LEGGETT PROPOSES

TO ELIMINATE ALL

METRO ACCESS

VIA BUS ON

WEEKENDS IN

WEST BETHESDA

Countywide Cuts Target Hospital Staff and Patients,

Seniors and the Disabled, Early Voters

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has proposed a devastating course for Ride On bus service, eliminating multiple routes altogether, and weekend service on all buses serving West Bethesda: T2, Ride On 23, Ride On 29.

This means that no one in West Bethesda will be able to reach a Metro station without driving there on weekends. So much for our "green" elected officials. In April of last year, Leggett and the county council made a similar decision for Damascus, eliminating weekend service for Ride On route 90 - the only transit service in all of Damascus.

One small implication of this, is that now both western Bethesda and Damascus residents will be unable to participate in early voting this fall via mass transit.

It's also interesting that at least 2 lines being cut serve Sibley Hospital and Montgomery General Hospital.

Deep service cuts in White Flint and Germantown call into question yet again the council's decision to go forward with massive development in both areas without the infrastructure in place.

Finally, not only does a Rockville Senior Center route get slashed, but disabled residents losing free taxi service were told they "could use Ride On."

Not if Ride On doesn't run anymore!!

It's outrageous.

And all of these devastating cuts only add up to $1.2 million in "savings." While other wasteful spending has occurred and continues. This as a shortfall of over $600 million remains!