Fun Infographic: How Our Cities are Shaping Us

Posted on June 19, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Cloud Gate, a public sculpture in the US city of Chicago. Photo by Marshall Segal.

Have we designed our communities in such a way that we are contributing to the obesity epidemic and other health problems? The infographic designed by Chris Yoon (below) asks this question and illustrates some of the findings from a recent Pew Research study entitled, “Measuring the Health Effects of Urban Sprawl: A National Analysis.” Some of the findings include these eye-opening figures:

71% of parents of school-aged children walked or biked to school when they were young, whereas only 18% do so now.

+6.3 pounds = the difference in weight between the average person living in the most sprawling county in the US vs. the most compact (Geuga County, Ohio vs. New York City, New York)

The odds of having high blood pressure were 29% lower for residents of compact cities.

65% of the adult population in the United States is overweight, and almost one in three is obese. Over the past 25 years, the portion of children, age 6 to 11 who are overweight has doubled, while the portion of overweight teens has tripled. 15% of teenagers 6-19 are now overweight.

How Our Cities Are Shaping Us: Urban Sprawl And Its Impact On Our Health

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Does L.A.’s Deal with CBS/Decaux Make Bike Nation’s Plans D.O.A.

Posted on June 19, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Damien Newton | L.A. Streetsblog

While New York City is enjoying the successful launch of CitiBike, the nation’s largest bike share system, Los Angeles is still waiting for Bike Nation to begin installation of the 4,000 bike bike share system it promised at the April 2012 CicLAvia. The system was supposed to begin operation last winter, and then last April, but there is still no announcement for when the system will begin operation.

None of Bike Nation’s renders or examples have advertising, so we’re cool…right?

While the world laughs at the over the top, and really really over the top, media coverage of CitiBike, news reports on the West Coast have been more subdued about Bike Nation. In fact, the only recent coverage in a mainstream publication is an editorial in today’s Daily News, which admits that it doesn’t know much about CitiBike, bike share or Bike Nation.

But while we wait for news from Bike Nation, advocacy website Bikeshare.com published a piece today that offers one explanation for the delay: the advertising model that Bike Nation is counting on is not allowed in the city’s ordinance allowing bike share kiosks. In short, the ordinance disallows advertising on the kiosks that will hold the Bike Nation bikes. While Bike Nation refuses to give the specific numbers for its business model, it has stated that kiosk advertising was one of a few revenue streams that it is counting on.

Bikeshare.com explains:

The City also places a number of restrictions on the bike share stations including:

No excavation or damage to the Public Right of Way and no permanent structures are allowed to be installed.

No advertising is allowed on non-moving property in the Public Right of Way. This means no street furniture-like advertising is allowed on the kiosks.

Advertising on bikes is required to be painted or decaled on the body of the bike.

Officials with the city and with Bike Nation have yet to comment on the story, or what the ordinance means for bike sharing in Los Angeles. Complicating issues, changing the advertising ban on kiosks is not as easy as just changing the words in a motion.

Los Angeles signed a Street Furniture Contract in 2001 with CBS/Decaux allowing the advertising giant the exclusive right to advertise in the public right of way. Whether Bike Nation didn’t fully understand the contract, or thought they would be able to get around it, is not known. However, the officials with City Planning that drafted the ordinance obviously disagreed.

One city staffer, speaking on background because he is not a spokes person, holds up the bike share ordinance as a model for permitting bike share kiosks that is open to all vendors, is consistent with the City’s contractual obligations with CBS/Decaux. While initial press reports of the deal between Bike Nation and the City focused on a non-existent “exclusive” deal between Los Angeles and Bike Nation, it should now be clear what Streetsblog initially reported is true. There is no exclusive deal. If another company can do a better job than Bike Nation, the opportunity is there.

Whether or not Bike Nation can make bike share work in Southern California based soley on advertising has been a hot topic of debate on Streetsblog and among advocates across America. Whether they can do it without advertising revenue from kiosks seems a long shot, unless they can replicate what New York and Alta Bike Share accomplished in New York: find a major investor willing to underwrite the entire system.

AEGBikes, anyone? It’s sort of the exact opposite of OccupyBikes. {…}

Capital Bikeshare becoming an economic development tool

Posted on June 18, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Kytja Weir | The Examiner

Photo -

Capital Bikeshare is doing more than moving people around on red bikes. It’s also helping sell houses and apartments and draw people to businesses.

The bike-sharing system, which has more than 175 docking stations across the District, Arlington and Alexandria, has become the latest tool to spur development and attract young people. Soon it will be coming to Montgomery County, and other communities are trying to bring it to their neighborhoods.

Craigslist showed 72 active housing listings touting proximity to bikeshare on Friday. It is featured on Airbnb as a perk for visiting tourists seeking to rent out locals’ homes. Wal-Mart is planning to add the docking stations to its stores coming to the District, according to bikeshare officials.

About eight in 10 bikeshare members who responded to an annual survey said they are more likely to patronize a business if it is accessible by bikeshare. Those riders are a coveted demographic. They tend to be higher educated, wealthier and younger — plus more likely to be male and white — than the general population. Stewart Schwartz, who runs the Coalition for Smarter Growth, noted the service attracts new and young residents who are looking for walkable places to live and work. They are likely to be innovators who will help spur the economy, he said.

Arlington County has viewed bikeshare as a economic development tool from the start, according to Chris Hamilton, who runs Arlington County commuter services. He said retailers, restaurants and shop owners want to be near the docking stations. “I think it’s helping our local economy,” he said.

The bikeshare stations were not always so coveted, though. A few years ago, neighbors near Lincoln Park in Capitol Hill fought against a docking station near them. But now, officials said, some developers are seeking them out.

Christopher Leinberger, a George Washington University professor and Brookings Institution fellow, said that Capital Bikeshare could become akin to cars and Metro in changing the dynamics of development around the region. Leinberger has studied the economic impact of Metrorail, which has spurred billions of dollars of development around the region in the past 37 years. “It could be that significant and yet it’s really cheap,” he said.

But bikeshare does not have the stability of Metro stations, noted Matt Klein, president of D.C. developer Akridge. Bikeshare docks are solar-powered, which has made them easy to install without needing to wire into the power grid. But that same ease of installation makes them easy to take away. By contrast, fixed rail Metro stations provide a predictable and unmovable piece of transportation infrastructure that can transport far more people than a 40-bike docking station, he said. Developers can build around a Metro station confident it will likely attract a permanent and steady flow of people.

Still, Klein said bikeshare is nice to have near Akridge projects. “It would fall more into an amenity category than important transportation infrastructure,” he said. “It may evolve into something more.” {…}

Why You Ride: Bicycle Edition — the “bikiest” guy in LA

Posted on June 18, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Sarah Tseng | The Source

It’s time again for the Golden Pedal Awards, Metro’s annual competition for stories about commuting via bicycling. We collected nominations all throughout Bike Week LA and will be publishing a Why You Ride series with one winner a week — to remind us that every week is Bike Week!

Our first winner this year is Justin Resnick — probably “the bikiest guy in LA,” according to his colleague Rick Gutierrez, who nominated Justin for a Golden Pedal Award. Justin studies bicycle and pedestrian planning as a UCLA urban planning graduate student, serves as the president of the UCLA Bicycle Coalition, and works for the LADOT Bike Program. He bikes from Santa Monica to UCLA almost every day and to downtown Los Angeles one to two times a week. (And according to Rick, Justin bikes everywhere else too, including “nights out on the town.”)

Name: Justin Resnick
Start: Santa Monica
End: UCLA or downtown Los Angeles
Distance: 5 miles to UCLA, 18 miles to downtown LA
Time: 25 minutes to UCLA, 75 minutes to downtown LA

Photo of Justin and bicycle

Justin and his bicycle tabling for the UCLA Bicycle Coalition. The front and rear racks on the bike make it easy to carry things on his commute.

Justin commutes on a single-speed road bike that he built himself. He makes the ride easier by using “business-like” bicycle accessories that allow him to shift easily from his bike to the office. His panniers, for instance, look like standard briefcases and have shoulder straps for carrying, as well as flaps that roll down to hide the pannier hooks. His shoes look like regular office shoes, but have clips that attach to his bike pedals (for more efficient pedaling). He calls his outfit being a “cyclist in stealth mode.”

As an intern in LADOT’s bicycle outreach and planning group, Justin puts his biking experience to good use by creating citywide policies on bicycle wayfinding signage. He’s also helped the UCLA Bicycle Coalition (a regional partner of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition) work with administration and faculty to fund and implement several projects, such as bike counts and bike safety programs.

Why is Justin such an advocate for bicycling? He said:

“Bicycles can solve a lot of challenges that we currently have in urban transportation. We have issues with traffic congestion, air quality, public health, equity, and helping low-income communities. Bicycling can help us address these problems. It’s a clean mode of transportation; it’s very reasonably priced; you get exercise. Almost 50% of all trips in LA County are less than three miles [long]. If we can encourage everyone to make those trips by biking or walking, we can really increase the health and vitality of our city.”

Justin admits that he is in “the 1% of cyclists who will ride anywhere,” regardless of whether or not there are bike lanes on the road. (As a college student in Wisconsin, he regularly biked to class even when temperatures dropped to -30°F; after college, he was a competitive cyclist). But this has just made him more aware of how essential it is to work with the “broader bicycling community, recognizing the breadth of users that we have in this city”:

“It’s important to plan for the occasional cyclists – whether they’re pulling a child trailer along or getting their groceries – and put in the type of infrastructure they would want to see. Focusing on them helps make the road safe for all of us.”

Thanks Justin for your wise words and hard work! We’ll be sending you a Nathan reflective LED safety vest, one year of bicycle roadside assistance from Better World Club, reflective safety decals from RydeSafe, and some Clif Bars to help make your commute safer and more delicious. {…}

Pedaling while plowed? It’s not against the law but has its risks

Posted on June 17, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Matt McKinney | Star Tribune

Their cars parked back at home, Brian Koehn and 30 of his pals hopped on their bikes for a bachelor party bash on wheels, pedaling from bar to bar until they ended up at a White Castle drive-through, still holding onto the handlebars.

“Everyone had a good time,” said Koehn, smiling at the memory while nursing a beer last week at the Indeed Brewing taproom in northeastMinneapolis.

More Minnesotans than ever are riding bicycles: to work, to the store and, inevitably, to the bar. The long-cherished bicycle pub crawl, once a renegade’s night out, has come out of the shadows as both bicycling and beer making rise to intoxicating new heights in Minneapolis.

A Minneapolis brewery owner said she regularly fields phone calls from cyclists who plan to stop by with large groups. And the breweries themselves court bicyclists with bike racks and, soon from Harriet Brewing in south Minneapolis, bike jerseys.

Two-wheeled tippling is legal in Minneapolis, but not without risks. One study conducted by Minneapolis found that bicyclists were impaired by alcohol or drugs in nearly 6 percent of the nearly 3,000 bicyclist-motorist collisions that occurred between 2000 and 2010, including 12 fatalities.

More recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 23 percent of the 677 cyclists killed on the road in 2011 would have been considered legally drunk under Minnesota law, with blood-alcohol levels of at least 0.08 grams per deciliter. At that level, a bicyclist increases his chances of a serious or deadly injury by 2,000 percent, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University.

“Take the precautions, wear a helmet and don’t be an idiot,” advised Mike Madetzke, a regular cyclist who said he feels more comfortable riding his bike to the bar than taking a car.

Illegal elsewhere

Bike riders are subject to traffic control laws, but drunken driving laws in Minnesota extend only to motorized vehicles, said Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. Bill Palmer. A 20-year veteran, he’s never stopped someone just for bicycling while drunk.

Not every state turns a blind eye to blitzed two-wheelers; California and Oregon have laws on the books, and cyclists in Idaho, Utah and Indiana have been arrested.

At the University of Minnesota, police may target cyclists for enforcement at the beginning of the school year to make it clear to students that they must follow traffic laws while riding. But rarely do the police stop anyone for drunken biking, said University of Minnesota Deputy Chief of Police Chuck Miner. If someone’s found drunk on a bike, they would get sent to detox or hospitalized, he said.

“If they’re weaving, or blocking traffic or running a stop light or stop sign, those are all violations,” he said. “A cyclist could get a ticket for careless driving.”

Ethan Fawley, president of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, said the policy conversations he’s taken part in at the State Capitol have never broached the topic of a DWI law for bicyclists. “It’s just totally not been on anyone’s radar that I’m aware of,” he said.

The crop of new local breweries has risen across the metro area just as bicycle use has become more commonly seen as serious transportation.

Some 4 percent of Minneapolis commuters get to work on two wheels. Younger people, especially the 20-something millennials, have turned to bicycles as well as public transportation while shunning driver’s licenses at higher rates than previous generations, according to studies from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the University of Michigan.

“Millennials care less about their cars,” said Phineas Baxandall, an analyst with the research group. {…}

Seaplane float opens Tacoma to new form of transportation

Posted on June 17, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

John Gillie | The News Tribune

Tacoma last week joined a select group of cities with a special aviation asset adjacent to their downtowns.

After about five years of planning and fundraising, the Tacoma Waterfront Association and the Foss Waterway Development Authority formally opened a public seaplane float at the mouth of the near-downtown Thea Foss Waterway.

As aviation facilities go, the 54-foot-long, 16-foot-wide dock isn’t much for show, but it opened Tacoma to a new form of transportation long missing from the city.

The News Tribune talked with some of those involved about how the dream became a reality, what potential the float brings to Tacoma and how float planes could become part of the maritime fabric of the city.

Q: Why is having a float plane dock important for Tacoma?

A: Washington ranks in the top handful of states for float plane ownership and usage along with Alaska, Florida and Minnesota, said Greg Corrado, vice president of the Washington Seaplane Pilots Association. The state has more than 1,000 float-plane-rated pilots.

Kenmore Air, headquartered in its namesake city on Lake Washington, is the nation’s largest seaplane airline with more than two dozen planes, said Chuck Perry, Kenmore Air’s chief pilot.

Q: Will the float see much commercial usage?

A: Craig O’Neill, Kenmore Air’s director of flight administration, said the airline believes there is a decent demand for charter seaplane services to and from Tacoma. The museums along the Foss and near the Tacoma Dome make the area a potential tourist destination.

And charter flights to the San Juan Islands, Victoria and elsewhere make economic sense for groups headed there from Tacoma and the South Sound, he said. Regularly scheduled service? “That’s a whole different kettle of fish,” said O’Neill. That’s much less likely.

Q: But didn’t Tacoma have a float where seaplanes could board passengers?

A: Some crude facilities for seaplane mooring had once been available farther south on the Foss, but those docks were removed during the updating and reconfiguration of (the)
waterway’s marinas. That left Pierce County with only a single dedicated seaplane float at American Lake, said Stan Selden, founder and former president of the waterfront association. Those wishing to visit Tacoma in their seaplanes or to charter seaplanes were forced to use improvised solutions to board those planes.

Q: There are dozens of slips and docks along the Foss. Why couldn’t float planes use those?

A: Those docks are usually secured to tall pilings sunk into the bottom of the waterway. Those pilings prevent planes with their large wings from approaching the docks. The float used for the new seaplane facilities is secured to other docks keeping the edge of the dock far enough away from the pilings to allow moderately sized planes to tie up parallel to the dock.

Q: Where will float planes land and take off?

A: Planes will use Commencement Bay outside the waterway in most cases. The planes will land and take off into the wind. Depending on the wind, the plane and the weight of the load, seaplanes can take off in a few hundred feet to about 3,000 feet. Landings likewise will vary, but a typical landing might require about 1,000 feet. Pilots can judge the wind’s direction by observing the plumes of steam emitted by the nearby Simpson Tacoma Kraft paper mill, said Corrado. In rare instances, when the bay waters are too rough and boat traffic is light, planes may use the waterway north of the Murray Morgan Bridge as a watery runway for takeoff.

Q: Will planes landing and taking off be directed by some sort of control tower?

A: No, but pilots will follow procedures being drawn up the seaplane pilots association and will monitor a common radio frequency to communicate with other planes in the vicinity, Corrado said. The landing pattern will take planes over the bay or the industrial Tideflats, not downtown or residential neighborhoods.

Q: Won’t seaplane operations be noisy?

A: The seaplane association is developing procedures to minimize noise and to ensure that seaplanes will be considered good neighbors, Corrado said. Seaplane visits are likely to be intermittent, not like the regular operations from such popular Northwest destinations as Victoria’s Inner Harbour, Vancouver’s Coal Harbour or Seattle’s Lake Union.

Q: Where did the idea of a public float originate?

A: The need for a public float originated with the waterfront association, a group of Pierce County business and civic officials working to promote and improve the city’s waterfront, said Selden, The association took the idea to the Foss Waterway Development Authority, the municipally chartered body charged with redevelopment of the formerly industrial Thea Foss Waterway. The two groups agreed to work together to plan and find funds for such a float.

Q: What did the new float cost and where did the funding originate?

A: Tacoma’s float was recycled from a personal dock and repaired by Tacoma’s Marine Floats Corp. Donations paid the cost of rehabilitation and modifications. Among the donors were the Port of Tacoma, Selden’s Furniture, U.S. Oil, Kenmore Air, the Haub

Foundation, the Shanaman Foundation and Carl Fisher. The waterway authority also obtained funds for planning and other needs. The total bills aren’t in yet, but the dock’s rehabilitation costs amount to about $15,000. {…}

How Electric Cars Are Doing In China

Posted on June 16, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Eric Yue | Earth Techling

In 2010, A123 Systems, a leading advanced lithium-ion battery manufacturer, opened the first and largest U.S. manufacturing facility to produce batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). The project was supported by a$249 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. But when President Barack Obama called to congratulate A123 Systems on the milestone, which he said foreshadowed “the birth of an entire new industry in America,” he never would have imagined the subsequent bankruptcy of this rising star and its acquisition by China’s Wanxiang Group in 2012.

Although this overseas acquisition is one of Wanxiang Group’s highest profile actions, the company has long been quietly acquiring and investing in dozens of auto parts manufacturers. Wanxiang has expressed interest in supporting the struggling Fisker Automotive, a manufacturer of luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and a previous client of A123 Systems. Wanxiang chairman Guanqiu Lu’s strategic ambitions to be an electric vehicle manufacturer are becoming closer to reality than ever before. According to the global consulting firm McKinsey, in 2010 China ranked third (together with Germany) in financial support for clean-vehicle technology development, just behind the United States and France.

image via BYD

As early as 2001, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) had included electric vehicle technologies as a key project in the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program). In order to reduce dependence on oil, compete with more developed foreign automobile industries, and reduce air pollutants, MOST proposed focusing on three types of vehicles: hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV), electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), as well as three key components: battery/fuel cells, electric motors, and power controls, with an investment of 880 million RMB (US$106 million) within five years.

As prototypes rolled out and major technical targets were achieved, China began trial use of EVs, mainly for urban public transportation and government use. These prototypes were featured at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, Shanghai 2010 Expo, and Shenzhen 2011 Universiade. In 2009, MOST, together with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and National Development and Reform Commission, initiated the “Ten Cities & Thousand Vehicles” program. The government provided subsidies for purchases of “new energy” (unconventional and clean energy, including solar and wind) vehicles by the public transportation sector or private owners, to support EV development in 25 cities.

In early 2012, MOST’s 12th Five-Year Plan for electric vehicles laid out a technological roadmap: commercializing hybrid-electric vehicles and demonstrating commercially available small electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles between 2010 and 2015, and achieving a full-fledged production chain of electric vehicles between 2015 and 2020. In addition, three supporting systems (standardization and testing, energy supply, and integration demonstration) were proposed and were expected to be in full function soon.

With strong stimulus from the government, some state-owned automobile companies and universities have been successfully developing prototypes of EV, HEV, and FCV. Private sector actors, especially a few pioneering companies, have been making noteworthy progress as well. Build Your Dream (BYD), has already integrated value-chain segments in the EV industry (semiconductor manufacturing, energy storage, and solar power) and developed several HEV models (F3DM andF6DM) and EV models (E6 and K9) for the Chinese market.

Geely, another key private player in China’s auto industry, is partnering with Kandi Technologies to enter the EV market through joint venture. Geely also is competing with state-owned Dongfeng Motor to acquire Fisker Automotive, the U.S. luxury PHEV manufacturer that Wanxiang Group is interested in investing in. Foreign companies such as General Motors (GM), Nissan, and Volkswagen also have plans that will intensify competition in Chinese EV market, including introducing EV products and conducting research and development on battery technology.

Despite this progress, the Chinese government and automobile industry are still far from a full blossoming of the domestic EV market. When the “Ten Cities & Thousand Vehicles” program was initiated in 2009, many cities set ambitious goals such as increasing the number of “new energy” vehicles by 10,000–30,000 within four years. Plans also called for 24,220 “new energy” buses to be put into operation by 2012. Only 11,777 made it onto the road.

Shenzhen and Beijing were the only cities to adopt more than 1,000 such vehicles (2,024 and 1,120, respectively) by the end of 2012. BYD, collaborating with Shenzhen to deploy EVs, also suffered from a fatal accident in 2012, in which three people died in BYD’s EV E6 when it was rammed by a car from behind and caught fire. The company lost market value of 6 billion RMB within five days of the accident. Overall, according to a 2012 McKinsey report, China has been falling behind other major markets in “EV readiness” and ranked fifth in that year behind Japan, the United States, France, and Germany. {…}

Stop Pilfering Funds For Roads, Bridges

Posted on June 16, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

| Courant

The roads and bridges that most of us use each day are not free. They have to be repaired and maintained, and this costs a lot of money.

Nearly three decades ago, following the collapse of the Mianus River bridge on I-95 in Greenwich, state officials created the Special Transportation Fund, primarily supported by a gas tax, to pay for transportation infrastructure. It was an excellent plan, but for one subsequent problem — legislators can’t keep their hands off it.

Many times over the years — and again this year — state leaders dipped into the transportation fund to help balance the general budget. This year lawmakers are taking $76 million out of the fund for non-transportation purposes as part of the budget deal passed this week.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy argues that he’s shifted some money back to the transportation fund in recent years and invested heavily in individual transportation projects such as New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail. Nevertheless, filching dollars from the transportation fund is a bad idea, and must stop. Indeed, some lawmakers introduced a bill this year that would have outlawed the practice, but the bill failed.

The special transportation fund was created to pay for the upkeep of the state’s transportation infrastructure (Bradley International Airport has a separate funding structure) so that the state wouldn’t have another collapse. Well, according to a recent study by the nonprofit Tri-State Transportation Campaign, about a third of the state’s highway bridges are classified as deficient, and nearly three-quarters of the state’s roads are not in good condition.

The state Department of Transportation has at least $3 billion worth of projects backed up because it doesn’t have the money to build them.

Every time the fund is raided, there’s less money available for infrastructure. With federal transportation money flat and uncertain after 2014, this is not the time to be doing roads and bridges on the cheap. Three people died in the Mianus River collapse.

Also, to tell the public that the gas tax is going to the transportation fund and then send it somewhere else is neither honest nor a good way to do business. If federal funds dry up and the state needs to reinstate tolls, lawmakers will have a tough time selling the idea if the public thinks the funds are going for some other use.

Car Tax

A somewhat similar situation obtains with the idea of eliminating the local property tax on automobiles over seven years, passed as part of a package of otherwise good bills promoting regionalism. The problem with the tax is not that it exists, but that it is inequitable.

A tax on the same car can be much higher in some municipalities — usually the large cities — than in others. It is patently unfair for a resident of, say, New Canaan to pay less in car taxes than a resident of Hartford on the same car. The key is to equalize the burden, but not eliminate the tax. The towns need the money.

One of a town’s many obligations is maintenance of town roads. A car taxes raises money from the users.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities came out Tuesday against the elimination of the car tax, unless there is “concrete assurance” of another “reliable, supplemental funding source.” Without a way to replace the revenue, towns will be out some $700 million, said CCM spokesman Kevin Maloney.

Legislators who support the gradual elimination of the property tax call it property tax reform. But if the towns have to shift more of the burden to real estate property taxes, no reform will have been achieved.

Finally, if the state is trying to promote the use of transit, eliminating the car tax sends a discordant message. {…}

Boston mayoral candidates joust at two public forums

Posted on June 15, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Andrew Ryan | Boston Globe

Mayoral candidates (from left) John Barros, Charlotte Golar Richie, Michael Ross, John Connolly, Bill Walczak, Felix Arroyo, Marty Walsh, Daniel Conley, Rob Consalvo, and Charles Yancey flanked moderator Chad D’Entremont (at podium) at the Edward Brooke Charter School in Roslindale.

They clashed over increasing the gasoline tax to pay for public transportation. They debated whether Boston City Hall should be bulldozed or renovated. And they fought for a scant few minutes at the microphone on a crowded stage, trying to succinctly make their case that they should succeed outgoing Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Eight candidates squared off Wednesday morning in one of the first major campaign forums in the race for mayor, sharing a long table before about 150 spectators at the Boston Society of Architects. A ninth candidate, Councilor Charles C. Yancey, arrived uninvited and sat in the audience, elbowing his way into the conversation.

Ten mayoral hopefuls met again in the evening, sharing a stage at a school in Roslindale to answer questions on education policy. Many more mayoral forums will follow throughout the summer.

The first forums offered a glimpse of how the candidates will interact as competitors and highlighted some philosophical and policy differences.

The sharpest exchange Wednesday morning came during a discussion of two competing proposals on Beacon Hill to tackle transportation funding. Governor Deval Patrick has proposed a major transportation expansion by increasing the income tax and reducing the sales tax. The House of Representatives has approved a pared-down transportation plan that would raise the state gasoline tax.

Several candidates – including Councilors Felix G. Arroyo and Rob Consalvo and John F. Barros – applauded Patrick’s plan. Barros and Arroyo criticized the gas tax as a regressive measure that would disproportionately affect people with lower incomes.

Councilor Michael P. Ross said he was deeply concerned about “any presumptive mayor sitting up here who cannot give a full-throated endorsement to the gas tax.” Describing the gas tax as regressive is incorrect, he said.

“We want people to go on public transit,” Ross said, adding that higher gas prices can encourage more people to take the bus or subway.

Barros shot back that not every neighborhood has equal access to public transportation and that some residents have little choice about relying on their own car.

“We’ve got to stay away from acting like everyone’s Boston is the same Boston,” Barros said.

Charlotte Golar Richie reminded the audience of the realities on Beacon Hill. “The question is, ‘What can you get done?’ ” said Richie, a former state representative. “The gas tax would not be my favorite, but it’s one we could get through [the Legislature].”

That sparked a feisty response from Councilor John R. Connolly, who said he supported the governor’s plan and described the gas tax option as surrendering to the status quo on Beacon Hill.

“We need to change that attitude,” Connolly said. “We need a mayor who is going to be in the transportation debate, not sitting it out, saying, ‘That’s the state.’ ”

Candidates differed on what should happen to City Hall, a building beloved by many architects in the audience, but loathed by much of the public.

Arroyo said he would be open to the idea of building a new City Hall, as long as the replacement is accessible to the public.

Richie and Representative Martin J. Walsh both said that bulldozing City Hall would be low on their priority list.

William J. Walczak suggested that Hanover Street could be extended from the North End to open up Government Center, and that the backside of City Hall would be a good spot for a Boston history museum.

During the evening forum, some candidates sparred over the hot-button issue of lifting the cap on charter schools. Critics say the schools take money away from public schools.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley voiced support for lifting the cap, citing research showing that most city charter schools are high-performing.

He said failing to lift the cap “would be the equivalent of us saying to Apple, you make the best smartphone, but we’re not going to allow you to distribute it to everyone who wants to buy it.”

Some of his rivals disagreed.

“I don’t believe now is the time to raise the cap on charter schools,’’ Arroyo said. “In fact, I think now is the time to double down on public education.”

Yancey sounded a similar note, declaring that the system as a whole “deserves more investment, not disinvestment.”

Consalvo, who also opposes lifting the cap, called for “full funding to help kids with special needs,” especially in low-performing schools.

The district attorney, however, had a strong ally on the charter question in Connolly, who repeatedly called for lengthening the school day. {…}

MBTA ridership on decline since fare hikes

Posted on June 15, 2013 by TODnews — No Comments ↓

Andy Metzger | WickedLocal

MBTA ridership has declined over the past ten months, with ridership dropping more steeply so far in 2013, according to data released to the News Service.

From last July, when fare increases went into effect, ridership is down 1.9 percent down compared to the same period of fiscal year 2012, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told the News Service.

“But the drop in ridership was much lower than the pre-fare increase projection of a decrease of 5.5 %,” Pesaturo wrote in an email. He also said the MBTA is on track to beat fare revenue expectations leading to a $16.6 million surplus at the end of the fiscal year.

After a contentious series of public hearings and a $49 million one-time state bailout, the MBTA raised fares an average of 23 percent, including steeper increases for seniors. Ridership initially rose slightly after the fare hikes, but then wavered and has been down since December.

Comparing by calendar year, increases throughout the first half of 2012 were enough to end the year with about 2.4 percent more riders than in 2011.

The transit agency is still in fiscal turmoil, since it’s depending on revenues from a still-developing tax-raising legislation. The House and Senate have passed similar versions of a roughly $500 million tax plan to raise transportation funds, but there is no guarantee Gov. Deval Patrick will sign the final version, as he has criticized the Legislature’s plan as too small to accomplish what needs to be done in transportation.

The MBTA is one target for additional transportation funds, which would also fund highways and regional transit authorities. The Conservation Law Foundation calculated that over five year’s Patrick’s plan would increase transportation spending by $858 million annually, the House would increase it by $504 million and the Senate by $602 million.

When the Transportation Board passed the $1.86 billion MBTA budget in late March, it left a $118 million gap to be filled by anticipated tax legislation. If the tax revenue failed to materialize, that would mean additional fare hikes and service cuts, MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott said at the time.

Last year’s fare hikes had less of a drain on ridership than had been projected, and the decline was more modest in the months immediately following the fare hike. But from December through April, every month has featured ridership declines compared to the same month a year ago.

Since December 2012, ridership has been down a monthly average of 2.9 percent compared to the year prior, according to MBTA data.

A dip of 3.5 percent in April was due in part to the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, the April 19 manhunt and the related public transit shutdown or temporary station closures, Pesaturo said.

“Ridership fell significantly in the immediate days following the bombings, and of course, service was shut down completely for almost fourteen hours on April 19th,” Pesaturo said. {…}