An Excellent Response from Montgomery!

Well, I stand corrected. I just received a very nice response from mayoral candidate Bill Montgomery. Here it is:

"Thanks for contacting me regarding the transit hub. I believe that the many DART riders who use the Wilmington hub should be treated with more dignity. They should be protected from the heat of summer and the cold of winter. 

I favor the construction of a modern, well-located, in-door, downtown transit hub. It should have a comfortable waiting room, clean restrooms, a snack bar or vending area, and continuous, on-site security. The best example I've seen in our region is the hub in downtown Reading, PA

As Mayor, I will work with the State and federal transportation officials to try to build such a facility. It's time to give transit riders the respect and proper facilities that they deserve!"

This is an excellent response. I have not seen the Reading hub, but these ideas are good ones. Let's hope he is sincere about this.

I don't think the downtown hub necessarily has to be indoors, but shelter is definitely a must. People riding the bus do need to dress according to the weather, including boots and warm clothing when it snows, and umbrellas or other rain gear when it is going to rain. But shelter is still needed... from the very cold winds of winter. And also from the driving rains that can occur during thunder squalls in the summer. No umbrella will help you when the wind is blowing heavy rain sideways. Decent shelters are needed, without all the missing panes DART has allowed to accumulate,

And restrooms! Yes. I've had to wait for 45 minutes to an hour or more for transfers at Rodney Square, and if nature calls, it can really be a problem. They do need to be clean and maintained, and there needs to be continuous security. Actually, having spent many hundreds of hours waiting at Rodney Square for buses, at all hours of the day and night, I have not found security to be a problem. The police and the Downtown Visions people have done a fairly good job, in my opinion. There are the occasional crazies, of course. And I've seen quite a few loud arguments between acquaintances - the ones I've seen most often seem to involve women fighting about some guy. Ex-wife or girlfriend vs. current one. These sometimes escalate, and my guess is the rare violent stuff is usually of that nature. I could be wrong. One of my relatives tells me that there is rampant drug dealing at Rodney Square, but I haven't seen it. It's really not the best place to do that kind of stuff, because there are so many cameras and police and people watching.

Thanks to Bill Montgomery for such a nice response. I certainly agree with him down the line on this. So he's back at the top of my short list.