Durham & Orange voters--Transportation Referendum

[marions ghost]

I am voting FOR the .05 % sales tax to go directly to mass transit in Durham and Orange, including an expanded bus system, a new Amtrak station in Hillsborough near Churton St (on an existing site owned by the county), and eventual linking of the long-awaited Triangle light rail between Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill.

http://www.durhamorangefriendsoftransit.org/

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/18887543/article-Orange-County-calls-transit-tax-referendum

http://www.letsgetmoving.org/updates/rta-and-chapel-hill-chamber-endorse-orange-transit-referendum/

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Who's on board for this?--local governments, business sector, DOT, transit activists, citizens groups. This is the most expedient way to make this happen immediately (finally!!) Never mind the disappointments and bruises of the past when the mass transit carrot was dangled and snatched away repeatedly. This is a well-thought out, very workable plan. The money --$3-5 million per year from the sales tax alone, along with funds from other sources--cannot be spent for anything else.

Please don't buy the old worn-out line that people won't use this. They definitely will, especially as they see the costs of driving skyrocketing and the roads now clogged beyond capacity. If you are skeptical please read the info at the website DurhamOrange Friends of Transit above.

Thanks for considering it.
mg

[Tunkamerica]

1. I definitely would if it ran after midnight. Kind of pointless if I have to find my own way home

after work.

[marions ghost]

3. well, think of all the people it would help...

and the cars it would get off the road would help you directly. And do you have any friends or family with teens, seniors, or disabled members? Imagine the free time families would have if they didn't have to transport non-driving family everywhere, and didn't have to provide vehicles to kids still living at home. It's a quality of life issue for many. Mass transit would spell freedom from car dependency.

Recreation--What if you wanted to go to the state fair or a Bulls game or UNC/Duke/State game?

Hospitals--Imagine if hospital workers could get to Duke (for ex) more easily and cheaply than driving cars? I know for a fact that Duke Medical Center is often hampered by employees who have problems with transportation.

Connection--How often do you avoid going somewhere just because of the hassle? What if you could visit a friend in Raleigh without dreading the drive back to CH/Durham/HBoro?

We just have to get this going. We need all the ground transportation we can get. Or we will literally be sitting on highways inching along everywhere we go. This area is one of the worst in country for air pollution from vehicles.

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"Recent studies show that breathing street-level fumes for just 30 minutes can intensify electrical activity in brain regions responsible for behavior, personality and decision-making, changes that are suggestive of stress, scientists in the Netherlands recently discovered. Breathing normal city air with high levels of traffic exhaust for 90 days can change the way that genes turn on or off among the elderly; it can also leave a molecular mark on the genome of a newborn for life, separate research teams at Columbia University and Harvard University reported this year.

Children in areas affected by high levels of emissions, on average, scored more poorly on intelligence tests and were more prone to depression, anxiety and attention problems than children growing up in cleaner air, separate research teams in New York, Boston, Beijing, and Krakow, Poland, found. And older men and women long exposed to higher levels of traffic-related particles and ozone had memory and reasoning problems that effectively added five years to their mental age, other university researchers in Boston reported this year. The emissions may also heighten the risk of Alzheimer's disease and speed the effects of Parkinson's disease.

"The evidence is growing that air pollution can affect the brain," says medical epidemiologist Heather Volk at USC's Keck School of Medicine. "We may be starting to realize the effects are broader than we realized."

"The Hidden Toll of Traffic Jams"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203733504577024000381790904.html

[Tunkamerica]

8. I said I would ride it if it ran after midnight,

I never said I wouldn't support it because it doesn't.

[marions ghost]

10. Gotcha, no worries

I know you didn't say you wouldn't support it. Just wanted to list some general points. Convenient brain dump.

It's possible there would be a way to add some popular routes after midnight and make them safe. I imagine that would be a ways off, but no harm in thinking big. It's a good point you're making about the variable hours that people are working these days...it needs to be analyzed as to how many riders at odd hours could be helped.

[ncgrits]

2. Count me in. Already voted for it. nt

[marions ghost]

4. OK!

[John2]

5. I'll vote for it

Yeah, I'll vote for it.

[marions ghost]

7. Yes!

[Ford_Prefect]

6. Already Voted for it! Damn good Idea it is too!

[marions ghost]

9. Excellent!

IMO mass transit is more than a convenience--it's a right--we are entitled to efficient & safe mass transit in an urban area. The most liveable cities on the planet take it for granted.

This is long overdue--should've been done 10, 15, even 20 years ago. Very short-sighted. But that's history. We have no choice but to go forward now.