Hey transit board, improve the Tri-Cities system, don’t dismantle it | Letters to Editor
Transit board is off base
Hey Clint and other members of the BFT board: Why are you trying to fix a problem that does not exist?
Why not improve the bus system? The buses look empty? Who gets on a bus and rides from one end to the other? Riders get off and on at various points.
The population of the Tri-Cities, including West Richland, is 312,000. Ridership for the Benton Franklin bus system is approximately 8,300 per day. That’s 8,300 riders who cannot afford a car with high gas prices and insurance rates.
Teens use the bus.There is Dial a Ride getting the disabled to their destination. Those who work and live in one county need transport to another county.
There is no logic or economic sense to cutting taxes.That minuscule tax cut will put big bucks in taxpayers pockets?
Reserves are allocated for bus replacement, increased fuel costs and capital projects. Prices are locked in at specific prices. Fire departments and police departments do the same thing.
Using Via? Via per boarding (cost is) $22.78, fixed route $11.23. You want to change to a system that is less effective and more expensive? Improve the system, don’t dismantle it.
April Nishioka, Richland
‘Fossil fuels’ are great misnomer
History’s greatest misnomer is “fossil fuels.” Oil wells have never produced even one fossil.
Coal comes from the remains of compressed carboniferous period vegetation. Natural gas — methane — has been outgassing from the Earth’s core since our planet formed. Oil’s origins are an entirely different story.
Why does crude oil contain only hydrogen and carbon, and none of the other seven essential elements for life such as nitrogen, oxygen, etc.? How do oil fields replenish themselves?
Dr. Thomas Gold, in his 1992 book “The Deep Hot Biosphere,” postulates that the methane, outgassing from the earth’s core is a food source for sub-surface bacteria. These high-pressure-and-temperature-dependent bacteria consume methane and produce longer-chain alkanes as a waste product. They do so between five and 10 miles below our feet.
When encountering untouched water in the Earth’s deepest diamond mines, bacteria have been documented. It has been calculated that the total mass of bacteria below our feet exceeds that of all surface life.
Big Oil has encouraged the 1759 term “fossil fuel;” it implies there are only so many dead dinosaurs, and until they’re all gone, charge whatever (you can).
Dead dinosaurs don’t limit our oil supply. Sub-surface hydrocarbons have been disastrously underestimated.
Michael Harrington, Pasco
He wants to know: Where is KPD?
For weeks, months, maybe even years, I’ve been wondering who is keeping my community safe. Is KPD (the Kennewick Police Department) even around?
For this series of “Where is KPD?” I’m using a personal example .This evening while driving home, I enjoyed going 55 mph down Columbia Center Boulevard.I then enjoyed a brisk 60 mph down Clearwater.
Do you think they’ll ever find me? Given the raucous Friday evening racing, I don’t think they will.
Note to self: Maybe we don’t need to raise taxes to pay for public safety if they don’t protect us to begin with?
Logan Lapierre, Kennewick
