Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde took a ride on an Akron city bus yesterday (Feb. 18) to show her support of a countywide sales tax increase for mass transit.
After the Monday morning ride, the Akron native said public transportation is “what makes a city a city.”
Her ride took her to downtown Akron with other tax supporters, who carried homemade and official Metro Regional Transit Authority signs promoting the tax issue on the March 4 ballot.
“If you feel you have to have a car, you feel trapped,” she said, adding that people who rely only on cars “forget what it is to walk and enjoy the city.”
Metro RTA, which has a $29 million budget, seeks a permanent 0.25 percent sales tax increase to raise roughly $18 million in additional funding per year. It would raise the total sales tax in Summit County to 6.5 percent.
Officials say all weekend buses and a curb-to-curb service that helps the disabled and elderly would be cut without the increase.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
