Letter to St. Louis

To my fellow St. Louisans:

In one direction lies a new way forward; one in which public transit expands and our community prospers. In the other direction lies the past, full of the same divisions and arguments separating the county from the city for over a century. We will have our opportunity to sow seeds of community interdependence on April 6, 2010.

The county council has voted to place public transit funding initiative back on the ballot, allowing the public to choose its destiny.  This measure calls for a one half of one percent sales tax increase across the county to fund the restoration and expansion of regional public transit. The city passed its version in 1997, but it can’t be implemented until the county matches. The combination of these two new revenues would provide our public transit system with the local match needed to secure federal funding for expansion. The further denial of these funds will deny St. Louis the opportunity to become a modern community.

Our time is now; our community calls us to act. We cannot sit idly and wait for someone else to do the right thing. Gather your friends and family, your neighbors and coworkers together and help form the movement. Shake the grounds of established divisions and point the conversation to change, for too long has our community fallen victim to artificial boundaries and misguided perceptions. We are all part of the same community, and funding public transit can renew the promise of our region. The door has been opened for us to claim our moment in history.
Ryan Albritton
trackingprogress.org