I formerly served as director of the Fort Lauderdale Metropolitan Planning Organization when an Regional Transportation Authority was created there. I support a Madison-area RTA, and would like to respond to a misguided criticism.

At the Oct. 26 Dane County Board hearing on creation of an RTA, a supervisor appeared concerned that the RTA might go rogue, making decisions counter to the will of local governments. Ald. Steve Arnold of Fitchburg, an RTA supporter, correctly disagreed, pointing out the RTA does not act in a vacuum.

It's unlikely for any RTA to implement a transit program without cooperation from all quarters. The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority has been sustained by many partners, including the state Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, local governments, private developers and citizen organizations.

An RTA acting on its own would get nowhere fast, because any project requires local acceptance, federal funding, land use decisions by zoning authorities, traffic and access provisions, and regulatory review. In fact, the County Board should begin building a support network for the RTA by assembling a team from cooperating agencies.

The RTA will be a catalyst for our regional transit system, but it cannot simply dictate the makeup of that system. There are plenty of checks and balances in the process.

- Bruce B. Wilson, Middleton

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