Opinion: The Case to Keep Leander Connected

Leander residents can sustain the will of past voters who twice have gone to the polls in the last three decades to say YES to transportation solutions.

A yes vote on Proposition A means continued transportation solutions for Leander with no tax increases. It means an immediate infusion of $7.4 million for Leander for city streets, traffic lights, bridges, and other critically needed transportation infrastructure for our growing city. It means approximately $2 million every year under an agreed-upon formula for transportation solutions that benefits every resident and business in Leander. It means access to a rapidly expanding modern rail system that will soon connect Leander with the airport and other destinations throughout the Austin region, including access to millions more in federal funds to support Leander. A yes vote honors our promise to seniors, people with disabilities, parents, and students – who all rely on public transportation – that they will continue to have safe, reliable, and affordable train and bus services in Leander.

A no vote will leave them stranded.

I moved to Leander because I believe in its present and its future. A present that includes a peaceful commute to my job on the train while pushing emails over Wi-Fi. A present that includes soccer games and special events with my kids at Q2 Stadium. A future that includes date nights at the Domain and Downtown. A future that includes friends, family, and visitors from around the world stepping off an airplane and onto a train that takes them to a beautiful Crystal Lagoon at Leander Springs.

Do you believe in Leander's present and in its future? Do you want to believe? I think you do. Let yourself believe. Let yourself imagine. Let yourself dream. It's all within our grasp!

We should not rewrite the future of Leander based on a ridership study conducted in the middle of the pandemic when people are not going to the office. We have all seen growth. We know what Leander can become. Be patient! That growth will naturally bring in more than enough revenue to pay for itself.

To illustrate, my neighbors in Deerbrook will each be paying $20,000 to $40,000 for a special assessment as part of a Public Improvement District. That's over $10 million in our neighborhood alone that we new residents are paying for improvements that the city of Leander won't have to worry about. The money is there.

We should stop worrying about sharing 1% sales tax with Cap Metro. It's a drop in the bucket compared to all the money and taxes that will be pouring in as more neighborhoods and commercial developments come online. Should we scrap the rail line we've invested in for years and pay an estimated $42 million exit fee primarily because of excessive costs per passenger during the midst of a pandemic, a time when people are staying home?

It is disappointing and irresponsible that the Leander City Council chose to put this up for a public vote on such a rushed, biased survey centered on a single, narrow metric. Wasn't this voted on before? Why another vote now? What has changed? Low ridership during a global catastrophe?

Tell me, what other public services are held to similar scrutiny (cost of maintaining a "free" on-street parking space, cost per police call, cost per fire department response, etc.)? Should we assess the costs these of services during the pandemic and put them up for a public vote?

We need the train and public transportation to sustain and accommodate Leander's growth in the present and well into the future. If you get rid of the relationship with Cap Metro and, by extension, the train, don't complain when traffic continues to pile up around San Gabriel and Hero Way. You know it will. And you won't have a viable alternative.

I believe in Leander. In its past. In its present. In its future. Do you?

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James Larsen is an attorney who commutes from Leander to his office in Downtown Austin on the MetroRail. A Texan since 2014, he ultimately chose a traffic-free journey by train after frustrations with unaffordable Austin housing and traffic congestion in Cedar Park. In March, James organized a political committee to advocate for the continuation of transit services from Leander and is in the final days of a 60-day campaign to Save the Train, Unify the Austin Area, and Keep Leander Connected.