LETTER: Free buses could clean air

Editor,

As I return home through Sardine Canyon, I wonder, where did Cache Valley go? I can’t see it, it seems to be covered with smoke. I become frantic … did the terrorists strike again? Only, what would they want with Logan? Then I realize that the terrorists wouldn’t be able to find Cache Valley if they wanted to. I am reminded of our unwillingness to walk or bike to work and school.

Every winter, we experience this polluted inversion. How do we break records when we have a free bus? Let me say it again … Cache Valley has a free bus system! Furthermore, when I walk to school in the mornings, I notice that the cars that drive by contain only one person. If every person that drove to school buddied up with someone else and they drove together, the number of cars commuting to school would be cut in half.

Last week, a student wrote a letter to the editor because she was upset at the Aggie Shuttle because she can walk to her classes from the stadium faster than it takes to ride the shuttle. I’m glad she figured that out but still blames the issue on the Aggie Shuttle or campus parking.

The shuttles are crowded because so many people drive. Also, if we build more parking lots, more people will drive. If more people drive, we will need more parking lots. It’s a never-ending cycle. In the meantime, air quality will dwindle until all of us and our dogs will have to wear gas masks every time we want to go outside.

Unfortunately, we let it get to the point where walking or biking outside may be harmful to your lungs, but if you must travel, I ask you to please consider riding the bus and carpooling. The streets of Logan are congested, campus parking lots are congested, and my lungs are congested. When a storm wipes this smog away, let us enjoy the clean air and walk or bike as much as we can to prevent us from breaking another unwanted record this winter.

Hayley Olsen