Yesterday, we posted a report from the University of Kansas that gave a bleak analysis of our under-funded, overcrowded, pollution-spewing transportation system. The study took a nationwide perspective, but, if there's a poster child for poor transit planning, look no further than Kansas City.
But locals are starting to get sick of sprawling highways. And now is the time to vote for a different direction.
Every five years, the Mid-America Regional Council has the massive task of creating a long-term transportation plan that guides the distribution of billions of dollars in local, state and federal projects. Right now, the regional organization is gathering the pieces for Transportation Outlook 2040.
Karen Clawson, a transportation planner for MARC, says the biggest piece of that puzzle is finding out what people want out of their transit system. And, while looking at survey maps of major vehicle arteries isn't the sexiest way to spend an evening, this time around the project is getting more attention from area residents. "People definitely have transit on their radar," she says. No pun intended.
MARC has been soliciting citizen input, not just through standard community meetings held last year, but on the web via an online survey. In the time it takes to watch a YouTube video, commuters could be throwing their weight behind better bike paths or improved bus service. In fact, many already have. Clawson says a dominant theme is already emerging: businesses, bureaucrats and commuters alike are thinking green.
"We really are looking at transportation as one piece of the sustainability picture," she says. "We really want to know how people think transit can be used as a tool in longer term sustainability."
The survey, posted several weeks ago, will keep taking input for a couple more months, Clawson says. And, if an online survey isn't hip enough, the effort has a Facebook page, too.
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