Hello Bikies: Sorry for the last minute notice, but the Transit and Parking Commission meets tonight at 5:00 in Room 260, Madison Municipal Building. There is an effort afoot to overturn the Commission's courageous decision to reject the proposal for an increase in bus fares.
[Note to Eric Westhagen - the Mayor is a Democrat!] Al Matano > Dear Ms. Benishek-Clark: [email protected] > I would appreciate it if you would forward the commentary below to Mr. Durocher and members of the Transportation and Parking Commission. > > Thanks, > > Al Matano > Dane County Board, District 11 > and > Chair, Madison Area Transportation Planning Board, a Metropolitan Planning > Organization > > To: Members of the Transit and Parking Commission > From: Al Matano > Date: January 13, 2009 > Re: Continued opposition to Metro fare increases > > Greetings. I am writing to reiterate my opposition to increases in Metro's > fares, as well as to applaud your courage in voting to reject the proposal for an increase at your December meeting. > > As I indicated in my previous testimony, it is a basic tenet of transit > operations that fare increases create a downward spiral, hampering if not > killing a transit agency. Increased fares lead to reduced ridership, leading to reduced revenue, leading to... > > Mayor Dave's petulance in demanding a fare increase is as incomprehensible as > his misguided policy in suggesting the fare increase in the first place. His > childish and autocratic threat to replace all of you, lacking the legal > authority to disband the Commission, is beyond appalling. It should not be > surprising, however, to those of us who watched him sidetrack efforts to bring rail transit to Dane County, having been outvoted on that score on the > Transport 2020 Commission by an 11 to 1 margin. > > In the month since you voted against fare increases, the Mayor has attempted to change the subject of a debate from transportation policy to a discussion of > poverty in the City of Madison. As important as poverty is as a social issue, > it is a different subject than transportation policy. Transit is not a charity. > > I might suggest that the ample funding that the Mayor included in his capital > budget for suburban commuter roads *is* a charity. Wealthy homeowners who fled the area of the City within 8 to 10 miles of the Capitol Building so that they could purchase substantial enough garages for their fleet of automobiles travel each day to work on roadways paid for with tax dollars, paying not a penny in user fees. > > A detail in the Mayor's fare increase proposal which is additionally troubling > is the notion that Metro's farebox revenues should pay for a new security force to protect Metro riders. Since when do transit riders need to pay for their own security force? In the previous budget, the Mayor successfully convinced the > Common Council to allocate funds for 30 additional police officers. Is it not > the bailiwick of the Madison Police Department to protect our citizens - and > visitors - whether they are transit riders or otherwise? > > The entire debate has overlooked the fact I stated above - that transit is a > basic governmental service. The Madison Streets Department, when asked about > its budget for plowing snow, indicated that if the snow kept falling, the > Streets Department would keep plowing. To get those suburban commuters, among > others, to work! By the same token, Madison Metro should keep running the > buses, and let the Mayor and the Common Council worry about where the funding > will come from. After all, the Commission has the authority, under state > statutes, to establish fares. The Council is responsible for allocating funds > to the various services the City provides. > > The Mayor's attitude is one of "it's my way or the highway - and lots of them!" Why does Mayor Dave hate transit so? _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
