Opinion

“Last fall, Wolfgang Homburger wrote an opinion piece in the Berkeley Daily Planet attacking Bus Rapid Transit. Friends of BRT researched his claims and found that many of them were inaccurate. Unfortunately, the Berkeley Daily Planet failed to publish our response to Wolfgang Homburger, though it was much better researched than most of their opinion pieces—perhaps as a result of their bias against BRT.” -more-

Comments based on the meager amount of hard data emerging from the Iowa and New Hampshire Democratic primaries have offered a lot of speculation but few facts. This is primarily because the commentators, as they themselves will tell you, prefer to report the horse race (“as they come around the bend, Obama is gaining on the left...”) rather than the track statistics which experienced bettors actually use. Or at least that’s the theory. -more-

MANTRA -more-

Two tragic pedestrian deaths in the past month emphasize how urgently the City of Berkeley needs a new approach to pedestrian safety. This new approach would rely on area-wide traffic calming, paid for by financial charges to drivers. Councilmember Capitelli’s appeal to the moral side of drivers is not enough to improve pedestrian safety in Berkeley. -more-

Opponents of Bus Rapid Transit complain about parking and traffic problems, but they ignore the fact that parking and traffic problems will increase whether BRT is built or not. They also ignore an issue that Berkeleyans overwhelmingly agree that we need to address: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. -more-

To make Berkeley the first pure green city in the planet, the City Council has to make all polluters compensate society for the damage caused by their pollution. The promotion of cleaner city vehicles, energy-efficient lighting, and “spare the air” days are very nice, but there is no good substitute for a comprehensive policy if we are to be serious about minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. -more-