We all are concerned that we in the land of great technology companies are still using a very old transportation network design criteria for our “transit” needs. We feel it is a lack of words to describe what the people need that holds up progress.

We want coffee… we want to charge our phones and laptops and get some work done. We don’t want to stand in the rain with our groceries. We want to be safe on the ride. We want what we thought we got when we spent a massive budget on Sounder services and light rail. But only 3 to 4 percent of trips are ever going to go by transit.

The market has chosen piloted airplanes and Uber type travel and sometimes we like to drive on the open road for the fun of it. As our mayor knows people buy and lease cars because they do things that transit never will.

Let’s imagine a word for transportation that goes door-to-door and reduces congestion at the same time. This would look more like Uber and not like light rail. Uber is 24/7… light rail will not run for four hours per night. UBER goes door to door or to the park and ride then bus or van to a city center.

If you like the European trains then ask why Europeans don’t take light rail to the grocery store. Europe is not Seattle and Kirkland is not Seattle either. We need a high touch high tech solution to our mobility that works better and costs much less than rail.

Philip Skoog, Kirkland