PART will not seek a $3 vehicle registration tax from counties after commissioners get an earful from taxpayers. Surry County Commissioner and PART board member Paul Johnson said he’s “never taken a beating like I’ve taken in the last three weeks over this issue.”

PART executive director Brent McKinney “bristled at the notion that the service should be self-sustaining” because “it is embroiled in the American spirit that we do things for the common good.” McKinney hold out hope that counties will instead make direct contributions to PART, but surely commissioners will realize that taxpayers will not find that option more palatable than the vehicle registration tax.

This is an interesting development on the same day the Brookings Institution issues a report ranking the Triad 74th in public transportation. According to the report’s author, the major issue isn’t getting from the suburbs to the city, but getting from suburb to suburb. Evidently they didn’t realize that PART just scaled back suburban and rural routes due to lack of demand.