Dear Secretary Porcari,
For years government has called on citizens to use mass transportation for a multitude of reasons. Whether it is for the environment, ease of road congestion, or the cost of owning and maintaining an automobile, the people of Harford County have flocked to mass transit. But now, at a time when the number of Harford County citizens using buses and trains is at an all time high, MTA plans on cutting services. This is an outrage. As ridership increases, services should increase. Even during this down economic time, the simple laws of supply and demand should hold true. More people are using these services; this is not the time to take them away. Maintaining the bus and train lines are vital to their survival, because many low income families rely on this transportation to get to their jobs. There are other options that should be considered before terminating these services. At a public hearing nearly all of the 150 citizens in attendance supported raising fares as opposed to loss of service. Also there are several unpopular highway projects that could be placed on hold in order to maintain our current level of mass transportation. In particular, citizens have expressed concern regarding the I-95 Section 200 project. With the impending implementation of BRAC, thousands of new citizens will descend on Harford County. These are people who are accustomed to mass transit and will expect a certain level of service. The Joppa/Joppatowne Community Council requests MTA rethink its proposed cuts to Harford County’s mass transit and look for other ways to deal with the budget shortfall.
Respectfully,
Christopher Rohe
Chairperson
on behalf of the
Joppa/Joppatowne Community Council
Betty Byrne
Doris G. Carey, Secretary
Susan B. Heselton
James B. Lyons, III
Gloria Moon, Vice-Chair
Paula R. Mullis
Ron Sollod
The Joppa/Joppatowne Community Council comments regarding the mass transit cuts are right on target. I would like to add an additional concern, that of the disabled. To many of our disabled friends and neighbors there are no other options to them save mass transit. When I attended hearings on this important issue I heard many say they would have to drive to work, in their own car, putting more cars on the road, burning more fossil fuel, and increasing our dependency on foreign oil. The disabled do not have the option of driving a car. Take away mass transit from the disabled and they lose their mobility, their job, and their independence.
Mass Transit is independence for many. If there was ever an expense that was warranted, the expense of providing the ability of citizens to move around freely is surly warranted. Just as we do with some obscure lanes and side roads serving a few yet are a part of an entire areas rehabilitation of roads we must maintain transit routs even if they are not individually profitable.
The alternative is one by one elimination of routes to the point that very few exist.
Go Dagger !