To the editor:

Just as the body’s extremities rely on a strong and healthy heart to deliver life-sustaining nutrients and oxygen, so, too, does peripheral St. Louis County rely on its core to sustain its viability.

A functional public transportation system is requisite to economic development, as is evident in thriving cities such as Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, St. Louis lags far behind in local, state and national support for public transit.

We were rescued by a one-time federal stimulus grant to sustain existing bus service, but these funds will soon expire, and we will be facing cuts in critical transit routes once again.

St. Louis County will have an opportunity in April to contribute a one-half-cent sales tax that will generate income to sustain operations and to enable future expansion of our metro-area public-transit system.

Let us not be shortsighted in our position on this nominal tax increase — especially in south and west counties. Just because at this time public transportation options may be limited in our immediate neighborhoods, we should not be dissuaded from investing in a robust “heart” with long-range goals to feed these distal arteries.

Susan Buerkle

south county