Response from KT: How to best handle public transit in Elk Grove

Recently we posted an open question to city council members and candidates:

In light of high fuel cost and the sub-par performance of our current
public transportation vendor, what steps would you take to assure the
citizens of Elk Grove a reliable public transit system?

Below is a response from city council candidate KT Khanh. Check back later this evening for other candidate responses.


As I mentioned in my plan for Elk Grove, I like to bring RT back in to help with our public transportation. As I recalled, RT rejected these buses and sold them to Elk Grove. These buses have heating problems and are not good for long range. E-tran buses are a liability to Elk Grove and not a solution. I am still puzzle why we bought them knowingly they are bad investment. This tells me we need smarter leaders who need to do the right things. Bring RT back in and make sure they do things right. Let RT decides what buses to use to support our public transportation. Work with RT to set better standard for public and mass transit within Elk Grove and beyond. Focus our attention on creating a new Greentech economy and find ways to bring these new waves of jobs to Elk Grove. When our city can create an environment for better jobs and incur economic progress, we can afford better public transportation including mass transit (light rails, BART), better buses and shuttles that either runs on natural gas, hydrogen/fuel cell.

The key is focus on industrializing Elk Grove and improves our local economy. This will spur jobs growth and eventually produce new tax revenues. Our city should invest on projects that will produce returns on investment (ROI). E-tran project is an expense and a public service. It does not produce a ROI especially when we know these buses are bad before buying them.

KT