AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[wwmiv]

I dispute the notion that the system proposed is “good.” This system is straight up bad. I cannot take seriously anyone who believes what we are building is “good”—especially after we aren’t even getting what we voted on (which WOULD have been good and I’d still support it, even if it wasn’t perfect). The changes made after the fact have downgraded the project from good and serviceable to bad and not worth it.

Ergo: I’m not letting perfect by the enemy of the good—I’m letting good be the enemy of a bad system designed in bad faith and passed in a bait and switch. And more and more it seems like you all are letting bad be the enemy of nothing. I’d rather have nothing and make do, because nothing is better than a millstone/albatross/white elephant. The whole system has been redesigned to be penny wise and a pound foolish.

If the current constitutional regime survives, I’d wager we are no more than two presidential cycles away from a sea change in federal policy on transit. The backlash against Trump (FWIW, I’ve said is here before and I’ll say it again: part of the reason I supported him [but not all] is to CREATE that backlash) nearly guarantees such a sea change. For Democrats who are already transit-friendly, they gain more power (potentially a stranglehold on the federal government for a decade, if we’re being honest); for Republicans who are not, transit is one of the easiest policy pivots to attract new voters. That’s worth being patient and waiting for.