So....the city and county need to design a cost effective and integrated county-wide transit system. Demographic changes in the county (more urban; less rural) and federal, state, and local tax revenue declines have changed the financial viability of the system, regardless of whether it is owned and operated by the county or the city. There was an article in last night's mlive version of the local paper that described a county transit board meeting: it gives a flavor of the positions that various actors are taking in the restructuring of the service. (see here)
Wall the talk about public transit has me thinking, if people are having such large issues agreeing, why not change the question? Rather than how do we tweak our current transit system, why not put in something new, something different? For me, a monorail system has always stood out as the next chapter in public transportation. As of now, no city I know of has put the technology into practice, but I'm not sure why. As successful as New York and other large city's are with subways, a "subway in the sky" seems like a winning idea. Using electricity rather than gas powered buses, Kalamazoo could cut down on its carbon footprint. Employ some knowledgeable airport and train engeniers and design a system that would be efficient and cost effective. Rally both sides around a new idea that could change the face of Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo, a city of the future.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Travis. While I was abroad, using the monorail system was awesome, so much easier to get around, and it barely cost me anything to use it the entire time I was there. Why wouldn't we use this? If this were to be implemented I would definitely use it myself, considering I do not have a vehicle at all, it would help me out a lot instead of mooching off other people for rides.It may be cost a lot to implement, but I also think in the long run, it would be extremely helpful and efficient especially being a college city.
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