I'm not going to say anything of the kind, Charles. I'm just going to point out that the article doesn't actually show that DART has too many riders at all. Others have already noticed this, and if you read closely, you'll find they're right.

You can't trust the Chronicle's reporting on rail. Ask yourself, Why haven't they reported on DART's financial meltdown, with an $80 million deficit that may force dramatic fare increases? Why aren't there any actual ridership numbers reported in the article? Why don't they specifically say that the trains were riding at capacity rather than droning on about how the TAPS bus service needed an agreement to transfer riders?

That last one is the real puzzler. Were there really "too many riders," as the Chronicle claims, or was Lyons correct when he said "[t]he issue is not how many people they might be bringing?" It's a fair question -- the facts give no indictation that the trains were running at capacity. I also find it puzzling that the Dallas Morning News hasn't reported anything like this.

After the Houston Chronicle's now notorious rail conspiracy memo was released, I find no reason to believe any of their claims not bolstered by solid statistics. Try again if you want to prove that DART is a success, because the Chronicle is simply lying to you, just as they did when they claimed Houstonians supported rail in a referendum.

Just so you know, I've posted on this article on my web log.