Silver Spring Transit Center: Phase 2 of 7

The way that I figure it the Silver Spring Transit Center is somewhere in Phase 2. As far as when the remaining phases will begin, that depends on if or when Montgomery County officials realize that "You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time." (Abraham Lincoln) Who knows if or when that will ever happen? (However, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Phases 6 & 7 haven't already begun in Rockville.)

Here are some things for YOU to ponder. That's right, YOU!--EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the U.S. who pays federal taxes and user fees. Those of you who live in the Midwest and on the West Coast. We (the public) are paying more than ONE-HALF of the bill for the SSTC with the federal taxes and user fees that we pay. Those of us who drive cars--part of the gas taxes that we pay go to federal coffers where they get distributed to Montgomery County and the Silver Spring Transit Center. The same is true for those of us who use public transportation. ALL of us (the public) are paying for the SSTC.

How much will the SSTC end up costing us (the public)? $120+ million so far, and counting; but that doesn't include time that Montgomery County employees have spent and will spend defending the SSTC. That doesn't include future operation and maintenance costs, which will be considerable given the SSTC's numerous flaws. And, that doesn't include future litigation costs which will be considerable (an understatement). $200 million? $300 million? $500 million? Who knows? Do you feel like you’ve been (and are being) robbed? I do.

Is the SSTC safe? Is the SSTC the next Kansas City Hyatt Regency skywalk? Who knows? Experts (and so-called experts) can give all the opinions that they want; but, NOBODY knows what other hidden defects there are in the seriously flawed SSTC. NO ONE knows even if the defects that we know about may eventually cause the SSTC to collapse. The best physician in the world can't tell you how long you're going to live any more than an engineer can tell you that "The SSTC will absolutely be safe". There are NO guarantees.

At the very least, we, the public, have bought, and still are paying for, a lemon. A seriously flawed, defective, lemon--one for which we’ve paid and paid and will continue to pay and pay for well into the future. A lemon with numerous design, construction and testing flaws—some that are known that we’re paying to fix (?) and some that are probably unknown and may or may not be discovered in the future. A lemon that will be expensive to operate and to maintain. Do you feel like you’ve been (and are being) had? I do.

Finally, let’s pray that the worst doesn’t happen—that the SSTC collapses, and lives are lost. If the worst does happen, then there will be people with “blood on their hands”—ALL of the people who are trying to shove the severely flawed SSTC down our throats. Will we ALL have “blood on our hands”? That’s the way that I see it; because we ALL didn't say  "NO!" to the severely flawed SSTC.