"Heathrow in Scotland"

by Ken Avidor

(posted on Ken's behalf - because blogger is acting up)

The Dean Zimmermann Campaign just released a flurry of position papers on their web site. There's an item called "TOP 10 REASONS TO VOTE FOR DEAN ZIMMERMANN". Reason number six may seem odd to many Greens:

"6.He doesn’t hate Republicans (or Democrats either)."

Zimmermann is not talking about moderate Republicans like Arnie Carlson. What the Zimmermann campaign is referring to is Zimmermann's close working relationship with extreme right-winger Mark Olson to fund a controversial PRT project. Michele Bachmann is another prominent right-wing supporter of PRT. Zimmermann gives right-wing PRT supporters cover by balancing the PRT plank. This is what Bachmann said to MPR in 2004:

"People on the right, people on the left, we have the common goal of moving people with transit, but doing it in the most cost-effective manner, in fact, in a manner that may end up costing no government subsidy, it may end up paying for itself."

Fellow Green Party office-holder Annie Young once voiced dismay over Dean's obsessive PRT collaboration with right-wing Republicans like Mark Olson:

"Zimmermann’s party, the Green Party, is however, apparently distancing itself from Zimmermann." Annie Young of the party said, “This is not a Green Party issue; this is Dean’s project. I’m concerned about his relationship to Taxi 2000, and about the time he’s spending on the project and whether he’s meeting the needs of the people in his ward. There are potentially some good things that could come from it, and I see what the point is but I’m not sure the timing is right. There are also a lot of questions about it, like why are the Republicans so interested in it? There are a lot of good alternatives that we should be working on, and there are so many transportation needs to be addressed. I’m just not sure this is the best one."

Zimmermann's eagerness to work with anti-transit, pro-highway, right-wingers confirms what some critics including myself have said that Zimmermann is anti-LRT, anti-transit and pro-highway himself. Zimmermann did not get the Sierra Club endorsement this year mainly because of his many anti-transit statements. Zimmermann's promotion of PRT has consumed a large share of his first term in office. Zimmermann has even traveled to suburbs to promote his PRT plan.

Unfortunately, the FBI raid on Zimmermann's house has dominated the 6th Ward campaign. Zimmermann has gotten a lot of sympathy from well-meaning people who feel that Zimmermann is being "persecuted". The investigation has allowed Zimmermann to avoid explaining his support for PRT and his anti-transit rhetoric. For much of his campaign, Zimmermann has been uncharacteristically quiet about PRT.

Dean Zimmermann's campaign has just released a position paper on transportation that repeats the standard anti-transit disinformation that PRT proponents repeat on their web sites and in their pamphlets:

"Light rail is great, but costly to build. And buses – well, as a friend of Dean’s says: “I believe in mass transit—until then I’ll take the bus.” We’ve done better in the past, the street car system was really good, but we need practical, lower-cost alternatives for the future."

"Council Member Dean Zimmermann advocates for PRT—Personal Rapid Transit. Like a car, it goes where you want, is available when you want it, and is as private as you want it to be. Unlike motor vehicles it doesn’t burn gas and it doesn’t add pollution to our urban air.

"And it’s not some pipe dream Council Member Dean Zimmermann cooked up. Just this month, Heathrow Airport in Scotland signed a contract to build a PRT system using a technology developed in Wales."

Besides misstating where Heathrow Airport is, the Zimmermann campaign states that there is a contract to build PRT at Heathrow. The British Airport Authority announced only a "agreement for the development" of the ATS "ULTra system "dependent on agreed milestones being achieved." This is hardly a "contract to
build."

There is a lot to suggest that ATS's Ultra is not PRT, but an Automated People-Mover (APM) similar to an existing system called FROG. FROG is far from being a technological breakthrough... it runs on batteries and has a top speed of 12.5 MPH. I have the details about PRT in Heathrow and Dubai on the PRT Skeptic Web site.

The media in the Twin Cities has let the electorate down by not investigating the role PRT has played in Minnesota politics. I hope there will be an investigation of PRT before next year's election when PRT's two most prominent Republican supporters, Michele Bachmann and Mark Olson face the voters.

The question that voters in the 6th Ward need to ask right now is whether they should elect a Green Party Minneapolis councilman on November 8th who will stand beside Mark Olson and Michele Bachmann in 2006.

Learn more about Dean Zimmermann, Mark Olson, and Michele Bachmann's PRT collaboration here.