CargoOne,
Have you not noticed nowadays that you actually see MUCH more traffic in the airways than you did in the year 2000. Every day I notice the proximity of other aircraft that ten years ago would have surprised me.
The skies are FAR busier now, and soon the traffic levels will multiply at a faster rate. Combine this with a watering down of average pilot proficiency, and the result is a short wait for disaster.
I wouldn't fly nowadays without TCAS - irrespective of what my MEL stated, and neither, IMHO, should VLJ pilots, operators or air taxi companies.
I think a well timed letter to the Daily Mail about Jet Bird will do the trick.