It's not surprising that former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino opposes a proposed trolley line through the city. Mr. Paolino's money comes from the windswept-parking-lot business. The more mass transit, the worse for his business. With the aging of the population and increasing disinclination of young people to drive, Mr. Paolino doesn't have history on his side. And most people don't like the look of a city with a lot of parking lots, as opposed to buildings. Parking lots are profoundly depressing.
Still, he's probably right: The city can't afford the trolley. now. Even more, it can't afford the grotesque giveaway to the Pawsox gang.
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The awful Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia reminds me of America's grossly underfunded transportation infrastructure and that we need more rail lines up and down the Northeast Corridor so that a disaster on one set of tracks doesn't stop all rail traffic.
--- Robert Whitcomb
