Whether you are aware of it or not, the City of Fresno and many other cities across California are having to take a second look at their transportation system and local planning codes to see where improvements can be made to reduce vehicle miles diven. Two Senate Bills have caused most of this action (SB32 and SB375) because they set emission goals for cities proportional to their population. From these two bills, two ways to reduce vehicle miles driven and, in theory, reduce emissions can be by aligning planning code policy with more urban infill and looking for better ways to conduct public transportion.
The more immediate approach for the City of Fresno has been through the change in planning code policy since it is merely a change in the code instead of investing in a brand new transportatin infrastructure. If you are a Fresno native, then you will have noticed over the duration of living in this city that year after year, it has continued to grow out on the edges of the city with mostly track homes being built by developers and shopping centers that follow to support these households. The problem with this, is the growing cost to maintain a city of our size without having the revenue to back it up. Fresno is not the highest performing economic engine, so the short-sightedness of City of Fresno politicians and administrators that allowed this growth but did not plan for the maintainance of this growth (cost $13 million/year), has caused our city budget to be strained (especially the ground that law enforcement has to cover) and has made it a necessity to travel long distances in our cars in order to move about the city (1600 miles of pavement and 400 miles of roadway throughout the city). So now that the City has realized that this outward growth can no longer be supported, development of vacant land within the core of the city and redeveloping of detoriating buildings will be the standard set forth from now on (even though City Council is still allowing land uses to be changed to Single-Family Residences on the fringe of the city http://www.fresno.gov/CouncilDocs/agenda4.22.2010/1100.pdf). This new General Plan for the city will focus on development along "corridors" (main streets of business and activity like Blackstone) that will require more multi-unit development for housing and mixed use property for businesses. This is where the average citizen needs to get involved: The city planning department, at this time, is preparing to write up new codes that will guide new development throughtout all the neighborhoods and districts of Fresno. It is up to you to let these administrators and your council member representative know what you would like to see in your area or any area in Fresno. What roadways or streets do you do most of your business along already at this time? We are literally drawing up what our city will look like in the future, by stating how high buildings will be, where new housing developments will be, where shopping centers will be or if you even want big shopping centers with big companies taking large spaces. Would you rather have a bunch of small businesses?
The next step after we figure how our city will look, is to figure out how we are going to get around while reducing the amount of miles we drive. The whole priciple behind a city planning code that has "corridors" is so a public transportation system could be used as a pratical option to get to where you need to go and do the things you need to get done. There are systems being talked about today and probably the most talked about would be the High Speed Rail system. Although this system would primarily operate outside of our city, I do want to take this opportunity to discourage anybody of supporting this system. Even though there has been promise of jobs, after doing some research, this project would be doomed if it ever broke ground. The runaway cost, when we barely have a fraction of the money to pay for it, will become a money pit to the state and any investor who attempts to be a part of it. Also, the technology might sound high-tech, but the proposed high-speed rail system would operate just like any train we have today with steel wheels on a steel track (which at the speeds its proposed it will travel, will be extremly loud). The difference would be a faster electric engine that would require wires travelling along the top of the whole trackway to give it energy much like the old trolley systems that had been taken out of many cities due to the canopy of wires it produces. This type of technology had been chosen because it was the only proven technology available, but I say it is perhaps then too soon for a high speed rail system and the money recieved from the Federal Government should be used to research and test new types of technologies that will be set in place to operate for the next 30 to 50 years.
The same argument used by the High Speed Rail Authority is now being used by City of Fresno officials. The proposed transportation systems that the city believes will be a practical alternative to using your car to get around are Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems along the "corridors" spoken of above and a trolley system placed in the Downtown area. These are systems that have been used for the past 50 years and are not practical solutions for our transportation needs for the next 50. Administrators who have been working to place this type of technology for the past decade are now holding on tight to these types of systems because they would probably feel that the past decade of their lives have been a waste if they are not implemented. This should be no reason to throw tax dollars down the drain though. Instead of using the 40ft buses that FAX currently uses for its service (they just bought 16 new buses = $450,000), the City plans on buying a whole new fleet of 60ft buses just to be used for this BRT system. The way the BRT works is by designating a whole lane along major "corridors" like Blackstone and having the street lights timed or coordinated so that they will change green when a bus is approaching. I ask, why does a whole new fleet of buses need to be purchased to do this? Why can't we use the buses we already have to do this? Their answer was along the lines that more room is needed inside the bus. Until I hear someone complaining that there is not enough room on the bus, I will say go ahead, but we should be implementing these timed lights on the buses we have first.
The trolley system that is proposed to be placed in downtown is actually a step back for the City. We had a whole network of trolley tracks in that past that was ripped out. It would be a ridiculous move to go back in and place new tracks. This too, like the High Speed Rail would require wires along the top of the whole trolley trackway. So we would be going back to a canopy of wires. These vehicles are also very heavy and therefore make it less efficient, while the street where this trackway will be built will have to be ripped up and reinforced to support the massive load of the cart.
So then, if the systems that are being proposed by the City should not be used, then what should be you ask. Much like the renewable energy industry, new technology transportation is emerging as a whole industry in itself. Technology like Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) sytems (look at this link to see what one might look like http://www.jpods.com/) and Magnetic Levitation (maglev) are just some of the new technologies being looked at to replace these types of old technologies that are being presented by the State and City. My comment and recomendation is it is too soon to be implementing new transportation systems that are "proven". I am asking anybody who gets involved in a discussion about the future of transportation (I sure normal people dont bring up such things) recommend that more research and testing are placed into these new types of transportation technology. I am approaching private entities and public officials to take this opportunity to open a whole new field of technical education. We should all be learning more about energy and force to figure out how future energy and transportation needs will be satisfied more efficiently and cleaner. Please get invloved and follow my blog for more updates.
