Public Transportation: How Do Small Cities Move Forward?

Although I have wondered this prior to today, I am starting to think I would find life more to my liking in another country - it's no longer even a move to another city, but a completely different country. How very sad. While I do love the city I live in, it's incredibly frustrating to want to see positive change and realize that it takes politicians such a long time to get anything done. While the citizens of this fair city were able to "fight the man" and develop their own power municipality over 100 years ago, apparently, decent public transportation is not at the forefront of most residents' minds. If it was important, I doubt that there would be rest for the folks at RTD or for local council people.

Old mill - this is part of the potential site for the new bus/rail hub.  The building was set on fire by a couple of teenagers almost two years ago now, though it hadn't been used for some time.

Rather than going into great detail about plans for the city's bus system and eventual rail system, I think it is interesting to note that in order to move forward, if the project had an additional 4 cents on every $10 the completion would be done by 2019, if there was an additional 2 cents on every $10 it would be done by 2027, and if 1 cent on every $10 was received, completion would take place by 2035 (Info here). The thought of the rail system not being completed until 2035 (or later) is outrageous to me. In my mind, even 2019 is too much time lost, but at least it would be completed within the next 7 years. For this project to take nearly 25 years to complete, well, let's just say that I am not willing to wait that length of time to be able to have better transportation.

Although I am outraged at the length of time to complete this project, in many ways I also feel powerless to do anything to move it forward any quicker, and I suspect that others may feel the same. Yes, we can attend meetings to get information and put our opinions in to the mix, but will this make any difference? I don't want to be unreasonable about time frames and what it takes to build structures and transportation systems, but is anyone really going to notice 4 cents on a $10 bill?

I do believe that so much of this is centered around the reality that many residents are still completely tied to the idea of using their cars as the main source of transportation, and view it as their right to be able to drive wherever, whenever. I don't begrudge anyone their personal vehicle, but I think that having a usable, reliable public transportation system in place would help eliminate the traffic on roads, and would only benefit the folks who want to drive as well. I actually had a conversation with a local acquaintance a couple of years ago during which she said there is no way she would give up her car - that it was her personal freedom, and she would drive until the day she dies. I don't even know how to argue with someone who sees a car as personal freedom, but I also don't think I need to engage in an argument with someone over this topic. I do think that many would see the benefit of public transportation if it was accessible and easy to use, however, and that this would speak volumes to many different folks from all walks of life.

Denver is an approximate 75 mile (120km) round trip for residents of Longmont (depending on where one is going it could be slightly less or more), and having a rail system in place would make this so much easier and efficient, I believe. So, what do we do and how do we do it? If you are local, there is a planning meeting (otherwise known as an informal citizen brainstorming session) taking place on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 from 6-8p.m. at the public library (unfortunately, I will be in class and unable to attend). This meeting seems geared more toward trying to figure out how to develop the space around the future transportation hub than the transportation system itself, but it's a start (and is also very important to the vitality of the city). I'm wondering if there are readers who have had experience in dealing with a similar situation with public transportation and what your city and/or residents did to help encourage the project along. Even if you haven't had to deal with this, perhaps you live in a city that has a great transportation system and can offer advice to a smaller city that needs to be connected to a larger city through a mass transit system.

I don't have answers (as is typical), but I would love to see this project move forward quickly, and any thoughts, opinions, etc are certainly welcome.

Change: What Women Want in Bicycling and from the Bike Industry

When this months' Momentum Magazine arrived in the mail, I was excited to be able to read the latest issue. Maybe it was the dreary, rainy day, or perhaps just a feeling of nostalgia, but there was something about the vintage feel and colors of the cover that caused me to want to tear into it immediately.

I started turning the pages immediately and happened very quickly upon the printed mini-results of a reader survey that took place not too long ago. I actually participated in the survey, so I was curious to see what the outcome was regarding the poll.

I started reading about "what women want" and as I passed over each column, lo and behold, I found something that was from me. "Hey! I said that!" suddenly burst through my lips... I couldn't help it. It was a strange sensation to be reading something I actually suggested in a printed magazine.

Sadly, I knew it was my direct quote because after I had typed it in during the poll and hit "next," I remember thinking that it was worded absolutely horribly. Anyway, after recovering from the shock of seeing my suggestion in print, I realized that I wasn't alone in this request and that another person down the column had the same idea in mind.

While I love being able to read that I'm not alone in my wants when it comes to riding (in case anyone is wondering, the top request was better bike infrastructure, and who doesn't want that), I have to wonder how many of these polls, articles, blog posts, and so on it will take to see change within the bicycle industry? Change is slow moving, it seems - and not just in the bicycle industry.

Our community is currently in the midst of a 10-month study to determine whether or not a more comprehensive downtown bus/rail system would be useful. While I will admit there's much more potentially attached to the bus/light rail in our city (the council wants to create an entire area of shops and businesses to generate revenue for the city and business owners), it's frustrating to want something so badly now, and know that in reality it will likely be 5-20 years before it comes to fruition.

Similarly, I question the timeline for change in the bicycle industry. While there seems to be a general change in many people's attitudes about the possibilities of using public transportation and bicycles, is it enough to push the political agenda and government workers to move quicker than they normally would? Is it completely up to the powers that be to create this change, or is there something we, as cyclists and public transportation users can do to move things forward?

I know I certainly don't have all the answers, but I do look forward to the day when I can easily get from one town to the next by bike without fear of being run down by angry or distracted drivers, and move from city to city without use of a car. The day is coming, I do believe - the question of when, remains up for debate.

If you could only change one thing right now in your area regarding bicycling, what would it be? If you've seen a lot of change in regard to bicycles and infrastructure where you live, how did the change come about, and how long were those changes in progress?