Here’s some history relevant to current transit planning for our area. The first rapid transit line in NYC was an elevated line that dates from about 1870. It was privately financed, and the first two companies operating it went bankrupt. The NYC population was 942,000 then, not including Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and other areas that were not added until 1898.

Now the transit planners for Raleigh, with its 2010 population that is less than half of NYC’s in 1870 and much less densely populated, want the voters to approve a transit plan that includes publicly, not privately, financed rail. There’s no bankruptcy option here; it’s all on us taxpayers. There is resistance to this plan, and much of the resistance is because many see rail transit for the spread-out Raleigh area to be ineffective and overly expensive. However, rail transit would enhance the area’s image, and that’s what the planners are really seeking.

Want something to brag about? How about world-class bus service? I’ll vote for that, but not for utopian rail transit.

Thomas McKee

Cary