If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that Proposition 1 would extend Link Light Rail by 36 miles into the region’s major employment and residential centers. You also know that trains carry more people than buses, cost less to operate, last longer, and are more enjoyable to ride.
We all look forward to the day when we can hop aboard a beautiful, quiet, and efficient train right here in our home town and get where we need to go. We all know that this proposition must be approved.
But to me, Link is more than just a train.
Every one of us has faced challenges this past year – war, the financial crisis, climate change, gas prices… amidst everything, it’s very easy to loose hope for the future.
Link offers me hope.
We all have an opportunity right now – today – to create a future designed for us – not automobiles.
A future where we no longer give our hard earned money to overseas oil companies that are destroying the planet and funding terrorism, or to auto companies who lie to us every day claiming that their gas guzzling cars get good mileage.
A future that can co-exist with the planet, and not destroy it.
And most importantly, a future where we can enjoy more time out in a great city with friends and family, instead of alone enclosed in a small box stuck in traffic.
Proposition 1 will further transform the area we love into something even more amazing. It starts with a train, but it leads to something much, much more amazing: a better future for everyone.
This is why I am voting yes on Proposition 1 today, and why I hope you will too.