WPB Commissioner Shanon Materio in the Post editorial page tomorrow as Commentary on AAF

Click title for link. Here are some snippets:

Perhaps it is from my perspective as a member of the Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Council (MPO) that makes it difficult for me to understand the recent debate among some of the cities in Palm Beach County whether to support the All Aboard Florida passenger rail project.
The comments seem to surround answering the general question of determining the direct benefit to a particular city. That in fact is what we do on the MPO. We decide how to spend tens of millions of public tax dollars for transportation projects that will not only help a particular local government but will enhance the overall transportation grid within Palm Beach County as a whole.
Most projects don’t directly help my city of West Palm Beach. However, everyone on the MPO realizes that better roads, better mass transit, better turning lanes and beautified roadways, no matter in what city they are located, work to make all of Palm Beach County and our collective quality of life better for everyone.

[Later...]

On the MPO, we measure the public dollar cost against the overall public benefit. If the public benefit to Palm Beach County is greater than the cost, we all support the project no matter if one city might benefit more than another. In this case, the benefits of intercity passenger rail and the future infrastructure it will bring, allowing more commuter rail service on the FEC throughout Palm Beach County, far outweigh the cost to the public.