Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Need For Transit Help

From the inbox, a letter from a non-Milwaukeean regarding MCTS:
Dear Senator Lehman:

Please support Milwaukee's initiative to fix its transit system. Commuters will either sit alone in their car, burning expensive gas inefficiently, or ride mass transit while reading a book, listening to their iPod, or getting to know each other. Mass transit builds community while being environmentally responsible. It will also make the inner city more attractive for businesses, workers, and residents.

You and I don't live in Milwaukee. My home is Port Washington. To my mind having Milwaukee strengthened by enhancing the social and economic fabric benefits all of us. It will build the tax base, encourage tourism, reduce the social service burden, and more. I would be "pound foolish" to stand in the way. That's why I am asking you to support making Milwaukee County a Regional Transit Authority and allow a sales tax to provide dedicated funding for parks and transit.

By doing so you will be speaking up for local control. The citizens who will benefit most directly from this tax have already given it their seal of approval. It will have no negative impact on Racine or any other county.

Plus support for mass transit will serve to stimulate our sagging transportation industry, shifting it squarely into the green economy sector. There is no downside

Thank you for you service,

Name redacted

3 comments:

  1. While I may not disagree with the person's final analysis, the first paragraph is a bunch of feel good crap.
    Mass transit is not for feel good reasons. Mass transit is for people who cannot afford a car, cannot pay for gas, would rather use mass transit etc. It is not get togethers, reading circles etc.
    There is a place for mass transit and I do ride the bus to work on occassion but I do it because it is the best alternative for my living situation.

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  2. The letter assumes that I know what's broken and what the proposed "fix" is.

    Those are HUGE assumptions.

    I'm still trying to grasp what it is that needs fixing!

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  3. Dan-

    You are just being ornery and argumentative without valid points.

    Rich-

    Every year fare prices go up and routes get slashed. While every other mass transit system in the country has had remarkable climbs in ridership, Milwaukee's has dropped. Without immediate help, there will be a 30% cut in transit in 2010. That means thousands of people that can't get to their schools and/or jobs, and employeers that can't get their workers. This could really cripple our economy.

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