By Jeff Watson
As we continue to live with the reality of COVID-19, we must take steps to balance our current needs and protect our resources for the post-COVID world. While our roads and highways are currently less traveled, as we get back to the health and welfare we previously enjoyed, congestion will return with a vengeance. To avoid future traffic nightmares and protect our air quality and climate, we must pass Caltrain’s Measure RR this November.
Passing Measure RR will preserve Caltrain service for over 60,000 weekday riders, including thousands of essential workers, while easing traffic on local highways and expressways. It will also include an affordability program incorporating discounted passes and/or other means-based fare discounts.
Caltrain is an essential piece of the Bay Area’s transportation network, and with many people avoiding public transit due to COVID-19, Caltrain’s continued funding, service and operations are threatened. Measure RR’s financial impact to each of us is minimal — roughly the price of a good cup of coffee to allow Caltrain to continue serving as a vital lifeline for the Bay Area.
As someone who has devoted his career to improving transportation infrastructure and public transit, I urge you to vote yes on Caltrain’s Measure RR. We cannot allow the impact of COVID-19 to rob us of this valuable resource. Our mobility, our environment and our community depend on it.
Jeff Watson
Oakland
The letter writer is
Northern California office leader
and vice president for HNTB Corp.
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(3) comments
Think Jeff has a special interest here? . You can say he is part of the problem and not part of the solution. Jeff's letter is everything you need to know in order to vote No on RR.
Thanks for the recommendation, I will be sure to vote Yes.
Mr. Watson – let’s try the opposite. From each Caltrain employee, actually, from each government employee, let’s reduce their salaries, pensions and benefits by the price of a good cup of coffee (preferably each day or at most, each week) to allow Caltrain to continue serving. We can then see where we stand. Or open up a GoFundMe account. Otherwise, No on RR and any measures wasting peoples hard earned money.
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