Editor,
The Infrastructure Bill is now law and Northwest Arkansas could use some of those funds to build a public transportation system. Should the Build Back Better plan also become law, it will add additional funds for climate efficiency systems.
Just think, you pick up the commuter line from Eureka Springs and travel to your job in Green Forest or Alpena, or the other way around; continual bus service to take you to and from work and your kids to and from school. Public transportation you can use to go shop without trying to find a ride or filling your car’s gas tank.
Just think, if there was a commuter rail line from Eureka Springs to Rogers that took you to work there, it could bring tourists back. Have a train schedule that would accommodate both workers and tourists. It could be a great thing for our county and all the people who live here.
A recent study for the Roundabout in Eureka Springs noted that as many as 20,000 cars pass through on the highway a day during certain times of the year. Think of the atmospheric carbon if we could capture while we benefit from good jobs and add another element of romance to our tourist community.
If you like the idea, please contact your mayor in any of the towns on the Hwy. 62 corridor. Ask them to request funds for public transportation for our county. Contact your JP and request that they also push this idea to the state legislature.
We can either lead the future, have clean public transportation, or we can join the trash heap of history as we choke on carbon dioxide fumes from our gas guzzling cars.
Sheri Hansona