I thought the idea of adding an alternate method of crossing the Bay had received enough ridicule as to embarrass anyone who spent any time (yes, a nano-second counts as time) even thinking about it, let alone sharing their embarrassing thoughts with the local daily newspaper.
Apparently I was wrong in that assessment. In Friday's Annapolis Kapital-paper a letter-writer remarked at how much more efficient a set of hovercraft would be in ferrying folks back and forth across the Bay than, say, a new bridge. Apparently the writer saw one of the craft courtesy of the Australian Navy or Coast Guard at some show in Annapolis. The cost of buying and operating a fleet of these machines would be negligible compared with spanning the Bay with miles and miles of steel-reinforced concrete, he argued. And he is probably correct.
The writer, moved by the recent tragedy and ensuing chaos on the Bay Bridge, is searching for that which man has searched ever since confronting the opposing forces of time and geography. But the idea of operating a ferry service on or close to the waters of the Bay fails when applied in the modern era for several reasons. The main problem is that such a service would have to be a state-run operation.
Why does it have to be a state-run operation?
a. Because no one in his right mind would risk any amount of time and money when he could get "the government" to do it for him.
b. Our good fellow taxpayers over the years who have floated (no pun intended) the idea in the public press (or in this case the Annapolis Kapital) did so precisely because they think it is a compelling public service that will allow the state to confiscate your property to see it done.
c. Because no private individual outside of a Berkshire-Hathaway shareholders' meeting would be able to absorb the cost just in liability insurance let alone the frivolous lawsuits, of operating such a service.
Given that air-tight argument, under which organ of the Maryland government would the development and operation of a public transportation system such as a ferry fall? Yes, the Maryland Transit Authority, that great mover of people; that efficient investor of your tax dollars on such innovations as the electronic computerized message marquee on the MARC train cars whose two messages I've ever seen are "NO MESSAGE;" and "DO NOT PUT YOUR FEET ON THE SEAT;" that brain trust of folks whose motto must be: "We regret the inconvenience and appreciate your patience."
Yes, these are the same folks we would have to trust to ferry us safely from shore to eastern shore, at night, in the dead of winter. Right. About those who think a Chesapeake Bay commuter ferry service is an idea whose time has come one thing is sure: They have never had to commute on a daily basis to and from Washington DC on the MARC train thing.
To them I submit that the worst things that could befall a MARC train commuter (outside of the freak and tragic accident a few years back when a MARC train collided with an Amtrak train, at night, in the dead of winter) is that their train will never arrive or arrive late at the worst possible time (usually after work, on a Friday) or that the thing will break down halfway between New Carrollton and Seabrook (the middle of nowhere for those unfamiliar with Maryland geography).
Now imagine the nightmare scenario facing the MARC Hovercraft Bay Ferry service commuters, at night, in the dead of winter, in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.
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