Get this:
In Fairfax County, Virginia, a couple miles from my house, there are lovely new trash cans installed near various bus stops. The county installed the trash cans when renovating the streets there, but they didn’t think to budget for trash collection.
So now, the braintrusts in the county government are saying that it’s the bus company’s responsibility to empty the bins:
The receptacles have not been serviced since they were installed three to four months ago. The county said Metro should take out the trash because the bins serve its bus passengers. But Metro says the cleanup is not the transit agency’s responsibility because the garbage cans were placed by the county and are outside bus shelters on county property.
The bins were part of the county’s $6.2 million streetscape renewal project in Baileys Crossroads. Bins installed at about 200 bus stops in other “commercial revitalization districts” — in Springfield, Annandale and along Route 1 — have similar trash collection problems, county officials said.
The revitalization funds, which were raised through county bonds, cover such one-time costs as new sidewalks, street signs and bus shelters along roads in the area. But no money was set aside for weekly garbage collection, county officials said. Nor was an agreement made with Metro.
… “I would like [Metro] to step up and take care of what I think is their responsibility,” [county supervisor] Gross said. “It is their bus stops, and it is their passengers and their riders who are not allowed to eat on the bus. So they are going to have to drop the trash somewhere. It ought to be part of their system.”
What a load of garbage — pun intended. This is out and out extortion by the county. Can you imagine if the county came by and installed a public garbage can in front of your house — without even notifying you — and then said it was your responsibility to empty it every day?
