To the editor:

I cannot help but notice the number of “Vote Yes for the T” signs throughout Lawrence lately and wonder what exactly “the T” has to offer our community? With 10 giant carbon-emitting buses running constantly, and almost no passengers to be found riding them, we would be lying to ourselves to think we were somehow “going green.”

Now, the city is asking us to pay. Perhaps before we raise taxes to throw money at a program that has been failing for years, the city might consider reforming public transportation to the point at which it is self-sufficient or, at the very least, efficiently serves the public need.

Have we considered switching from giant buses to vans for the lesser-traveled hours and routes? Have we considered selling ad space on the buses? Or perhaps we ought to look at raising our downtown parking tickets from the laughable and ignorable $2 to a more respectable $10-$15 and use additional revenue from that to sustain our public transportation program. I would be much more comfortable allowing buses to run empty all day knowing they are being paid for by John Q. Lawbreaker instead of John Q. Taxpayer.

Matthew Herbert,

Lawrence