Opinion
To the Editor:
I cannot believe that seven aldermen on our Common Council were so shortsighted they voted against accepting $2.1 million of federal stimulus funds to purchase new transit buses to replace five 20-year-old vehicles. I can assure you, if our fire department ambulances would be old, these same aldermen would not think twice about replacing them, using stimulus funds.
So, what were they thinking? Is this a ploy to totally kill the transit system? I suspect that’s in their thinking.
Public mass transit is recognized as a needed service and therefore it’s subsidized. Our bus system carries 600,000 passengers a year … citizens who must rely on mass transit to get to work, play, and shop. I agree the buses appear to be empty many times, but 600,000 passengers are nothing to sneeze at in a city of 50,000.
Three vocal aldermen: Hanna, Gischia, and Bouck, seem to be leading the charge against the bus system. “Fix it,” they say! What happened to the combination of vehicle maintenance departments … of DPW and transit? What happened to re-routing the buses and getting away from the “spoke” system where all routes emanate from downtown? There has been a lot of talk by the transit commission, made up of some aldermen, the mayor and the transit manager. Why are they dragging their feet to make the necessary changes to make our system a vibrant one?
Instead they now foolishly turn down stimulus funds to supposedly force some changes. What happens when the old buses break down? No stimulus funds available then! Again, they’re not going to “fix” it; they’re going to “nix’ it!
Richard Suscha
