STB reader Jacob Langley noticed these oddly anti-rail fliers posted at the Convention Center Bus Tunnel station on the pillars.
Text of the flier:
Want your bus to run more often?
Sound Transit is asking for your opinion on what to do.
They have 2 main options:
-Build more Light-Rail, Trains and Trolleys before the one’s being built now have been finished and tried out. (Have you ever taken or seen how full the South Lake Union Trolley is?) And this would cost us quote a bit of money.
-Hire a company to plan where the tracks are to be laid
-People move, tracks don’t
-Tear down houses, stores, etc.
-It could be 12 years or it could be 20
-Or They Could Triple or Quadruple the Buses whose routes are already planned out which would not cost us near as much
-And this could be done in one or two years at the most
Learn ore on this website and you can contact them on this # or E-mail address:
Future/Soundtransit.org
Future@Soundtransit.org
1-866-511-1398
I think it’s kind of funny. I just want to point out the amount of money Sound Transit would ask for couldn’t even come near to doubling bus service. Also, the website’s url is http://Future.SoundTransit.org.
Note from Ben: The comment period is over anyway.
That’s great, but not nearly as hilarious as this sign.
Also, saying “People move, tracks don’t” ignores the fact that to combat climate change and sprawl, the city has defined 38 “urban villages” as areas of focus for growth. Rail obviously does a great job of complementing urban areas such as these.
Another way to put it: people move, but buildings don’t.
And isn’t there a long wait for buses anyway? I heard there’s a four-year backlog.
I think it’s time for grassroots support.
Definitely. I think we should get a grass-roots campaign and see if we can get the Sierra Club etc. on board.
I think it’s time for a transit rally. I’d put forward money for making some copies and we can create snazzy flyers. I think the easiest thing for some people to do is to pay for 100 copies, which is usually pretty cheap on plain white paper. I think it would be pretty good to also get some good local speakers in to talk about transit and rent/borrow rooms in restaurants or coffee shops or in parks.
I’ll e-mail Mayor-Elect Sam Adams and see what (if anything) he could do about getting together a field trip. His staff has been pretty good about replying and I’ve had some good responses from his office. It would be nice to film a nice little Youtube clip about the Portland transit system and distribute that to people in the Seattle area.
Sigh, I’m ready to agitate!
I saw a sign like that in the ID station’s plaza too.
One simple question: how many individuals does the vehicle in question carry? An automobile is designed to carry 4 to 6 people, but if only 1 person is in it, not good. A bicycle is designed to carry 1 person, and it does carry 1 person, good design.
A bus is designed to sit 32-105 people in seats, while a streetcar/LRV is designed to sit 46 – 260 people, and a driver.
So a LRV carries twice the number as a bus. And one LRV replaces 130 automobiles (if, and only if, each car has 2 people).
Homework:
Count the number of vehicles and the number of people in them, and make a list of them for later comparison.