TO THE EDITOR:
The letter “Transit tax is bigger than political parties” is deeply misguided in suggesting that supporting the tax will help economic growth.
If the tax were to pass, Orange County would have the highest sales tax rate in the entire state of North Carolina. Nothing says “don’t come here” to businesses more than that.
The writer also misrepresents the purpose of the tax. While a very small portion of the tax would be used to expand bus service, most of it would go toward the creation of a light rail system between Chapel Hill and Durham.
Light rail systems are plagued with a number of disadvantages, most notably a lack of flexibility. Bus routes can be adapted to changing population densities very easily with minimal costs; light rail systems cannot.
Light rail systems in other cities have seen very weak ridership and extremely high costs per rider.
Orange County should look to improve and expand its road infrastructure instead of implementing a regressive tax on its residents to pay for an ineffective light rail system.
Brendan Madigan ’14
Public policy
