Could G-Dubs Rescue The CTA?

By Sam Bakken in News on May 17, 2005 10:05PM

An article published yesterday in the Christian Science Monitor shows that the CTA is not the only public transit organization in the nation that has had to deal with a budget crunch. In the past couple of years, public transit systems in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. have all raised fares and Philadelphia is threatening to do the same. Pittsburgh cut service and raised fares. This month San Francisco is also holding hearings to consider service cuts and increased fares. The president of the American Public Transportation Association blames increasing costs of fuel, liability insurance, healthcare, and pensions for the nation's public transit problems.

Because it appears to be a national issue, we don't see why G-Dubs doesn't get involved. Remember last month's press conference in which he laid out four steps to decreasing our dependence on foreign oil (not one of which was "drive less")? Seems to us that a few well-placed phone calls would persuade legislators to keep the nation's public transit systems running smoothly. And asking Americans to support their public transit (and selling it as a patriotic duty) would increase revenues, decrease the amount of cars on the road and, in turn, our dependence on foreign oil. We're just submitting the idea. We realize it's probably a bit more complicated than we think, but it's something to think about.