Wednesday, April 3, 2002
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Wednesday, April 3, 2002 |
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GRTA buses: What's the harm? Sallie Satterthwaite's article about our commissioners' refusal to participate in funding bus service in our county was right on target. It looked as though the county would receive 10 times the amount in road building funds as it spent for underwriting the bus service. The fact that these are our rightful tax dollars and should be given with no strings attached is a totally irrelevant point to the power that be. This is a new era that requires new strategies to force us to change our ways. The commissioners seemed to be angry that GRTA was blackmailing them into joining the bus system and they let that anger force them into a shortsighted decision. Given Atlanta's surrounding counties' MARTA-phobia, what do you think the chances would have been for success without that carrot? The members of GRTA and the people that were responsible for them being appointed are not political neophytes. They know how to play political hardball and that is to tie money for badly needed projects to unpopular programs. This is the same game the feds are playing with them. This experimental program only lasts about three years. Also, our county has such a high concentration of airline personnel and the buses were to provide express service to the airport that perhaps convenience would change habits in favor of mass transit. What harm would outweigh the possibility for good? Every county around Atlanta is going to have to change if we are going to have any hope of solving our bad-air problem. Jeff Ellis Fayetteville
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