Toellner Tells it

Ideas I Love For Kansas City: Neighborhood Bus Shelters

In Kansas City, like in many urban communities, a significant percentage of the population relies on public transportation to move around the city. Because they are economically poor, or simply because they prefer to not have the expense of an automobile, transit is their primary form of communication.

Unfortunately, using public transit isn't always easy or inviting.

This is the bus stop that is closest to my house (ok, it could be questioned whether this is "closest" as I'm close to several stops, but this is indicative of almost all of the stops). This is a bus stop -- which really amounts to a sign, on a pole, next to a trash can. The vast majority of stops in this city resemble this.

Unfortunately, for the 25% of the time when the weather isn't good in Kansas City (or more this week), these stops are far from inviting. While many of the more popular routes (like the Max lines) have covered bus shelters, most urban bus stops don't. If it rains, you're going to be wet when you get to your destination. Bummer.

However, in some areas of the country, cities are partnering with neighborhoods and businesses to help create bus SHELTERS for the city. The shelters are designed to capture the essence of a neighborhood, and are paid for by those in the neighborhood (who are also likely to be using or benefiting from that particular stop). 

How would this makes stops more inviting if stops in the finanical district had a money-themed shelter? Or how about fresh-produce themed spots at the city market?  What if the shelter design borrowed from the shirtwaist style houses in certain neighborhoods?  What if the bus stops provided SHELTER while people waited for the buses? Would riders be more likely to stop off at a local business if they would be protected from the elements on the re-ride to their final destination?

It seems like a simple approach that the city/neighborhoods/business could work together to help make using transit more inviting and customizable for their neighborhood. It might be fun. It would be interesting. And it would certainly make transit ridership more inviting. 

H/T: Good

Chalk art promotes streetcar line

On my way to lunch today, I passed this new piece of chalk art on Main, just North of 18th Street. The art is an almost obvious set of rail tracks directing people to ourstreetcar.com. Instead of being a website with information about the downtown street car plan, the url takes you to a neighbor.ly url that is going to, eventually, try to crowd-source some of the funding necessary to build the street-car line.  

Personally I'm not sure how viable crowdsourcing this type of $$ is, but I do applaud their efforts. While the idea of a streetcar line in Kansas City has been very controversial, it seems very obvious to me that Kansas City NEEDS to develop a fixed transit line.

I realize that the initial cost of rail always seems to be more expensive than bus transit -- which, short term, is always a more efficient way to move people about in a city.

But the long-term impact of rail is much different than bus.

1) Fixed rail lines build density -- and have proven over and over again to do so. With the density comes increased tax revenue per square mile, more people, a more vibrant urban environment -- and yes, more people to ride public transit.

2) Once established, rail lines are less expensive to operate than buses -- meaning less need/opportunities to cut existing services every time the budget gets tight (which is currently happening now with our bus lines).

2) There has also been talk about adding commuter rail lines into the city. While commute times in Kansas City are relatively low, it's in part because our state and federal highway departments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually in rebuilding major highway interchanges -- such as at I-435 and I-70 near the sports complex, and the Grandview Triangle - -in recent years. Without commuter rail, major, and costly highway infastructure improvements will remain necessary.  However, commuter rail lines need to feed into something once they reach the central business district -- and that something needs to be permanent to justify the expense of the commuter rail lines.

3) While the initial streetcar proposal is very small - -we must start somewhere - -and this is a good, viable place for the streetcar line to begin. I would imagine additional lines would be in the works even before the starter line gets completed.

4) Good pulbictransit is too important for cities to ignore. It is excellent at building density, but also important at moving people from place to place, alleviating congestion on roads, and allowing low-income individuals without cars to move to and from jobs easily. Without viable transit (which now is very limiting), people without cars or very restricted on where they can find jobs - -which means the poor stay poor. There are exactly zero good case studies that I am aware of (even after looking) of cities with good public transit that are relying solely on buses. It just doesn't happen. There is no reason to believe Kansas City can succeed at it when others haven't.

So, go check out ourstreetcar.com -- and see how you can help.

Fixed rail public transit systems take a step forward in KC Metro

Yesterday, the Kansas City metro took two more steps foward in another attempt to make some type of fixed rail system in the metro.

Last night, many people gathered down at the Kansas City Library to hear a presentation about plans for a new starter rail line that would run down the central business corridor from the River Market to Crown Center/Union Station. 

The routes would be on one of four roads:  Grand, Walnut, Main or Baltimore -- and could either feature two lanes on one road, or a north route on one road, and a south route on the other.  Since the lines would be for Modern Street Cars, they would share lanes with automobile traffic so they wouldn't have to have dedicated lanes like former light rail proposals required.

There were two presentations at the Library -- the 5:30 presentation that I attended had just fewer than 50 people in attendence who were not part of the presentation.  Also, council members Jim Glover, John Sharp, Russ Johnson and Jan Marcason were all on hand). 

You can get a lot more information on the planning proces at kcsmartmoves.org, but they are trying to weigh the pros and cons of the different routes -- including store frontage, redevelopment possibilities, road closures for parades and events, and even catwalks that would have to be navigated over/under. 

While I prefer the Walnut route because I think it creates the most central access to a number of points, and the best of eastern access to the River Market and then to Union Station (Grand creates some problems getting to Union Station, and Main enters the River Market on the wrong side IMO), I think any move to get a starter line started to improve the overall public transit structure in this city is to be rewarded.  They are also looking at different funding options including federal and state funding, and possibly a localized property and/or sales tax for residents/businesses near the route that will most be impacted (these would be the people who would get to vote on this as well).

Meanwhile, last Friday, Mike Sanders was out talking to the Lee's Summit Chamber of Commerce about his hopes for regional rail in Jackson County. The idea would be for whatever commuter line that comes into the city would eventually connect (either via Truman Road, the River Market or possibly Union Station) with the streetcar route.

These steps are all necessary for the metro. Permanent rail will bring development in a way that changable bus routes never can -- and continue to add density to our urban core. And improved transit will certainly help lower-income families in the metro who require it because they do not have automobiles.

Some good news -- although we're a long way from any of it happening...but with good support from the council and many strong groups downtown, an affordable option like a modern streetcar option has a decent chance of getting built.

Denver begins public bicycle sharing program

This isn't a new concept -- but it does appear, finally, to be catching on.

Three years ago I noted on this blog that Paris, France had begun a new bike-sharing program. The idea is that people can "check out" bikes from public bike stands across the city -- and then ride them to other points in the city, where they can "drop off" the bike at another bikestand location. The idea is to encourage people to move around the city via bicycle instead of cars -- making their residents more fit, and cutting down on the need for automobiles for short trips across town that may be too far to walk).

Last week, on Earth Day, Denver became the first large city in the United States to launch a bike-sharing system -- called B-Cycle. The system is being funded with a 3 year, $450,000 sponsorship by Kaiser Permanente -- the state's largest nonprofit health plan.  As the program develops, the plan is to have roughly 500 B-cycles and 45-50 B-Stations.  Cost to users is $5 for a 24 hour pass, $20 for 7-days, $30 for 30 days, or $65 for annual memberships.

The bikes will have RFID chips inserted in them so computers can track mileage, calories burned, and carbon offsets -- while riders can monitor personal fitness and their contributions to the city's green efforts. Oh, and it just might help them find the bikes too just in case they don't make it back to the official drop points. You can even check online to see how many bikes are currently available at each B-Station.

City officials think B-Cycle will be a valuable part of their overall multi-modal transport system including buses and light rail.

Mike Sanders to Promote Regional Rail Plan

County executive Mike Sanders is going to be speaking next week at the Central Exchange promoting his newly proposed $1 billion regional rapid rail plan for Kansas City.  His plan includes a 144 mile system that connects distant suburbs to downtown and to the airport.

In addition to covering most of Jackson County, Sanders is looking to reach out into Clay and Platte Counties, as well as across the state line into Wyandotte County.

Sanders is hopeful that the federal government will foot the bill for building the majority of the plan --something that has already shown to be an improved way of spending stimulous dollars.

While it would be easy for many to criticize the relatively high price tag, it actually seems like a heck of a deal. Just this week, a new study noted that I-70 eastbound at Van Brunt (where the road begins to bottleneck where it meets I-435) is the 58th worst communte in the country -- where it is congested 47 hours a week. The state is planning on redoing this interchange to help with traffic flow, at a cost of $32.4 million. It's projects like this that has the region looking at a potential $10.8 billion shortfall in meeting our transportation needs -- with the vast majority of the tab being used to pay for roads.

Maybe Sanders' plan, if implemented, could aleviate traffic congestion on some of the city's tougher commutes so we can put off widening some of our major roadways.

Hat Tip: KC Light Rail via twitter

Public Transit Projects Create more jobs per dollar spent

A new report by a group called Smart Growth America has a new study that indicates that when it comes to job creation, money spent on public transit creates nearly twice as many jobs as highway infastructure projects. 

One of the main reasons why is that public transit projects end up spending much less on land acquisition and more on buying and maintaining vehicle (and rails lines).

Kansas City and most of Missouri badly needs more transit funding -- and Kansas City, in particular, needs to address some type of regional transit system (reliable bus and commuter rail).  Information like this could be ideal for helping the city put together another proposal for federal stimulus dollars....and be more influential in creating local jobs.

Meanwhile, reliable public transit that is not affected by inclimate weather in the same way that motor vehicle traffic is would ease some of the city's other concerns regarding snow removal....although it would make the sidewalk issue a higher priority.

Hat Tip: Good.

A hole to the past

 There is a huge hole in the street on one of our walk routes over at 33rd and Holmes. When you look into the hole, you can see the remnants of a Kansas City of a few decades ago.  A trolly track that turns down a residential street that was paved in cobblestones.

12th and Main has been doing a nice job covering the old Cobblestone streets, but I think the Trolly track is particularly interesting. The fact that it makes a corner from one residential street onto another one is just a sign of how advanced our public transit systerm used to be in Kansas City.

Now, we live in a Kansas City that has a less-than effective public transit system -- with likely more cuts on the way.

While rail lines are more costly to install than bus lines, they are, however significantly less expensive to run (and thus, less subject to cuts) than bus lines. It's just a shame that our city paved over one of the best rail systems in the country in the 50s and 60s to make way for the automobile.

Speaking of the automobile, check out the hole this was found artifact was found in:

This hole has been there for a couple of months now. I'm glad our mayor has declared war on metal plates...so that now, we can have gaping holes in the road instead. I don't mind construction for improvements, but let's get on with it...and not insult my intelligence with the war on metal plates. 

Phoenix Light Rail

Sorry for the void in posting, but I took a couple of weeks off - one of which was spent visiting some old friends who now live in the Phoenix area. I had never been to Phoenix before, so it was a great combination of seeing old friends, and visiting somewhere new.  I was also interested to check out Phoenix's new light rail line.

According to at least one report, the light rail line is exceeding ridership projections. While it was originally built primarily for commuter traffic, it has also provided transport to sporting events, art gallery openings and Arizona State University.  On our day downtown, we saw many riders coming in for the local farmer's market (which is right on the rail line) and several new restaurants and bars that had opened up along the line.

The light rail line has also sparked a new website - -lightrailbeer.com -- that encourages people to find bars near the Phoenix rail and get home safely. Genious.

Many in Kansas City insist that light rail can't work here because we don't have the urban density, or that Kansas Citians are too reliant on the automobile to use mass transit.

It would be arguably very difficult to find a city more reliant on the automobile than Phoenix -- a city that has basically gone from a small town to a large since the 1950s, when cities were designed around the automobile and not public transit. Interestingly, Phoenix's population was only 106,000 in 1950 -- but soared to 440,000 in 1960 and on up to 1.5 million now. Because of all of that, Phoenix has a very small downtown, with little going on. Kansas City, even though it is a significantly larger city, has a LOT more going on downtown than Phoenix.  However, that is beginning to change as even the light rail line is starting to spur growth along the line. Kind of cool. Maybe you don't need density to build light rail -- but the light rail builds density.

Meanwhile, I think it is also important to note that light rail -- while costing much more to get up and going -- is significantly less costly for cities to operate after it is established -- making it less succeptable to budget shortages that are threatening to cripple our current bus-based system.

Our city has a lot of issues. Like most cities during the 70s, 80s and 90s, the city's affluent fled from our urban core (not just white flight, it was black flight as well -- anyone with the means to move out did so). Due to this, a large number of our city's jobs exist outside of the urban core. Unfortunately, without a solid (and sustainable) public transit system in place, these jobs will continue to be unreachable for the folks who live in the urban core. A good public transit system will help us to overcome this discrepency.

Train Travel

  Over the past week, I've spent several hours on passenger trains up here in Canada. The trains have run efficiently, and with ease (in spite of some inclimite weather) and gotten us to everywhere we need to go.

Amtrak is reporting ridership increases of about 14% for the year -- and has seen a record number of riders as gas prices went up earlier this year.

It would be great if Amtrak could become an efficient way to reach major cities throughout the US. Currently the trip from KC to St. Louis takes about 5 1/2 hours...probably too much more time than flying/driving to make it a viable alternative for most people. What's worse is that Kansas City still isn't well connected to other regional destinations like Oklahoma City, Omaha, Wichita, Springfield and Denver. 

It's a bit embarrassing that a country like Canada, with 1/10th of the population of the US and a larger land mass, has figured out efficient train transportation. It's not about population density, it's about making it a priority. I'm glad that Missouri is making train travel a larger priority as they are budgeting more money for Amtrak next year. Hopefully more of a priority will be made in the future to make more places assessible to more people.

Kansas City Citizen Satisfaction Survey

The Star announced today that the city has just released its 2008 Citizen Satisfaction Survey. It certainly is interesting timing -- a) right after the election, not before. I'm assuming that this was an effort to not remind everyone how disgruntled they are in hopes of passing the light rail vote and b) right after the election of the first non-white as President in the history o fthis country and the survey could more easily get buried in headlines a bit because there is other stuff going on.

There aren't a ton of surprises in the survey, however the city saw pretty significant drops in satisfaction in 32 areas of city services.  Ouch. 

Sixteen areas got below a 20% approval rating.

Six of those are directly related to programs and availability of programs that are the responsibility of the parks department (swimming pools, city sponsored athletic programs, ease of registering for programs, etc).

Five are directly related to basic infastructure issues (building, road, sidewalk maintenance and cleanliness).   

Two are directly related to codes enforcement including abandoned buildings and overgrown weeds.

Certainly I think the mayor's declarationg of war on weeds and metal plates has raised public awareness of how bad these situations are in the city...but suffice it to say, they have not seemed to show improvement at this point. I certainly think the codes enforcement issues seem to have gotten worse over the past couple of years, and not better.

Two are particularly disturbing as they show a concern for the lack of effectiveness of city boads and commissions and the amount of public involvement in local decision-making.  Three other areas just barely made the 20% cutoff with "how ethically the city conducts business", "overall quality of leadership by the city's elected officals" and "effectivenesss of the city manager" all scoring at 23% or below.

I would certainly say that the lack of satisfaction with the administration and the council as a whole certainly came out in the disapproval of the city council and the mayor's Light Rail plan yesterday.

Overall, the city was graded fairly well as a place to live and a place to work -- but horribly as a place to raise children. Concerns over the amount of crime -- particularly in eastern neighborhoods and in public parks at night -- and no doubt the schools (even though they are measured in the study) are playing a role in that.

There's a lot of data in here -- and I'm sure I'll be pulling out nuggets for awhile, but thought it was worth sharing.