Criticism of the RTD

As a long-time silent critic of the RTD, I found myself nodding in agreement with all the statements regarding the RTD in the article “RTD’s Critics Say It Could Learn From (Santa Monica’s) ‘Big Blue Bus’ ” (Part I, June 12).

The facts are that the buses are dirty, the drivers rude and never seem to be on any regular schedule and what makes matters worse, no one seems to care.

So the bottom line is that, as the article suggests, the RTD is a failure at giving the public what it needs and what its primary charter stipulates that it provide--a fair value in transportation. The bloated management can say RTD does that but the bus-riding public knows the truth.

Am I the only one that is bothered by the fact that this organization, which if it were a private company would have been bankrupt long ago, is in charge of the largest, most expensive, most doomed-to-fail (maybe that is why the RTD is in charge) public transportation project ever, Metro Rail?

The answer is clear: break up the RTD into smaller, more locally controlled, private bus companies that will get back to basics of providing quality bus transportation.

MITCHELL CLOUSNER

Agoura