THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 29, 1996 TAG: 9607260030
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 45 lines
Having watched a mother duck and two of her panicked ducklings die on the Expressway today, because of a driver in too much of a hurry to spare them, I'm willing to give full support to a monorail line between Virginia Beach and Norfolk. As a commuter student, I know that the Expressway is simply impassable at certain hours due to tunnel traffic or overwhelming congestion; and it will only become worse. A monorail would be a dream come true, and there are solid benefits to the plan:
Safety. A rail line would be far less prone to accidents caused by drunken drivers, speeders, people eating and talking on their car phones. I would rather trust one trained monorail pilot than great masses of drivers with other things on their minds.
Efficiency. It makes far more sense for one engine and one vehicle to move all those people from city to city than thousands of engines and thousands of vehicles.
Ease. Every car needs at least one driver, and most commuters drive alone. With a monorail, we're all passengers: We can enjoy the view and get a head start on the day's work; or relax at the end of a full shift, rather than stressing about the battle to get home.
Environmental sense. More people riding a monorail means fewer cars to pollute the Bay with spilled fuel and oil, and fewer engines to thicken our air with carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and the rest of combustion's dangerous byproducts. (And a monorail wouldn't kill ducklings, no matter how fast it was moving.)
Jobs! Rather than purchase cars made out of state, the monorail's construction and operation will provide Virginia jobs to Virginia citizens. With the addition of extensions to Williamsburg and Richmond, the jobs will be with us for a long time to come.
I've lived in D.C. and seen the wretched knots of traffic that make driving there such misery. I learned how the Metro makes commuting more pleasant for untold thousands of workers.
I've lived in Orlando and savored the solar-powered monorails gliding above the waterways of Disney's kingdom. That is the future to which our city should aspire! Our city planners need to look to the next century, and as far as transportation is concerned, monorails are the only answer we need.
JOHN M. AGUIAR
Virginia Beach, June 30, 1996 by CNB