Dear Editor,
Great article on the Valley Transportation Authority’s Measure
B. Factual articles like Matt King’s on VTAs Plan B, give the
educated electorate enough real forthright data to influence better
public policy.
Dear Editor,
Great article on the Valley Transportation Authority’s Measure B. Factual articles like Matt King’s on VTAs Plan B, give the educated electorate enough real forthright data to influence better public policy. Unfortunately, the politicians are still planning to come back to their perceived sucker-voters to ask for another 1/4-cent sales tax atop the 1/2-cent tax county supervisors voted on Feb. 28 for general purposes, to ask citizens to approve. (The “feeding frenzy” behavior of public employee unions at that county general 1/2 cent tax meeting, irrespective of the impact on taxpayers, was totally disgusting. To them, our wallets are wide open!)
Such a shame that this county and politicians are so hell-bent to spend our tax monies on so many wasteful transit projects that will only require even MORE taxes in the future to support the few riders; transit is subsidized heavily and every extension adds more needs.
Meanwhile, roads and congestion worsen (U.S. 101 from Morgan Hill to Gilroy) in predictable fashion. Other roads kill and maim like Pacheco Pass Highway 152. At current rates, even if Highway 152 would be widened to four lanes with a middle section divide on or adjacent to its current alignment, it would take about five years, and perhaps $100 million, but still result in 35 more deaths, 600 injuries (many with permanent maiming), with the projected 1,000 accidents that are likely to occur in the meantime. Who will these motorists be? Surely, some locals … sad.
Even though motorists MORE than pay in taxes, fees and fines enough funds that could adequately maintain and build better roads, with some left over for other transportation projects, the current skew of transportation funding is so tilted to fund the less than 5 percent of commuters, and even a smaller percentage of transit users during non-commute hours, that the 95 percent of us have to suffer risk, injury, congestion delay and smog daily.
Our politicians, at all levels, city, county, state, and federal must band together to rectify transportation injustice this right away, starting with South County roads, namely state Highway 52, U.S. 101, and state Highway 25.
Omar Chatty
