Jackson County Regional Rail Plan

[enough]

^ a letter of support from a public entity (such as the kcata board of commissioners) for an initiative by an elected official (such as the "regional rapid rail" proposal championed by mr. sanders) should be considered to be just a "courtesy letter" until proven otherwise.  i don't think anybody at kcata believes the commuter rail proposal will be found to be feasible by the "commuter corridors study" that marc is currently having done.

the same goes for congressman cleaver's earmark request for $500 million for the project.  it's a courtesy only and has nothing to do with reality.

the same applies to the inclusion of money for the downtown streetcar project in the region's tiger application last year.  that was done at the request / insistence of councilman johnson.

it's unfortunate that so many elected officials seem unwilling to seek advice about their ideas from professionals who might have to play a role in actually implementing them.

[nilsson1941]

Does anybody know how the pitch to the city council went?

[enough]

^ it was the standard mike sanders / jim terry pitch.  
http://www.jacksongov.org/filestorage/3 ... tation.pdf

said sanders: we need to be ready to "sprint to the head of the line" for some of the $30-50 billion of rail transit money expected in the next federal transportation bill.

kcur's report:
sanders transit pitch strong as chastain warms up
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kcur/ ... n.Warms.Up

the star's story:
kc council hears a pitch on regional rail
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/06/19 ... ional.html

not a word about the commuter corridors study that transystems (terry's firm) is doing right now under contract with marc.  that study is likely to find relatively low ridership projections, along with major challenges to implementing the commuter rail system as proposed.

nevertheless, several council members expressed support for the proposal, so don't be surprised if they adopt a resolution of support for sanders' request for $4.5 million of federal money for an alternatives analysis to study it further.

it's almost like the council is desparate to jump at any straw, however irrational, to take some of the attention away from chastain's petition campaign.  neither is feasible, but right now the chastain proposal is looking better and better.

[ComandanteCero]

[DaveKCMO]

while us wonks may not think sanders' plan is good -- or even doable as described -- it does address one reason people who would normally drive consider transit: avoiding congestion. there simply isn't any congestion or parking shortage in the RCP corridor, even during the peak of rush hour.

[KCMax]

Only two, he said, have objected. They were Johnson County residents who were upset that they were not part of the plan.

You two are barking up the wrong tree. Contact your tone-deaf Johnson County leaders.

[enough]

councilman sharp and nine others have co-sponsored resolution 100422 in support of the sanders/terry regional rapid rail proposal.
http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/liveweb/Docum ... 9XeKSqKxrE
 
the resolution is on the agenda for the may 20 meeting of the council's legislative committee.

the marc study that should come to some initial conclusions about whether the concept is even feasible -- and whether there is enough projected ridership in the corridors to justify it -- should be completed by about the end of june.

let's hope the council will want to hear the results of that study before they hop on board.

[enough]

city council passed the resolution 13-0.  mike sanders was there to watch the votes.  transit action network blogged about it:
http://transactionkc.com/

[nilsson1941]

"The concept envisions using city streets for some of the most critical rail segments, and it would cross several boulevards at grade.  We suggest you get input from your Public Works Department, and also from the Parks Board."

Can someone explain this to me? What exactly is he saying here and how would it, in general, work?

[GRID]

It's a hybrid light rail/commuter rail/trolley system.  They are basically self propelled pasenger cars, engine is part of unit.  Can run on heavy rail track or even on city streets like light rail or trolley cars only they are not powered by overhead wires.

In KC's case, the rail lines don't have direct access to the downtown area, so they will go off the rail right of ways and use city streets.  For example, the line from lee's summit will get you as far as the leads district before the trains would have to get creative for the rest of the route to downtown.  I think they plan to use Truman Road, but not sure.

Austin has something similar:

[MidtownCat]

city council passed the resolution 13-0.  mike sanders was there to watch the votes.  transit action network blogged about it:
http://transactionkc.com/

I'm actually getting pretty excited for this plan.  The fact that this has City Hall support and a well respected, mostly popular political figure in Sanders campaigning behind it, is starting to give me some optimism that for the first time in a decade we actually might have a viable shot at this.

[kcjak]

Let's hope that if this comes up for a vote that Clay's latest petition doesn't get enough signatures to be on the same ballot.

[nilsson1941]

Yeah, but I'd still like someway to get around on rail INSIDE the city (RCP area at least). This is what Sander's plan seems to leave out..

[DaveKCMO]

Yeah, but I'd still like someway to get around on rail INSIDE the city (RCP area at least). This is what Sander's plan seems to leave out..

it is in progress, just stalled. again, KCATA has proposed the modern streetcar that would compliment the sanders proposal. it would reuse some of the AA work done on the 2008 light rail plan. the new "parking and transportation task force" that starts meeting next week will surely address this need, as well.

[GRID]

RCP needs a transit system, not fucking street cars that are probably less efficient than the 40' max buses they have.

Put street cars in to move people between UMKC and Westport, Plaza and Brookside etc, not as a major spine to distribute people throughout the urban corridor of KCMO which has something like 225,000 jobs and who knows how many residents.

Is there a city out there that is trying to use modern street cars as a primary transit spine?   It will take three of them to offload one of those Colorado Rail Cars the commuters will be coming in on.  Even "modern" street cars are slower than buses.

I still think KC just needs a real BRT system.  Dedicated and separated lanes between river market and the plaza, stations etc.  Buy real BRT articulated buses and run them every 10 minutes all the time with free zones between places like crown center and the plaza.

4 freaking miles of true, high quality BRT.  That's it KC, that's all you freaking need.  You will spend as much on one mile of street cars that will do next to nothing to actually improve KC's transit situation.

[nilsson1941]

No, I agree. One streetcar spine through the RCP area would be sufficient (along with the commuter rail) and then true BRT in other places...

[chingon]

Saddest of all is how cheaply BRT could be aproximated b/n the Plaza and the River Market.

1. Remove stops. Until the route is straight. Main or Grand. Decide. 

2. Stop allowing parking or driving (except turns) in "bus lanes" at any time during operating hours. Period.

3. MAX buses get signal priority. Always. Change the opticom programming. Keep it quiet and get it done.

3. Viola! Have "low grade" BRT, instead of an express bus.

[enough]

mike sanders will be on up to date on kcur tomorrow at 11 am.  
http://bit.ly/4qca9

commuter rail will be one of the issues to be discussed.

do you suppose he will acknowledge the commuter corridors study that marc is currently having done?  that study, which is supposed to be finished in 6-8 weeks, should produce ridership projections for the various corridors.  without favorable ridership numbers it makes no sense to even ask for federal money to do more study.

btw, in testimony to the city council last week, transit action network called attention to the marc study.
http://transactionkc.com/

[dangerboy]

do you suppose he will acknowledge the commuter corridors study that marc is currently having done?  

What's the point in acknowledging that MARC is once again studying the same corridors and drawing the same lines that they've been drawing every five years, only to never follow it up with a push to fund the pretty red and blue lines?

Sanders is trying get us past the gap that plagues many things in this city - the gap between planning and implementation.

[aknowledgeableperson]

But if the ridership levels don't justify the outlay how can you implement?