METRO Spinning Its Wheels?

This past Sunday the Beacon editorial page framed the METRO sales tax proposal as a social service levy.

Summit County voters, facing a difficult economy, repeatedly have shown a generous spirit, recently supporting levies for children services and mental health, alcohol and drug addiction treatment. As Metro moves forward with its campaign for a sales tax increase, voters must consider carefully their responsibility to help the vulnerable move ahead, too.

The region is never going to get 21^st century transit that provides an alternative for all commuters unless we get past this notion that the buses are there only to help out poor folks. On top of that we are going to increase a regressive tax to help the “vulnerable”out? The odds of a sales tax increase getting approved by voters have to be low. METRO is going to waste too much time spinning its wheels (ha ha wheels) on the sales tax when they should be thinking about a different approach. I go back to my previous posting on this one. The State and this region need to consider a gasoline tax to fund a truly comprehensive approach to public transit. I'm sure the transit systems in New York and Washington D.C. are considered to be more than just a social program.