Aux Armes Citoyens
Source page
Source page 1
Transcription
Transcriptions may contain errors. Consult the source pages for the original wording and layout.
The sad situation of mass rail transit in our state needs the immediate, importunate, insistent and incessant help of all New Jersey citizens. We must pound and pound away until our goal is achieved. Our goal? Safe, rapid, rail transit from New Jersey to New York with immediate tunnel access to midtown New York City.
The need has been obvious for years. The methods to achieve it have been obvious for years. The means to achieve it have been at hand ever since the Port of New York Authority was established. The money should be broken loose from the Port Authority and the federal government.
What is lacking is the gumption to put a plan through. John Kohl, commissioner of transportation for the State of New Jersey, has an excellent planning and professional background. What he lacks, in our opinion, is the aggressive stamina to formulate a plan and force its fruition. He is so overwhelmed by the obstacles he must overcome that he is their slave instead of their master.
He needs concepts and solutions, not sidestepping excuses.
The tentative Kohl proposal for a bond issue in November that will be put to the Legislature tomorrow or Thursday is still highway-oriented in concept at roughly two to one, although the emphasis nationally has turned to mass transit.
Governor Cahill has and can, if he will, put the necessary muscle into a mass rail transit program that will solve our metropolitan traffic jam. One of the first things Governor Cahill could do, of course, would be to leave his door ajar and his ears open for Commissioner Kohl in the same way that Governor Rockefeller has for MTA Chairman Ronan.
We propose a mass rail transit plan in today's issue. We don't claim that it's the best or only plan; but it is a plan. It is not a questionnaire, or faltering excuse or request for more engineers. It is a start, and God bless anyone who can better it.
This mass rail transit problem needs citizen help and citizen action. We urge such help from all citizens. Join ranks and let your voices be heard. Only that way will government wake up.