Re: Howard Traxmor’s letter “Public transportation key to
revitalized economy” of March 16, 2020.
First off, where does Traxmor live where people are clamoring for coal
powered public transportation? Most people
I encounter that have been forced to use public transportation loath the
experience.
The rest of Traxmor’s missive is pure fantasy. Case in point, the claim that a “broad array of citizens
understands and is (sic) leading the revival of a national passenger rail
service.” Really? From where to where? At what cost?
How long will the trip take? The whole idea of mass transportation falls
apart when these questions are asked - or more precisely when they are answered.
The truth is Americans love their cars.
Until any proposed public transport system can offer a cheaper more efficient alternative,
it is doomed to failure.
Another fantasy is the idea that Ft. Wayne was somehow “cheated” or “robbed
of electric transit.” The more accurate
description would be that Ft. Wayne opted out.
Large cities developed public transit out of necessity. Lack of parking and roads necessary to move
millions of people every day necessitated the use of efficient public
transport. Ft. Wayne never faced such a necessity
and likely never will.
Stating that any class action law suit brought against fossil-fuel industries
is “simple” is another pure fantasy. If brought today at 7am, such
a case would likely drag on until the fossil-fuel companies started buying up all
of the patents for the Star Trek type telle-transporters, hover cars and technology
that allows us to travel at light speed.
Here’s another good one. Traxmor
wants to “Change the funding
formula to a 90-9-1 federal-state-local percentage share of cost to fast track
development.” Laughable on two
accounts. A federal government running
trillion dollar deficits probably won’t cough up cash for Traxmor’s pipedream. The
other pure fantasy found in this gem of stupidity is that anything involving
public funding can “fast track development.”
The government provided grants to California for a state-wide north
south rail system. That system is so
fouled up and mired in mismanagement that California Governor Gavin Newsome has
all but pulled the plug on the project and the federal government is demanding its
money back.
The most curious thing
about the California project is that is that two allies are butting heads. The environmentalist who demand such costly
and inefficient answers to questions nobody is asking are the exact same ones
who frustrate the construction of the rail line with endless environmental
lawsuits.
Last, Traxmor wants us
to “Demand transportation plans be designed around carbon-safe, autonomy-ready,
door-to-door services with bus/train systems.”
That sounds an awful lot like an Uber ride in a Prius.
Monday, March 16, 2020 1:00 am
Letters
Public transportation
key to revitalized economy
Public transportation
for all should be embraced to revitalize our economy. Political support is
needed from marginalized cities such as Fort Wayne, robbed of electric transit
in the 1950s and cheated out of Amtrak intercity service in 1990, and now
facing a disproportionately higher cost to catch up with larger cities that
never stopped developing transit for more than 100 years.
Fort Wayne celebrated
its electric tram lines during the centennial of our city's 1795 founding. A
picture of the “monumental commemorative arch” over the pride of Fort Wayne, an
electric transportation system, was taken by The Fort Wayne News on Oct. 15,
1895. A broad array of citizens understands and is leading the
revival of a national passenger rail service and a complete public transit
system for all. A collection of links can be found at 3riversweb.org/PTC.
Here are some steps to
transportation justice for a national, regional and local electric transit
system. 1) Class-action lawsuits against fossil-fuel and related industries.
The case is simple; companies conspired to buy out the electrified systems
and replaced them with fossil-fuel vehicles. 2) Change the funding formula to a
90-9-1 federal-state-local percentage share of cost to fast track development.
3) Demand transportation plans be designed around carbon-safe, autonomy-ready,
door-to-door services with bus/train systems. 4) Match President John F.
Kennedy's “we choose to go to the moon” urgency as scientists have been
warning for decades of the need to quickly reduce carbon pollution.
Howard Traxmor
Fort Wayne
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