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Results of Some Issues I Had Been Following

November 9, 2005 Books, Environment 1 Comment

Besides paying attention to urban issues locally I like to keep tabs on similar battles in other regions. Yesterday had some interesting outcomes:

  • Voters in Washington State approved the most restrictive smoking ban in the country. Not only is smoking prohibited in public buildings but also within 25 feet of an entrance. Oh the joy of not dealing with stray cigarette smoke…
  • Washington State voters also upheld a recent law that would raise gasoline taxes by as much as 9.5 cents per gallon. This was a rural vs urban vote with rural voters opposed to paying the increased taxes for projects in mostly urban areas. However it was noted during the referendum that Washington’s urban areas pay more in such taxes than they receive in benefits. From the Seattle Post-Intellegencer:

    If it had passed, I-912 would have stripped $5.5 billion from the $8.5 billion highway plan. It would have sent transportation planners, who are counting on $2 billion earmarked for repairing the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct, back to square one and lawmakers who supported the plan back to Olympia with a major defeat as they head into an election year.

  • In a much different turn of events, Seattle area residents voted for a 5th time since 1997 on extending their Monorail 10 miles. The four previous votes approved the extension but recent cost increases and questions of management doomed the project. The current monorail is basically a tourist thing since it is so short in distance but adding 10 miles would have served transportation needs of locals. Much like when you buy your house you try not to think about what you paid in interest at the end of the 30 years, the $1.8 billion monorail project was seen as costing $11 billion if you added up all the financing charges. Seattle is also in the process of building a separate light rail system which should be open in a couple of years. Good thing because the drive from the core of Seattle to their airport is brutal.
    Get the latest scope on the monorail here.

  • Yesterday New York State voters approved a $2.9 billion dollar bond act to fund transportation projects, including a new 2nd Avenue subway in Manhattan. NYC is full of subway lines yet they are willing to fund another for areas not well served by mass transit beyond the bus. Good job New York! Like Washington State, rural voters voted against the measure while urban voters supported it.Full story from the New York Times.

    • The lesson here is that transportation interests in urban areas is quite different from rural areas. Yeah, I know — duh! Maybe we in the St. Louis region need to team up with folks in Kansas City, Columbia and Springfield to push for measures protecting our interests and our tax dollars. Strengthening our state’s major urban areas by making them more sustainable in the future will benefit the entire state.

    – Steve

     

    800 Miles On A Honda Metropolitan Scooter

    October 18, 2005 Environment, Scooters 6 Comments

    scoot.jpg

    Tonight marks my first 800 miles on my scooter, not exactly a milestone number but I felt like sharing.

    On October 1st I decided to record the miles on my bike, scooter and car so I could track my useage. In these first 18 days I’ve put a paltry 6 miles on my bicycle, 157 on my car and 308 on the scooter. The scooter represented a full 65% of my miles traveled. The scooter represented 98% of my fun for the same time period.

    I’ve also been keeping detailed records of gas mileage. Right now I am at an average of 89mpg. I’ve noticed that as I have become more comfortable with the scooter I’ve taken busier roads and have been riding at full throttle. Lately I’ve been getting around 85-86mpg.

    Since October 1st I’ve spent only $11.57 on gas for the scooter, including a fill-up earlier today. My total expenditure for gas on the scooter in the little over six weeks that I’ve owned it is a whopping $27.30. Less than thirty bucks for six weeks of fuel! I also filled up my car today and that was over $35.

    I’ve purchased two helmets. First was a half helmet and most recently a 3/4 helmet with face shield for colder weather. Total cost $150. I’ve also had my first routine service which was around $110. A pair of leather gloves was $30. I’m not going to count the new jacket I bought because I needed a new jacket anyway.

    Yes, I am quite pleased with my scooter purchase. As intended it has become my primary means of transportation. If you are considering a scooter for your needs check out my scooter blog at stlscooter.com.

    – Steve

    [Photo by fellow STLSyndicate blogger, Tom Lampe]

     

    Four Flavors for the St. Louis Riverfront

    October 14, 2005 Bicycling, Downtown, Environment, Planning & Design 7 Comments

    Tuesday night St. Louisans got a first glimpse at four concepts for remaking the drab riverfront. It was a long meeting with much information to take in. My first plan was to run home and write a late night post. Instead, i decided to see if my initial reactions would still hold true after thinking about them for a couple of days. Most did.

    The design team has posted a 7.9mb PDF version of Tuesday’s presentation. Throughout this post I will make references to page numbers in this doccument. Before getting into the specific proposals I want to discuss some background and basic assumptions of the design team. First is a prior post of mine from July – click here to read my earlier thoughts.

    The National Park Service owns the Arch and grounds and is not open to changes. This leaves Lenore K. Sullivan Blvd at the base of the grounds and the cobblestone bank as areas open for redesign. The peaceful beauty of the Arch and its grounds is a big draw — roughly 4 million visitors per year. Yet the lack of anything either contemplative or dynamic on the actual riverfront means the area remains dead unless a special event is planned such as Fair St. Louis on the 4th of July weekend.

    The four concepts are (p52):

  • #1 – Promenade (p53)
  • #2 – Serrated Edge (p58)
  • #3 – Banks and Islands (p66)
  • #4 – Terraces and Islands (p72)

    • … Continue Reading

     

    Bye Bye SUVs, Bye Bye Local Jobs?

    October 4, 2005 Environment 7 Comments

    The Ford Excursion is officially dead. Friday last week marked the final Excursion to be produced at the Louisville Kentucky plant that also produces Ford’s heavy duty pickups. One report said:

    “Ford introduced the Excursion in 2000 and sold 50,000 of the vehicles, but sales have stalled each year since as gas prices and insurance costs have taken their toll on the vehicles. Sales of Ford’s three largest SUVs – including the Expedition and Explorer – fell by more than 24 per cent in the first three months of 2005 according to figures from the Associated Press.”

    The Excursion, dubbed the Ford Valdez by some, was massive and thirsty. SUV sales from all makes have tanked (get it? tanked). Anyway, this is generally good news that the buying public has realized that 12mpg is not so good. But, the Ford plant in Hazelwood makes Explorers which have also dropped in sales lately. The DiamlerChrysler plant in Fenton makes full-size trucks and mini vans. This change in the buying public could have some seriously bad consequences for our local economy.

    I see a couple of political solutions. One is local and state governments decide to buy these vehicles for fleet use to help them out. Other is bonds or loans or something to cling to these jobs. More likely we’ll see some form of financial assistance to retool the plants to produce reasonable sized vehicles. Or we might see them shuttered like so many plants in Flint Michigan.

    We are all tied together and unfortunately oil consumption is the very thing that holds together our economy. The rest of Bush’s presidency is going to be an interesting ride as energy costs rise. The leaders in Washington, on both sides of the fence, are about as prepared for the energy crisis as they were for Katrina.

    – Steve

     

    Missouri Botanical Garden Gets a D- on Bike Parking

    September 29, 2005 Environment, Planning & Design Comments Off on Missouri Botanical Garden Gets a D- on Bike Parking

    I’m typically not one to simply send my readers to another blog on a subject I’d normally cover but I want to make sure people see this. Toby Weiss has brought attention to a horrible bike parking situation at one of our major institutions in town – The Missouri Botanical Gardens.

    Their 2003 Annual Report (last available online) shows annual revenue in excess of $30 million and assets of $165 million. Keep this in mind when you see what kind of bike parking they provide!

    Click here to read Toby’s post and view pictures of the sorry state of bike parking at the gardens! While you are there check out her other postings because she has a great site.

    – Steve

     

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