Wednesday, April 24, 2002
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Wednesday, April 24, 2002 |
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Many residents and service workers would use buses I read with reat interest [Sallie Satterthwaite's] column of March 27, "A trembling voice for soft-spoken minority." Bless you! I am a recent transplant to the area who has faced a number of different issues, not the least of which being my transportation to work in downtown Atlanta. When I read the assertion that no one in Fayette County would ride a bus, I was incensed, on several counts. I found it all to interesting that this assertion was offered with no research offered in support. Worse, Commissioner Dunn not only stated that "No study has been performed to see if the bus service is needed," he also did not indicate what sort of study has been performed to support the allegations that no one would ride the public transportation. Aside from the arrogance, I can't help but look askance at the local media that didn't callenge this with a single, reported request for any accompanying research or statistics. The Fayette County governing body is overlooking any number of its 24-hour employers as well as the low quantity of employment opportunities in Peachtree City. Workers on a 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. shift could drive a golf cart or walk at night, but a bus would be a much more comfortable. The customer service segment should be entitled to vehicle alternatives. Hotel clerks, hospital and emergency personnel are all very respectable lines of work. The staffs in these positions support not only each other, but also the economy in very special ways. Being new to the area with no contacts, MARTA has been the best thing to ever happen to me. I've had unlimited opportunities to explore Atlanta while my vehicle avoided parking hassles and I didn't have to get lost right off learning about Lenox Mall, Buckhead, Midtown, and other neat things about Atlanta. Additionally, I have a really hard time believing I am the only person dismayed at the prospect of putting 100,000 miles or more on my vehicle in just five years. I recognize there is a presumption of affluence in Peachtree City, but there are any number of residents, for any given reason, whose driving privileges may have been restricted. It's hard to understand why they should not have access to either making application to or working in these distant areas. And why not give the employers the increased opportunities? Emissions are still reduced when fewer cars are idling in that traffic. Where's the optimism that perhaps when fewer cars are in the traffic, the traffic may actually diminish? And again, there is a clear disregard for the fact that not every employee must report to work from 8-to-5 or so. M. Maxiane Moody Peachtree City
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