To the editor:

This is directed to the Lawrence City Commission.

There are many compelling, logical reasons for finding a way to maintain the T even if the sales tax fails. Transportation to and from jobs that are vital to our community, increasing gas prices, allowing the young, the elderly and the disabled access to services and shopping they might not otherwise have are just a few. But I want to appeal to your sense of compassion and fairness.

When I attended the Save the T meeting at the library on July 21, I looked around and saw why this issue is both important and possibly easy for you to dismiss. Like the riders of the T, those attending were largely the poor, the elderly and the disabled (young teens, who are frequent T riders, were not there in proportion to their passenger numbers). Others at the meeting may have represented the “choice” riders, those, who because of concern for the environment, convenience or for other reasons make the T their transportation choice. But I want to focus my comments on the first four groups I mentioned.

They probably aren’t the people you run into at a Chamber mixer or a campaign fundraiser. They may not attend the $50 charity event you go to or other places or events you are fortunate to frequent, but they are a significant and vital part of our city and must not be invisible or so unimportant that you can chose to ignore them. The T provides an element of independence and freedom that you cannot allow to be taken away.

Phil Minkin,

Lawrence