Sound Transit has enjoyed a AAA bond rating from Standard and Poor’s for some time, but Moody’s just announced that they’ve uprated the agency from AA3 to AA2. All the As mean “good”.
This really just means that their bonds are considered more reliable by investors – something that’s going to matter a lot as the credit crunch continues!
The stuff at the end of the press release comparing the leverage levels to the Monorail is important to the ST2 debate.
All of the Sierra Club types (and Ron Sims) who want a Seattle-only system are presumably assuming that it will be funded with a Seattle-only vote.
The data about the Monorail shows that the Seattle tax base is simply too small to support that, and why we have to have a regional system, even in as pro-transit a city as Seattle.
No one really listens to all that, though. The arguments for and against the Prop 1 package are the same as they were in 1968 and 1970 – “trains are old, we don’t have the density, we need BRT”. They’re all bullshit, just like they were then.
Since the revenue used to pay the bonds is from taxes, it is an indication that the bond market thinks that the region will be able to pay taxes because of an expected growing economy. The ability to deliver projects is a secondary concern. Performance of service (or lack thereof) is irrelevant to bond holders since they are not bonding fare revenues.
Voters should be concerned about the performance of the system first and foremost. We don’t need transit projects, we need mobility projects.
Uh and transit projects aren’t mobility projects?
Not if they don’t perform. Then transit projects are referred to as pork.
Hey anon at 9:07, I’m not sure why you don’t want to give ST a break. The Moody’s report is an overall endorsement. This is the basis for the rating:
“historically strong financial operations, fast-growing ridership on all transit modes, and the authority’s importance to the strong service area that includes the state’s most populous counties.”
Uh, so “pork” performs better per user than roads? Seriously, get over it.
Sorry, as in, more users per dollar spent. ;)