Unfortunately, the Press Herald editors got it all wrong when they wrote (in this morning's editorial): "Portland cannot thrive in this economy by being unwelcoming to passenger automobiles."

Just how many cars are we supposed to welcome? Parking is already scarce, traffic on such routes at Forest Ave (302) is heavy, and huge streets like Franklin just chop up our city. There are better alternatives.

The Press Herald goes further: "In fact, one of Portland's big advantages as a place to live and visit is the relative ease in getting around the city by car." Wrong again. Leave out the "by car" and the sentence is still true. But keep it in and it won't be true for long.

Continuing: "Put another way, incentives to get people out of their cars make sense, but penalties for using them do not." But the report doesn't impose penalties -- it assesses real costs. As a Peaks Islander, I have to pay to park my car in town. Why shouldn't we all -- except for those who are smart enough to live and work in town, or near good transit hubs. Uups. I mis-speak. There are few good transit hubs here, because so much money has been spent on car facilities instead.

Arriving by boat from Peaks Island, it would take me more than an hour to get to Whole Foods. There's no bus to the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook. The airport is now a taxi -- not a bus -- ride away. There are no buses to the bus stations. And we've a huge new garage a few blocks away, with cinder block walls.

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