Don't Cut Services

Dear Editor,
    Capital Metro's moves to cut service to the disabled community is immoral. Their rationale – that it is because this community represents only 2% of ridership – is misleading and disingenuine. "Mobility impaired" passes account for a large segment of ridership on fixed route and are not considered in their outlandish average trip cost. We all also know that these cuts, along with cuts in worker benefits, cutting 10% of UT routes, and cutting and subcontracting of city routes is an effort to bankroll the Leander train that will provide only 2,000 trips by Metro's own estimates. That's 1.5% of 2005 ridership, when gas was less than $2. The down payment is $90 million, not including the money already spent on the railway and rights of way. This is where the cuts should be, not from the people who can't drive at all. We would be much better off with no train, even if it caused Leander to leave the taxing district like Cedar Park. Leander contributes so little revenue that the luxury coach service they enjoy now is already disproportionate.