Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Feds force Metro Transit to cancel special game-day service to Seahawks games

Want an example of the right wing agenda in action? Well, here you go:
A new federal regulation has taken public shuttle service away from football games nationwide, and Seattle is no exception.

The news has fans like Jim and Amanda Peterson upset.

The Petersons have held season tickets for six years. As parking became more expensive around Qwest Field, they let Metro Transit shuttles do the driving for them.

"It seems like the thing to do with gas prices, and it costs like $25 to $40 to park," said Amanda Peterson. "So it just made sense from a cost standpoint and freeing up traffic as well."
What federal regulation, you ask? Why, the one intended to promote privatized transportation at the expense of the common good:
It prohibits public transportation agencies like King County Metro Transit from providing shuttles if a privately owned agency wants the job.

Federal officials say the goal was to create more free market competition, and not tie up taxpayer dollars.
First, there is no such thing as a "free" market - that is a right wing talking point and a myth. As linguistics professor George Lakoff observed in his bestseller Don't Think of An Elephant: "All markets are constructed for someone's benefit; no markets are completely free. Markets should be constructed for the broadest possible prosperity, and they haven't been."

But more importantly, shuttle transportation is a resource, a common good, that should be provided by government as a public service to its people. Forget about private competition. This stupid, misguided federal regulation bars local transit authorities from providing sports fans with an alternative to driving.

Abraham Lincoln once said that "The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do for themselves in their separate and individual capacities."

Providing shuttle service to big events is something that government can do for this region more effectively and more cheaply than any private entity can.

As it turns out, the market is going to leave Seahawks fans high and dry:
For the 5,000 Seahawks fans that use Metro shuttles on game day, the regulation means no shuttle service at all, since the Seahawks passed on the $20 per passenger bid offered by a single private operator.

[...]

The Seahawks said they turned down the private company because it was too expensive and because the bid did not include approvals to use park-and-ride lots, roadways, and staging areas to operate the shuttles smoothly
It figures there would be no competitive bidding from the "free" market. The harm of this federal meddling is already obvious. We call on Senators Murray and Cantwell, and our Democratic representatives in Congress, to do whatever they can to get this counterproductive restriction on public transit agencies canned.

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