Transit Leadership

Does your Mayor ride the bus?

Lots of Mayors howl about public transit, but few ride it faithfully... let alone sporadically.

Alleged presidential aspirant Mayor Bloomberg of NYC says he rides mass transit religiously (in this case, the subway). But does he? The New York Times published a telling expose today on the Mayor's transit habits. Yes, he does ride the train two days a week, but doing so involves two gas-guzzling, carbon-belching SUVs.

It appears that the Mayor of Gotham takes transit not because it's the right thing to do for the earth and all, but because it is part of his image.

I was at a mayoral forum in Grand Rapids last week. As a regular rider myself, it was easy for me to discern from their answers that none of our aspirants has recently held a bus pass for the Rapid.

Does your Mayor ride the bus?