Lately there’s been much talk about public transit.

• Some say it can’t work, so stop wasting money on it and build more roads.
  
• Others say that we should spend whatever is necessary to double or triple the current ridership.
  
• Another group says nothing can work until people are forced to leave their cars at home and start traveling collectively.

None of these options makes any sense because none deals with the overall problem, which is that there is too much traffic congestion in too many places, coupled with financially floundering transit that doesn’t do as good a job as it does in many other advanced countries.

It’s time to zero in on the actions that would work and do work elsewhere. Talking endlessly about this or that piece of the problem gets us nowhere.

First, no more expensive studies. The problem has already been studied to death. Excessive congestion can no longer be allowed to ruin cities and other built-up places. Individual cars and trucks traveling in congested areas during congested hours, including computer-dispatched cars, must be tolled. Tolls should be imposed and collected by the affected towns, cities and counties. Toll revenues should go directly into reducing or eliminating fares or otherwise improving the transit alternatives. Not one dollar of the money raised by tolling should be used for any other purpose than improving the non-automotive means of getting around.

As to transit there’s a great deal to do, so it will take time. Here’s a set of priorities that tries to address the subject: