Seven Year Old Gardner Boy Hit By Car

Tragedy in Gardner as a child was struck by a car walking from his elementary school. The full details aren't yet known, although reportedly he was not crossing at a crosswalk. It it the second student struck in Gardner in the last month. Whether or not the automobile is at fault or it is simply an accident, it does highlight a bit that there are entirely too many cars picking up kids at schools these days.

Not to get all grumpy old man on you, but when I was a child, the only time anyone picked up their kid at school was when they left early for a dentist appointment. Now there is a cavalry of SUVs lined up outside elementary schools at 3 p.m. Many schools have cut back or eliminated bus service due to budget cuts and an emphasis on "neighborhood schools" which in theory allows most students to walk to school. So you have a combination of more kids walking to schools AND more vehicles around schools. Its not a good combination.

This is a good time to point out that the Obama administration did implement a new initiative called "Safe Routes to School" to fund community projects that improve the walkability of school routes. The primary goal seems to be to encourage walking and biking to improve children's health and stem the tide of childhood obesity. But the Gardner incident highlights what should be another major goal of such an initiative.

We have massive product recalls for cribs that don't even injure a single child. We implement regulations that require child safety locks for firearms. But we seem to do little to make neighborhoods safer for kids other than putting up a few signs that everyone can ignore. And the results reflect it - about 1200 kids are injured by cribs per year. 16,000 are injured by firearms. And 25,000 are injured by motor vehicles. Its time we got serious about making schools safe areas for children.

Mission's Traffic Tax

I've had a chance to digest the new, yet controversial Mission "driveway tax" which isn't really a driveway tax at all.

First things first, while I generally applaud the coverage of the Star on development issues, they did a really poor job covering this issue. They adopted the "driveway tax" moniker, which is really misleading since its not a tax on driveways at all (one could conceivably still get assessed a fee even if one removed the driveway from their property). What it is is a "traffic usage fee" - an assessment based on the amount of traffic a property is generating.

The Star also failed to mention that the city of Mission cut property taxes by two mills, cut the city budget by 24% and froze city employee salaries. Well, they did mention it, but in a completely separate article. This amounted to tossing red meat to the anti-tax readers who predictably reacted violently to this talk of a new "driveway tax", thinking those out-of-control spenders at Mission were all-too happy to tax Mission businesses into submission.

Anyway, onto the substance of the tax itself. Like most people, I don't like new taxes, but I also realize that they are the price we pay for having a civilized society, and fund many of the services and amenities that make the areas we live attractive places to live. And if I have to choose between a property tax, a sales tax, and a "traffic usage fee", I'll glad choose the traffic usage fee, particularly if its being used to fund roads. It makes perfect sense to link traffic usage to road maintenance costs in an effort to get users to pay their own costs. It is also less regressive than a sales tax, and much more stable than a property tax or sales tax (meaning in dire times, the city is less likely to have to require an increase!)

Additionally, it may also get Mission businesses to think about the traffic they are generating. Mission is using funds from the fee to support the Jo Express Bus that will run from Metcalf to the Country Club Plaza. Businesses may want to start thinking about how they can better accommodate mass transit, encourage patrons to walk to their establishments, and reduce the size of their massive parking lots, if nothing more than to reduce their "traffic usage fee."

Mission has suffered some setbacks in their Gateway Project at the former Mission Center site, but I am encouraged that they are still pursuing modest steps to achieve their vision of a more pedestrian-friendly downtown district.

Vision Metcalf Update

I did manage to attend the Vision Metcalf open house last Thursday. It gave the public an idea of the concept of "Form Based Code." Form Based Code is a different type of zoning code that rather than looking at the use of a building, evaluates it on its form. It can be a good tool to give greater importance to more pedestrian-friendly rather than encouraging sprawling auto-centric form.

You can see the downtown Overland Park district they propose adapting to Form Based Code. They plan on building a "New Market Street" and a "New Broadmoor Street" with townhouses/row houses lining New Broadmoor.

It was also stressed this would be a very long process taking years, possibly even decades. Still, it was invigorating to see the enthusiasm from the young planners, and it is nice to see a community in the metro at least give some lip service on working towards more walkable communities.

Public hearings should take place this October.

Vision Metcalf - City of Overland Park

Tonight in Johnson County

The JO's Strategic Transit Action Recommended Taskforce meets tonight at 6:30 at the Sylvester Powell Center at Johnson Drive and Lamar in Mission. 

The taskforce is charged with:

• Studying the county’s Transit Strategic Plan
• Evaluating current service options, both within the county and metro links
• Presenting recommendations on future public transportation strategies, including both short-term and long-term financing options for a comprehensive county-wide transit system

Also there will be an open house for the Vision Metcalf project tonight from 4:30 - 6:30 at the Matt Ross Community Center at 81st and Marty, just west of Metcalf, with a presentation at 5:30. 

At the open house members of the public will be able to view the latest concepts related to Vision Metcalf and future downtown development. The presentation will illustrate the latest updates to the downtown form-based code and regulating plan. Recent revisions are based on input from community groups, the form-based code steering committee, the development community, and city staff over the last several months.

New Johnson County taxi service

Bill George, who owns a number of taxi companies in Kansas City, is starting a new taxi service for south Johnson County.

A new Johnson County service, 10/10 Taxi, makes it simple - $10 for up to five miles and a maximum of $15 after that, and 10 minutes or less to pick you up or you get 10 percent off.

The taxi service will launch at 8 a.m. Wednesday and then run 24/7, covering two zones: Blue Valley (from 95th Street to 151st Street, State Line Road to Pflumm Road) and the city limits of Olathe.

It will be interesting to see how much this service is utilized. My guess is there are more elderly people in Johnson County that need to get to places than most people realize. I also wonder how this affects the JO's "special edition" for senior citizens that will provide curb-to-curb service on demand. Sure the taxi is more convenient, but my impression is that senior citizens aren't exactly pressed for time, and what is more important to them is saving a buck or two whenever they can.

The JO celebrates expanding to five new routes

In a time when most transit services are cutting routes, the JO should be applauding for expanding their number of routes. In July the JO expanded to five new routes:

664 - Metcalf-Downtown
556 - Metcalf-Plaza
856 - New flex service midday on Metcalf-Plaza
575 - 75th Street and Quivira; Waldo to JCCC
875 - New flex service midday on 75th Street and Quivira; Waldo to JCCC

This, in addition to the recent K-10 route to Lawrence, helps upgrade transit service in Johnson County considerably. There is still a long way to go in making the JO a truly viable alternative to driving in Johnson County but at least the agency is being allowed to move in the right direction, when the county could be reactionary by imposing draconian cuts.

This Thursday, August 19th, the JO will be holding a publicity event to drum up attention for their new routes. Join them at the Price Chopper at 75th and Metcalf from 4:30-6:30 for free food and free passes and take a ride!

Overland Park lists dozen most dangerous intersections

Overland Park has released a list of its dozen most dangerous intersections. One of the comments makes an obvious but perhaps overlooked point - the intersections with the most accidents are going to be the ones with the most traffic. It is simple logic - more cars means more chances for accidents.

Which is why it would benefit drivers if we actually improved the walkability and transit use in this community. Fewer drivers would mean fewer accidents - particularly if we give the option not to drive to people that are higher risk drivers (in particular the very young and the very old).