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What If Everybody Took Public Transportation?
One of my favorite books from childhood is called “If Everybody Did,” by Joanne Stover. The basic gist: if one person tracks mud in the house it’s no big deal, but if everybody did. . . same thing with dropping a tack on the floor, or leaving a bit of litter. . . you get the idea. That book gave me the notion early on that, well, to use a well-worn cliché, we’re all in this together. With that in mind, we launched our Transportation Agenda.
In order to push ahead for a better and healthier quality of life in Massachusetts, we need to think about: “What if everybody drove a car to get anywhere?” Unfortunately, our elected officials seem to be leading us down that road.
While we understand the need to maintain our roadways, investing in public transit can make a greater impact on our quality of life. In 2000, according to Sierra Club of Massachusetts, we spent seven times more money on roads than on public transit. Decision-makers talk about “investing” in roads and bridges and “subsidizing” mass transit. It’s no surprise, really—since the public’s voice is often drowned out by Detroit, Big Oil and the automakers when public policy is drafted.
We need our decision-makers to embrace our vision for Massachusetts’ publuc transportation. I don’t want to be impractical, but, just for the fun of it, turn Ms. Stover’s story upside down and imagine: what if everybody took public transit?
We’d have cleaner air, more time on our hands, less dependence on foreign oil, less road rage, more community. We have to turn the tables around and shift the paradigm, so that we agree we’re investing in the public—through transit.
I hope this newsletter conveys our transportation agenda in a way that strikes you as both practical and visionary.
Thanks for your support.
Janet S. Domenitz
Executive Director
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