Back to the future
It's time for Wisconsin's local leaders to admit that streetcars and trains are a big part of the cure for our collective automobile habit.
By
Senator Judy Robson
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Senator Judy lives in fantasy land. There is no great demand for a train between Madison and Milwaukee. It's a $800 million white elephant. Where there are bus systems only the poor take them, because of inconvenience, crime and violence.
Moreover, those who live in wealthy counties do not want those from cities to have easy access via public transportation. For over a decade the people of Waukesha County have fought every effort to bring public transportation to Waukesha from Milwaukee.
Sen. Robson wants to increase the size of government and offer people transportation they do not want. Why not put these plans to a vote and see if the people really want them?
-Chris | Milwaukee, WI | February 21, 2010
Mass transit makes good sense but I am afraid it will not take hold until the price of gas and the cost of owning/operating a vehicle reach a level people are no longer willing to pay.
Don't expect commuter trains to work if people have to drive to stations and then fight to find a parking space.
Rail service between Madison and Milwaukee: Just how many people would use it?
Light rail within cities makes sense but again only if it is convenient for people.
We no longer have neighborhood shops supplying our daily needs. If we need groceries, it's into the car we go. Nothing is built conveniently for our neighborhoods. How many people are going to use mass transit or light rail to do their grocery shopping? It's much more convenient to throw things in the trunk than to lug bags onto a train.
Revisit local zoning ordinances first. Make our neighborhoods more user friendly and less dependent on cars... Now that's an idea whose time has come, and one which is far more reasonable and less expensive than trains.
-Franz Fripplfrappl | Stoughton, WI | February 21, 2010
After reading and commenting in a couple of Progressive blogs I am convinced there is money being paid to contrarians to perpetrate the same old tired b.s. that serves the wealthy best. Fear based, greed based, whatever. Chris, I am starting a mental list of commenters I will skip with your name #1. May it do your ego some good to be #1. Trust that if you attack my logic I will not be paying attention.
F.F. We need to move past the status quo analysis if we are to head off the pain of $10 a gallon gasoline. Recall people like George Washington and Ghandi. If they had thrown up their hands in despair at the notion of a superior foe and popular apathy the British might still be standing alone abusing the world. Where would the world be without visionaries? I chose to remain optimistic and look to the wisdom of folks like Howard Zinn. He certainly recorded a dark History but never despaired because he also saw what a few dedicated big hearted individuals could begin and often see to a brighter conclusion.
The words of Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changing" are playing in my mind at the moment.
-Jim Limbach | Stevens Point, Wisconsin | February 24, 2010
