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What this article shows me is that transportation decisions about our region are not built with the public in mind...but a bunch of good 'ol boys in a closed door room surrounded by taxpayer funded food and beverage...there's some political back-scratching...and voila, there's an announcement.
Never mind the public opinion...
At least back then, it seems that the political good 'ol boys knew that they wanted something for everybody, so highways got money, rail got money, and buses got money. But now that the rail craze has taken over, it's all about how to defund everything else.
Of course, you can't defund highways (after all, 99% of trips taken involve highways - even bike lanes, and of course buses)...bike lanes are politically hot too. So what do you cut? Buses.
And these good 'ol boys go into their meetings, slam the doors shut...and voila, here's another rail project (oh, by the way, we're going to cancel that order of new buses for the next year or two...) Next meeting...voila, we're funded (but we'll have to cancel another bus order...and those 50 new bus shelters you wanted.) Next meeting...voila, we've got operating funds (but we'll need a 10% across-the-board bus service reduction to fund it.)
Damned be those pesky little citizens. They just pay the bills. It's the good 'ol boys network that controls everything.
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What this article shows me is that transportation decisions about our region are not built with the public in mind...but a bunch of good 'ol boys in a closed door room surrounded by taxpayer funded food and beverage...there's some political back-scratching...and voila, there's an announcement.
Never mind the public opinion...
At least back then, it seems that the political good 'ol boys knew that they wanted something for everybody, so highways got money, rail got money, and buses got money. But now that the rail craze has taken over, it's all about how to defund everything else.
Of course, you can't defund highways (after all, 99% of trips taken involve highways - even bike lanes, and of course buses)...bike lanes are politically hot too. So what do you cut? Buses.
And these good 'ol boys go into their meetings, slam the doors shut...and voila, here's another rail project (oh, by the way, we're going to cancel that order of new buses for the next year or two...) Next meeting...voila, we're funded (but we'll have to cancel another bus order...and those 50 new bus shelters you wanted.) Next meeting...voila, we've got operating funds (but we'll need a 10% across-the-board bus service reduction to fund it.)
Damned be those pesky little citizens. They just pay the bills. It's the good 'ol boys network that controls everything.
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