EDITORS: Joseph Feit claims [in his headline] that "Lack of Rider Capacity Plagues Light Rail" ["More Expensive, Less Filling," Dec 28]. The exact opposite is true. In fact, the Federal Transit Administration has given this project its "highly recommended" rating precisely because its ridership is projected to be far above other new lines, almost into the league of the big Eastern transit cities. If we get to Northgate by 2010, Sound Transit projections are for 125,000 riders per day--about one-third of a typical I-5 day, close to half of current Metro bus ridership, and about twice [that of] Portland's line. About one-third of these will be new riders, taking 16,000 cars a day off the roads. This is just the first phase of a far larger system that will make a real change in our pervasive "car culture."

We have an excellent bus and van-pool system, and it has not "relieved congestion." Given the current growth in car travel, real relief will require far more funding than anything contemplated to date. We simply need the courage to take the first step and build for the next century. The real question is, "Do we continue to expand the car culture by building more freeway lanes or do we start to provide high-quality alternatives?" Nothing matches the public-transit quality of trains: frequency of service, speed, comfort. [But] such systems do not come cheap, nor are they built overnight.

Feit's claim that Sound Transit has "radically altered" the project is simply absurd. There have been only minor changes to projected alignment. Contrary to Feit's assertion, there has been no violation of "subarea equity," although many agree that this is a bad policy, which has already led to poor allocation of regional transit resources. Feit's claims that the light rail won't pull cars off the road, or increase transit ridership, or increase the number of transit seats, are plain false. In fact, 36,000 new riders are projected, with current bus routes being re-allocated, not deleted. Equally false are the claims that light rail will cause gridlock, or reduce ridership capacity below the current bus system's, or stop at traffic lights and block intersections (trains will synchronize lights in Rainier Valley).

It is not only an abysmal lack of homework that rates [Feit's article] an F. Some of his claims so defy common sense, I must conclude that "Lack of Cranial Capacity Plagues Joseph Feit." When it's built, we're going to love it.

Dick Burkhart, Seattle

JOSH FEIT RESPONDS: (1) My name is Josh. Not Joseph. (2) Getting to Northgate by 2010 is a big IF. Perhaps you haven't heard, but Sound Transit is already $1.1 BILLION over budget just to get to 45th Street by 2009. (3) I did not say Sound Transit "violated" subarea equity. (If they had, they'd be in court.) I said they have "backtracked." I believe this because I read the Federal Transit Administration's August 9, 2000 financial capacity assesment of Sound Transit. See page 9 of that report. (4) Sound Transit's own 1999 Environmental Impact Statement (volume 1, section 3.1.2.2, second paragraph, pages 3-5, figure 5.2-1) says light rail will only reduce traffic congestion during rush hour by less than one percent. (5) Sound Transit's own documentation estimates a downtown bus tunnel capacity of 5,900. I reported it at 6,000, and I compared it to Metro's superior current downtown bus tunnel capacity of 9,000.

EDITORS: Why wasn't there a real surge on Sound Transit's part to foist their ground-level light rail plan on residents until the local citizenry embraced the common sense and desirability of monorail technology (via I-41 and I-53)? Because the monorail is vastly superior in all aspects to Sound Transit's planned light rail project and would therefore be light rail's demise. Then why wouldn't Sound Transit consider the monorail better for the public? Maybe the monorail is better for the public, but is it better for governmental interests? What comes to the government through ground-level light rail that doesn't come with the monorail? Maybe it's the enormous real-estate acquisitions and redevelopment schemes that poor dumb taxpayers will be paying for [in the] decades to come.

Anonymous, via e-mail

TO THE EDITOR: Though I enjoy Dan Savage's political articles, it seems they often run rife with shoddy statistical comparisons. It reminds me of Bush saying that Texas had the "most improved environmental record." Yeah, when you start from the bottom, it's easy to improve! Similarly, to insist that there is a monorail mandate because I-53 got more votes in 2000 than Schell got in 1997 is a [bad] comparison: With 115,101 votes AGAINST I-53, it ALSO got more votes AGAINST IT than Schell. And gee, it got more votes than any Seattle mayoral candidate? That wouldn't be because the city population is increasing and more votes were cast in 2000 than in other years? The real test of a "mandate" is the percentages. Fifty-six percent for and 44 percent against? That doesn't sound like a mandate as much as a reasonable, cautious approval. To lead off an article with this hyperbole is a disservice to readers ["Don't Go There," Dec 21].

So many people get their local news through The Stranger's filters; I'm irked by this sort of manipulation. I don't think the monorail would work, and while I'm at it, I think all this bashing of Sound Transit is just going to have a lot more people standing in the rain waiting for buses and watching cars drive past them for a lot longer. You elevate monorail bashers to the status of sociopaths while doing everything possible to drag down Sound Transit.

Anonymous, via e-mail

RICK LEVIN: Thank you for the most boring load of rubbish [Courtside] The Stranger has printed since that damn "Stupid, Stupid Baby" column. You write for arguably the best print publication in the Northwest, so why try to emulate some windbag hack like the Seattle P-I's Art Thiel? How about a fluff piece on Vin Baker's diet? Maybe a complete definition and etymology of the various insults the Glove uses to inflame his opponents? The sports world is already overrun by bland, uninspired crap. It is said that the most horrible curse in life is to be uninteresting, and currently I'm asking myself if I'd rather watch paint dry than read your column. That's a rhetorical question.

Barry Adams, United Communications Systems, Inc.

EDITOR: I feel the need to respond to that jerk who said, "The only thing name-printing can do is encourage others to treat those people badly." [Letters to the Editor, Jan 4.] You're damn right it does! We're out there busting our asses to make all of our jobs better, and [the scabs] get to sit inside on their asses and reap the benefits. I want to know exactly who I should cast glares at when I go back to work. Having witnessed The Seattle Times management's tantrums and threats to permanently replace striking workers, I can say with conviction that what we did was the right thing. We exposed [members of] Times management for what they really are: petty, vindictive dictators. The reason we don't "get [our] resumes out and find a better job" is because we love the jobs we have, and we enjoy the work we do. Finally, it's none of your business what Art Thiel earns or what his situation is. I, for one, do not live paycheck-to-paycheck, but I have had the honor of becoming friends with many of the strikers who do. They work hard and they absolutely deserve to be paid what they're worth, and they deserve better health benefits. And they're tired of taking whatever the company wants to shove down their throats.

Walked the Line, and Proud of It

EDITORS: Your "Death's Angels" article was great [Allie Holly- Gottlieb, Jan 4]. I had always wondered what happens to the gore and drippy bodies after a homicide/ suicide. Your article was informative, as well as original. I get tired of reading The Stranger sometimes because I grow bored with all of the snobbish writing. However, ideas for stories like yours are what I think more alternative papers need. Excellent work!

Forest, via e-mail

EDITORS: If David Schmader is as hot as Ellen Forney draws him ["What the Drugs Taught Me"], I desperately want to have sex with him--'cause I already know he's smart and witty.

Gitai Ben-Ammi, via e-mail

EDITORS: Hate to be gushy, but right on for selecting new columnist Tamara Paris as David Schmader's replacement [Last Days, Jan 4]! I'll miss David terribly, but Tamara is, indeed, funny as shit.

Erik Poltz, via e-mail