I was rightly chided for not offering commentary on a press release that I posted from Rep. Kim Hixson’s office, in a post from early January. (See, Rep. Hixson Helps Secure Transportation Funding for District, https://freewhitewater.com/?p=2515
The full release is posted there, but the essence is a study of commuter bus service in our area, transit within Milton, and taxi service in Whitewater.
Three points that I should have made:
First, it’s a study. I understand that one produces a study before one acts, but the ratio of studies without subsequent action to action itself must favor the former.
Two word rebuttal to those in Whitewater who would hang much hope on another study: Retail Coach. Why not throw in countless task force recommendations for good measure? It’s all professional, I see, but it only makes other professionally-produced ideas easier to discount as just another…well, Retail Coach study.
The scattered proliferation of studies and task forces only fortifies Whitewater’s sad local bias against effective outside practices. (The ‘all-quality-is-local view,’ which sometimes morphs into ‘all-local-is-quality.’)
Second, public transportation is often an inefficient and costly solution. There is a whole host of serious, if politically incorrect, and seemingly not-so-green – objections, at the Anti-Planner.com,
More from Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole can be found at
Third, how many local media would run the press release on the study without probing journalism, of any kind? More than one, I wouldn’t wonder. No reason a blogger should make the same mistake.