Light rail is a serious mistake

Relative to the new information about light rail [“Bellevue light-rail yard plan stuns city,” page one, Nov. 24], it is becoming more and more apparent what an expensive system we have bought into. In hindsight, it seems to me that the whole idea of expanding our light-rail system is a serious mistake.

Light rail will never serve more than a small fraction of our Seattle-area commuters, no matter how much it is expanded. For the same money that this new addition to a very inflexible system is costing, it seems to me that we could greatly expand our much more flexible Metro bus system and include bus-only lanes where needed, such as on the new 520 bridge. I believe everyone will agree that light rail will never do very much to relieve our traffic congestion getting in and out of the city, no matter how much it is expanded, but an expanded bus system could go far in that direction.

In regard to solving our traffic congestion, I think everyone should read Bruce Nurse’s op-ed “We should stop waging a war on cars” [Opinion, Nov. 18]. I completely agree with everything in it. For those who would argue that buses add to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, I would ask the following. Think how much of that will be added by cars caught in the daily traffic backups and how near we are to a time when bus systems will use only nonpolluting all-electric propulsion.

— Emil Drivdahl, Kent