Mailbag: Changes to bus service unwelcome
The Burbank Bus announced on their Web page that they are making “service enhancements” starting July 7.
Not sure who this is an enhancement for, but it won’t be for the majority of riders!
The majority of riders for the Burbank Bus are Metrolink commuters, who need to get to the various businesses around Burbank, few of which are close to the Metrolink stations.
The old schedule closely followed the Metrolink schedule, and allowed people to get to and from work in a reasonable period of time. The “enhanced schedule” leaves Metrolink riders waiting for an additional 10 to 20 minutes each way.
In fact, the first Metrolink train arrives at the Burbank station at 5:29 a.m., and the first Burbank Bus does not leave until 6 a.m.
Who exactly is this new enhanced schedule supposed to benefit? Apparently not the people who ride it.
Many commuters have dropped Metrolink because of rising prices and poor service.
Now, after five years of riding the Metrolink and Burbank Bus, you are giving my friends and I another reason to get back in our cars and on the crowded freeways, burning more gas and increasing pollution.
Thanks for nothing, city of Burbank!
DOUG BRYCE
Santa Clarita
People in need aren’t to be ignored
I remember moving to Burbank in 1993. I was a motion picture professional, 30-something, moving in because the housing market had taken a dive.
When my drag queen neighbor across the street came over to help me unload 60-pound bags of cement with his long flowing hair, false eyelashes and fake purple fingernails still intact, I remember thinking, “Wow — suburbia with a kick!”
You see, I spent 20 years in New York City — it made me very comfortable.
I moved away, and moved right back after adopting two children and going through a divorce. Wasn’t happy that the $178,000 homes had jumped to $240,000, but where in L.A. would you get the school system?
Now, on the way to work, it takes me 20 minutes to get from Magnolia to Barham Boulevard via Hollywood Way — we’ve all watched the changes in traffic, housing costs, different neighbors, but what happened to our hearts?
We currently have homeless people in our neighborhood. What are we doing about it?
There’s the lady who lives in her car in the Albertsons parking lot, the guy who moves from bus stop to bus stop in the same area, and the guy in the wheelchair with his dog, “Scooby,” who has found a home in front of CVS Pharmacy.
Why don’t we care? Why don’t we care that our children are exposed to this lifestyle in our neighborhood, or that they learn that it exists and communities do nothing to address it? What happened to our “small-town heart in the middle of L.A.”?
Things are progressing backward in our community — we need to start fixing these little “things” that will soon spiral out of control. The first step is to take notice.
Please take notice, Burbank. Your community is falling downhill.
BRIANA BURKE
Burbank
Integrity, respect vital in officials
Why don’t people write what they think in plain English? It is a shame that the people elected cannot show respect for each other.
We do not need a change in bylaws. We do need people that have integrity to abide by a time-honored tradition. If you cannot show respect for the individual, at least show respect for the office.
The toughest kid on the block will have their knees buckled by Father Time. When your term is up, and you are no longer in office, is it going to feel good that you will be remembered that you prevented a person from the honor that you once held?
Remember morale begins and ends at the top. What you sow, so shall ye reap.
KEN NICHOLS
Burbank
Bikes shouldn’t be put before cars
In regards to the May 22 article “Two wheels work,” bike lanes do not make Burbank more livable — better traffic management would!
The new bike lane on Verdugo Avenue is causing more traffic and actually irritating drivers. Making a left-hand turn onto Buena Vista now takes 10 minutes, reason being that when the light finally turns green, it takes 10 minutes for the opposing single lane of traffic to move through before the turn can be made.
Let’s time out traffic lights, and manage our traffic flows before we start worrying about the very, very small minority that actually bike to work!
BUTCH CLARK
Burbank
The focus should be on solutions
It’s time that someone said it — and Tom Crowther (“Work for changes, not against them,” May 19) did.
Our city is besieged by a handful of malcontents who bombard the City Council each week with negative rhetoric, accusations, disparaging comments, personal attacks and their own fearful suspicions used as reasons as to why no action — of any kind — should be taken.
The malcontents offer no solutions of their own, no gentle tweaks to proposals to make them work better, no fundable alternatives. They seem to exist for the sole purpose of finding fault with positive ideas.
While I appreciate and defend the rights of all to address their elected and appointed officials, the tenor of the discussion during the public-comment period has been diminished by the constant flow of venom from the “usual suspects” drowning out the voices of those who would contribute to reasonable discourse.
Productive people, people with families, jobs and other responsibilities, do not have time to attend council meetings every week; the malcontents do. Further, the constant stream of vitriol discourages the discussion of reasonable compromise.
Let’s ask ourselves whether this group of malcontents has solved any community problem — any problem, ever. Have they offered any positive solutions? Or have they simply diminished the solutions of others, often denying that issues requiring concrete solutions exist?
True leadership must do more than pick apart the work of others.
Let’s focus on solutions.
CAROLYN JACKSON
Burbank
Inaction is a sign of the times
I live in Burbank, which is a great town. Suddenly, I’m seeing garage sale signs on poles, walls, etc.
I was told this is not allowed in Burbank, but when I called they told me they have no Saturday staff.
So now you can do as you please — no permit, and paste and leave signs up all over the place, and it makes it look trashy.
Maybe residents of Burbank need to go around ripping off signs.
What are we paying taxes for?
DAVID MODELL