[RP TownTalk] One last thought on purple line

[Lou King]

Sue you are absolutely correct, traffic is worse now than it was 20 
years ago. But think about how bad traffic would be IF we did not have 
metro!

Last November (2009) 16,130,000 people got on metro. According to 
Metro's data for last November that is a week-day average of 718,000 
daily riders. Knowing how I drove to work, that is 359,000 cars NOT on 
the roads in the morning AND 359,000 cars NOT on the roads in the 
evening, every workday!

To put that in prospective that is greater than the population of 
Baltimore (635,815) not on the roads, every day in the Washington area, 
due to Metro.

Consider the noise and pollution of 718,000 car trips (yes we "all" 
drive alone) to Metro. Or in the case of the Purple Line the estimate of 
19,200 daily trips by car NOT on the roads.

Yes more new homes, condos, etc. and the powers that be struggle just to 
keep up with the growth. Can you imagine the howls of pain if this year 
we were ask to pay, say twice as much in taxes and fairs, to build a 
system so that in 2015 traffic would be the same as it is now - not 
better just the same.

Back in the late '60 and early '70 in addition to 'free love' there was 
the pill and among other things concern about the global population 
explosion. Not just talk but some action. Based on the continuing need 
for more houses, not enough people were concerned enough about the 
future to really take action.

Its to late to control the current population, people don't want to pay 
for the infrastructure to support the increased population, or pay for 
the future. What to do, what to do?

Lou
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P.S. My apologizes Sue for fat fingering this morning.