Planning Commissioners Journal

Getting fannies on the bus

I sat in on a fascinating panel discussion last Friday at the University of Vermont (jointly hosted by the University's Center for Rural Studies & new Transportation Center). The focus, public transit in suburban and rural areas. On the panel: Dale Marsico, Director of the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), Dan Dirks, CTAA's President, and Charles Carr, the organization's Vice-President.

Several quite interesting points were made:

1. Rural & suburban transit needs to be much more than a social services provider.

Yes, public transit is vitally important in transporting low-income folks and others with medical needs, disabilities, and without access to (or the ability to drive) a car. But, as Charles Carr -- who is also Director of the Mississippi DOT Public Transit Division -- pointed out, "transit is an important public service, not just a social service ... we have to build the image of transit as a service everyone can use."

2. The local funding match is a hurdle.

As Carr noted, "in Mississippi, we literally have more federal transit money than we can spend, because we can't match it with local funds." He added, "we have 27 operating casinos in the state, but not one penny goes to transit."

Why is it difficult to raise the local match? In part, transit operating funds are at a disadvantage in federal funding formulas, with a 50-50 federal/state-local match, instead of the 80-20 match common to road and bridge projects. It's easier to make the case for spending local dollars when the share is lower.

Perhaps of even greater importance, in my opinion, is that many of those who use and depend on public transit in rural and suburban areas simply don't have much political clout. So there's another reason why public transit needs to broaden its market.

2. Rising gas prices will lead to explosive growth in public transit use.

I know this is something we've heard before, but CTAA Director Dale Marsico is a firm believer. Here's what he had to say:

CommunityMatters07 Conference

CommunityMatters07 will be held October 23 - 25 in Burlington, Vermont -- right on the Lake Champlain Waterfront.

The three-day event, sponsored by Orton Family Foundation and PlaceMatters, "will showcase planning technologies and methods, foster discussions and collaboration among citizens and professionals, and improve the way communities make decisions about their futures. "

Featured speakers include James Surowiecki, author of the national bestseller, The Wisdom of Crowds, and Michelle Long, Executive Director of Sustainable Connections, a northwest Washington State network of nearly 600 local businesses, organizations, and community leaders.

There will be three "tracks" of workshops during the Conference: 21st Century Issues; Community Heart & Soul; and -- of particular interest to planners -- Decision Making Tools, from "traditional planning tools like charrettes and GIS applications, [to] new social networking technologies, community arts, digital innovations, and new twists on old ideas."

For details on CommunityMatters07.

Note from PCJ Editor Wayne Senville: I will be posting brief reports during the Conference here on the PCJ +plus blog. If you'll be attending, please email or call us (802-864-9083) -- we welcome visitors to our nearby office (about six blocks away from the Conference site), and, time & schedule permitting, either I or Betsey Krumholz (our General Manager) would look forward to saying hello.

Wicked good, Boston!

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, "Boston had the highest percentage among large cities of employees who walk to work (13 percent). Nationally, 2.5 percent of us walked to work." That's based on data recently published from the 2005 American Community Survey.

Cheers to Boston! But before you quaff your brew, there's a bit of gloom in Beantown cause the trend line is down ... from 14 percent walking commuters in 1990. For those wanting a closer look at trends in the Hub, there's plenty of info. on the Boston Indicators Project web page.

And we won't say which U.S. city is at the bottom of the charts with a walk-to-work percentage of 0.9, except to give you three small hints: it's in Texas; it's home of a major league baseball team; and it's name does not begin with the letter "H."

Call the Shots in Your Neighborhood

Note from PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

If you can use a break from work -- or if you're reading this at home -- there's a web page I'd recommend you take a look at: How to Call the Shots in Your Neighborhood. Posted by the Neighbors Project it will walk you through -- in 8 easy steps -- how to participate at a neighborhood association meeting. As someone active for years in my own neighborhood association in Burlington, Vermont, I sure can relate to this instructional guide, including the cautionary warning (in Step 7 of the Instructions) that "neighborhood association meetings definitely attract the more unusual people in the neighborhood."

As the start of the "Instructions" advise: "This is a step-by-step guide to how to attend your neighborhood association meeting for city dwellers. If you've ever wondered who made the decision to put up the giant flag or rip up a street or cancel your favorite parade, chances are it's your neighborhood association. They're usually quite powerful. So if you're remotely interested in your neighborhood, it's definitely in your self interest to go to a meeting at least once."

Again, tune in to the Neighborhood Project. It's both a creative and informative web site: a great combination.

[on a slightly more serious note, about two years ago we ran an article about the important role neighborhood associations can play in local planning -- you can read excerpts, and if you like, order & download the full article: Bowling Together: The Role of Neighborhood Associations].

Planning Quotes

Serious, humorous, thought-provoking, off-the-wall -- you'll find planning quotes of all stripes being added daily to our new Planning Quotes page.

And you can start your day off by receiving a short planning-related quote by email, or subscribe to our Planning Quote of the Day feed.

Smart City Radio Interview

Wayne Senville, Editor of the Planning Commissioners Journal, talks about highlights of his Route 50 trip with Carol Coletta, host of Smart City Radio.

[you can listen to, or download, the 20 minute interview through the Smart City web site; it starts about mid-way through the broadcast]