Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has proposed budget cuts to RideOn that would reduce service. Meanwhile, Leggett doesn’t plan to cut any road projects. Every little road “upgrade” (and by “upgrade” I mean widening, making cars go faster, and causing more pedestrian injuries) in the county is still going forward as planned.

For now, most of the cuts would reduce mid-day service on commuter-oriented routes. There are also some cuts to weekend routes that go between low-density, low ridership places. These proposed cuts will have a similar effect as long headways of the Metro on weekends. Because of the long headways, it takes up to 30 minutes longer to get somewhere on the Metro than it would on a weekday, when the system runs on approximately 5 minute headways midday and 2 minute headways during rush hour. The extra time discourages many car-owning, transit-loving people from using transit for discretionary weekend trips when they (theoretically) don’t have to worry about traffic jams. While I don’t think the effect will be as dramatic if RideOn scales back service, I am concerned about starting a negative self-perpetuating downward spiral that will make it even easier to cut RideOn in the future.

This leads to the root of the problem: the source of transportation funding. We have this gasoline tax system that punishes citizens who behave responsibly and consume less fossil fuel. It’s a recipe for disaster. We’re putting ourselves on a path that will just deepen the current ridiculous situation where transit agencies are forced to cut back service as more and more people are using transit.

Of course, the most ridiculous aspect to this entire story is the fact that no one even bothered to think that the money from the road widenings could ever be used for something that will move people around through a means other than private automobiles. It is frustrating to see our local government attempt to solve a 2008 problem with a 1958 solution.

Mr. Leggett’s office can be reached at ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Cavan Wilk became interested in the physical layout and economic systems of modern human settlements while working on his Master’s in Financial Economics. His writing often focuses on the interactions between a place’s form, its economic systems, and the experiences of those who live in them.  He lives in downtown Silver Spring.