Stay in the game
Unlike Clay Chastain, Kansas City transit leaders can't just "choose a world-class system" like picking daisies out of a field. My comments in the July 20, 2009, story "A Case for Tiger" made it quite clear that for a subject matter that elicits so much passion, cooler heads must prevail.
The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and the KCATA were not the only collaborators on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's TIGER submission for economic stimulus funds. Let's be clear. MARC is a metropolitan planning organization — they plan. The KCATA is one of four transit providers in the area — they provide transit services. A region this size needs a metropolitan planning organization for the planning, research and education that puts compelling and realistic data within reach for decision makers. There were other participants to the submission, not the least of which was the bicycle and trail advocates who pressed the TIGER component to put a stamp on creating livable, sustainable communities.
Kansas City's time is getting closer to a seamless regional transit reality. New participants brought their perspectives and support to the table. That's gotta be a good thing. But I don't think just throwing a tax out there "willy nilly" is going to solve all our problems. The TIGER submission substantiates that there are good faith efforts to get us where we need to go, that there are new ideas coming forth, and that a lot of people realize that a good, multi-modal transportation system needs to happen in the Kansas City region. The TIGER submission, along with MARC's two new corridor studies, show real promise toward this objective.
So what needs to happen next? We'll need to identify methods to bring both capital and operating expenses for a multimodal regional system to bear. The Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance just published its criteria and supporting statements for a regional transit plan this summer. RTA advocates the creation of county transit authorities to get things moving and elected decision makers have shown significant support.
Regional transit is coming — either from the outside in or from the inside out and it's going to take all of us to address the planning, fiscal, historical and futuristic challenges this imposes. Let's not jump to quick-fix dreams. Cooler heads are moving this effort forward, and because progress is slow, persistence is critical. We hope that all new players and old players will stay in the game.
Kitty McCoy
Chair, Regional Transit Alliance
