The Long Time
Prop. 1's Mass Transit Fail
RECEIVED Mon., Oct. 25, 2010
Dear Editor,
The endorsements for Proposition 1 get curiouser and curiouser. The “'Chronicle' Endorsements” [News, Oct. 22] stated that Prop. 1 will help us “get moving again in the right direction.” Mayor Lee Leffingwell declared [in an ad on p.31] we “must have a viable mass transit system.”
However, only one project funded by Prop. 1’s $90 million bond package involves mass transit at all. That $2 million project is for both street widening and improved bus service on Guadalupe and Lavaca. Mass transit systems, just like highways, are expensive (though less so). We’ll never have viable mass transit if we don’t dedicate more than 2% of transportation investment for it.
My suggestion is to vote against Prop 1. By the time the next transit bond package comes around, energy prices will likely have reached levels that will cause even the Chronicle, our mayor, and the Sierra Club (which also endorsed Prop. 1) to see that we really need to fund mass transit.
The endorsements for Proposition 1 get curiouser and curiouser. The “'Chronicle' Endorsements” [News, Oct. 22] stated that Prop. 1 will help us “get moving again in the right direction.” Mayor Lee Leffingwell declared [in an ad on p.31] we “must have a viable mass transit system.”
However, only one project funded by Prop. 1’s $90 million bond package involves mass transit at all. That $2 million project is for both street widening and improved bus service on Guadalupe and Lavaca. Mass transit systems, just like highways, are expensive (though less so). We’ll never have viable mass transit if we don’t dedicate more than 2% of transportation investment for it.
My suggestion is to vote against Prop 1. By the time the next transit bond package comes around, energy prices will likely have reached levels that will cause even the Chronicle, our mayor, and the Sierra Club (which also endorsed Prop. 1) to see that we really need to fund mass transit.
Philip Russell
