It’s time to let your voice be heard. UTA is providing a forum for questions surrounding FrontRunner South station sites. Want bike lockers or covered parking? Want to sneak in a plug for extra bike space on the train cars? Here is your chance. From the UTA FrontRunner South team:

Come to the UTA Public Hearings on Re-Evaluation of the Future Draper/BluffDale FrontRunner Commuter Rail Station Site:
·         Monday, Nov. 17, 2008 at the Bluffdale Elementary School (14323 South 2700 West, Bluffdale) and
·         Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 at the Willow Springs Elementary School [13288 South Lone Rock Drive (465 East), Draper].  
The hearings will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 7 p.m. with a brief presentation at 5:30 p.m.  
 
At the hearings, UTA staff will be available to answer questions on the benefits and impacts of four potential station sites.  The public can make written or recorded comment at the hearing or may submit comments to:  Utah Transit Authority, c/o FLHQ FrontRunner Station, 3600 South 700 West, Salt Lake City, UT  84119.  Comments can also be submitted online at www.rideuta.com. All comments will become part of the public record if received or postmarked by November 21, 2008.

I borrowed the title to this post from the Deseret News.  I rarely agree with much of what editorial boards say in this state, but lately they seem to have become more enlighted.  The latest to suffer from this bout of insanity is the editorial board of the aforementioned news organization.  I invite you to read the result of this momentary lapse by clicking here.  I also came across some other interesting information that I had previously not seen this past week.  It comes from the public comment section of the Mountainland Association of Governments’ Transportation Master Plan.  Have a gander at these.  

“Current plan appears comprehensive, involving the appropriate organizations. On the whole, non-vehicular elements of the plan appear to have a very limited emphasis.   I would recommend and favor a much more aggressive mass-transit major interconnect between Salt Lake and Utah counties.  A rail system should be implemented at the earliest date before growth rates exacerbate the task and right of way decisions complicated.  This should be done even if current vehicular plans need to be compromised to the minimum absolutely necessary. Financial resources will be under increasing pressure over time.  Tourism will likely increase as will population increases within Utah county.  I urge an improved central element of the draft plan to include a much more aggressive mass-transit element.”

“I would like to see a greater emphasis given to public transportation: expansion and improvement.  Also, I would like to see cycling and walking facilitated and encouraged.  We must think about solving the congestion problems instead of simply facilitating them.”  (I love this comment!)

“Although commuter rail and the BRT system are mentioned in this document, the overall feel is that transit is treated as a nice accoutrement, while roads are give a much higher priority.  I do not believe that our continued focus on a predominantly road- and car-based transportation system is the best use of my taxpayer dollars.”

These are just a few.  In almost every case, the comments were against more and bigger roads and for increased mass transit, walking, and cycling.  This was three years ago.  Think about what gas prices have done for this kind of thinking!  It has to be much bigger than I even thought it could be.  I hope that more of us will speak up to our elected officials and if they don’t listen, I hope we have the willingness to kick them out of office, no matter the party affiliation.  If you want to read the rest of the comments, click here and scroll down.  To read the entire master plan to see what they were talking about, click here.  And to visit the home of the Mountainland Association of Governments on the web, click on the link above.  By the way, sorry for the drought.  I’ve been traveling and on vacation.  More to come real soon.  

Straight from Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News, here’s a video on the growing trend of bicycle commuting and how Portland leads the way. Among the changes to city infrastructure: traffic calming, bike lanes, and extra parking spaces.

Washington D.C. is even starting a bike rental program this year. Very Cool (see this post).

The link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25573628#25573628

And the corresponding story, Deadly tension on the roads  — cars vs. bikes (c’mon, can you pick a more sensational headline?):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25695376/

The article also mentions the high demand faced by Utah’s FrontRunner, as more and more cyclists pack their bikes on the train (see this post).

For now, this level of exposure is fantastic. We’ll probably add some commentary in future posts.