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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.