Tag: public policy

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Support for Public Transit Grows, While Funding Sources Remain Limited

A new survey conducted by the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) reveals that nearly 74% of Americans support the use of their tax dollars for “creating, expanding, and improving public transportation” in their community.

The results were championed by groups like the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) at their annual rail conference being held in Philadelphia.

“We are experiencing this surge in support because citizens can see, touch, and feel the economic impact of investing in public transportation,” said APTA Chair Flora Castillo. “This survey emphasizes that public transit plays a great role in society because it directly touches people’s lives.”

Metro Buses
Ridership and public support for transit has continued to grow in Cincinnati, despite consistent attacks from the Kasich administration. Photograph by Randy Simes for UrbanCincy.

The survey comes as many transit agencies around the United States are experiencing gains in ridership, including an additional 200,000 riders on Metro bus service in 2012. The news also comes on the heels of the approval of Ohio’s budget which includes a provision that bans students in grades K-5 from using transit buses for their transportation to or from school.

“A provision like this would be devastating to these students’ ability to get to school,” Roseanne Canfora, spokeswoman for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in May.

Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) also utilizes Metro bus service to get students to and from school. While Metro’s contract with CPS does not include students in grades K-5, the state-level changes reflect a growing anti-transit sentiment from the statehouse in recent years.

While ridership on transit and support for taxes going towards transit increases throughout Ohio and the United States, the State of Ohio continues to invest in almost exclusively roads. In the recommended 2014-2015 Transportation Budget, Governor John Kasich (R) and ODOT Director Jerry Wray call for a mere 1.9% of the $3.1 billion budget to go towards public transportation.

The newly released study championed by APTA focuses on national policy, however, and shows that the non-profit advocacy group aims to arm themselves with the results.

“We look forward to sharing these great results with Congress,” said APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy. “In most political circles, receiving nearly 74 percent in favor of increased investment would be considered a landslide.”

The MTI-conducted survey also found that 66% of Americans believe that Congress should increase its spending for public transportation.

Locally in Cincinnati, meanwhile, funding levels for Metro continue to stagnate as the City of Cincinnati has remained as the sole regional financial contributor to the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) since its creation in 1973.

SORTA officials have attempted to grow support from regional partners by restructuring its board, as recently as 2009, to include more regional representation from Butler, Warren and Clermont Counties. The efforts, however, have not yet changed the funding equation.

“Any change to the current funding system is a matter for consideration by Cincinnati and Hamilton County elected officials, and voters in this region,” explained SORTA Board chair, Suzanne Burke. “We are unaware of any changes being considered, and additional public funding from Clermont, Warren or Butler counties is for their citizens and elected officials to consider.”

With no additional funding partners or public taxes envisioned for the near future, SORTA officials are working to continue to grow and restructure its service that is reflective of the changes in the city and region over the past 40 years – something that has not, and will not be easy to do.

“Metro is pleased with the recent news released by APTA,” Burke concluded. “We believe this region’s changes since 1973, when our system was formed, require us to consider possible improvements in public transportation. Public transit is a key job connector and a huge factor in the improved quality of life in our region.”

Categories
Up To Speed

DIY Plazas and Parklets Draw the Crowds

DIY Plazas and Parklets Draw the Crowds

An increasing number of cities including New York City have been seeing the success of impromptu and Do It Yourself created public spaces. In Cincinnati, which celebrates National PARK(ing) Day with the temporary creation of parklets, other cities such as Montreal, New York City and San Francisco are working to make these tactical urbanism projects allowable on more permanent basis. Read more at the New York Times:

Nationwide, people moving downtown want to be in on the mix, too; they want pedestrian-friendly streets, parks and plazas. And smart cities are responding, like Dallas, whose Klyde Warren Park opened downtown last year atop the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, where it burrows for a few merciful blocks below ground. The place was buzzing when I passed by one recent weekend. In Phoenix, where nearly half of all city lots are vacant, the mayor, Greg Stanton, lately chose an empty 15-acre parcel — an eyesore in the heart of town — for an urban park and garden where nearby residents, mostly immigrants, can grow vegetables, for their own tables or to sell at local farmers’ markets.

And in San Francisco, the city government has been renting out curbside parking spaces, long term, on the condition they be turned into parklets. Most involve little more than benches and shrubs. But the best have become elaborate interventions, with landscaping, platforms, even mini-mini-golf. I spent a morning watching kids play and adults sunbathe in a parklet outside Fourbarrel Coffee on Valencia Street. Los Angeles and Philadelphia, among others, have recently started parklet programs. New York is trying it out, too.

Categories
Development News Politics

Smart Growth May Offer Cincinnati a Way Out of Its Structurally Imbalanced Budget

Land Use Budget ImpactsThe City of Cincinnati passed yet another structurally imbalanced budget late last week. At the meeting Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C) and other council members admitted that the approved budget once again relied on a one-time fix to get the city through another budget cycle without significant layoffs and major funding cuts.

Despite having its hands tied in coming up with creative ways to find revenues, Cincinnati is not alone in dealing with this dilemma. Hundreds of cities across the nation are struggling with budget deficits with some much larger than ours.

Smart Growth America recently completed a national report, titled Building Better Budgets, with findings that could help many municipalities find long-term solutions to their budget crisis. The report makes three main arguments that smart growth development, described as compact, walkable and mixed-use overall save municipalities on upfront infrastructure costs, service costs and serve to increase the city’s tax base better than suburban style developments.

After reviewing a diverse collection of cities across America, such as Raleigh, NC,  Nashville, TN and Champagne, IL, the study found that smart growth development costs an average of 38% less for upfront infrastructure, saves municipalities an average of 10% on ongoing delivery of services, and generates approximately 10 times more tax revenue per acre when compared to conventional suburban development.

“These figures are conservative, and many communities could save even more,” authors of the report stated. “Smart growth development’s potential for lower costs and higher revenues means that many municipalities can operate smart growth development at a surplus rather than a deficit.”

How local projects stack up
Several projects on the horizon are poised to add to the tax base in Cincinnati’s urban core. Phase two of The Banks, dunhumbyUSA Centre, the 580 Building apartment conversion, hotels at the Bartlett Building and Enquirer Building, and proposed apartment buildings above Fountain Place and the parking garage at Seventh and Sycamore all offer the upfront infrastructure cost savings and long-term revenue advantages discussed in Smart Growth America’s report.

The redevelopment of the Pogue’s Garage into a 30-story apartment tower with a grocery store, and an 11-store Holiday Inn at Broadway and Eighth Street are two other projects that offer similar benefits, but are currently on hold due to the ongoing legal dispute surrounding the City of Cincinnati’s Parking Modernization & Lease Plan. Additionally, a slew of projects in Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills and Northside also appear poised to help stabilize the city’s finances thanks to their smart growth advantages.

Property Tax Yield

Not all is well, however, as many recent real estate investments throughout the city have taken the conventional suburban development approach. The Incline District in East Price Hill, Villages of Day Break in Bond Hill, Oakley Station in Oakley, MetroWest in Lower Price Hill, and developments along Red Bank Road in Madisonville all seem to be missing the bigger picture about the financial advantages of smart growth.

In addition to the actual footprint of the development, the report discusses the importance of a project’s site location.

“The per-acre measurement of tax revenue is extremely important because land is a precious commodity for every jurisdiction,” the report concluded. “It is true that in some cases the total dollar amount of tax revenue in conventional suburban settings can be very large, but those conventional suburban developments consume large amounts of land. Many cities in the United States have a constrained land supply and must husband their land resources carefully in order to protect their solvency.”

While many of the real estate investments throughout Cincinnati are being done in a smart manner, others seem to be squandering valuable urban land with suburban-style developments. The City of Cincinnati, and other cities around the region, might be able to make a long and sustained positive impact on their budgets by refusing to go forward with projects that offer an easy, short-term score, and instead demanding more sustainable development practices in their community.

Categories
Up To Speed

Free Sunday Parking viewed as somewhat problematic with renegotiated Chicago parking deal

Free Sunday Parking viewed as somewhat problematic with renegotiated Chicago parking deal

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that he and the city’s finance and legal has settled a legal dispute with Chicago Parking Meters (CPM) that will provide for free parking in Chicago neighborhoods on Sundays and the introduction of a pay-by-cell option. The legal dispute originated over closed, added parking spaces or changes to periods of stay, hours of operation or parking rates and an estimated $1 billion in future charges over the life of the contract that would no longer be owed. Free Sunday parking is an issue many downtown Cincinnati businesses outside of The Banks have been arguing against, especially during Sundays with sporting events as they claim they can’t open their doors due to the lack of available metered parking. More from Streetsblog:

The proposed changes seem to be a good thing for the city overall, but the introduction of free Sunday parking is somewhat problematic. While I don’t have a problem with churchgoing seniors getting a break at the expense of people out on the town at night, free daytime parking in neighborhood retail districts could have unintended negative consequences.

On-street parking works best when its cost reflects the demand for spaces. When meter prices are steep in high-demand areas, it discourages people from parking in the same spot for long periods, which increases the chance that there will be open spots for short-term parking. When parking is free, it encourages visitors to park for longer periods, and it tempts employees to drive instead of walking, biking or taking transit to work. Their cars might occupy spaces all day, eliminating spots for potential customers.

 

Categories
Up To Speed

Pitfalls and Potential in P3 Infrastructure Financing

Pitfalls and Potential in P3 Infrastructure Financing

As both Ohio and Kentucky look into investing in public-private partnerships (P3’s) for the construction and operation of the new Brent Spence Bridge, other states around the country are already striking similar deals. With the decline in revenues from the gas tax, which has not been raised since 1993, is P3 the reality of future road infrastructure projects? Read more at the Atlantic Cities:

Still, he says, the fact is that private investors come to the negotiation with many things the states both need and want: quick cash, and the ability to fund projects without raising debt, and the flexibility to use limited public resources in other ways. At the end of the day there’s just too much on the line for investors to complete these deals without some reasonable safeguards for success. State pension funds across the country — the massive California Public Employees’ Retirement System notable among them — have made enormous investments in infrastructure precisely because the payoff feels sizeable yet certain.