Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Valuable transportation reporter let go by SAEN

Patrick Driscoll, long-time and expert transportation reporter at the the San-Antonio Express-News, has been let go as part of the paper's need to cut costs. Patrick covered state-wide transportation issues, and his blog was a valuable sounding board for transportation opinions from citizens around the state.

I asked the SAEN: "Please reconsider your decision to let Pat Driscoll go. Over the past few years, his coverage has been the standard for in-depth, knowledgeable, and up-to-date transportation news and analysis. During the last several days, I kept returning to his blog for the latest news, wondering why he not updated as he always did. I had decided he must be on vacation until I heard he had been layed off. Thank you for any reconsideration."

I received a reply from the paper regretting that this step was necessary. However, in the reply was the statement: "He will be missed and his successor (no one has been assigned as yet) will have a tough act to follow."

I responded: "If there will be a successor, why can't Patrick Driscoll still have that assignment?"

If Pat Driscoll must be lost to the transportation conversation in Texas, it will be a sad loss indeed.

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