To the editor:

It’s unfortunate Lawrence is still home to a vocal minority opposed to public transportation. Advanced public transit systems are an integral step towards building a community that is inclusive of all citizens, environmentally responsible, and forward-thinking. Travel to any great city in the world and you will find a signature public transit system. Travel to Boulder, Colo., Ann Arbor, Mich., and Madison, Wis., and you will find medium-sized peer cities that have left Lawrence in the dust in terms of providing public transit access. Lawrence is at a crossroads. The choice is minimizing public transit access like Johnson County or going the socially responsible route of building an even better, more useful and more efficient transit system.

The time has come for Lawrencians to put more value on civic consciousness and less on consumer impulses. Like education, arts and other components of any vibrant community, public transportation systems pay off in social currency instead of profit in the city coffers. We should be looking for ways to expand and enhance the T to gain more skeptical riders instead of finding flimsy excuses for terminating a highly useful and important city service.

Tom Kolbeck,

Lawrence