pennies from heaven: Genesee Transportation Council / metropolitan planning
2 ratings since posting on Thursday, June 3, 2004
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i feel the attitudes are changing in the last few years.. at least here in california.. after 9/11 was almost run off road (on blades) in la several times by people in big suvs with american flag stickers on cars.. honk and kill!!! really smearing the good reputation of the usa... these people have learned their lesson the last few years.. i reporting that much more with sadness than any other emotion!! still, almost killed in la a few months ago by a bus resentful i was in the right lane, during traffic... miracle i lived.. a friend of mine was smushed on a bike by a bus about two years ago.. took him a month to die.. driver went free.. i pray this never happens again!!- FF -  FantasyFreddy
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posted 05/21/07
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 We've all seen how new pavement ends on one side of the county line and potholes begin on the other. We've also seen how train stations, bus links, and airports fail to connect. To minimize problems just like this between jurisdictions, in 1991 Congress enacted the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which mandated that all metropolitan areas receiving federal transportation monies form a planning organization to coordinate their programs. Our Genesee Transportation Council is that organization. Every 3 years, the GTC convenes meetings to solicit input for their 20-year <a href=www.gtcmpo.org/LRTP/LRTP.htm>Long Range Transportation Plan</a>. The second round of meetings for this cycle have past, but time remains for opinions online. ISTEA also mandated one cent of each dollar spent on transportation, a huge portion of federal discretionary spending, go to non-motor vehicle programs like the very paths we skate and bicycle, the Erie Canalway Trail, the Genesee Valley Greenway, the River Trails, and roadways explicitly marked and unmarked, as found on the reconstructed University Ave. ISTEA helped create and maintain these paths we like and use. From 1999-2000 I served on their bicycle/pedestrian advisory committee. The engineers and planners there sincerely want your good and specific ideas about our transportation needs. This second round focuses specifically on transportation alternatives, including skating, should we so deem. Although most of us ride or roll for recreation, some of us also do in place of driving. We could go more, if paths and destinations made it more convenient and accessible. Hecklers sometimes yell, "Get on the sidewalk," ignorant that NYS traffic law allow skaters and cyclist the same rights to the streets. An ignorant Rochester police officer even once told us to get off the street. And some cities like Syracuse, where we skated just weeks ago, declare skates a toy and ban them from city streets. Solving these problems means shifting perceptions from skating as mere play or an outlaw sport. Awareness we are a genuine transportation alternative reinforces that legitimacy. On April 15 new Environmental Protection Agency ruling for 8 hour average, ozone levels dropped Rochester, among 480 other metropolitan areas, into non-compliance. The penalties begin small, but over time and with severity, grow into invasive authorities like the Los Angeles basin's South Coast Air Quality Monitoring District that can ban many activities like barbecuing or cutting grass. Several years ago when for 2 days Rochester fell over old 1 hour average, ozone levels, the buzz in the press talked of carpool lanes on I-490. Ozone <a href=EarthObservatory.nasa.gov/Libra...>burns epithelial cells in lungs</a> and mucous membranes, as the 13% of <a href=www.cdc.gov/asthma/default.htm>Americans with asthma</a> or bleary eyes know and feel. We who exercise outdoors, often at roadside, erode our capacity for exercise and endurance and damage our lungs by breathing air we cannot escape. Summer ozone alerts are not a drill. <a href=www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution>Air pollution</a> remains a leading contributor to death and poor health worldwide. The new EPA rules are not for naught. They compel local governments, by 2007, this same time frame until the next 20-year LRTP update, to find and propose solutions to comply or face mandatory EPA restrictions. Act now and contribute before the opportunity vanishes. Use these Tribe discussions to get feedback and refine your proposals, then submit them online at the link above by July 31. Results come one step at a time. Every voice matters. - John , posted 08/12/05 |
pennies from heaven: Genesee Transportation Council / metropolitan planning was recommended for:
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