Maybe take a Study Tour!?! Or, at least, listen to those who have… Here is a choice quote about what Seattle already thinks about public transportation that should hit hizzoner right between those wide innocent brown eyes of his:
Destigmatize transportation choices
Every type of person uses every mode of travel. And most use two or more in a typical day. People who choose bus, rail, cycling and walking represent a true cross-section of the public, because the options are generally reliable and clean. In transportation-speak, the Seattle region has many “choice riders” – for example, professional workers who commute by bus because it’s convenient, comfortable and efficient.
Calling oneself a ‘car guy’ implicitly discriminates… that is to say, makes an implicit stigmatization of transportation choices… C’mon Marty… Get thee to a subway, forthwith. But wait, is this even a problem, you ask? It is if Seattle had to take explicit steps to de-stigmatize transportation choices… duh. The question answers itself.
Not convinced, Marty? Here’s a carrot to go with that stick: Maybe I’m just a homer (after all my earliest sports memory is of Johnny Most screaming bloody murder at anybody who even thought bad things about any Celtic, ever… and it always seemed to me that Johnny was Most justified in doing so…) but it seems to me that Amazon clearly wrote their HQ2 specification with only Boston in mind and then genericized it, first hoping to squeeze the Hub for some GE style largesse and, secondly, out of fear for uneven commitment to public transportation shown by our city (and state…. Hi TBD -waves-).
Marty Walsh… you want Amazon HQ2? Then the MBTA needs a fixin… They already have a high expectation of public transportation and one which the present MBTA couldn’t possibly meet. It’s a package deal.
