And any new program for the city, or any shift in priorities for the city will have budget implications. It might mean doing less in one area and more in another. I'm sure at one point in the city's history they spent a great deal of money on mosquito abatement and other pesticides, herbicides, etc. Then they decided to not do that, that it was better for the city as a whole to not kill all the insects and just tell people to wear long sleeves and insect repellent.
We decided to dig wells for clean water and invest in water filtration. We decided to run the buses ourselves, instead of having a private company responsible for transit. We decided to add planning, zoning, and inspection staff to be sure that minimum building standards and good land use was followed. We fund garbage, recycling, and yard waste collection, whereas some communities make residents pay a private company to do that. At some point in our history, the City of Madison -- staff, elected officials, citizens, and various interest groups -- decided that this was something the City should do and how to do it. I'm sure all those decisions were controversial at the time. Would we go back on any of them? Probably not. We are at that point with transportation. We need to make some bold changes. We all know that continued reliance on the private car as the primary transportation mode for the city is a 20th century concept. We know changes need to be made in funding, infrastructure, and policy for all modes. That's one reason I have said we need a Transportation Director. Not just a Traffic Engineering Director, Metro GM, City Engineer, Ped-Bike Coordinator, Transportation Planner, Parking Utility Manager, etc. We need someone in charge of policy and implementation of ALL transportation. When you look at the cities that are being transformed, they all have a Transportation Director that coordinates all modes and thinks how they all work together. That person stands at public meetings and explains why things are or are not changing and how this will benefit the city. Who does that here? Who will do it as we transform the city into the 21st century? Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst 608-263-9984 (o) 608-225-0002 (c) [email protected] All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer or any other group with which I am affiliated. On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Ross, Arthur <[email protected]> wrote: > I am going to stick my neck out. I am not opposed to plans having set > goals and expectations. BUT, if you are going to set goals, you also have > to include what the costs of achieving those goals are and then work to > make sure that the budgets of the agencies responsible for carrying out the > goals are increased accordingly. These costs are varied. It can be added > staff for planning and design. It can be capital construction costs. Any > capital construction costs have to also recognize and account for ongoing > maintenance costs. Improved maintenance is a priority in and of itself > without adding anything new. There will be needs for more equipment (paint > trucks, plows, etc.) as well as for crews / personnel to operate them. > What does an effective education program look like? How much does it cost > to implement? Who should implement it? If you want an effective program > it will take a lot more resources than one person at the city. Etc. Etc. > Not including resource needs in the Platinum Plan was a major failure of > that plan, in my opinion. Now go ahead and chop my head off. > > > > Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator > > City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division > > 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Suite 100 > > PO Box 2986 > > Madison, WI 53701-2986 > > 608/266-6225 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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