We definitely need to pay for the roads somehow but I myself am skeptical of handing the state more money as are many others, that's what my whole rant is about. Whether it be a gas tax raise or whatever else I have little faith that the state would spend the money responsibly over the long term and it'd be difficult to hold individual representatives responsible for the inevitable poor spending decisions. I want to pay for local roads locally, I'm willing to vote yes on a property tax millage to fix my neighborhoods roads and sidewalks right now. No need for some savior to come down from above, this is a step that could be taken right now by local politicians and be on the next ballot.
There two individuals that one could point to and hold responsible for bad politically motivated spending decisions, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President. I believe we have lost faith in the State of Michigan because that is exactly what these guys want, prove the government doesn't work in the most obvious ways. I would have no problem with localities raising their own extra money for roads. but in the same vein as charter schools, if it takes money away for the overall public funds for statewide road works and projects by keeping money local that would have gone to the state I think that would be a bad idea. There was a time when most people believed in and even venerated our state departments as providers for the public good and commonwealth.
Don't speed down S.Washington Ave in REOTown today! The limit is 25mph! I have watched the cops stop at least six cars this morning! It is a good idea as I have seen drivers using the center left-turn lane as a passing lane to get by people going 25mph quite a lot lately. So dumb!
I was reading about the Federal FAST grants for the year. Listed in the CATA BRT. See page 13. Does anyone have any more info from the CATA side? I thought that CATA had dropped this due to retirements and other issues.
I was wondering if the MSU students can ride anywhere for free on CATA or just the EL-MSU routes. I know it would never happen but it would really increase ridership and decrease our dependence on the automobile and the need for parking space if everyone could ride for free!
MSU students, faculty, and staff can ride for free on the campus routes. Many other universities offer free bus/transit rides on all the local network. I was on the MSU transportation committee and MSU did not show much interest in offering free rides or some kind of structured fee for transit rides on CATA.
I think campus routes are effectively free for anyone these days - most of the time when I board one of those buses the deposit box is
under a cover with "free rides" or something like that printed on it. It is odd that MSU doesn't provide system-wide ridership as a perk... lots of universities do, and it would be a nice recruiting tool. And you think CATA would be on the ball to get the university to buy into a program that would substantially boost ridership!
How does CATA count on-campus rides if the deposit box has a "free rides" cover? I agree that students should get use of the full network, I didn't know they were limited to on-campus routes. Though off-campus students often get bus cards from their student-housing apartment complexes as a perk.
It is mostly a leadership issue from my observations. MSU is more auto-centric than most Big Ten schools and other universities I have been at/visited. A change for higher CATA ridership would be great. My local route does not have weekend or night service.
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under a cover with "free rides" or something like that printed on it. It is odd that MSU doesn't provide system-wide ridership as a perk... lots of universities do, and it would be a nice recruiting tool. And you think CATA would be on the ball to get the university to buy into a program that would substantially boost ridership!