Sunday, January 8, 2012

Politicians serve car culture, leave #transit dependent to suffer


Suffolk bus fares to rise in spring: http://tinyurl.com/6u5wgal

My letter to the editor at Newsday:

Dear Editor,

In response to your article, Suffolk bus fares to rise in spring I am appalled at this move. It only seeks to punish those who must use public transportation in order to get around. Those are people who cannot afford to drive, cannot afford to own cars, people who are disabled and our seniors.

I have spoken out on this issue at any given moment since there are no buses on Sunday and yet, they want to raise the fares? I have challenged each and every politician via the Net to go without their cars for at least a week and take buses to where they want to go. I want them to see how we live. It seems that politicians will fight to keep the cost of gas down for those who drive cars, and yet through this move they will sanction raising the fares on those who use public transportation. What this shows me is that they are not on our side.

I work on Sundays at a job that pays a little over minimum wage, and without buses, I must take a cab to work. Lindy’s cab company charges $9.00 each way. So, I am at their mercy. If there were buses on Sunday, at the current rate, it would only cost me $3.00 which is cost affective.

I say shame to those who seek this rate hike since it shows me that they do not care for the working poor, the disabled and our seniors. We will remember this the next time they want our vote.

Sincerely,
Mary MacElveen

1 comment:

  1. Yes! It's shameful around where I live that the bus management and board all use their own private vehicles and don't even ride the bus!! Why are they in charge of the bus system? It makes no sense!

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