KCRag Forum

I went to the meeting tonight. I saw some familiar faces from other transit meetings.  There was something of a change in the air tonight.  I went to my first Smartmoves (oneKCvoice) meeting 2 or 3 years ago. At that time emphasis was heavily directed towards bus, and BRT systems.

Tonight the interest on the part of the public was on transit rail (light rail, commuter rail, intercity rail). There was less emphasis on bus type transit, but the good thing is that it was not solely about either, rather an integrated system.  But rail was much more prominently on the table at this meeting.

advocrat wrote: I went to the meeting tonight. I saw some familiar faces from other transit meetings.  There was something of a change in the air tonight.  I went to my first Smartmoves (oneKCvoice) meeting 2 or 3 years ago. At that time emphasis was heavily directed towards bus, and BRT systems.

Tonight the interest on the part of the public was on transit rail (light rail, commuter rail, intercity rail). There was less emphasis on bus type transit, but the good thing is that it was not solely about either, rather an integrated system.  But rail was much more prominently on the table at this meeting.

Good to hear we have come full circle and the meetings are similar to the first ones I went to in....

1989...

Workshop recap:  http://kclightrail.com/2007/12/18/smart ... hop-recap/

advocrat wrote: Tonight the interest on the part of the public was on transit rail (light rail, commuter rail, intercity rail). There was less emphasis on bus type transit, but the good thing is that it was not solely about either, rather an integrated system.  But rail was much more prominently on the table at this meeting.

Completely agree.  In my group, I got the feeling folks wanted rail, primarily along I-35 and I-70 but knew it was a long way out since there wasn't any money for it.  But there were still happy to identify routes knowing they'd only be served by buses.  So, while rail is preferred, I wouldn't say folks at my table considered it do-or-die.

GRID wrote: Good to hear we have come full circle and the meetings are similar to the first ones I went to in....

1989...

Nail: Head

We just keep drawing the same lines over and over.  These exercises aren't going to change the situation, which is that voters are not making enough noise to their elected leaders about doing something.

The only way to make real progress is for the RTA to become a real advocacy organization and get voters to fill the mailboxes of mayors and city councils all over the metro. 

We have the authority to move forward with regional funding for the majority of SmartMoves, so let's do it.  It would be great if Kansas joins us, but we can't afford to wait on them any longer.

"The only way to make real progress is for the RTA to become a real advocacy organization and get voters to fill the mailboxes of mayors and city councils all over the metro." 

Rather than waiting on the RTA for this, how many on this forum have already called or written our own local electeds demanding better transit?  How recently? 

If anyone wants contact info for your own county commissioners, mayor, council members, etc. there's an updated list online at: http://www.marc.org/pod.htm

Languagehat wrote:

Rather than waiting on the RTA for this, how many on this forum have already called or written our own local electeds demanding better transit?  How recently? 

If anyone wants contact info for your own county commissioners, mayor, council members, etc. there's an updated list online at: http://www.marc.org/pod.htm

Thank you! Make your voices heard. We're a powerful constituency on the forum but we have to let someone know we're here.

New plan, new maps,  new web site.  Overall they have pared it down to a few high-priority corridors and dropped some of the freeway express routes to focus mostly on corridors that could host a range of things like BRT, LRT, rail, etc.  Over half of this map is already in the works when you include the KCMO starter line, the Missouri regional initiative, and KCK's plan for BRT on State Avenue.

http://www.kcsmartmoves.org

Red: "Urban Service" with BRT or LRT
Blue: "Commuter Service" with freeway express buses, BRT, LRT, or commuter rail
Yellow: "Major fixed route service" with regular buses running high frequencies and fewer stops

yay! smartmoves finally lives up to its name!

So what does this mean other than cute web pages with good ideas? Why doesn't the "powers that be" pay any attention to the people who currently move our people around?

DaveKCMO wrote: yay! smartmoves finally lives up to its name!

I never had a problem with the previous Smart Moves plan. I don't get the "finally" part. No one paid attention to them, but they were on the right track IMO.

trailerkid wrote: I never had a problem with the previous Smart Moves plan. I don't get the "finally" part. No one paid attention to them, but they were on the right track IMO.

there is finally a realization that just because rail gets voted down you can still put it in your long-range plan as a serious modal choice. there is finally some political movement taking place on which they can overlay the years of planning.

DaveKCMO wrote: there is finally a realization that just because rail gets voted down you can still put it in your long-range plan as a serious modal choice. there is finally some political movement taking place on which they can overlay the years of planning.

I've never seen/heard any of SmartMoves touted or expanded upon by anyone in City Hall including during MKB's term. Funkhouser's plan with winding commuter, exurban rail looked like something that would've been more appropriate at the turn of the 20th Century and ignored existing potential for exurban connections on existing auto-driven routes.

sounds like it's time to start making this plan a reality.  Prioritizing the red lines and making them real BRT.

the draft Urban Corridors report is now available:

http://www.marc.org/transportation/agen ... -02-26.pdf

With the additional $500 million per year MODOT is getting, they have released a new priorities survey. Asks about congestion fixing (highway expansion), bridges, signage, snow removal, light rail, and bike lanes.

https://www.survio.com/survey/d/july?modotsurvey=1CNG

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:03 pm the draft Urban Corridors report is now available:

http://www.marc.org/transportation/agendas/Transit/Urban_Corridors_Report_Draft_IV_2010-02-26.pdf

I'm getting 'page not found'. And the link shows 2010 report.

normalthings wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:54 am With the additional $500 million per year MODOT is getting, they have released a new priorities survey. Asks about congestion fixing (highway expansion), bridges, signage, snow removal, light rail, and bike lanes.

https://www.survio.com/survey/d/july?modotsurvey=1CNG

Where was this published? I don't see anything in their newsletter or Twitter feed.

earthling wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:00 am

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:03 pm the draft Urban Corridors report is now available:

http://www.marc.org/transportation/agendas/Transit/Urban_Corridors_Report_Draft_IV_2010-02-26.pdf

I'm getting 'page not found'. And the link shows 2010 report.

Makes sense considering dave posted that in 2010

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:08 am

normalthings wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:54 am With the additional $500 million per year MODOT is getting, they have released a new priorities survey. Asks about congestion fixing (highway expansion), bridges, signage, snow removal, light rail, and bike lanes.

https://www.survio.com/survey/d/july?modotsurvey=1CNG

Where was this published? I don't see anything in their newsletter or Twitter feed.

Direct outreach to residents.

normalthings wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:15 am

earthling wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:00 am

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:03 pm the draft Urban Corridors report is now available:

http://www.marc.org/transportation/agendas/Transit/Urban_Corridors_Report_Draft_IV_2010-02-26.pdf

I'm getting 'page not found'. And the link shows 2010 report.

Makes sense considering dave posted that in 2010

Hah, funny, didn't notice that. That post showed as a 'new' post for me.