I am surrounded by idiots.

No, that is not an exaggeration, except in the sense that they are not in a literal circle around me at the moment. But in a very real sense, the majority of people who live in my city and my region are clearly stupid as rocks. They keep voting for this stuff, and things keep getting predictably worse.

Federal data shows that Minneapolis has the most crime-ridden light rail system in the country and that year-over-year crime is up by 2/3rds from 2022 to 2023. Transit ridership is about 1/2 of pre-pandemic levels, and barely bouncing back from the levels hit since the lockdowns were eased.

In other words, you only ride it if there is no other choice. And lots of people have a choice.

The geniuses at Metro Transit have come up with a solution that my local newspaper StarTribune seems to love: murals.

The latest installation is at the I-35W and Lake Street Transit Station in south Minneapolis, a busy hub that's been plagued by graffiti and where two people were wounded in a shooting this spring. #startribunemustread https://t.co/0XpYEbFpGO

— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) July 18, 2023

Now I have nothing against murals, and I am not even in the mood to object to the rather steep price tag for the latest one they painted unless it gets covered in graffiti right away. As a photographer who has occasionally paid for my art, I can appreciate the need to pay for what you get. Artists gotta eat too.

Metro Transit is turning to murals in an effort to make its bus and light-rail stations more welcoming.

The latest installation is at the I-35W and Lake Street Transit Station in south Minneapolis, a busy hub that’s been plagued by graffiti and where two people were wounded in a shooting this spring. Police data also show there have been two robberies near the station this year.

Local artist Kada Goalen spent six weeks and 90 gallons of paint transforming gray and beige concrete walls and pillars into a vibrant spectacle featuring giant songbirds against a backdrop of color.

“It feels less like a bus station,” said Goalen, who put the finishing touches on her mural last week. “It has a welcome feel.”

But no number of murals is going to heal what ails our transit system, however much the art brightens up the place. I suppose having a nicer place to smoke crack and beat people up is a benefit to the criminals, but it likely won’t improve the experience for those who prefer to live in a civilization.

Just sayin’.

It’s not just the crime that plagues Metro Transit. Everything about it sucks, and the people who run it are a bunch of lying grifters. That isn’t just me who is arguing that. The Legislative Auditor is doing a deep dive into the latest boondoggle–a light rail project that only the people building it want–and the news is totally disgusting.

The Metropolitan Council continued to spend millions on the $2.7 billion Southwest light-rail line even though there wasn’t enough money to finish a project that had already become rife with delays and cost overruns, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of the Legislative Auditor.

The 42-page report, the second of four expected on the troubled project, questions the way the job was bid, the council’s seemingly fraught relationship with its main contractor, and the lack of transparency in communicating the project’s numerous issues to the public.

Southwest — at more than $1 billion over budget, the state’s most expensive public works project ever — is more than 70% complete, but its budget is still short $272 million, according to the report. Service on the line between downtown Minneapolis and Eden Prairie is expected to begin in 2027, nearly a decade behind schedule.

We have been building light rail here since Jesse Ventura fought to the death to get it approved because he liked Atlanta’s system–he did bar hopping along the rail line, which literally was his justification for spending a billion dollars–and I fought it as President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. It was an overpriced, underperforming mess, and now exists mainly to serve as a mobile drug den.

So of course we keep building these because the real people they serve are the ones who spend the money and the ones who get that money to build it. They love it.

No amount of graft, corruption, lying, or failure to provide a genuine service makes a difference. We keep getting promises that next time will be better, and voters keep voting for the people who lied to their faces.

It’s maddening. And will go on for as far as the eye can see. I will be leaving in 12-18 months.