Printed in the Mesa Tribune, 21 May 1997. Reprinted with permission of the author.
Dear Editor:
Tim Day's and Cliff Cowles' recent letters about transit miss the point. Both imply that public transit cannot make a difference in our transportation systems. Yet in Los Angeles every day over 100,000 people take the train, with three and a half lanes of highway capacity created by Metrolink.
Even if funds and real estate had been available to build this many extra lanes into downtown L.A., how many acres of downtown land would be sacrificed for parking lots?
As for following other cities' leads, maybe they are right. Maybe we want continued suburban sprawl instead of vibrant, revitalized downtown areas. If so, we should ignore all public transit.
Is Mr. Colangelo generating interest "behind the scenes?" No, Mr. Colangelo has publicly joined the ranks of civic and corporate leaders who realize that rail can move large numbers of people efficiently.
Is public transit costly? One might also ask, what about highways? Certainly they don't pay for themselves: our freeway system, paid for by a general county sales tax, is far over budget. Yet commuter rail costs no more than $5 to $7 million per mile – up to 90% less than highways.
And if trains are "antique ideas," what about automobiles (invented in the 1890's) and roads (invented thousands of years ago)?
More roads alone won't solve our transportation problems. We need improved public transit -- bus and rail -- as well.
Sincerely,
William Lindley
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