Within the upcoming year, approximately 74 bus routes will be cut from King County’s public transportation system due to a $75 million budget cut that will be put into effect next year.

This is bullshit.

One of the draws of a big city is not only the many unique activities and the hubbub of diverse people, but also the accessibility of those activities and those people. A city, where you can get from point A to point B with minimal stress and maximum efficiency; a place that strives to be the leader in an affordable and realistic alternative to a car.

We aren’t doing a good job of being that type of city.

Seattle might talk about being that place—where culture and community come together frequently and easily, but with a cut to the city’s valuable metro routes, it won’t be.

The Metro is what makes the diversity of the city accessible. From the corners of Tacoma to the malls of North Seattle, the bus system isn’t always the fastest route, but it is the most economic for many people.

Thousands of people use the bus system every day. With these cuts to the routes, Metro officials say approximately 50,000 daily trips would disappear. That number represents riders that will have to find another way to get to work, school and doctor’s appointments. Riders that may have no other option.

Not only do people rely on the Metro, but the environment relies on the conservation of our natural resources. If using the bus is a tangible, albeit small, step toward a cleaner Earth, we should not be cutting its funding. A reduction in transit opportunities discourages people from using buses and encourages them into cars—adding further congestion to our already overburdened highway system.

The only positive result of cutting the Metro is that…oh, wait. There is no positive result.