Stop studying the problem and start solving it

Thank you, Mayor Betty De Santis of Westlake Village. She said what we’ve feared for a long time; that whenever government officials approve another "study," it’s often a waste of time.

The latest study will deal with mass transit, specifically a transit zone of bus service for local areas and the San Fernando Valley. It will, no doubt, become master of the obvious: if more people used buses and left their vehicles at home, we’d have less gridlock, less pollution, less fuel consumption and average rush-hour freeway speeds of 30 mph instead of 25.

Government studies too frequently tell us things we already know: too many commuters travel alone; freeways are too crowded during rush hours; not enough people are car-pooling, etc.

As De Santis put it, "There are too many different groups that are involved … that come to the table with different purposes."

We don’t need another wasteful study.

We need action.

We need elected officials to get off their buttocks and do something. We need solutions to today’s traffic problems and to help prevent them from getting worse.

And we need to stop spending tax dollars on studies.

Elected and government officials should stop stroking each other’s egos during their little "study" seminars in which they conduct taxpayer business on expense accounts that would make Enron blush.

In private enterprise, somebody would actually set some goals and do something.

In government, they’d rather "study" the problem.

Again. And again.