikes over the tracks? What about all the people who have been encouraged to ride bikes to work? I guess you're supposed to carry your bike across?

The project leaders have belatedly begun acquiring many parking spaces alongside the many stations on the line, so the customers can drive to a rail station, park and then train to something that happens to be on the route. Previously they had expected people to ride buses to get to the rail stations... people who won't ride the bus now, but who will suddenly take it up just to be able to transfer and take a slow train ride. So, parking spaces are being grabbed up wherever possible, including from businesses unfortunate enough to be alongside the line.

As I wrote back in June, in A delightful solution to a problem that gets worse every day, the most sickening aspect of the Hiawatha Light Rail Project is that there has been a far superior solution available for a long time... right here in the Twin Cities area, but our politicians insisted on ignoring the obvious and instead going for an overblown, antiquated brute force system.

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) is a different way of providing transportation, and one that is superior to light rail in every single respect... lower capital requirements, lower maintenance, immensely greater flexibility, takes almost no space, cause very little disruption, and is infinitely more convenient for users. It's so good that it really COULD get a LOT of us out of our cars.

I invite you to take a look at, or another look at, Skyweb Express, the solution we could have had if this Unlight Rail hadn't been shoved down our throats. Because we've already committed to the "great boondoggle", it's likely that Skyweb Express will be exported to many other places before we ever see it here at home. Until then, we can try to enjoy our big new trolley.