Albert Burckard, of Isle of Wight

, is running for the 64th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Interesting enough, he has but one platform – promote light rail.

Follow up:

The retired army Lt. Colonel has visions of riding a monorail from Windsor to Virginia Beach. The Colonel said, “It could take 20 to 25 percent of traffic off the highways.”

I think the Colonel’s embellishes the proposed success of light rail ridership. However, what if his projection is on the mark? Will the substantial increase place more pressure on transportation funding?

Voting 363-68, the U.S. of House Representatives passed HR 3357, which shifts $7 billion to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent. The fund receives its revenue from the federal gasoline tax and funds congressionally approved road projects. Unfortunately, Americans are driving less because of high fuel prices and the recession.

Moreover, the administration is subsidizing a flood of new car sales with billons in rebates with “sales for clunkers”.

So what is the verdict? Will light rail result in the need for other revenue sources to fund road projects; will government subsidies for buying new cars place pressure on light rail ridership?

Question: Is the government trying to get people out of cars and into mass transportation or vice versa?