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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis election season, Americans pony up for public transportation
from Grist:
This election season, Americans pony up for public transportation
By Greg Hanscom
Slates business and economics correspondent, Matthew Yglesias, recently penned a paean to L.A.s newfound love affair with mass transit, only to be pummeled by the L.A. Weekly:
Because L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the presidents longtime Latino pet, has burned through all his shills here at home, he now relies on D.C. journalists to spot his political ambitions. And boy, are they delivering Earlier this week, Yglesias gave the Los Angeles mayor and his proposed Measure J transportation tax the slobberiest cross-country blow job to date.
Transcontinental oral sex aside, the Weekly has a point: Even as Villaraigosa has championed new light rail lines and bike lanes, L.A. Countys Metro has slashed bus service to some of the citys most down-and-out neighborhoods.
But take heart, L.A. It could be worse. You could be Atlanta.
Atlantas transit agency has been cutting bus service due to budget shortfalls, too. But here, light rail hasnt fared much better. In July, a ballot measure that would have raised $8 billion for rail and other transportation projects went down in flames.
The good news? Atlanta seems to be an exception to the rule. Transit funding is winning wide approval in other cities around the country this year, as in recent years and will likely see a few more big wins on ballot budget initiatives in November, including in L.A. If all goes as planned, Angelenos will get the world-class transit system that Mayor Villaraigosa dreams about and sooner than you might think. ..........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/politics/transitsmart-growth-on-the-ballot/
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This election season, Americans pony up for public transportation (Original Post)
marmar
Sep 2012
OP
DBoon
(22,350 posts)1. LA Weekly is a right wing rag
it is a shadow of the paper that used to have Harold Meyerson and Marc Cooper among its writers
msongs
(67,381 posts)2. corporate prostitute politicians are doing the same in Hononlulu to get a train to nowhere ...
slashing bus service then using the lack of public transit as a n excuse to funnel $5 billion to corrupt corporations in bed with corrupt unions. and by the way, the $5 billion? we all know that will be 10-15 billion before the thieves get done raping the population