To the editor:

The people who support tax increases to fund the T are trying to shape the issue as a vote either for or against public transportation, which is far from the real issue. The issue is should voters increase taxes to fund the current system. The way this system is organized and managed should be the focus of voters, especially given the current state of our economy.

The Journal-World headlined an increase in ridership over the past month, yet failed to point out that over the past eight months ridership has actually decreased by 8 percent, while the cost of gasoline has significantly increased. You don’t need a statistic, merely the ability to see, to know what is wrong with the T. The buses are too big, too pollutive (other cities’ buses run on natural gas), they dangerously clog traffic flow, and, most importantly, very few people are choosing to ride.

I recently rode my bike to the aquatic center and passed the T; nobody was riding it. I went another block to the aquatic center; there was another bus in front of it – one person got on and it took off. This is not an isolated incident in my experience. A women who works in my office building tried to ride the T to work. To be at work by 8 a.m. she had to get on the T by 6 a.m. Lawrence may need an effective and efficient public transportation system; however, the current system is not it.

Timothy G. Riling,
Lawrence