Reading lesson: Letter to the Mayor

Dear Mayor Martin,

I am writing to you today to bring something important to your attention in our community. I believe that our city of Smalltown does not have enough reliable and affordable transportation choices.

This problem became obvious last week. I was waiting for the intercity bus to arrive at the station, but it never came. Every Tuesday I take this bus to the corporate office to attend meetings. I like this route because it is express. It passes through all the neighborhoods and towns, straight to the downtown area without many stops.

When I asked an employee about the bus service, he told me the service was reduced from hourly to once per day. This is not reliable because the schedule changed without any notice to the passengers.

Because the bus was not running that day, I had to take my car. While I was driving, I heard on the radio that the city’s transportation budge was cut 15 percent by the mayor’s office. This must explain why the bus schedule was changed.

When I arrived home from work (after spending an additional $30 on gas and to park my car), I learned that my children had transportation problems too.

For the last three years, my two teenage children were depending on the city’s bike-share program to get to school safely and conveniently. That day, when they arrived at the bike station, there was a notice that the service was not available until further notice. They had to call a taxi to reach school on time. This cost $20 and it is not affordable for our family. They only did that one time, and now they have to walk to school. This takes 45 minutes and I worry about their safety.

These services are very important for the community and for the economy. My proposal is that the mayor’s office review the transportation services and increase passenger fares to balance the cost.  I will happily pay more to use public transportation if I don’t have to drive in traffic or pay for expensive taxis.

Thank you for considering this change for the residents of Smalltown.

Sincerely,

Martha Richards