Bike to Work Day

We were invited recently by our county supervisor, a Democrat and UN Agenda 21 Smart Growth proponent, to a “bike to work day.” Our county has almost a million inhabitants and is criss-crossed by two of the busiest interstates and highways in the nation. On any given day and night, we are lucky to get home unharmed, after inching our way in extreme traffic congestion.

Most people live at least 10-25 miles from work. I tried to picture how this “bike to work day” would work, not withstanding logistics and mortality rates, but also in terms of middle-aged people with various degrees of arthritis, able to bike such a long distance. How would they smell to co-workers, once they made it to work, should they not first succumb to sheer exhaustion or die splattered on the very busy highways by drivers eager to get to New York?

Joking aside, America is a large country with vast distances to cover. We cannot afford to live five minutes from work, play, and school as the environmentalists would like us to do in order to preserve Mother Nature from the destructive economic activity of humans.

Unfortunately, foreign and domestic environmentalists have planned such a commute and existence for us, aided and abetted by many county supervisors across the U.S. Some know and participate willingly; others are hapless believers in protecting the planet at all costs from human intrusion and destruction. Stark evidence is found in the Wildlands Project to re-wild the United States and is seen in the Biodiversity Wildlands Map presented to Congress by Dr. Coffman.

We are not Europe with small countries and plenty of inexpensive public transportation subsidized by socialist governments who tax their citizens to death for the right to buy a cheap ticket. Do not worry, we are becoming like Europe more each day in terms of policies to de-grow and bankrupt our country through spreading the wealth and environmental justice policies.

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project is in Phase 1 of construction and Phase 2 was just approved by Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Fairfax County is the largest county in Virginia with a population of 1.08 million.

“Like children in a toy store,” supervisors were eager to spend other people’s money. A lone supervisor criticized the cost ($2.7 billion for the second phase alone) but he said, “The project was too far advanced to stop it.” (TOLLROADSnews)

The unanimous vote in favor of this very expensive rail was billed as “it’s about the future,” and “this is the county’s economic engine and of the state of Virginia.”

Thomas Cranmer, Director of the Fairfax County Taxpayer's Alliance described the vote as "based only on fuzzy feelings." There was no serious consideration of the project's financial feasibility or “discussion of the higher tolls needed and diversion of traffic to local roads.” (TOLLROADSnews)

Cranmer believed the county board's decision irresponsible because it was "willing to spend any amounts of other peoples' money on this project without insisting on even elementary financial analysis."

According to TOLLROADSnews, Fairfax County is responsible for $435 million of the cost of Phase 1, about $400 per person. In order to service the rail debt, tolls must double next year to $4.60 for cars for the typical mainline plus ramp toll trip and treble to $6.75 by 2018. More than 30,000 trips per day are forecast to be diverted to local roads, a nightmare in the making.

The entire project begs the question, was this rail necessary in order to create jobs, relieve congestion, make profit, create economic boom, or was it intended to separate Americans from their cars by making the toll roads prohibitively expensive?

China has developed entire ghost cities and highly expensive rail systems that have very few passengers to remote areas. These ghost cities, airports, train stations, malls, and high-rise office and apartment buildings are still awaiting their occupants.

In case you have missed it, there is a popular show, “Life after People,” describing in graphic details what would happen to our planet in the absence of humans. Interestingly, it does not explain what happened to humans, how they have suddenly disappeared, leaving a green planet behind where animals can roam freely. It is not hard to imagine who produced the show and why.

At some point in time, perhaps environmentalists will succeed. Our roads will be deserted, overgrown with weeds and abandoned, off-limits to humans, and given back to nature. We will travel by trains to permitted areas by policed corridors, and ride our bikes five minutes from work and school. We will imagine nature, freedom, and outdoor activities in our high-rise cubicles while watching on TV wild animals roaming the vast expanses of our country.