Transit craziness

I'm no expert, but...

Caltrain, operated by Samtrans is used extensively. Indeed, if there were more trains running, more people would probably use them. I for one would love to be sure there was a return train around 11:00 PM from San Francisco home. BART has lots of ridership.

So, Caltrain is broke. BART is in financial trouble. But there is money for a high speed rail, that few seem to want or express needing to use and VTA keeps soaking up money for the light rail which most of the time has hardly any ridership.

What's wrong with this picture?

Infrastructure - Necessary, but not sexy

So, transit is sexy. Transportation needs such as roads, repair of potholes, etc., is not sexy. Water and water waste are not sexy. Energy is only sexy to the extent that we create windmills and fear nuclear energy.

The question is: How do we get citizens to recognize the importance of maintenance over the latest greatest - such as light rail or high speed rail. I say this, fully aware that one of the things I love about NY and DC is public transportation.

I'm not against. I'd be happy if we had a really effective transit system - but we don't and in the mean time our potholes are growing to be ponds, and our roads are even more congested, slowing every one down.