We are once again indebted to our Independence Rally guests for
the valuable transportation lessons that they gave to us, but will
our Council of Governments directors and city’s planners heed the
important teaching for our future?
Dear Editor:
We are once again indebted to our Independence Rally guests for the valuable transportation lessons that they gave to us, but will our Council of Governments directors and city’s planners heed the important teaching for our future?
If our 120,000 guests had received their transportation from the taxpayers, rather than provided their own transportation, it would have cost us (average six roundtrips/day/guest) $26,067,096.00 to pay just the operating expenses to MV Transportation, Inc., County Transit’s operator, to furnish our guests with rides.
This assumes County Transit’s current absurdly low “farebox recovery” rate. Money for capital equipment purchases (buses, terminals, etc.) would be additional.
Since SBC gets back only 11 cents per dollar from Sacramento, we would have to send $236,973,600.00 in taxes so that we could get back the money to pay MV Transportation, Inc., so our guests could enjoy our public-sector transport services for the three days.
So, if our COG directors and planners are heeding this vital lesson, will they continue to cram-down their socialistic, dysfunctional, ruinous transport policy on SBC, and condemn our children to such “transit success” as we witness with County Transit, Amtrak, Caltrain, BART and VTA’s Lite Rail (heavy socialism)?
If so, are we planning for serfdom, dooming future generations to the same fate as the USSR? Do our leaders and planners have us on the road to serfdom? Are they willing to sacrifice our priceless heritage of freedom to chase the Soviet planners’ dream? Do we really want a Black Hole “transit hub” planted in our midst?
Do our leaders want to encourage transport that is dependent on government or do they want to encourage self-sufficient transport like our guests used?
How many such lessons will it take before our leaders see the truth in transportation?
Faced with historic budget deficits, it is obvious to anyone learning our guests’ lessons that COG’s directors and planners must quit their membership in Boondoggles Empty Seat Transporters Association and return us to transport policy based on free enterprise capitalism.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Joe Thompson,
Tres Pinos
