Thursday, January 31, 2008

Metro expansion to Tysons and Dulles

Now in many respects I could care less if silly people could make it out to Tysons Corner to spend more money on really cool stuff that I just cannot afford. I say, let those people guzzle gas, sit in traffic and just deal with the costs of consumption. But let's be honest, extending rail to tysons and then on to dulles is not about the mega-shopping experiences to be had out that direction; it is about getting even some tiny portion of drivers off the road. Long-term, public transportation that people will use just makes sense. Crank out all of the free-market arguments that you want. Talk of viable alternatives such as rapid bus if you so choose. (Ride the circulator in DC. White people still will not use that one. I ride the bus in DC. I am an anomaly.) But what people will use is mass transit that involves train/rail in some capacity. So, here is my proposal: civil disobedience from a quasi-civil servant agency. Shut down metro for two weeks. Let people feel the pinch. Then start it up again for a day. Thereafter, shut it down again for an unspecified period of time. I don't drive-though I realize that people with kids and other responsibilities need to have cars. But if you want to get around entirely by car and be dependent on it, move to ohio.

1 Comments:

At February 3, 2008 at 9:22 AM , Blogger sw said...

I found this awhile ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/84535069/

I confess I like the idea of easy access to Tyson's (it's not all for rich folks, btw--there's a Target & other discount stores there) from where I live.

I hear you about the buses. I used to take the bus everywhere, every day. Love the #42. btw, I thought the Circulator was for tourists?

 

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