SDOT director pushing propaganda you need to be aware of

Taken from Monday’s edition of KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show.

Scott Kubly, the director for the Seattle Department of Transportation, has been making the rounds lately in order to push through propaganda that you need to be aware of.

Not because you should disagree with his goals or his ultimate plan necessarily, but you should be aware of this propaganda because without the knowledge, you’re not being given the whole story. It means whatever conclusion you come to isn’t going to be based on all the facts.

I’d rather you make an informed decision, even if you disagree with me. Kubly and many city leaders would prefer to manipulate you into taking their side.

At issue here is the long and short-term transportation plan for the city of Seattle. And before you write this up as being too Seattle-centric, know that unless you and your friends or family literally never come to Seattle or drive through or past Seattle, every single person in this region is impacted by this.

After a week’s worth of really bad press from KING 5, The Seattle Times, and this show, over how hard it is to drive in the city of Seattle and, in particular, how hard it is to find parking spots, the city this weekend opened their sixth parklet in Queen Anne. They killed a couple parking spots to basically erect a bunch of benches that no one will even use seven or eight months of the year.

They’re ripping up streets and taking away parking at record numbers in order to put in bike lanes and transit-only streets and light rail. They’re just sticking it to the drivers just a little more with these parklets.

They’re purposefully making it harder on drivers in this city because they want us to take the bus or walk or bike. They especially love biking because they have this deep-seated fantasy to become a European city and Kubly is a bike activist.

But ripping up streets to give it to bicyclists and Metro is being positioned a certain way by Kubly because he wants you to side with him, and it’s nothing short of propaganda.

On KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show last week, listen to how Kubly positioned all the infrastructure changes:

“We’re doing a lot of things that are going to make it easier to get around. We’re giving people a lot of different choices for how they get around. So not everybody drives everywhere and not everybody takes the bus everywhere. There’s very few people that use one mode exclusively. So what we’re doing is creating a lot of different choices that people can use to get around.”

So he’s pro-choice. Here he is responding to Linda Byron on KING 5 asking if the city’s plans are anti-car:

“No not at all,” said Kubly. “I think it’s pro-choice. It’s allowing people to pick the mode that works best for them for the trip that they’re making.”

They want you to believe that they’re being pro-car, as much as they are pro-bike or pro-Metro or pro-walking. They say they treat every mode of transportation equally and this is them giving you a choice.

Only, when you degrade one of the choices so much that you can’t really use it, you’re not offering choice, you’re taking one away.

You’re taking away full car lanes for bikes or for Metro, lanes that could be otherwise enjoyed by drivers, and as a result, the drivers are experiencing more traffic.

Many of these streets getting bike lanes are streets that had a ton of traffic even before the city installed a bike activist at the head of their department of transportation.

But this is about choice, right? Here’s the choice: you can still technically drive, but it will be much, much harder. Don’t like it? Good. We’ve got other options for you to enjoy.

By the way, even if you don’t enjoy those options, you’re going to pay for them. And the people who get the special bike lanes, they won’t actually pay for them, you will, and we thank you for that. We thank you for paying for something that makes your commute much more difficult.

And don’t forget, we’re also going to take away your parking spots. So if you want to drive, that’s your choice, but we’d prefer you didn’t.

That’s the truth that they’re not being honest with you about. They won’t just come out and say they don’t want you to drive. These are activists who don’t want you to drive, but have the nerve to lie to you and sell you on more choice.

It’s like WSDOT saying you have more choices coming with new HOT lanes on I-405. Sure, you technically have a choice, either to sit in traffic or spend $12 bucks to use a lane that’s moving for 10 minutes.

See through this propaganda and demand these leaders be honest with you, even if you agree with their message. I understand the message and I don’t find fault with everything they’re doing, but they lose any good will when they lie. And they are lying.

Be open about wanting to get us away from cars, rather than pretending you’re on the side of drivers. Be honest about offering preferential treatment to bikes and buses. Start the conversation with honesty so we can have an actual conversation about your plan, rather than try to avoid the conversation by ignoring your motives and feelings. How can we weigh your proposal and vision if you’re not being honest about it?

Taken from Monday’s edition of KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz Show.