Commentary
Christian Read

Just in case no one has heard, Proposition One is a bill coming to the voters that would provide greater funding for the Pierce Transit public transportation system. Over the past four years, Pierce Transit faced serious budget cuts, and dealt with them by cutting buses to certain places and certain times of the day.

This year, the cuts are more important than ever before. If Proposition One isn’t passed, the bus system loses both weekend and evening routes, not to mention several other routes – including the one that passes by my house.

Too many people take the public transit system for granted. Many figure that since they don’t use it, they don’t need it. Nobody wants to pay into something that they aren’t going to use.

Unfortunately, this widespread thinking hurts all of the people who depend on the bus system; people ranging from students to senior citizens to the economically unfortunate. These are the people who depend on the bus to get to work, school, and stores.

These people are depending on Pierce County to pass Proposition One. Every vote counts (and that’s not just advice from a fortune cookie.) Just imagine how much life won’t change with a 0.3% increase in sales tax. The change will be practically unnoticeable to taxpayers, but will mean everything to Pierce Transit—and in turn, the riders.

The public transit system is in a sad state. It has become a neglected summer flower: it was once full and fragrant (and I mean that quite literally), but is wilting and shriveling into nothing due to the lack of attention by the public.

Everybody needs to spread the word: our buses need to be watered, with money and fresh air.

I found it rather interesting that over 12 million rides were given to citizens in need last year. If half of the buses get cut, that’s 6 million rides lost, give or take. (I figured that out with my advanced math abilities.) That hurts a lot of people.

I don’t think anyone has heard of what’s at stake with Proposition One. I knew nothing about it until the signs went up at the bus stops by my house: “As of September 30th, this bus stop will be permanently closed.” Only when I went online to research further did I learn about the bill and its significance.

Try asking around. Who actually knows what Proposition One is? Who knows how little it affects taxpayers, compared to how greatly it affects riders? There aren’t many people that realize, it only costs three cents per ten dollars to help hundreds of people get where they need to go. Spread the word! Water our buses!