Tag Archives: transit

#bhamchat: Episode 1

Posted on June 24, 2009 by | 1 comment

Yesterday we introduced #bhamchat to Birmingham, AL. We tried to explain some of the principles in a post on the Newsstand and had 12 folks take part between 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. We’ll be adding a more detailed description to this section of the site later this week and plan to do it every Tuesday evening starting at 6:30 p.m. – with a recap by the following Thursday morning (unless we have to move it, which we’d let you know way in advance on the site’s front page).

Here’s an review of our first one with selected tweets:

We actually didn’t see this part of the news story until after the chat was finished, but it would be safe to say that City Stages has been a topic of discussion for several days, especially after last week’s last minute request to the Birmingham City Council. We wanted to see what folks thought about its future.

Topic 1: @CityStages – it’s on everyone’s mind; what do you see happening? How do you see it continuing?

  • @apollorockit City Stages is going the way of the buffalo. Or, more appropriately, the Music Midtown.
  • @DOGingham City Stages pres has NO incentive to grow the event. There is a paycheck regardless of event success.
  • @opusmagnum The high costs of the food and drinks @CityStages keeps me from going. If I go I want to be able to enjoy the food.
  • @Jerry_Griffies: @bhamterminal I see McMillan’s bank account decreasing and another “organizer” stepping in or CS is history.
  • @jbagby25 So excited that there is a #bhamchat. Would anyone really care if City Stages left? Why can’t it be smaller and interesting again?

Our second topic was suggested by one of our participants and took a look at the growing problem of pet overpopulation in the city.

Topic 2: via @DOGingham – the euth numbers keep rising. year after year. solution suggestions? http://bit.ly/H7FvM

While there weren’t many comments, it definitely raised the importance of the issue in metro Birmingham:

  • @DOGingham: For those that dont know:dogs/cats..State 149K intake, 111K euthanized. Birmingham Metro 50K intake, 40K euthanized.

Our third topic was probably the most interesting one of the evening in terms of the conversation among participants:

Topic 3: Transit – Thursday’s ONB breakkfast will include info on new downtown bus circulator… thoughts on usefulness, etc.?

  • @ProgressiveElec: i hope they don’t replace these bus drivers with the max drivers – if that’s as deep as we can get in transit ideas well . .
  • @deongordon:  The new buses would be a step in the right direction. But w/o a mass transit initiative (incl. light rail), it’s still lacking.
  • @jbagby25: I don’t think you can do worse than the current bus situation. Any improvement is a step up.
  • @pascal_caputo: @bhamterminal will be a bus rapid transit system plus neighborhood circulator. Good way to get more people interested in transit.

We’ve also learned about how those that will not be able to attend Thursday morning’s Operation New Birmingham Breakfast briefing can learn more about the proposed circulators.

As we continue to hold these, we hope that it will give you the chance to find new folks on Twitter to follow and also help to keep you aware of some of the issues currently affecting Birmingham. If you have an idea for a #bhamchat topic, drop us a line at info@bhamterminal.com.

FYI: If you feel the need to take a break from the @bhamterminal Twitter feed on Tuesday nights, you may want to take a look at Twittersnooze, but read the fine print first…

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The case for a statewide look at transit

Posted on February 2, 2009 by | 2 comments

With much attention focused on issues that mean nothing in this upcoming, lengthy campaign to select our state’s next Governor, luckily one issue that should be front and center in the coming weeks will receive some attention today because of presumptive Democratic candidate Artur Davis‘ appearance at a summit in downtown Birmingham as its keynote speaker.

The issue is transit.

As the State Legislature begins its new session on Tuesday with a potential first step plainly in front of them, the question is whether or not transit can become the issue that symbolically and physically begins to unite this state and take it into the 21st century. 

One point that has been raised again and again about the Inauguration was the ability for Washington’s Metro system to move more people than normal (4 ½ times more to be exact) and to demonstrate just what it would be like with limited access for cars. It’s also definitely been a question on some minds as my last post didn’t get any feedback except for one person wanting the discussion to look to transit.

A proposal being presented by Alabama State Representative Rod Scott (D) allows the state’s numerous transit systems (and there are several) to work together to collect funds to move all of them, large and small, forward. A task force would study whether or not a fully functioning commission would be necessary and identify how this commission would be able to work in the best interest of the entire state to include transit solutions in discussions about transportation in the years and decades ahead. For those wondering if even some of these transit providers could get along, I recently attended one of their first meetings and while there may still be a couple of questions, all agree that the issue of transit and securing adequate funding to provide the service that the people of Alabama need is a top priority.

There are monies that may be available if the President’s economic stimulus plan is passed that would provide a way for the state to take a good, hard look at transit and how it could also become a major tool in economic development, allowing not just those living in rural communities or our state’s inner cities but those living in our wealthiest neighborhoods to be able to have a relatively inexpensive, reliable and efficient method of travel to and from work. Even if those monies end up not being available, the collective bargaining power of this alliance among transit providers should allow for other funding sources to be identified.

The benefits in Birmingham are ones worth pointing out. A light rail system similar to our long departed streetcar system would provide an easy way for folks to get around town, perhaps going to work, a concert in Railroad Reservation Park, or maybe even give folks a much cheaper way to get to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Of course, being able to fully fund our bus system and seeing folks use it consistently will determine that future than anything else, particularly in light of Birmingham’s street paving project effectively halting any plans for it (unless the Regional Planning Commission has finally worn the mayor down on the concept of bus rapid transit, which could do many of the things a light rail system could do), though the paving needed to be done.

We could even get to the point where those in our tech community could enjoy WiFi during their commute, a service that the Bay Area’s BART system recently announced would be expanded to be systemwide within the next two years.

After speaking with some of the principals and attending the first meeting of the group supporting Scott’s measure in Montgomery (comprised in part of some of Alabama’s larger transit authorities) I believe that it’s something whose time has come. It is not a question of turning our backs on our cars as much as it is an chance to help jumpstart the future of the state and of gaining true support for it.

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal.

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Folks, we need real funding for transit

Posted on December 17, 2008 by | 1 comment

 

If the $1.7 million in question for BJCTA paratransit service is taken from that which is already in the city’s budget for BJCTA this fiscal year and is not in addition to the amount set aside, our local transit authority would be forced to make reductions to its existing bus service (viewed as underfinanced and underperforming by many).

It’s disappointing to see the city continue to struggle to find ways to maintain a functioning bus service – particularly in light of the business fee increase supported by the business community and passed last December, which according to a several reports, including this one from us last year on November 19, included transit funding.

There still seems to be more name calling than action when it involves mass transit. The issue is of particular importance to me again as I sit in a hospital waiting room in New York City knowing that reliable mass transit continues to make it easy for me to get around my home town without worry.

Recently moving from downtown Birmingham also marks the first time that I did not stick to my personal rule of living within a block of a bus or train station stop. I just knew that my car or my bike was becoming more reliable.

My level of faith in the future of the BJCTA is not completely lost – their new website and the interim executive director provide a glimmer of hope that the system can be fixed, or at least wants to be.

My faith of future funding sources – from both the City of Birmingham and those other cities in the community that need to be providing substantial funding for it – is.

If we couldn’t get it done or at least really get it going when gas was approaching $4/gallon, I’m nervous about whether or not more than a temporary patch can be applied to our transit issue.

While folks already complain about the evening commute along Highway 280, I’m not quite sure folks out there are ready for the types of delays that folks from those cities our civic leaders always compare us to, like Denver, Austin and Atlanta already deal with. Waiting to do something could very well lead us to that point and then it will be too late.

It is especially disturbing considering that it is paratransit that is now involved in this shell game of funding sources.

Making that evening commute on the bus won’t look so bad in the near future – and shouldn’t (if we still have a working system to make that commute on). 

André Natta is the managing editor of The Terminal.

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Posted in regional, transit

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Riding towards the right solution

Posted on September 26, 2008 by | Leave a comment

I have this one habit that came to light when I worked for my previous employer that’s always led to some fun conversations (and smiling faces) when expense reports from trips came in. The best example of it was when we were planning for our first trip to Baltimore, MD. My boss decided that he needed to rent a car for the trip, while I said that I’d have no problem getting around on ground transit. I ended up riding in from BWI on their light rail service, eventually pulling up in front of Camden Yards (where I caught half an inning through the gates). I then rode the bus from the ballpark to the city’s Fell’s Point neighborhood, where I got a chance to explore one of the very communities I would be learning about during that conference while getting to our hotel. I walked the rest of the time there.

By the time he met me for dinner that evening, he’d sat in “baseball traffic” for more than 2 hours while trying to get in from the airport. I’d gotten into town in about 40 minutes (including a walk that could have easily been a transfer to another bus to get me there).

My trip to Seattle, WA was already booked before I resigned from that job, so I attended the conference anyway (looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made). Residents in that region enjoy knowing that you can take an express or a local bus from the airport into downtown for $1.25 – each way. My counterparts were paying $15 each way to get into the city using a charter bus service. People from all walks were on the bus – flight attendants, business people heading to the Boeing plant, travelers and residents all sitting next to each other. Yes, they were building a light rail line from SEA-TAC, but it was due primarily because of the impressive use of the bus service already available, which was slated to continue.

While I’ve always had to scramble to find a ride to get to and from the airport here, since I’ve lived here I’ve never not used mass transit to get where I need to from the airports of the cities I’ve flown into.

Growing up in New York probably helped shape my belief that buses are fine way to get around (if they can get you where you want to go). For many people in my hometown, despite the availability of subway service in some of the denser areas of the city, the bus is an important piece of their commutes. It’s safe to say that they are the workhorses of most mass transit networks. Some communities appear to want the cart before the horse, including ours.

At the end of Regional Planning Commission director of transportation and community planning Bill Foisy’s presentation to attendees at Thursday’s ONB Breakfast Briefing about work being done to deal with increasing traffic congestion in Birmingham, someone raised their hand and asked if we would ever see light rail service in Birmingham. Foisy tried to explain that normally you’d see such services connecting cities and not just within a city and that any rail system that returned to metro Birmingham (we did have a pretty well-respected streetcar system at one point) would not be successful until we fixed our bus system. I’m still picturing those faces among the crowd having this puzzled “Well, why can’t we just replace the buses with light rail; they’re cooler?” looks on their faces.

It doesn’t make sense to build a system if those that need to be riding don’t use the current system. If those that need to be riding look down on the current system as something not good enough for them. If they don’t realize that the buses will give them a way to get from that light rail station to their homes if needed.

Call me crazy, but normally if a city wasn’t built like a New York or a Chicago by rail service you normally look to light rail as an upgrade to a system that is functional and that enjoys fair ridership. As far as who is to blame for Birmingham’s current system’s plight, I’ll leave that to everybody else and I won’t even get into whether or not those that currently ride the system are treated fairly or given adequate service.

My point is that fixing the problems with our system (especially with gas prices poised to rise), whether they be new buses, revamping the routes taken by buses, their frequency and their reliability is more important now than ever. It must be addressed and those riding now satisfied before delusions of grandeur are sought that we are not prepared for. We can’t build our way out of traffic issues either, and since our funds are beginning to dry up, wouldn’t a shift in philosophy towards assisting in transit improvements be better?

I’ll be thinking about that during my trip to Chicago in the spring, as I ride in from the airport on the El – and then take the bus.

André Natta is the managing editor of bhamterminal.com.

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