SmartMoves

[warwickland]

And now, of course, Omaha is poised to have a better urban transit system than Kansas City.

[knucklehead]

As one of the articles stated, not having good public transit is like a tax on downtown development. If an office building has to have 3 parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet instead of 1 that is a tax of $50,000 per 1,000 square feet.

And that is before you get to the added commuting costs paid by employees because of the lack of mass transit.

[warwickland]

You can add to that young professionals and established businessmen alike who decline job offers and investment in Kansas City based on things like civic amenities and a [glow=red,2,300]glaring[/glow] lack of decent public transit. business likes to invest where there is long term viability, and in an era of rising energy costs, kansas city looks foolish. Who knows what the true costs are to this city.

I don't understand why at least the business community in the core and 'burbs alike don't have a strong consensus on this issue. It just sounds like ridiculously bad business to me.

[dangerboy]

The Missouri Smart Moves law is moving foward despite the Joco reps who have killed it on the Kansas side.  The Missouri bill now has a provision allowing the Missouri-side counties to go ahead with the regional transit tax even if Kansas chooses not to.

Obviously we need a full regional system to fully realize our regional potential, but can no longer afford for the majority of the region to be held up by the objections of a minority group from another state.  If they want to join in later they certainly can, but we won't be waiting for them any more.

[schugg]

The Missouri Smart Moves law is moving foward despite the Joco reps who have killed it on the Kansas side.  The Missouri bill now has a provision allowing the Missouri-side counties to go ahead with the regional transit tax even if Kansas chooses not to.

Obviously we need a full regional system to fully realize our regional potential, but can no longer afford for the majority of the region to be held up by the objections of a minority group from another state.  If they want to join in later they certainly can, but we won't be waiting for them any more.

GOOD!

[kard]

GOOD!

?

I'm glad to see SOMETHING happening.  But...

I'd much rather have Kansas in on this.  Call me selfish, but I'd like to have the option of catching the bus from Downtown to my job in OP.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I remember reading comments to the effect that there was reason to believe that the Kansas legislature would be in a much better position to get a deal done next session.  It didn't sound to me like the towel was being completely thrown in on the idea of doing this on a bistate level; they have just modified the Missouri Act so that it will move forward regardless of how negotiations go in KS next year.  

[schugg]

?

I'm glad to see SOMETHING happening.  But...

I'd much rather have Kansas in on this.  Call me selfish, but I'd like to have the option of catching the bus from Downtown to my job in OP.

well, maybe you can talk your employer into moving downtown

[KCMax]

I wish Kansas would get its act together, but I applaud Missouri for moving forward without them. I think once its up and successful, Kansas legislators will want to get on board. Bandwagoners!

[Tosspot]

At the behest of repeating myself, I am exceedingly disgusted yet again with Johnson Countys behavior. Let JoCo rot for all I care.

[schugg]

when kansas jumps on board maybe transit in kansas city, mo. will be in full swing. then it will be too late,  forcing a dozen johnson county companies to move near those transit lines. 

[dangerboy]

I'd much rather have Kansas in on this.  Call me selfish, but I'd like to have the option of catching the bus from Downtown to my job in OP.

Everyone would rather have Kansas participating, but we can't wait any longer.  We need better transit yesterday, not two years from now.  Have you personally written and called your state rep and state senator and asked them to advance this bill to a vote?  If not, please don't complain

[warwickland]

Smart Moves is pretty anemic anyway, what there is of it needs to be expedited. 

[kard]

Everyone would rather have Kansas participating, but we can't wait any longer.  We need better transit yesterday, not two years from now.  Have you personally written and called your state rep and state senator and asked them to advance this bill to a vote?  If not, please don't complain

Does anyone know who let the bill get stuck in Committee?  This is all I could find in today's article.

In a February hearing, legislators on the Kansas tax panel said they needed to know more details.

“From our perspective, we have a lot of unanswered questions,â€

[warwickland]

The Speaker double-referred the bill and to add insult to injury, one of the committees he assigned it to does not meet on a regular basis.

There has been little movement among the local elected officials in Johnson County.

Sen. Karin Brownlee, R-Olathe
Sen. Kay O'Connor, R-Olathe.

here is a start, if you live in johnson county and feel burned by your representation.

[shinatoo]

We have two threads going on this.

[KCMax]

Kenny Wilk of Lansing is the Chair of the Taxation Committee. He used to the Appropriations chair and I seem to recall him being a pretty powerful House member. David Huff of Lenexa is the Vice Chair. Area Representatives on the committee include Ed O'Malley (R-Roeland Park) who I believe has come out for Smart Moves, Lance Kinzer (R-Olathe), Tim Owens (R-Overland Park), and Arlen Siegfried (R-Olathe).

[kard]

Kenny Wilk of Lansing is the Chair of the Taxation Committee. He used to the Appropriations chair and I seem to recall him being a pretty powerful House member. David Huff of Lenexa is the Vice Chair. Area Representatives on the committee include Ed O'Malley (R-Roeland Park) who I believe has come out for Smart Moves, Lance Kinzer (R-Olathe), Tim Owens (R-Overland Park), and Arlen Siegfried (R-Olathe).

Thanks.

[staubio]

Excellent.  This comes at the same time that all of the major Kansas-side retail centers can't find enough workers with the mobility they need to get to the jobs.  We can finally make transit acceptable in the core and open people's minds to the option, at which point it will be painfully obvious how much the Kansas side has dropped the ball.  This will make urban core locations more attractive in the meantime and will eliminate the handy convenience of moving to the hinterlands and still have a good transit option.

I like this.  I didn't want to waste money on olive branches for routes that wouldn't get used initially.  Let them sleep in the bed they have made.

[ComandanteCero]

i'm not too worried about this.  I think if Missouri puts a great Missouri side transit system, the KS side will come along eventually since it will be to their obvious benefit.  With that said, I still think KCMO should start a rail spine proposal in the near future.  I dont' know if it would be easier to build a line from the airport to south KC through a city only proposal, or through a multicounty proposal, but I think it should be something to shoot for by 2008 (i.e studied and approved), so that we can have something running and operational by 2010.  8)