By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Say it isn't so.
I don't mind copying the Europeans on a lot of things. The croissant, for example, is an exemplary import.
But let us not go the way of the European Union and lift the ban on cell phone use while flights are in the air.
The latest from Clay Chastain......
LIGHT RAIL ALERT*
Clay Chastain Degreed Electrical Engineer
540-583-1239
August 4, 2008
PREFACE
The City Council is to be commended for following through on their promise to place a light-rail plan on the November 2008 ballot. However, I have some valid concerns….
By Matthew Palcher, Editorial Board Reader Adviser:
The "new" light rail sales tax idea the city has recently announced will expand the light rail plan further south and east into more urban areas.
Kansas City once considered a five-mile light rail that died for lack of support. It tried a much larger system that failed at the polls.
Then a plan backed by Clay Chastain passed, but it was unworkable. The latest effort envisions a 14-mile line funded by a 3/8-cent sales tax, and it appears to be the most feasible proposal so far.
As area elected officials work through issues related to a regional transit plan, they should consider a point made last week by Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser:
Cities and counties shouldn’t be too parochial when it comes to the distribution of transit services.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Very interesting, the finger-wagging taking place by the Civic Council and Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
By Mary Sanchez, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Kansas City played a big role in last week’s North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc. (NASCO) conference in Guanajuato, Mexico.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Driving to Columbia, Mo., yesterday, a big sign near Boonville advertised gasoline for $3.69 a gallon.
We exited and filled up. In the maybe 10 minutes it took to do that, run into the convenience store and buy Pepsi for myself and Skittles for my son, an employee was changing the sign. Prices had jumped by 10 cents a gallon in the time we were in the parking lot.
Up to now, the local debate over light rail has been hampered by an implied either/or choice: a Kansas City-only “starter” line, or a larger regional transit system favored by Mayor Mark Funkhouser.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Now comes word that U.S. Airways will stop handing out free snacks to coach passengers.
Say it isn't so!
It's not like anybody is going to starve for want of the five or six mini pretzels included in those packets.
Kansas City ranked seventh among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas for traffic fatalities involving drivers 15 to 19 years old, according to a study by Allstate Insurance Co.
That number, drawing on data from 2000 to 2006, should be a concern for lawmakers and police agencies.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
What does everybody think about American Airlines charging $15 for the first piece of checked luggage?
I can see the logic behind the policy. Baggage equals weight and weight requires fuel. Hence, make user pay for the extra weight.
Will the public see substantial benefits from the new fuel-efficiency standards? Leave your comments here.
Officials with the Bush administration and U.S. automakers are patting themselves on the back this week for finally embracing stricter fuel efficiency standards.
The new rules announced by the Department of Transportation will save Americans billions of dollars a year and reduce pollution in the future.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Mayor Mark Funkhouser won't give up on funding regional light rail this fall. He recently enlisted the help of county leaders Mike Sanders, Betty Knight and Ed Quick. Here's where the mayor's last-ditch plan stands now:
According to Jeffery Spivak’s article in The Star this morning, Mayor Funkhouser is advocating a bi-state effort to achieve regional light rail. As an advocate for public transportation, I applaud his efforts. They are ambitious. They take into consideration the complex dynamics of living in a bi-state area. A well-used light rail system could make for a greener Kansas City.
Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, DC and New York all have great public transportation systems. Kansas City is very different from those places, however. In many ways, the success of their public transportation systems was born out of a necessity that is not common to Kansas City.
Mark Funkhouser as a taller version of Clay Chastain?
Say it isn't so!
The mayor is showing disturbing Clay-like tendencies. Suddenly he, and only he, knows what is best for light rail.
Here's the situation: Consensus seems to be building in favor of a starter line, basically from the Missouri River to the Plaza. Get it started, get it going, and then build from there.
Funkhouser, though, is holding on to the grand idea of crafting a regional system that would encompass the suburbs.
That's a great idea--and I'm sure we'll think so in 10 years, when we're still talking about it and trying to convince our suburban neighbors to cooperate.
The Urban Society's priority for light rail in Kansas City is refreshingly simple: They just want to get started.
A couple of the group's members visited the editorial board today and said they think a starter line from the Plaza to the river, funded locally, could be operational in four years.
After that, they said, we can worry about routes across the river and other lines.
They favor street cars over light rail trains because they're less expensive.
What I liked about these folks--citizens interested in urban design issues--is their flexibility. Unlike some other players in the light rail game, they're not stubbornly wedded to a particular route or design. They're willing to consider any plan as long its expedient.
