The 'public' in public transportation

Re "Reality check on the rails" (Letters, Nov. 8): My wife and I, like Dennis Diede and his wife, recently traveled to Chicago. We also traveled by train to downtown; we had two bags and enjoyed the walk to the train. Was the train spotless and filled with people who were identical to ourselves? No. Did we feel threatened? Why would we? Teenagers are rowdy everywhere: at home, on the street, in school and, if you've ever traveled with them, in your car. As for people drinking out of bottles, I see them on the street, but I still walk on sidewalks.

People love their cars because they isolate them from the rest of the world, but public transportation is just that: public. It should benefit all, not just people who are quiet vacationers. Students and many others simply cannot afford $60 cab rides.

Sacramento passed up the opportunity for a light-rail station at Sac State. We certainly shouldn't refuse to have rail travel to Cosumnes River College and the airport due to one traveler's experience. Students and the young are taxpayers, too.

– John Kuckowicz, Sacramento

Train travel often pleasant

Letter writer Dennis Diede's unpleasant experience taking a local train out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport was unfortunate but not necessarily typical.

I recently took local rail direct from the Portland, Ore., airport passenger terminal to downtown Portland. The train was clean, the price was a pleasant buck-fifty, and one of the kind riders offered me a hometown insider's view of where to find the best cup of coffee around Pioneer Square. A month later I traveled through Seattle's airport and enjoyed a similar experience on a local bus.

Transit encourages walking through encouraging people to stroll down to the bus or train, which in turn encourages walking on the local, non-commute trips, which make up the majority of trips we take, further reducing vehicle miles traveled.

Like any public service, transit and light rail directly reflect the value we put on it through the level of our investment. If we make the investment in clean, safe, affordable and accessible transit to our airport and all around our region that Portland and Seattle have, we will share the experiences I recently enjoyed in both towns. We'll have safer, healthier and more active communities all around. Hey, let's do it.

– Terry Preston, Sacramento

WALKSacramento, Complete Streets coordinator

The kindness of strangers

On Oct. 30, I was riding my bicycle on O Street headed to the light -rail station at Eighth and O. It was raining and as I crossed Eighth Street, the bicycle wheels slipped on the light-rail tracks and I fell to the ground, landing on my left hip. Immediately, several pedestrians approached offering assistance. Some stood between me and the approaching cars and the trains that might appear. The driver of an SUV waited patiently until I was out of danger. My bike and I were carried out of the rain to a bench. One of the kind pedestrians dialed 911 and waited until an engine from Station 1 arrived. They called an ambulance from Station 4. I was transported to Sutter General where an X-ray showed I had a fractured femur. To all who approached and anonymously provided assistance and called an ambulance, please accept my gratitude and appreciation.

– Monte Blair, Sacramento

Prison plan 'obscene'

For months, I have read about the obscene order from J. Clark Kelso and Judge Thelton Henderson that the state spend $8 billion to build prison medical centers. Given the financial situation the state is experiencing – the loss of jobs by law-abiding citizens; the loss of homes by hard-working people; the inability to afford medical insurance by the poor; the lack of medical facilities for the poor, homeless and aged – how can these two individuals order the state to pay $250 million immediately or face contempt?

I will never understand how more money can be spent on those who have committed heinous crimes against our society than for those who attempt to be productive citizens.