I have read with interest recent letter and articles in The Herald specific to Sound Transit, the recent increase in ridership, and their consideration of yet another ballot measure requesting additional funds. As a routine rider on Sound Transit Express buses from Everett to downtown Seattle and back, I am concerned at the apparent lack of foresight and planning that is becoming more evident as ridership increases.
Over recent months I have observed that most trips in and out of town end up being on buses which hurtle up and down I-5 at high speed, and which have crowded, standing room only, which is not only uncomfortable for those who must stand, but is surely unsafe. Because of my concerns about safety, I contacted Sound Transit several weeks ago to inquire about their plans to address the problem (e.g., increase routes, the number of buses available, more frequent train trips, etc.). Their answer? They know there is a problem, but they have no solution. They have no more buses, no more drivers, and even if they had additional buses and drivers, they have no place to park buses when not in use.
As a taxpayer, I must ask why, with all the media fuss about getting people out of their cars, has no planning been done for how those people would be safely transported when that occurred? Why have short-term contingencies not been planned? Granted, light rail to the airport, and other options sound nice, but has there been no focus on getting working people to and from where they need to go safely and efficiently? With the enormous amounts of money that have already been spent, why have the simple solutions not been addressed first?
Doesn’t Sound Transit get that a 10- or 20-year plan of complex projects is great, but that taxpayers see their day-to-day problems as a priority now. It’s been around a long time, and the “Keep it simple, stupid,” principle still works. We don’t need to pay for yet another study to figure out the solution for this one. Perhaps we do need someone else making decisions; people who are capable of focusing on more than the pipe dreams of the future. And if they think that the high price of fuel and the increased discomfort on the buses will coerce me into voting in favor of their proposal, they are wrong. Sound Transit won’t get a vote from me for one more dime of tax money for transit until some evidence can be clearly shown that the simple, immediate concerns of current taxpayers, the working people of Snohomish County, are being considered and addressed. Not one dime.
Carol Peverly
Everett
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