Mass transit not Tollway’s job

I am dismayed by RTA Executive Director Joe Costello’s letter praising the Tollway Folly Authority for including “transit” as an element of their Jane Addams expansion plan.

The Tollway proposed this element and included the cost of it as part of the justification for higher tolls, aka taxes, before there had been any study of its feasibility. Later, they contributed a half-million dollars to conduct a feasibility study along with the RTA to determine whether an express bus lane would attract sufficient riders.

Typical actions by the demigods that we allow to manage our lives: spend the money and later determine if it is necessary or even feasible. More than likely, it won’t attract sufficient passengers and then we will hear the cry for additional subsidies to keep such a service running.

I also question the legitimacy of the Tollway Authority venturing into the area of mass transportation in any way, be it buses, light rail or commuter trains. It would seem totally beyond the scope of the reason it was created — to build and maintain limited access roadways. To use tolls extorted from its users to provide any type of accommodation for mass transit is not their responsibility.

If the RTA wants bus lanes or any other accommodation for any form of mass transit, let them ante up the necessary funds. It is so easy to be a visionary and spend our dollars when you don’t have to be accountable. The leaders of the tollway have frequently demonstrated this. To heap praise on them for this “vision” is disgusting. Any respect I had for the RTA leadership just evaporated.

Raymond Bellock

Sleepy Hollow