Think Regional/Act Local

As you know, the City of Detroit has begun an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the potential impacts to the human and natural environment for the Woodward Light Rail Transit Project. As part of this project, two public hearings were held on February 12, 2011. At each meeting, those who attended received an overview of the project, and had an opportunity to provide either verbal or written comments. The schedule identifies that comments will also be accepted until March 14, 2011. After that date, the comments will be reviewed and potential revisions to the environmental document will be made. A Final EIS will then be developed in May which will also be subject to a 30-day review by the public prior to its being approved by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in July 2011.

So, what kinds of issues have been brought up so far? Well, most of the comments appear to be favorable toward the project in general and offer a preference for the alternative that includes the light rail running down the median of Woodward Avenue. Safety, environmental justice, and economic development issues have also been mentioned frequently.

Things appear to be on schedule with the project, though much work is left to do even after the EIS has been completed and signed. Funding issues, including how the system will be operated and where the funds to operate the system will come from, have yet to be publically identified. I am also little concerned because I have heard stories that some groups are anticipating the construction of the project later this year. I do not think that is possible even in the most optimistic of scenarios.

I am worried that the unrealistic expectations that some heap on transit can have more of a negative than a positive impact. What do I mean? Well for example if groups are spreading the word that construction will begin later this year and the earliest it can begin is mid 2012, then it looks like the project is behind schedule. “Behind schedule” can be code for some to mean more expensive and other unforeseen problems.

For more information, check http://www.woodwardlightrail.com/HomeNew.html regularly.

Well, it has been a tough week. Governor Snyder started the budget debate in Michigan by proposing a budget that asks for everyone to take a bit of a cut. It has not been met with a great deal of support, though everyone knows we can’t just keep doing the same things we have been doing. The same sort of thing is going on in Washington, where President Obama started the budget discussion by proposing his budget to Congress. As expected, it was not met with a great deal of support from many Republicans.

The president’s budget addresses many of the things SEMCOG and others have been advocating for in a long-term transportation bill – it increases funding, continues the emphasis on transit and high-speed rail, adopts a “fix-it-first” approach (something we know a little about here) and proposes to combine 55 federal funding programs into five programs. What it doesn’t address is where the dollars are going to come from in order to get all of these things done.

Not only are the Republicans, including House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica, critical of the president’s proposed FY 2012 budget, but Congress is moving ahead to gut this year’s program in the very areas that the president is proposing increases in 2012! Congress is looking to cut spending by some $74 billion in FY 2011, with a good deal of these cuts proposed in the transportation program. They propose cutting funding for high-speed rail and road, transit, and aviation improvements. Vice President Biden announced $8 billion more for high-speed rail in the proposed 2012 budget, while Congress supports cutting the program in 2011. Does that make sense? Does it sound like we are committed to high-speed rail? If you received funding to start making improvements to the rail system, how confident are you that there will be continued emphasis on this program in the future? Not very. If we discontinue the investment in high-speed rail, what happens to the billions that were invested last year? Did we get useable projects out of that investment, or were those dollars spent in vain, with many projects never to be completed?

We need to have public debate on the direction in which we’re going, whether it’s at the state or federal level…and then make a decision and support it with policies and resources if we are to maximize the use of scarce dollars. Running the country by continuing resolutions three months at a time is no way to run a country. This starting and stopping makes no sense under any scenario, but it especially makes no sense in these times.

This past week, State Rep. Paul Opsommer, the Chair of the House Transportation Committee, established a task force that will come up with recommendations on how to address the state's transportation infrastructure funding problems. I think this is a great idea and an acknowledgement of the fact that we have a problem that needs a solution.

The task force, comprised of Rep. Rick Olson of York Township and Rep. Roy Schmidt of Grand Rapids, will start with a review of the Transportation Funding Task Force's recommendations from 2008 and potentially other ideas to address the current and long-term transportation funding needs of the state.

The state lawmakers have been focused on the short-term issue of raising enough money to be able to match all available federal aid – however, this does not address the issue that many county road commissions and local units of government also do not have enough money to match federal aid that they are eligible to receive. This should not be the goal! The focus needs to be on a solution that provides additional revenues for road and transit projects regardless of where they are located.

This is a good start – the Transportation Funding Task Force did a good job of identifying the issues and potential solutions, including looking at tolling and going to a mileage-based revenue approach. I hope that this task force carefully considers this work and adds any other creative ideas that make sense.

All anyone wanted to talk about this week was the latest “Storm of the Century” that hit Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning. Well, it didn’t turn out to be the storm of the century, although it did dump some significant amounts of snow on us. What I want you to consider, though, is all of the pre-planning and common sense things that were done in anticipation of the snow.

What did we do to prepare for the storm? Well, when it was certain that snow was coming, schools closed for the evening and the next day, many businesses closed early Tuesday night, and many stayed closed Wednesday. Some businesses allowed their staffs to work at home on Wednesday or to take personal time or a combination of both. Clinics and dentist offices called their patients and rescheduled their non- essential medical/dental procedures for another day. I don’t know about you, but it was good to simply hear all schools are closed instead of listening to the endless stream of closed schools – and then miss hearing yours!

What happened as a result of these actions? Well, first of all, we were all safer in our homes than being on the road. The fewer number of vehicles on the road allowed road crews to do their jobs faster without being stuck in traffic jams themselves. As a result, most freeways and main roads were in great shape the next day. With smaller snow removal crews, it is important to be as efficient as possible in cleaning up after the storm. We also stopped tons of pollutants from vehicles idling in snow-covered roads from entering the atmosphere.

I would also argue that we lost very little if anything in productivity. I know you will tell me that I am naive if I think people worked diligently from their homes – well, I agree many probably didn’t, or didn’t for a full day. But, tell me how productive people are after a long – possibly a couple of hours – trip on the freeway and finally getting to work – especially knowing they have to go home a few hours later. We have to look at big picture impacts instead of limiting our analysis to just short term, out-of pocket costs.

I know everyone does not have the type of job that can allow them to stay home and many people do not get paid if they don’t work. There is never a solution that works for everyone in every situation, but I think the pre-planning that was done turned this storm from a 2-3-day event into a one-day event for most people. Let’s not forget what we learned when the next “Storm of the Century” hits again – maybe even later this year!