No one likes to pay taxes, but WRTA provides a public service worth supporting

EDITOR:

No one likes to pay taxes. And I will admit that I have voted against a few ballot levies over the years. But there comes a time when we need to examine the cost benefit of what we are asked to fund. WRTA, our community-wide bus service, is one such entity. A writer on Feb. 4 very lucidly explained the nature of the ridership and the value WRTA has to these individuals. And it would be easy for me to blow it off, because I do not ride the buses. In fact, I don’t recall ever being on a WRTA vehicle. I am fortunate enough to have my own transportation and the Youngstown area is generally easy enough to navigate and parking adequately available that travel in a personal vehicle is not a problem.

But I do remember living in Philadelphia while in college where public transportation was absolutely essential to me. I could not afford to maintain a car then. Without SEPTA, the regional equivalent of WRTA, I would have been hard pressed to attend class and then work in the evenings to earn funds to cover my tuition and housing costs. Although we may be in a less densely populated area here, and have virtually no traffic jams, the needs of those without cars is just as great. And the benefit to me as a taxpayer is just as significant.

If we are to move people out of poverty, it requires the ability to get an education, to work, and to buy the goods and services that are needed to maintain oneself. And that effort literally requires the ability to “move.” How can we as a society encourage someone to get an education to better themselves if they lack a way to get to classes? How can we demand that people become self-supporting if they cannot afford a car and have no reasonable means to get to work? How can we claim to be a compassionate community if we condemn the elderly, the disabled, the poor to an isolated existence, trapped in their homes and in neighborhoods that lack grocery stores and necessary services on which we all rely? How can we be penny-wise and pound-foolish by voting against this reasonable request for funding?

Each rider on WRTA is most likely someone who would like to be able to provide their own transportation. It is not fun standing in the cold or heat, in rain or snow, and in the dark and the wind waiting for your ride to come. The next time you walk to your car, think about carrying your packages without the cart and standing next to your vehicle for ten or fifteen minutes before you get in. Make it at night when it’s cold and rainy. You will understand what the sight of a bus means to someone without their own auto. Consider taking the bus on your next work day or for your next shopping trip. You will understand the value of the WRTA to our community.

I know the overwhelming majority of my friends and neighbors never take the bus. We don’t have to use WRTA because we have our own cars — sometimes two or three per family. As we complain about the high cost of gas, be thankful you have your own vehicle to put the gas in. Stop for just a moment and think about where you would be and how you would maintain your day-to-day life if you were unable to go in your own transportation whenever you wanted. And please, vote “Yes” on the WRTA levy. It is the least we can do for our neighbors.

TIMOTHY L. WAGNER

Youngstown