Letters: Mountain Line benefits us all, now and in our shared future

A few days each week, our bus line carries my daughter and I to school, and then I run home to work. While it’s optional for us, these trips help reduce our carbon emissions, and make sure I prioritize self-care a few days a week.

For many others however, taking the bus isn’t a choice but an every-day economic necessity, or an essential part of their mobility. The Mountain Line mill levy increase will invest in the popular zero-fare program, and provide service for the first time on Sundays--a work day for many Missoulians.

Whether or not you use the bus, you benefit from it. More people on the bus reduces cars on the road, which means less traffic congestion and parking demand. Furthermore, Mountain Line’s development is a critical part of our community’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution in our rapidly warming world.

Emissions matter and impact how much our planet will warm. This affordable, shared investment will make our community more equitable and less polluted now, and help reduce the coming climate impacts on all of our families. I urge everyone to vote FOR the Mountain Line mill levy on your ballot this fall.

Winona Bateman, director of Families for a Livable Climate