This is everything I can’t stand about Seattle transit activists

I was trolled by a member of the Seattle Transit Advisory Board and it represents everything I hate – everything we all should hate – about too many transit activists in Seattle.

Without provocation, Kevin Duffy-Greaves tagged me in a tweet asking his 188 Twitter followers who are “multi-modal” to ignore my positions on transportation issues facing the city. He tagged me, and my KTTH colleague Todd Herman, to get our attention, of course.

Hey #Seattle multi-modal Twitter: @jasonrantz @toddeherman @KIRORadio have to fill hours which is why they bait you on here. Just ignore.

— Kevin Duffy-Greaves (@kduffygreaves) October 4, 2016

Duffy-Greaves could have just as easily written the same tweet without tagging me, but he desperately wanted me to know that he was asking people to ignore my positions on transportation. Why would anyone proudly take the strategy of ignoring opposition? (When I called him out on it, he bizarrely told me not to tag him, then he blocked me after people noted the irony.)

That position is cowardly and is an obstacle to the type of coalition building necessary to convince people to shoulder the tax burden they feel is necessary to build a future-forward transportation system.

Unfortunately, this is a movement that, in large part, actively ignores perspectives they disagree with. Too many of these transit activists, like Duffy-Greaves, actively insulate themselves from being challenged. They’re so arrogant, stubborn, and ideologically bigoted that they seek to surround themselves only with like-minded individuals while they attack, berate, bully, harass or denigrate anyone who they perceive as standing in their way. This is a tremendous disservice to them because they end up ignoring the very people they need to bring to their side.

I’m a believer in multi-modal transportation and I say that as someone who actually lives and works in Seattle (apparently unlike my Twitter troll friend). I personally drive, but I usually walk and sometimes take light rail (I wish we had more light rail). Occasionally I’ll take the bus, though admittedly I’m not a fan of Metro service. But I want these options for me and for you. I think smart cities have these options available.

But I won’t blindly support a transit project because of some ideological marriage to it. Smart projects from agencies that are accountable will get my support; I’ll proudly stand behind them. But bad projects that take too long and clearly won’t stick to budgets or time frames will not get my support. That’s how it should be. Unless you’re an activist — on either side of any issue — who surrounds yourself with other like-minded activists. Then you’re cut off from reason or legitimate concerns of people who share similar interests, but see other ways of achieving shared goals.

So unlike this particular Twitter troll, I’m not going to block you for disagreeing with me. I’m not going to tag you to try to get your attention and shame you. I’m going to encourage people who disagree with me to have an actual civil dialogue where we can talk out our disagreements and maybe find common ground. And I’m going to challenge you to chat with people with opposite views than you. Because for those of us who actually care about these issues, our goals should be coming together not pushing each side apart.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz