Letter to City Council, May 16 2013

An Old Playbook

Carlos Moreno
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Commission released a report last month showing that between 2001 and 2009,the average yearly number of miles driven by 16 to 34-year-olds dropped 23 percent. According to research by the Fontier Group, this trend will continue even as the economy continues to recover.

At 36 years old myself, I’m slightly beyond the top end of that statistic. I own a car. I don’t really enjoy driving it all that much. Gas prices are near $4 gallon, again. I dislike polluting the environment. I don’t enjoy having to pay for repairs & maintenance all the time. I don’t enjoy stressing out during traffic jams, and texting while driving is likely to kill me, so I turn my phone off while I’m in my car. I would rather take the bus to work. I live 6 miles from my job, and taking the bus to work would be easy, convenient, less-stressful (no roadrage!), I could read a book or text a friend during my trip. Walking or biking to bus stops would provide an opportunity for some much-needed exercise; I join 27.3% of adult Tulsans who are obese.

I’m what is known in the transit world, as a choice rider. Given the choice, even though I can certainly afford a car, I would much rather ride public transit — to get to and from work, the park, the a baseball game, or to do some shopping — than travel by car. I’m not alone. From 2001 to 2009, young people (16 to 34-years-old) who lived in households with annual incomes of over $70,000 increased their use of public transit by 100 percent, biking by 122 percent, and walking by 37 percent.

In 2008, Tulsa voted to, “Fix Our Streets” funneling $451.6 million of our sales taxes and general obligation bonds (in other words, all combined tax $$ previously allocated for the GO Bond, 4toFix, and the 3rd penny sales tax) for more than 150 arterial and non-arterial street maintenance projects throughout the city. I say, great job.We’ve fixed our streets. Now let’s fix some other stuff.Let’s provide access to jobs. As demonstrated by INCOG’s FastForwardplan, there exists a high demand for transit along corridors where comuters canget to work. The largest of these is Peoria avenue from 81st street to 36th street north, where the study finds that 20% of Tulsa’s jobs lie within a ½-mile of that transit corridor, and recommends a new Bus Rapid Transit system.

Let’s give young workers a choice. Let’s but more busses on the roads and reduce wear and tear on our streets so we don’t have to spend so much money, “fixing” them. Let’s clean up our air. Let’s reduce stress. Let’s increase our heath. Let’s build a city for people, not for cars.

I urge the members of the city council to read a report by the American Public Transportation Association entitled, “The Business Case for Investment in Public Transportation”. The report outlines investments being made in public transit on federal, state, and local levels.

Once again, where Tulsa has an opportunity to make an intelligent policy choice, we’re playing by an old playbook.

We’re making old assumptions and not looking at new trends. I strongly urge the city council to amend this budget to increases pending for Tulsa Transit, rather than decrease it. I further urge the city council and mayor to support INCOG’s FastForward regional transit plan to it’s full implementation.

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Written by

community volunteer & magic bean buyer. @cap_tulsa graphic designer, @codefortulsa captain, @techlahoma board, @NextCityOrg vanguard. opinions are my own.

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