SmartMoves

[LenexatoKCMO]

i'm not too worried about this.  

Thats a pretty good attitude.  This may only wind up being a one legislative session delay, which isn't all that big of a deal or uncommon in government projects.  Don't forget that the Missouri counties still have to go through the referendum process too.  Its way too early to start looking at this as a black and white, missouri right, kansas wrong issue.  There is still plenty of opportunity for this to fall apart on the Missouri side and/or still plenty of potential for it to get back on track on the kansas side.  As others have said - if you care about it enough, make sure you involve yourself in the political process - in either state. 

[KCMax]

I'm a little more worried about the referendum vote. What are the chances of this passing in counties other than Jackson?

[dangerboy]

Its way too early to start looking at this as a black and white, missouri right, kansas wrong issue. 

That's not it at all.  It's not MO vs KS or anything like that.  It's simply a case of Missouri moving forward to take care of its own needs.  Kansas can still join and probably will, but their timeline doesn't have to affect the majority of the community.

I predict Joco will get on board pretty quickly once they see commuter rail in Independence or BRT in the Northland.  It's the ultimate keeping up with the Jones's.

[bahua]

It all sounds great to me. We have a critical situation, being held up by the hemming and hawing of suburban lawmakers, all notoriously representative of one political party.

Let KS work out their issues, and when they see that they can get their lawns mowed and ice cream served to them more effectively, they'll eventually cough up some funds.

[dangerboy]

I'm a little more worried about the referendum vote. What are the chances of this passing in counties other than Jackson?

It's polling very high in all counties, MO and KS, north and south.  I've heard it's polling higher than just about any tax vote that has passed in recent years.

Jackson County has the largest economy in the metro.  Even if it only passed in that county, it would still produce enough money to bring some big improvements the urban core as well as the eastern suburbs.

[KCPowercat]

we need gas about $4/gallon when this vote happens.  Sad that KS can't get it's act together to make this a regional plan...but like others have said, I can see them joining in later.

A regional solution is the only true solution....let's hope lawmakers don't try to make this a "what do we get" situation...we all benefit with regional transit.....

[dangerboy]

let's hope lawmakers don't try to make this a "what do we get" situation...we all benefit with regional transit.....

It's really obvious what Kansas would get, and a huge expensive rail line along I-35 that will cost more than any soccer stadium.

The problem is a few Joco mayors that have their feathers ruffled and have taken it out on the rest us through their reps in Topeka.  They complain that they weren't included in the process in and haven't seen the plan - even though MARC has been holding hearings for two years in every corner of the metro area, and the plans have been available online for months.

[KCK]

What a joke this has become. Olathe republicans that are against any and every tax increase will hold this in limbo forever. I remember 3 or 4 years ago us just talking about SmartMoves. You can't tell me that this moron from Olathe didn't have enough time to research. He did research, and saw that it would be a miniscule tax increase, and therefore he opposes it, without regard to what it will pay for.

These republicans are so against any type of tax increase, they would rather the schools their children attend be bankrupt than give them additional funds. They would rather the roads were crumbling than give them funding. They would rather leave our police force understaffed and overworked than give them one dime of tax money.

[DaveKCMO]

MARC is hosting a series of meetings to update SmartMoves.

http://www.onekcvoice.org/events/events.asp

[dangerboy]

I heard a briefing on this at the last MARC bike/ped committee meeting.  It sounds like they are planning to go in a much more local direction, with less of regional emphasis.  There will still be a regional network and map, but the actual transit projects would happen more on the county and city state level.

This isn't a surprise, MARC already announced they were giving up on regional funding after Joco sabotaged the attempts for bi-state transit funding. So we will still have a SmartMoves map, but each city or county would find its own money to pay for its part of the plan.  This is more like how MetroLink works in St. Louis.

[DaveKCMO]

better to adjust than give up altogether... wonder what funk thinks about the change in their approach to funding?

[DaveKCMO]

MARC is hosting a series of meetings to update SmartMoves.

http://www.onekcvoice.org/events/events.asp

decent meeting tonight in shawnee, but woefully light attendance (six, including me, a shawnee city employee, and a johnson county commissioner). they did show a wonderful introductory video (produced by KCPT) that has interviews with area leaders (surbaugh, reardon, funkhouser, huffer) talking up transit. they spent very little time talking about smartmoves itself and more time asking generic transit questions.

[DaveKCMO]

nice move, joco voters. pat yourselves on your fat backs. i guess they should have scheduled meetings in every corner of the county.... wait, they did!

Johnson County: a transit no-show

So far, three meetings held in Johnson County have only attracted a smattering of interested folks, even if transit is the talk of the town with KC's light rail plan.

[ComandanteCero]

I'm ashamed to say i didn't go to any of the meetings, but i honestly had no idea they were going on.  I think in terms of attracting more attention to the issue, i don't think anyone's going to give a rat's ass unless they propose something flashy (i.e light rail, monorail) etc.      Very few suburbanites are going to come out to discuss bus service in the burbs. 

I think the Smart Moves plan makes sense once you've actually started the transit system (i.e KCMO builds a starter line, then backers take the Smart Moves plan around the metro telling them how they can plug into the system if they want to).

[LenexatoKCMO]

Very few suburbanites are going to come out to discuss bus service in the burbs. 

Bingo - very few citizens turn up for any sort of planning meeting unless they are 1) a weirdo; or 2) have a personal stake or interest in what is being planned.  And I would say that it is safe to say that very, very few Johnson Countians currently view themselves as being stakeholders in the local transit system. 

[dangerboy]

I would say that it is safe to say that very, very few Johnson Countians currently view themselves as being stakeholders in the local transit system. 

So let's give up on trying to bring them into a process that they don't want to participate in.  We already have legislation in place to create a regional, multi-county transit system on the Missouri side, so let's use it. 

If Joco wants to join later, then more power to them.  But we shouldn't hold ourselves back by waiting for them.

[ComandanteCero]

I don't think anyone's holding anyone else back at this point.  The update being discussed is system wide, so they have to go through the community meetings in MO as well.

[DaveKCMO]

more smartmoves meetings this week:

October 10, 3:30-5 p.m.
Southtown Council
6814 Troost Ave.
Kansas City, Mo.

October 11, 5-6:30 p.m.
Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council
3700 Woodland
Kansas City, Mo.

[DaveKCMO]

here's the video you'll watch at the beginning of each of the MARC meetings.

[DaveKCMO]

the second smartmoves "update" meeting is tonight at the central library. it was postponed from last monday due to weather.