Use HOT lanes to promote mass transit
I used to live within 15 miles of my office. I now work in Midtown, have been commuting some two years and witness the debacle of HOT lanes. Our government leaders had the foresight to create HOV lanes to encourage carpooling and mass transit buses. Georgia’s DOT and Atlanta leaders also implemented “staging lights” on entrance ramps to improve the flow of traffic. These steps were an attempt to promote sustainable environmental measures and improved traffic on I-85.
What happened to Atlanta’s doing the right thing for the environment and traffic congestion? What happened to promoting mass transit? HOT lanes should be reserved for people taking mass transit (not used as another means of taxation). If people sat in traffic while watching a bus or train flash by, more would realize how stupid it is to drive in that mess. Our leaders have sold their character to the highest bidder without regard to its impact on residents or our environment.
John R. Stone, Suwanee
‘From the right’ addition just wrong
Your new editorial cartoon “From the right” destroys the balance of your editorials. It features so-so art, with no insight or thought provoked. Mike Luckovich hits a middle ground and skewers absurdities on both sides. This feature is obviously not intended to attempt any fair balance. Are there plans for a progressive, liberal comic also?
Patrick Edmondson, AtlantA
Tell why some cities refuse to trap and kill
There is a lack of information on current research about coyotes and alternative management practices in your article about the coyote trapper (“Predator now prey,” Living, Feb. 26). Non-kill coyote management practices have been adopted by cities around the country, but the article fails to explain the reasons why cities such as Decatur have adopted an alternative to the trap-and-kill approach — while you offer support for the work of the trapper. The trap-and-kill approach is brutal, antiquated and (according to research on coyote social organization) simply not effective — since the population will rapidly rebound and increase.
Meta Larsson, Atlanta
To end paralysis, we must agree to disagree
No two Americans agree 100 percent on domestic and foreign issues, but partisan Democrats and Republicans believe Americans should agree 100 percent on solutions for American problems (for example, the debt crisis). This absurd belief is what has caused paralysis in the federal government.
Roy Wetherington, Tifton
Georgians hypocrites about medical issues
Georgia opponents to the new health care reform insist they don’t want government making medical decisions for them. Yet our state legislators want to decide when and under what conditions a woman may have an abortion. Once again, Georgia has distinguished itself on the national stage for its blatant, politics-driven hypocrisy and deliberate lack of compassion concerning this most difficult and intimate decision a woman can make.
Fran Rosen, Whitesburg
