In addition to Colm’s remarks, I would ask him why expensive trips were taken by numerous city and county members in years past to other cities, in search for transit answers, yet NONE have been implemented?

I understand room service at these fine hotels is hard to pass up, but what was learned from these trips? When were the findings of these trips brought up in city council? What have YOU done to change transit?

I lived in Denver — I know what working transit is. Denver was one of the study cities mentioned above. It has light rail, and buses that do not run on a “fan like” route, as Birmingham does. What have we done to make our system more like Denver’s? Apparently, we’ve approved a double-decker highway section out 280 and haven’t touched the routes to make them more efficient…in fact, routes have been cut.

I could go on and on, but I hope you realize in Denver there is RTD — which stands for “REGIONAL Transportation District”. They successfully were able to get surrounding cities on the bandwagon that riding public transit is not just for vagrants. It’s for professionals, students, the elderly, children, and quite frankly, for anyone that feels that riding in cars is detrimental to our environment.

In closing, please do yourself a favor and compare Denver’s transit website with our own. You can plan trips, see which buses to take, purchase fares — basically everything you CANNOT do on our own site. Ours has gotten more “flashy” in the past few months, but just as in tune with the buses in this town, it isn’t efficient or user friendly.

http://www.rtd-denver.com

http://www.bjcta.org/

Thank you.

How does Mayor Bell feel about the lack of infrastructure for people who commute to work by bicycle? Coupled with a decrepit transit system, the lack of bike lanes, bike paths, and uninformed motorists makes everyday commuting in this city a nightmare.