Bay Crossings follows a harried legislative policy analyst as legislation making possible comprehensive regional ferry service wends its torturous way through the Byzantine Sacramento system.
Published: June, 2003
Zealot readers of Bay Crossings will recall our story detailing the bizarre way funding for the Water Transit Authority came to be ("Sausaged," October 2000). The ordeal continues as plans for a comprehensive regional ferry system continue to wend a tortured path through the Alice in Wonderland-like California political process.
Next up: Hearings on a bill that Senator Don Perata has proposed that would raise bridge tolls and use the proceeds to fund a wide array of public transit projects, including expanded ferry service. Ezra Rapport works for Senator Perata as a policy analyst on Bay Area transportation issues. He’s the point person on this hot issue, which is of fierce interest to many transit agencies.
We asked Mr. Rapport if we could follow him around for a day when he went to the state capitol in Sacramento to attend hearings on the bill. Beyond our parochial interest in how plans for ferry funding fared, we wanted to learn about the personal emotional toll this process takes on someone like Mr. Rapport. To scientifically measure the pressure Rapport would experience, we fitted him out with a heart-rate monitor, the kind one uses in an exercise program. Behold, the majesty of democracy in action.
