Imagine KC Series to Focus on Sustainable Community Efforts in KC

Over a year ago, KCPT aired a program on what Kansas City would look like in the next couple of decades titled "Imagine KC". The show focused a lot on how our metro area would grow and the need for denser, sustainable communities complemented by mass transit. You can see a clip of that show on the right sidebar of this blog.

It was a lively program featuring an interesting discussion of government officials, community activists, and regular citizens and brought focus to a sorely underdiscussed topic in this community - how will we grow?

I am pleased to see KCPT will be covering the topic in a year-long series beginning this Thursday at 7:30.

Featured areas for the first episode will include looking at the revitalization of downtown Lee's Summit, the new Troost Bus Rapid Transit, and community involvement with projects like "Tulips on Troost." Throughout the series other possible topics could be trails and creating "walkable" communities, transportation in all its forms, using energy efficiency, conservation, urban design and ultimately what citizens can do to affect change in the region.

 KCPT has really done an outstanding job facilitating this discussion, and I hope more and more citizens get a chance to watch, discuss, and demand their elected officials give weight to developing sustainable communities as part of our future growth.

Lewis Diuguid of the Star Calls for More to Be Done for Bikes

Another bit of older news, but a nice column by Kansas City Star columnist Lewis Diuguid on the perils of riding your bike in Kansas City and the need for greater accommodations for bicyclists in our city.

This town and its drivers are not ready to share the road with anyone not wrapped in a ton of glass, plastic and steel. I took quiet Admiral Boulevard to the Paseo and then to Independence Avenue. I got off that busy and dangerous road at Benton Boulevard, taking it south past The Concourse Fountain, where pink water was shooting in the air for breast cancer awareness. St. John Avenue took me home. It was a nicer route for bicyclists.

One day, Kansas Citians will be ready to fully share the road with two-wheelers. But it may take gasoline going to $5 a gallon and more people parking their cars for the economical convenience of biking wherever they need to go.

Kansas City Awarded $4.25 million Grant for "Sustainable Communities"

I am catching up on some old news, so here's a good piece of news from a few weeks ago. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $4.5 million to the Kansas City metro area to support more liveable and sustainable communities. It is a new three year proposal called Creating Sustainable Places "intended to build economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation."

Kansas City was just one of forty-five areas awarded grants. It will be interesting to see what projects the money is used for.

The Deficit Commission and its Effect on Walkable Communities

President Obama's Deficit Commission will soon come out with recommendations with how to reduce our national debt.

Here is a draft of the power point presentation on their policy recommendations.

There are three proposals in particular that could have major implications for urban growth and walkable communities.

1. Eliminating the mortgage interest tax deduction

The mortgage interest tax deduction has helped subsidize home ownership, primarily in suburban areas. It has helped encourage larger houses, on larger lots, leading to more sprawl. Eliminating this at least removes the tax incentive to build bigger and gives a more level playing field for developers wanting to build denser housing projects.

2. Raising the gas tax 15 cents to pay for transportation costs.

While I'm sure this would be unpopular, this could get more people out of their cars and using mass transit, increasing riderships and perhaps justifying new transit lines and newer dense transit-oriented development. And the hope is that at least some of the revenue generated by the tax increase would help fund new transit lines.

3. Eliminating earmarks

I'm not sure if the Commission means eliminating all federal infrastructure projects entirely (and passing them onto states?). I suspect they mean adopting the infrastructure bank idea that used to have bipartisan support until some Republicans decided they didn't want to support anything supported by the President. The Infrastructure Bank would be an independent commission that would award federal funding on a more competitive base, leverage private money to put infrastructure projects where they would maximize investment, not based on the political process like they are now. This could dramatically help urban areas which need infrastructure projects the most, and we might see an end to major infrastructure projects in rural areas that help only a few residents but are built thanks to influential Congressmen (see the Bridge to Nowhere, for example)

These proposals face serious uphill battles to win approval as they will be very unpopular politically. But if politicians are willing to do the serious work this country needs to do to solve our deficit issues, urban areas could be the beneficiaries.

Travel + Leisure Gives KC Low Marks in Pedestrian Friendliness/Public Transit

While many may focus on our high marks in barbecue, a bit more troubling in the rankings of Travel and Leisure is our ranking in pedestrian friendliness and public transportation.

Maybe its time for us to put down the burnt ends and walk down the street?

Improved Billboard?

I don't endorse graffiti, but give credit for creativity.

Americans Walk Far Less Than Those in Other Countries

It should really come as no surprise that Americans walk far less than their counterparts in other countries, and now we have scientific data to support that claim. From the Reuters news account:

Adults in western Australia average 9,695 steps a day. The Swiss followed with 9,650, while the Japanese clocked in with 7,168 steps. But Americans straggled far behind with just 5,117 steps.

 "We were surprised that the levels of physical activity were that low," said Dr. David R. Bassett, of the University of Tennessee, the lead author of the study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

"Five thousand steps is really pretty inactive," he added.

And while we may need to hit the gym more, the author suggests that the main culprit has to do with the lack of walking in our day-to-day environment.

Bassett thinks America's car culture and lack of adequate public transportation provide fertile ground for couch potatoes.

"People do have to exercise," he said. "But our overall environment does not lend itself to promoting an active lifestyle."

Indeed, there is a clear link between biking or walking to work, and positive health outcomes.

We can also see that cities that invest in rail transit tend to have an increase in walking. As Infrastucturist nicely summarizes:

• All cities experienced a slight increase in commuter walking, at 1.8 percent
• Cities without rail had a 2.7 percent decrease
• Cities with rail but no major new rail investments saw a 1.7 percent increase
• Cities with major new rail investments jumped 4.2 percent

 Just something to think about as our health care costs continue to skyrocket.

Forbes Thinks KC is Dangerous Because it Drives Too Much?

Forbes comes out with a lot of lists as a way of bringing attention to its publication in the wake of sagging revenues. Their most recent list is the Most Dangerous Cities in America, and to the ire of the local chamber of commerce, Kansas City ranks high on the list at number three.

Of course, it comes with this caveat.

“There are zones in safe cities that are way off the chart for crime rates, but when you average it across all of the city, it doesn’t look so bad,” says Bruce McIndoe, president of Maryland-Based iJet Intelligent Risk Systems, a risk-assessment firm.

 Which is of course true. If you live in Brookside, I'd say you're probably as safe as if you lived in Plano, Texas (the safest city in America!). In fact, if you lived in the great majority of Kansas City, you're generally safe. Crime, particularly violent crime, is very concentrated in this area. Six percent of the population in the zip code 64130 make up 20 percent of the murders and voluntary manslaughters in the city.

Another interesting point raised by a professor of mine relates to the factors they used.

We used FBI data on the number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2009, and Department of Transportation data on the number of traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents in 2008 (the most recent available).

Notice anything about the list? They all tend to be car-centric metro areas. Sure Atlanta, St. Louis and Miami have light rail systems, but they are all still heavily dependent on automobiles. 

It is interesting that Forbes is telling us that what makes a city dangerous is not only the criminals that inhabit a city, but the careless drivers that populate a city, and I applaud them for including that as a criteria. Being a safer city is not just about reducing crime, its about reducing traffic fatalities as well.

Any new light rail campaign should make this part of the campaign - Make Kansas City Safer. Take these careless drivers off the road. Get fewer people driving.

New Documentary About Commuter Rail Line in Overland Park

Commuter rail in Overland Park? Unthinkable! Well there used to be a well functioning commuter rail line called the Strang Line, running from 7th and Oak, through Westport, and on down to 80th and Santa Fe. The line stopped running in 1940, but there are still remnants of the line around Johnson County.

There is a new documentary about the history of the rail showing at the Rio Theater, with plans for KCPT to run the program in the future.

Its interesting that Overland Park was made possibly in large part because of commuter rail. As its suburbs, particularly inner-ring suburbs, became more working class, it will be interesting if commuter rail becomes once again a necessary lifeline to connect workers to jobs, or if it will continue to require its working population to invest in automobiles as a cost of living there. 

International Walk to School Day

Today is International Walk to School Day, and over five thousand schools across the country will participate in an effort to promote safer walking routes and more physical activity for children.

What should also be promoted however, is the fact that many of the areas around our schools are simply not safe. Simply putting up signs that warn of "Children Crossing, Slow Down" is not enough to slow down traffic and make an area safe for children to cross. A child was struck in Olathe this week, the third child struck by an automobile near a school this fall.

Cities and schools should be looking at better ways to slow down and reduce traffic around school buildings. Suburban schools tend to be located in exclusively residential areas. Cities should discourage the use of streets leading into schools to be used as main arterials. This may mean road diets (street thinning), reduced speed zones (all the time, not just during school hours), roundabouts, and stop signs. Instead of maximizing speed and efficiency on all roads, cities should begin thinking about moving traffic into certain corridors, while actually slowing down and reducing traffic in other areas where pedestrian traffic is likely.

Is High Density Required for Transit in KC?

Human Transit has an interesting post on the relationship between density and transit and pokes holes in some of the fallacies.

Transit does depend on density, but there are three problems with saying that “transit requires high density.”  

    * First, it offers no hope to places that are already built at low densities and unlikely to change.
    * Second, it gives public transit in low-density areas an excuse for descending into a cycle of underinvestment, official neglect, and lazy operations, because after all, nobody expects public transit in low density areas to be any good anyway. 
    * Third, it invites sweeping claims about transit’s viability based on the overall average density of a city, claims that, as we’ll see, make no sense at all.

Of course, we hear this argument all the time when transit is raised here in Kansas City. Transit can be a way to build up density. But since we already have low density, transit won't work here.

I think this is an astute point as well:

The emotions are inevitable: Whenever we talk about urban form, people hear us making judgments about their homes.  I can stand in front of a group of citizens and talk about how a certain kind of development pattern implies certain consequences for transit, and thus for sustainability, and thus for civilization.  As we talk, it may appear that we’re having a thoughtful and educational discussion about good and bad design.  But some people in the audience have chosen to make their homes in the very development pattern that I’m describing, and to those people, I’m saying that their home is good or bad.

If you talk about say a RCP light rail plan and the need for higher density, you will get resistance from Northlanders...even suburbanites for whom the the rail will not even affect. Some of that I'm sure is anti-tax sentiments, but I don't think we should overlook the defensiveness of suburbanites. No one likes being told they are making bad choices, particularly about big things like the choice of where and how to live. Implicit in the arguments for density and transit is a critique of suburban sprawl.

KCPT ran a program last year called "The Next American Dream" about the revitalization of downtown. They advocated for even greater density and urbanization of the metro area. But they were also smart not to criticize suburbanization. They emphasized greater "choice" - urban living for some, suburban living for others. This will be key for any discussion on light rail or higher density plans.

The last point I think is key:

Transit reacts mainly with the density right around its stations.  It is in the nature of transit to serve an area very unevenly, providing a concentrated value around its stops and stations and less value elsewhere.  So what matters for transit is the density right where the transit is, not the aggregate density of the whole urban area.

 What matters not is the density of the Kansas City metro area, or Kansas City proper, or even the imaginary boundaries of the River Market/Crown Center/Plaza corridor. What matters is the density around the transit nodes we select. If you put transit stops at the River Market, in the Financial District, at the Convention Center/Power and Light District/Sprint Center, at the Crossroads, at Crown Center/Union Station, at Westport at the Plaza, at Brookside/UMKC - will there be sufficient densities around those nodes?

League of American Bicyclists Recognizes Bike-Friendly Companies

The League of American Bicyclists has honored those Kansas City area businesses and organizations that are the most bike-friendly.

Fall 2010 Kansas City Area Bicycle Friendly Businesses
Silver Level

• 360° Architecture
• Family Bicycles, LLC    

Bronze Level

• Foth Infrastructure and Environment — Kansas City       

Honorable Mention

• City of Mission, Kan.
• City of Shawnee, Kan.
• Mid-America Regional Council 
• Sprint Nextel
• UMB Financial Corporation

New Bus Rider Concludes KC Buses Ain't So Bad!

Nice column from a reader at the Star about his first time using the MAX.

Initially I dealt with the fear that the bus would be dirty, noisy and crowded with “people who rode the bus.”

What a pleasant surprise to be proven wrong. If only I had opened up my commuting horizons earlier.

A window into the lives and habits of people in my own neighborhood, as well as the wide variety of those in neighborhoods between my own and the office has blossomed.

I had a short conversation this weekend with a gentleman who used to live downtown, but now lives in the suburbs telling me about how he used to ride the bus to attend Kings games at Municipal, but he would "never ride the bus now" for it was far too dangerous. When I asked him the last time he rode the bus, he said it was decades. So how did he know it was dangerous?

I encourage everyone to at least give the bus a chance, particularly when arriving at some of Kansas City's larger events. Yes, it could be more convenient than it is now, but any preconceived notions about lack of safety, smelly riders, or being hassled by poor people will be pretty quickly dismissed. And you may find avoiding dealing with bad drivers to be a welcome experience.

Public Transit Ridership Up Nationwide

2008 saw a dramatic uptick in public transit usage nationwide as oil prices soared. Well oil prices have stabilized, yet public transit ridership has slightly increased.

The American Public Transit Association is reporting that transit trips ticked up by 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2010. APTA says that may be because the economy is actually shivering to life. “History shows that as the economy grows, public transit ridership tends to increase. This rise in ridership offers a glimmer of hope that we may be coming out of the economic recession and ridership will continue to move upward.”

It is promising to see ridership numbers stabilize, despite the recession (or perhaps because of the recession?) However, it is vital this surge in ridership is not undermined by slashing transit budget and making transit even less convenient for the people that need it most now.

Prairie Village Community Improvement District

Prairie Village has approved a 1% sales tax increase in only the Village Shops at Prairie Village and Corinth Shopping District to fund the Community Improvement District that will renovate the two shopping districts.

You can see the proposed improvements here on pages 43 and 97. There are some pedestrian-oriented improvements that will be integrated. The crosswalks will be emphasized more in the Village Shops center. The Corinth center will have a new courtyard for pedestrians to mill about and relax. Bike racks will be included and both developments will be integrated with a proposed trail.

Still, it strikes me as a missed opportunity. Both developments will still be areas to drive to and park, rather than centers that residents can walk to from their homes, despite the fact that Prairie Village can boast a sizeable biking and walking population. No parking is being reduced despite the fact that neither center has its lots much more than half full. Parking still lines Mission Road, which should be a walkable, pedestrian-friendly road that connects the two centers together.

City Councilmembers have emphasized wanting to preserve a "village"-type atmosphere for Prairie Village, and this will be a long-term development that will take decades (the tax runs for twenty-two years). My hope is that over time, as the economy recovers, the CID will be able to make more dramatic changes that fundamentally alter the auto-centric layout of the development and foster a more walkable community in Prairie Village.

Sanders Lays Out Commuter Rail Specifics

Jackson County executive Mike Sanders unveiled more specifics on his proposed commuter rail plan that would be able to take commuters from as far as Blue Springs all the way to Union Station.

Six lines in Jackson, Clay, Platte and Wyandotte counties would converge at Union Station. The system would operate 16 hours a day, mainly to get people to and from work but also to the airport, big sporting events and major shopping areas. The trains would scoot along at up to 70 mph and have amenities such as Wi-Fi. “Put your bicycle on there if you want to,” Terry said.

Terry puts the price tag at slightly more than $1 billion – less than $8 million per mile, far lower than systems in other cities – mostly because 70 percent of it uses tracks or old rail corridors that are already in place and are underused or not used at all. The line through Independence, Blue Springs and Grain Valley, for example, would use Kansas City Southern tracks that currently handle only five trains daily – four of them at night.

Its also interesting they note that the price tag - while large - is less than a third of what it would cost to expand I-70 by one lane. 

I applaud Mike Sanders for using his political capital on such a project. While it has its flaws, its one of the most serious mass transit proposals this metro area has seen, and he is actually going out and winning support for it, rather than letting others do the heavy lifting.

Its also embarrassing that Johnson County refuses to participate in this.

MoBikeFed Hosts Bike Safety Course

MoBikeFed will be holding a Traffic Skills 101 course to educate bicycle riders on bicycle safety tips, including "bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student text book."

Bicyclists can do their part by becoming safer, more aware riders who legally follow traffic signals. But it will also take drivers becoming safer, more aware drivers who legally follow traffic signals if we can avoid awful incidents like this one. Integrating bicycle safety and rules on bicycles as part of driver's education courses may not be a bad idea in getting drivers to at least acknowledge sharing the road.

MARC Presentation on Sustainable Communities

MARC continues its 2010 Leadership Series with a presentation from Sarah James a city planner and author of the book "The Natural Step of Communities: How Cities and Towns Can Change to Sustainable Practices."
  
Participants will learn:

• What is and is not sustainable
• Why a project-by-project approach is not enough
• How broad participation in sustainable change makes a difference
• How to bring about comprehensive community sustainability
• Cost savings through sustainable development

 James will speak Friday, October 8 from 8-10 a.m. at the Sylvester Powell Center in Mission, Kansas.

Kansas City Seeks Input on Street and Traffic Plans

Just a reminder from Let's Go KC, that the city of Kansas City is seeking public input on its street and traffic plans.

Stop by one of these open houses to voice your opinion, all from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
North Community Center on Monday, Sept. 20.
Tony Aguirre Community Center on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
Gregg/Klice Community Center on Wednesday, Sept. 29.
Line Creek Community Center on Thursday, Sept 30.
Marlborough Community Center on Tuesday, Oct. 5.
Hillcrest Community Center on Thursday, Oct. 7.

The Pitch: KC's Bus Service is Pretty Lousy

The Pitch steps up this week with a pretty decent expose on how the city continues to raid the coffers of the Kansas City Area Transit Authority to the tune of $5.4 million, over one-sixth of the tax revenues generated by the 0.5 percent sales tax that is supposed to be dedicated to public transit.

By any name, it keeps growing. The city's 18.3-percent cut follows a pattern of steady increases. In the 2003-04 fiscal year, the city kept only 4.6 percent of the sales tax....

An accountant by training, Rogers has put together a spreadsheet indicating that the city has withheld $22 million from the ATA during the past eight years.

We keep hearing how Kansas City should not build a light rail because people don't even use the bus system. Well people aren't going to use the bus system if its perpetually underfunded, inconvenient, and doesn't go everywhere riders need it to go.

It also begs the question of whether the KCATA might be better of serving as its own political unit, raising its own funding through a sales tax where it can keep all of its revenues, and being the truly regional authority it needs to be for this to be a healthy metro area.

Public Transit Helps You Lose Weight

Its always been a theory among transit advocates that if you implement a successful transit line, a welcome effect is a healthier populace. Well now there is evidence to support that claim as seen in a study of the Charlotte, North Carolina metro area.

Increasing the availability of public transit systems is one among a number of modifications to the built environment that offers opportunities for increasing physical activity and reducing the prevalence of obesity and its associated problems. In a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the RAND Corporation found that construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity (walking) and subsequent weight loss by people served by the LRT. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood environments and increasing the public's use of LRT systems could improve health outcomes and potentially impact millions of individuals.

In this age of spiraling health care costs and and an alarming rise in obesity among younger generations, it makes sense for public policy to encourage people to get off their duff, walk out their door, and walk down the street.

How to Slow Down Streets For Children

Bold. But I like it.



From the Canadian organization The Community Against Preventable Injuries.

Park(ing) Day is September 17

This Friday is Park(ing) Day an "annual, worldwide event that inspires city dwellers everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good." Kansas Citians will be reclaiming parking areas at 11th and Grand downtown at various parking lots at UMKC, and at Independence Center and  Independence Square in Independence.

Here's a great video showing how a car-dominated area can be converted to a much more enjoyable people-dominated area.


PARK(ing) Day: User-Generated Urbanism from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo.

Walk-Friendly Communities Program

 "Walk Friendly Communities" will be giving grants in November to communities that establish or recommit to a high priority for supporting safer walking environments. This is similar to the "Bike Friendly Communities" program which of course awards grants to communities that support safer biking environments. Our own Lee's Summit earned "honorable mention" in the most recent award.

This is a terrific program that Kansas City communities should be aggressively applying for. While receiving an award may take several applications, the process can still help communities guide their plans for developing more walkable, bike-friendly communities.

McPaper Trumpets Streetcar Success

USA Today recently brought attention to some of the success stories of the Portland Streetcar system, which not only generates manufacturing jobs here in the States, but also spurs economic development in formerly blighted areas.

In 2008, a study by the city found that Portland's streetcar system had generated $3.5 billion in investments and prompted construction of 10,212 housing units within two blocks of the line.

The Pearl District has had "a fraction" of the business closures experienced by other Portland neighborhoods during the recession, says Joshua Ryan, executive director of the Pearl District Business Association.

"It's the hottest place in the city," he says. "It's the safest district, the cleanest district. ... The benefits of streetcars have surpassed our expectations."

Kansas City at one time had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in the United States, with lines even running as far as Leavenworth, Olathe, Lawrence and St. Joseph. The system was purchased and dismantled by General Motors so that people could buy their automobiles, and we have been without a rail system ever since. KCATA is currently studying the feasibility of a River Market-Crown Center route for a streetcar. St. Louis recently won federal funding for a downtown loop trolley.

Streetcars are a quaint, slow mode of transit that is nice for a neighborhood you are trying to slow down and improve walkability. For example, I think a streetcar would be wonderful at tying the Country Club Plaza with the Nelson-Atkins Museum, UMKC and Brookside. I'm not so sure it works as well as a major spine running through the heart of a city. If you want to travel from the River Market to Crown Center (and possibly onto the Plaza), you will want something that is at least competitive, if not faster than an automobile. With a top speed of about 30 mph, I'm not sure a streetcar will be that competitive mode of transportation.

Emmanuel Cleaver Boulevard to Become More Pedestrian-Friendly?

Kansas City, Missouri will begin public hearings to discuss design improvements for Emmanuel Cleaver Boulevard between Rockhill Road and The Paseo to improve streetscaping. Improvements may include better sidewalks, trees, enhanced crosswalks, improved pedestrian-level lighting, traffic calming, road diet, and bike lanes.

The strikes me as a rather significant opportunity. One of the complaints about the Plaza is that it pretty much sits as an island that doesn't mesh well with surrounding areas.  Connecting the Plaza to UMKC, Theis Park, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum together would do wonders for tying the area together and extending the vibrancy of the Plaza further eastward and would help develop areas east that have become neglected and blighted.

And imagine the foot traffic to Gates Bar B.Q.!

The first public hearing will be Tuesday, September 14 from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. at the Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center at 47th and Troost.

New Crosswalk Design to Cut Down on Jaywalking?

The only reason jaywalking is illegal is to protect the safety of those jaywalking. Well what if we made it easier to cross at crosswalks by making them bigger and safer?

Korean designer Jae Min Lim has the clever idea to turn crosswalks into, well, “J”s. By curving the typical Zebra crossing to take up a wider swath of road, you carve out a nice, safe path for pedestrians -- one that reflects how they actually walk. 

You would have to make it illegal to turn right on red, which should be done in several places already as I see many cars parked on the crosswalk creeping towards a turn as people are trying to cross. But this crosswalk shows a clear design that sends the message that the roads are to be shared with pedestrians and cars must operate accordingly.

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

Flashing lights mean....what?

A recent Watchdog item in the Star highlights some of the silliness of traffic signs.

Greg Muleski of Kansas City wonders about two sets of push-button flashing yellow lights that Kansas City officials have placed at a crosswalk on Wornall Road at 74th Street.

“The button activates flashing yellow lights that confuse motorists and make it more difficult to cross than without the lights,” Muleski contends. “Drivers don’t know what to do in response to the flashing yellow. What’s the reason for the flashing yellow?”

Greg is absolutely right. All the lights do is either confuse motorists if they are not ignored by motorists altogether, while pedestrians tentatively, and perilously cross the street hoping the motorists know what to do. (in fact, it may actually make things more dangerous for pedestrians). In downtown Mission, the city even posted large signs in the middle of the street, telling motorists to stop if pedestrians are crossing, or face penalty under state law. And yet still I nearly saw a pedestrian struck by a large car there.

Why does this happen? I am currently reading "Traffic" by Tom Vanderbilt, and he discusses the ubiquity of traffic signs flooding our senses.

Try to remember the last time you saw, while driving, a "School Zone" or "Children at Play" sign. Chances are you will not remember, but if you can, now try to recall what you did when you saw it. Did you suddenly slow? Did you scan for children? If you're like most people, you did nothing. You may not have understood what it was asking you to do, which is rather common - in one study, subjects who were shown a sign warning WATCH FOR FALLEN ROCKS, were split equally between those who said they would look for rocks falling at the moment and speed up and those who said they would slow down and look for rocks already on the road. 

Traffic signs have become so numerous they became white background noise, easy for motorists to ignore. And if we do notice them, they are so ambiguous, motorists don't know what to do. Its even more problematic in a town with so few pedestrians like Kansas City - motorists simply aren't accustomed to dealing with them.

So what to do? Vanderbilt cites the late innovate traffic engineer Hans Monderman who advocated removing street signs and simply slowing the street down - not through traffic humps - but through psychological means.

"How foolish are we in always telling people how to behave. When you treat people like idiots, they'll behave like that."

People behave like idiots when we drive because we are conditioned to rely on signs to tell us what to do. Outside of our cars, we don't need signs to tell us what to do. We use our intuition. We pick up on cues. When I walk, and a man approaches me, I subtly notice he shifts his shoulder to his right, so I move to my right to avoid contact with him. At the park, on a trail or an open field, I know I can run without risking running into anyone. But as I approach a crowded playground, or an area occupied by people sitting enjoying a fountain, I know I must slow down and take more care so that I don't slam into an elderly woman or young child.

We should use this same kind of logic in dealing with automobiles. Waldo has an emerging hot spot at 75th and Wornall with eclectic bars, restaurants and shops. There is a sizable residential and office community and it serves as a transit hub. It follows that there will be a good number of pedestrians and planners should begin to look at the intersection as more of a neighborhood that showed be slowed to a pedestrian-level pace, rather than a way to run cars down Wornall as fast as possible.

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 Better Block Project

Impressive video on how a group of enterprising young people were able to transform a car-centric block into a more pedestrian-friendly, visually pleasing space in just two days spending only a thousand bucks.







From one of the organizers:

We've got the first complete street in Dallas…. It didn't cost millions of dollars. We didn't have to hire consultants from other faraway places to make this happen. It took us a day. And all we did was slow the street down. We made room for everybody. For cars, for people, for bicyclists.… We've changed the psychology of the street.

Straddle Bus - Wave of the Future?

Check out this futuristic concept bus being considered in China.

The innovating company, Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment, claims that building the infrastructure for straddling buses is three times faster and much cheaper than a comparable distance of new subways. The wheel-rail-hybrid buses are powered by municipal electricity and solar energy, thus reducing the cost of their operation as well as fuel consumption. They will purportedly reduce traffic jams by 25 percent. There’s even motion-sensing alarm system built into the bus to prevent oversize vehicles from passing through the bus and to warn cars if they swerve too close to the bus’ wheels.

I guess I still don't see how its that much more advantageous over regular buses since it still has to stop at intersections. But I guess it won't disrupt the flow of traffic it is traveling with and hey, it looks pretty cool!

Delaware to protect cyclists and pedestrians with new law

Delaware will soon enact a new law that will toughen penalties against drivers that hit and injure pedestrians and cyclists. The penalties include completion of a traffic safety course, community service, fines, and suspension of driving privileges. As Streetsblog points out, it helps to give prosecutors tools that are not as severe as vehicular manslaughter, but more of a deterrent than a traffic citation. Oregon and New York have similar laws, and even Texas, the libertarian, truck-driving capital of the nation, passed a similar bill, only to have it vetoed by the Governor.

Meanwhile in Kansas, we get no charges filed against an inattentive driver that paralyzed a world class international cyclist.


Delaware S.B. 269 - "The Vulnerable Users Law"

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!

Dangerous Crossings - Buford Highway in Atlanta

This video is the impetus behind this blog. It aired a few weeks ago on PBS' new show "Need to Know" and it highlights the dangerous nature of Buford Highway in Atlanta. Fast highway speeds, limited visibility due to hills, and virtually no pedestrian crossings have created a perilous environment for pedestrians, at a time when the area is attracting more low-income residents that utilize bus services and need to hazard crossing the highway to get where they need to go. The inspiration of this blog was the Atlanta pedestrian-advocacy group featured in the story - PEDS.org.



Blueprint America special report: Dangerous Crossings

The story also reminded me of some of the state highways in our area that pose a risk to pedestrians. The one nearest to me is Shawnee Mission Parkway in Johnson County. Most of Shawnee Mission Parkway serves pretty automobile-centric areas, but as you travel east into the denser areas of Johnson County, the highway poses more of a threat to pedestrians trying to cross. The developers of the Mission Gateway Project at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Roe wanted to slow down the highway and make it more pedestrian friendly, connecting their project to neighborhoods to the south, but they received resistance from KDOT.

Raytown has also made strides towards making areas more pedestrian-friendly, helping the local establishments, but it appears as if the presence of Highway 350 is an impediment towards those goals.

What other dangerous highways do we have in Kansas City?

Best Pedestrian Sign Ever

Awesome.

Reference here.

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).

KC Strip Trolley Doing Okay

This weekend the Star gave an update on how the KC Strip Trolley is doing. This is the privately-run trolley service that runs past certain bars downtown late at night that was subsidized to the tune of $195,000 from public tax dollars, and another $200,000 in secured loans while at the same time the city was cutting ATA service due to lack of funding.

On the one hand, I am glad to get a few more drunk drivers off the road (although people responsible enough to pay $10 for a ride are people that were probably already responsible enough to get a cab or a designated driver). And hey, it is mass transit of sorts.

On the other hand, its public money being handed to a private business-owner to provide a service that is already being served by the private sector (taxi-cabs) at a time when legitimately needed transit services are being cut.

The two biggest benefits of public mass transit are (a) to provide transportation at reasonable costs for those that cannot afford private transportation; and (b) to foster development.

This accomplishes neither of those goals. The service is only late at night, rendering it useless for the majority of people. The fare is $10, not much different from what private transportation would cost. And with such limited ridership hours, there is zero chance of any development spin-off.

So what is being accomplished here?

Meanwhile, the conservative think-tank the Show-Me Institute seems ready to use either the success or failure of this venture as evidence that public transit funding should be cut.

The KC Strip trolley service should prove to be a fairly good market test for trolleys in Missouri’s cities. If it prospers, it will show that such mass transit options do not require lavish public subsidies to survive. However, if it fails to make money, it’s a good indication that people are not terribly interested in riding a trolley system, so we should save our public dollars for more pressing needs.

Now if Show-Me Institute is simply saying there is no need to publicly fund these late-night drunk trolleys for tourists and suburbanites, then they are quite right.

However, I fear some fiscal conservatives will use this argument to be applied to mass transit more generally. See, if it works, that means the private market can better run mass transit! And if it doesn't work, that means there is no market for mass transit! Which of course, is silly. If there were a way to make mass transit profitable, the free market would already be providing this service (as it is for late-night drunks!). It is the absence of a market solution that publicly funded mass transit is needed. Not to mention that this is a very limited service with very limited application and cannot possibly be used to illustrate whether or not mass transit on a wide scale should be publicly funded.