September 04, 20XX
Dear _______,
I am a constituent who lives in your city/ district at ___________________. I'm writing to you today to encourage you to consider your perception of the bus as a mode of transportation.
The bus could be and should be, the future of urban transportation, and a good bus system is precisely what Tarrant County needs. If implemented or appropriately expanded, bus services can be a much-needed solution to our current transit and traffic complications. Buses today are quiet, they pollute less, they’re often electric or natural-gas fueled, and as technology improves, they are also becoming cheaper. Buses are simple, predictable, and easy to ride, and, unlike ride-sharing options like Uber or Lyft, they significantly decrease the number of cars on our roads – reducing congestion, pollution, car ownership, and all the physical and psychological ails that accompany driving. Increasing bus services will also help eliminate the tens of thousands of deaths caused by cars every year. And, unlike the car, which reinforces socio-economic divides in our nation, the bus connects communities and people and, when implemented correctly, can help create more equitable cities and regions. Study after study has shown that the recent decline in bus ridership is more or less a self-imposed problem and not a reflection of national disinterest in riding the bus. In fact, it has been shown that the nation-wide decline in bus ridership is a direct result of cuts to bus services and routes. Increasing bus services has been shown to, in turn, increase bus ridership – a “build it and they will come” proposition. Tarrant County has much to gain by increasing bus services - decreased congestion, traffic deaths, pollution, and social inequality, and increased economic returns – and much to lose by not.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME