16 Comments so far

1. CWG on May 8, 2005 10:08 pm

   Sheesh, does this guy have not even one gram of pride? Every rail idea he proposes — even the good ones — instantly turn to crankcase oil the minute his name is associated. Not even one success unless, of course, he got lucky leeching single women’s names off his many petitions. If he really had the area’s best interests at heart, you’d think he would step aside and allow a local champion carry the banner.

2. ajh on May 9, 2005 7:00 am

   What other local champions? Persistence usually pays off. At least he’s passionate enough about it to keep trying. So what if he’s a little off kilter. Most people who get things done don’t concern themselves with what others think of their personality, they care about results. I hope he succeeds.

3. Hippster on May 9, 2005 8:05 am

   I’m curious as to whether you guys think light rail is a good idea for a city as spread out as KC. It would cost a fortune and I think very few people would use it.

   I don’t think traffic is bad enough to convince people to abandon their cars for light rail. I think the airport line would be popular, but I have a hard time imagining too many people riding light rail to other places.

   I wish we had light rail and I would certainly use it, but I don’t think it’s practical for a city this size with such a small traffic problems. I think that’s why light rail keeps failing at the polls.

   Disclaimer: I live in Overland Park.

4. Archangel on May 9, 2005 8:57 am

   I have no problem with Clay Chastain, and while I’m normally anti-tax I’d support a light rail tax. But any light rail plan that doesn’t extend out to I-435 to give Johnson County commuters a possible alternative to using I-35 is a bad idea. The urban core alone won’t generate the ridership a project like this needs. If rail was extended out to I-435 and a large Park and Ride garage built next to the station you would automatically have a reliever system for I-35 which is what KDOT is studying right now. You also bypass BNSF and their commuter rail hesitation and MO gets the ridership and dollars needed to keep the system strong.

5. ajh on May 9, 2005 2:48 pm

   Good point Archangel. Hippster…look at Portland Oregon. Granted, they are a lot more green minded than we are, but they have a great line from downtown out to the airport. I think part of the problem is that you can’t just up and build it to all parts of the city at once. You have to lay down a positive route first, test it, and then expand it as demand allows. It takes patience on the part of all of the communities. The tax burden would require nothing less than a regional tax. Something no one, but Jackson County residents seem to be able to tolerate.

6. BlogKC on May 9, 2005 5:44 pm

   ajh you’re right. We need to start with a manageble, affordable starter line between Downtown and the Plaza – the most dense corridor of the city. Then we can expand it to Waldo, Prospect, the Northland, and the airport as time and money allows.

   Unfortunately, Northland voters have killed every proposal so far. They refuse to support anything that doesn’t go north in the first phase. The last proposal did just that and they still voted against it.

   Light rail might not even be the best choice for long distances like the airport and I-35 in Kansas. Commuter rail or bus rapid transit might work better across the longer distances, and then connect ligth rail in the more dense urban areas.

7. Hippstar on May 9, 2005 6:19 pm

   I like BlogKC’s idea of a starting small and building outward. I doubt the demand is too high in the suburbs (people wouldn’t have moved way out there if they minded long commutes), but I think a good starter line in the core of the city makes sense.

   I’d like to see it come out to JoCo, but I don’t think people out here will pass a tax to pay for it.

8. ajh on May 10, 2005 7:36 am

   Hippster and BlogKC,
   Again, good point. Traffic to KCI isn’t quite bad enough to motivate people to get on a train. Once we get more critical mass downtown that should change. All those people being diverted off of the Paseo this summer trying to get to Cerner and everyhwere else are gonna be wishing they had an alternative. Maybe people will realize what traffic in most other major MSA’s is like and be thankful it isn’t like that here all the time.

9. BlogKC on May 10, 2005 9:52 am

   Hippster, you might get a chance to vote on something in the next few years. There is plan called SmartMoves for a regional transportation system, including the ATA, JO, and Wyco bus. It would have a mix of regular busses, express busses, and fixed-quideway (i.e. light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit) where appropriate. http://www.marc.org/kcsmartmoves/

   Right now there is work in Jeff City and Topeka to amend the current bistate compact to allow it to be used for transporation projects, in addition to arts and stadiums. If all goes well, there might be a vote in 2006 or 2007. Of course, who knows if Jocos will vote to participate in another regional project. If not, the four Missouri-side counties will probably still have a chance to implement about 2/3 of the proposed system.

10. PDX on May 12, 2005 8:35 am

    Portland, which was mentioned earlier inthis thread, is a great example to look at. It is no t much larger that KC but has had a huge success with their mix of various public transportation options. I lived there for a year and drove my car maybe a dozen times, you can ride pretty much anywhere for free, airport is under $2 and it is clean, cheap and efficent. There is no reason there shouldn’t be something similar to this is in KC, a quick way to get from the Plaza to downtown, to the airport or any number of places would be a good thing for the city.

11. Hippster on May 12, 2005 10:07 am

    Well, it’s not “free.” Someone is paying for all that and that’s going to be the problem here. If people think the stadium renovations are too expensive, I don’t think they’ll view light rail is a good deal.

    And we’re not nearly as eco-centric as Portland, and I wonder if light rail really appeals to that many people. Maybe as downtown continues its growth, demand will increase.

    I have hope for light rail in the future, but I’m not sure it’s the best use of tax money right now.

12. ajh on May 12, 2005 12:04 pm

    Hippster,
    The stadium renovations were not viewed as being too expensive by the public. Bistate was watered down with other issues that weighed on too much on people. Mixing sports with arts will not work. Two different crowds. It’s hard to compare Bistate with a light rail vote. If a decent ballot initiative did come around on light rail than it would probable include only light rail and not arts funding and the myriad of other issues slipped into bistate.
    You can thank Cleaver for killing light rail and misleading the public by insinuating Bond would not work for Kansas City in getting federal funding. Bond has said repeatedly if we want it he’ll help us get it.

13. Hippster on May 13, 2005 7:49 am

    Ya, I think you’re right about the reason why Bi-State failed. I don’t understand why the arts crowd didn’t/don’t get their own issue on the ballot. I was surprised when most people I talked to at work and even on a Royals message board seemed to support an new arts center even if they didn’t support stadium renovations.

14. ajh on May 13, 2005 9:48 am

    Absoltuely,

    I think most people that are willing to support the Royals even in the state they are in now, are probably willing to bend over backwards for the good of Kansas City in general.

15. BlogKC on May 13, 2005 12:42 pm

    Regarding BS2, it was actually the arts crowd doing a favor for the stadiums. Opinion polling showed very strong support for an arts-only plan, and very weak support for the stadiums. So, the arts folks agreed to join the two into one proposal.

    An arts-only bistate would easily win, but it keeps getting pushed down the agenda. The arts groups let Union Station go first, then let the sports teams tag along on the second ballot. The third ballot is likely to be transportation – public transit and light rail.

16. Zrapp on May 17, 2005 9:10 am

    Gas prices for our cars will not stay what it is now. As gas gets really expensive, and I do mean really, everybody will wish they would have spent the money back when times were good…. now, that is.

    Yeah we need to look at lots of things but we do need a big time public transport system. Many people will be using it when gas hits past $4 a gallon. At some point many people will move to the city from outer areas, which will make for more traffic, before they switch to mass transit.

    It’s gonna get tough and we better have mass transport in place. We should not care who brings it to the public, we should care that we’ll have it when we need it.

    More people are thinking differently now. Me included. Those that read truthout.org anyway.