Spokesman-Review
Letter to the Editor
No desire for streetcars
Not content merely unsuccessfully trying to force obscenely expensive Liberty Lake light rail systems on county residents — only to follow that bravura performance with infliction of massive commuter bus service cuts — Spokane Transit Authority management now want creation of totally new, thoroughly undemanded “frill” services: downtown streetcars.
Loyal riders on certain routes (such as No. 23, which dramatically reduces single-occupant-vehicle Maple/Ash corridor travel) are preparing farewells in September for fellow riders they’ve accompanied for years, some for decades, because STA management lacks backbone to advocate taxes on wealthiest residents to offset temporary sales tax revenue declines.
Demanding creation of completely new and unnecessary services at the same time commuters are forced to accept route reductions, requiring daily walks of more than four miles just to reach bus stops, smacks of supreme arrogance.
It’s overdue that STA board of directors’ part-time appointed memberships be taken out of the hands of indirectly related local governments’ office-holders. STA board members need to be directly elected by voters to serve for one purpose only: being accountable to STA riders and other county voters to whom mass transit issues are crucially important.
Robert A. Ethington
Spokane
What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Ethington? Why?
I talked to Karl Otterstrom at STA regarding this item I posted yesterday, and he said they are doing everything they can to accomodate riders of route 23, which is being eliminated. The route 124, which serves the same routing north of Francis (with faster and more frequent service), will have three new stops added in order to capture most of those riders. There are apparently only about 10 riders who are not within a half mile of the 124 stops (including the stops that now exist).
4 comments:
I have not seen anyplace in the income tax proposal that transit will get a dime of the tax money. The way to keep STA from more cuts is to buy locally. STA has only 2 income sources, sales tax and fares and sales taxes have been very low for about a year. The May sales tax STA received was up 3% from last year, the first increase in over a year. It is actually for March sales because of the lag in receiving taxes from the state. I know STA did not want to cut the routes it will nor reduce the service on the routes it will in September, but they were necessary due to expenses continuing and revenues dropping. Two of the routes having reduced service I ride, so I know it hurts, but if the sales tax revenue does not improve they will need further cuts in 2011.
The Glenrose route that I ride sometimes to get to my parents house got cut too Charles, so I think they are cuts that will hurt a lot of us.
All cyclists should be opposed to streetcars. To understand why, try crossing train tracks that are parallel to the road you're biking on. The tracks make roads very dangerous for cyclists.
There are many, many complaints from cyclists about the recently completed streetcar line in Seattle.
- Ventura
Yeah, tracks are definetely a challenge to bicyclists. It will be interesting to see which way the general public leans on this issue.
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