What the Question Should Be

The view that transit is a luxury we can't afford in this time of economic peril is getting quite ridiculous. From the papers all over California that don't see the high speed rail investments as important for the states future to Virginia Beach politicians asking where they were going to get money for the extension of the under construction light rail line to Virginia Beach.

Linda Johnson questioned Nixon's light rail talk during her answer. "I think we need to get real here," she said. "The economy today is in a crisis, so the bottom line is, where's the money coming from?"

Why not from money that would usually go to freeways to nowhere? Seems to me if the economy is shot, you're not going to need those freeways for a while anyway. With more people taking transit and gas getting more expensive, its time to shuck the excuses.