I've been saying this for a long time. It is ridiculous when so many of these "think tanks" like Cascade Policy and talk show hosts like Lars say things like 1% or 5%. The people making these arguments keep forgetting that any system that is just starting only serves a small portion of the people.

The first sewer only served a few percent of the population. The first high-speed internet connection served only a few. The first airport only served a few. The first highway only served a slight percent of the population. With any network, the larger it grows the number of people using it grows exponentially. This is no different with light rail or streetcar.

To all these people who continue to use this nonsensical argument, first answer this question:

Should we have stopped building when the region's first freeway was built, since the freeway network only carried X% of all regional trips (I guarantee you it was less than 5%)?