Last night the City Council of suburban Mission, KS adopted a Transportation Utility Fee (TUF), sometimes called a “driveway tax.”  It’s a fee based on the number of automobile trips a property generates, and is a way to tie transportation funding to the actual users of the transportation system.  The city is trying TUF as way to avoid a general sales or property tax increase, which tax everyone regardless of how much they use the transportation system.

Mission’s TUF fee is expected to generate up to $500,000 a year to be used for maintenance of streets, trails, and bike paths. It will also help pay for Mission’s part of enhanced bus service and future Bus Rapid Transit in the Metcalf Avenue/Shawnee Mission Parkway corridor.

Mission seems to be the first Midwestern city to adopt a TUF, and adds to a progressive reputation already established by road diets and other bike/ped-friendly improvements. Hopefully this new funding mechanism will serve as an example for other cities in the KC region.

The list of transportation needs is long.  All of our suburbs struggle to pay for public transit out of general funds because they have no dedicated transit funding.  KCMO itself is struggling to maintain transit funding in the face declining transit sales tax revenue, while also struggling with a huge infrastructure backlog and increasing demands to fund bicycle, pedestrian, and ADA facilities.

The City is getting ready for an extreme makeover of Chouteau Trafficway, turning it into Chouteau Parkway between Route 210 and I-35.  At this time the plan includes great bike/ped accommodations - both on-street bike lanes and a multi-use trail.  This will be a great bike route since it continues the facilities planned for the Chouteau Bridge over the Missouri River and connects to the east/west bike route planned for Parvin Road.  There is a public meeting this week where you can learn more about the project and express your support for the bike/ped elements.

Chouteau Trafficway public meeting
Thursday, May 13th, 5:30 p.m – 7:00 p.m.
Chouteau Elementary School
3701 North Jackson Ave, KCMO 64117 (map/directions)

Some key points

• Support the bike lanes and multi-use trail
• Support future extension of the bike lanes and trail north to Antioch Road
• There will be a gap in the bike lanes and trail between the Chouteau Bridge and Route 210.  Please express your support finding funds to close this gap between the two projects.

View Larger Map

Fred Kent, President of the Project for Public Spaces, will be the keynote speaker at two local events this week.  PPP is a national leader in encouraging the development of high quality urban public spaces that foster community building and economic development. Both events have an admission fee, but are great opportunities to learn from an expert.

Regional Symposium on Place Making
Thursday, May 6th, 2:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Liberty Memorial’s J.C. Nichol’s Auditorium
Ochsner Hare and Hare planning and landscape architects present this event in honor of the firms 100th anniversary. (The Liberty Memorial was a project of the original Hare & Hare firm).

Building Community, Creating Places and Sustaining Neighborhoods
Friday, May 7th, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Powell Community Center, Mission, KS
This even is part of the Mid-America Regional Council’s Academy for Sustainable Communities, an ongoing lecture series.

On March 11th there will be a screening and panel discussion of Contested Streets, a powerful documentary showing how modern cities can be redesigned to put people first, not cars. Two local streets will be selected for further study of how to re-imagine them as “green streets” designed for human livability.

Panelists include KCMO City Councilmember Jan Marcason and a group of urban planners and landscape architects.  This is a must-see event for anyone interested in bicycle/pedestrian issues, sustainability, urban development, etc.

Designing Streets for Living
Thursday, March 11th, 5:30 p.m.
American Institute of Architects – Kansas City
1801 McGee Street, KCMO 64108 in the Crossroads District

The event is sponsored by the Kansas City Design Center, the American Institute of Architects – Kansas City, and the Mid-America Regional Council. Boulevard Brewery is proving free refreshments.

Download the event poster (PDF)

The Star reports that the Kansas House of Representatives has approved legislation to allow buses to on the shoulders of Interstate highways.  Shoulder-running Bust Rapid Transit is Johnson County’s current plan to enhance transit in the I-35 corridor between Olathe and Downtown KCMO. The Senate and Governor’s desk are up next.

This project is different from, but complimentary to, BRT to the Plaza on Metcalf Avenue and Shawnee Mission Parkway.  That project just received TIGER stimulus funds to begin improvements to bus stops and such.

Both projects will improve existing service, but will do nothing to add new service without new operational funding.  Currently Johnson County Transit has no dedicated funding source and must rely on annual appropriations from the county’s general fund.

Related:

• Johnson County Transit
• I-35 Corridor Study

Kansas City’s TIGER award has been announced at $50 million, split between the Green Impact Zone and suburban transit.  The GIZ money will go towards repaving streets, replacing traffic signals, and rebuilding ten miles of sidewalks and curbs.

The transit funding will towards improving links from the East Side to suburban office parks in the Northland and southwest suburbs.  Money will be spent on things like bus stops, connecting sidewalks, lighting, etc.  Sadly, no new service will come from this money.  Most of the transit funding will go to future BRT corridors along State Avenue in KCK and the Metcalf/Shawnee corridor in Johnson County, even though neither county has a plan to pay for operating BRT.

Projects that didn’t get funded include a Downtown streetcar circulator, a comprehensive bicycle/pedestrian program, a freight rail project, and an expansion of Front Street.

KC regional TIGER application.

List of national TIGER recipients (PDF)

As we’ve mentioned before, the KC region recently applied for $83 million in TIGER stimulus money for an multimodal transportation package of transit, bike/ped, roads, and freight rail.  Wednesday morning Ray LaHood will be here along with Congressman Cleaver and Mayor Funkhouser to announce we’ve been awarded.  At this time there are details about how much of the $83 million request will be funded, or what pieces.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
Wednesday, February 17th, 10:30 a.m.
Green Impact Zone office
4600 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO

The popular walkscore.com has just added transit to its algorithm, so that a location’s proximity to transit helps determine its walk score. Unfortunately, most of the KC metro area is not yet covered. It only works if transit agencies make their Google Transit data publicly accessible. While Johnson County has done this, the KCATA has not.

Not only would opening the data allow Walkscore.com to use it, but others would be able to put it to innovative uses like iPhone or mobile applications, mashups, etc.

You can sign a Twitter petition asking them to open up the data. Click the icon below or tweet “petition @KCATAMetro to Open their Google Transit data to the public http://act.ly/x9 RT to sign #actly #kctransit” to participate.

KCPT-TV 19’s series Generation XL covers the American epidemic of childhood obesity.  Tonight’s episode focuses on physical activity and talks about getting kids walking and bicycling as a way to combat the sedentary lifestyles that lead to obesity. The episode includes local programs like Safe Routes to School, Walking School Bus, and the Urban Community of Cycling’s youth bike club.

9:00 p.m. on KCPT with video clips online at www.kcpt.org.

Missouri and Kansas both use Twitter to send traffic updates, and Missouri is one of a growing list of states than ban cell phone use and/or texting while driving (at least for minors). The AP asks if the Twittering DOTs in states with texting bans are sending mixed signals and/or encouraging motorists to break the law.

Associated Press: States send mixed messages on texting and driving.