Authors' Closure and Response to Discussion

---

There are strange things said
When you get in bed
With the rules of public funders

And it has to be noted
When the budget is bloated
That it's hard to avoid some blunders

"We need more speed!"
The proposals read
So they pile on the horses

And they disregard
That they've worked so hard
To defy the market forces

'Cause the farebox share
Doesn't mean a hair
It's the subsidy per ride

So run them slow
To where people go
(And not where the Bay is wide).

But the cash flows in
From the tax on sin
i.e., the Bay Bridge crossing

Where the traffic's so slow
In the stop and go
That they use the time for flossing

Resistance, I've heard
Is a V-squared curve
A fact that is widely agreed

Then the power, you see
If you're following me
Goes up by the cube of speed.

If you want a clean stack
You don't have to go back
To wind or paddles or oars

You don't need to mess
With a fuel cell test
Or those solar panel floors.

There is clean diesel tech
So like, what the heck?
It costs a whole lot less.

And choose the speed
To meet the need
And not to wow the press.

The time that's in store
To go door to door
Is what the commuter reacts on

For if there is doubt
On delay in the route
Then sigma times two is tacked on

So spend the cash
On avoiding the hash
Of parking and waiting in vain

And the total time
Will be more in line
With the bus or the car or the train.

Because travel by sea
Is just how it should be
Plus it's good for the constitution

And a good boat ride
Is a City's pride
Not a traffic jam solution

If you give a hoot
For your taxpayer loot
Build simple boats, we've learned

And run them true
Like they used to do
When the money was actually earned

---