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UPDATE: Postponed by Senator Jim Bunning!

Mark your calendars for this important public participation opportunity! KIPDA conducts periodic performance reviews of their transportation planning department, and in the past these federal reports have been helpful in nudging the agency in the right direction.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking public input during the federal review of the metropolitan transportation planning process for the Louisville Metropolitan Planning Area that takes place once every four years. A public meeting will be held on March 9, 2010 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the South Louisville Community Center, 2911 Taylor Blvd., in Louisville.

Here is a map. The TARC #29 goes right by, and the ultra-frequent #4 comes within a seven minute walk.

proceeds to benefit Bike!Bike!

This half-hour documentary looks at bike culture and bike lifestyles around the world with beautiful and inspiring scenes of bike use filmed in China, The Netherlands, Denmark, and the U.S.

This documentary touches on a surprising variety of subjects including romance, rebellion, early feminism, and spirituality - all viewed within the context of bicycling.

TARC plans to eliminate 24 routes in 2010, and cut most of the remaining 31 routes. Tommorow TARC's planned service cuts from this winter go into effect, but Louisvillian's revenue keeps on tanking, so TARC is having to cut more service for July. About $5m annually will be saved by this second round of cuts. The second round will be the subject of public meetings. See below for details.

TARC Routes, 2010

1 - 4th Street Trolley cut Feb, eliminate July
2 - Second Street cut Feb, cut again July
4 - Fourth Street cut Feb, cut again July
6 - Sixth Street cut Feb, cut again July, route change July
12 - Twelfth Street cut Feb, eliminate July
15 - Market Street cut Feb
17 - Bardstown Road route change July
18 - Preston / Dixie route change July
19 - Muhammad Ali Boulevard cut Feb, cut again July
21 - Chestnut Street route change July
22 - Twenty-second Street cut Feb, eliminate July
23 - Broadway route change July
25 - Oak Street cut Feb cut again July
27 - Hill Street cut July
29 - Eastern Parkway cut July
31 - Middletown cut Feb cut July
35 - Indian Trail-hikes Lane eliminate July
37 - Iroquois Park - Fairdale Express cut Feb eliminate July
38 - Deering Road Express eliminate July
40 - Jeffersontown Express
43 - Poplar Level/portland cut Feb
45 - Okolona Express cut Feb, eliminate July
46X - West Louisville / GE Express eliminate Feb
49 - Westport Express cut Feb, eliminate July
50 - Dixie Express eliminate July
52 - Medical Center Circulator
53 - Breckenridge Express cut Feb, eliminate July
54 - Manslick Express eliminate July
55 - Westport Road
58 - Bashford Manor - Oxmoor cut Feb, eliminate July
59 - River Road eliminate July
61 - Plainview Express cut Feb, eliminate July
62 - Breckenridge - Shepherdsville route change July
63 - Crums Lane cut Feb
64 - Fincastle-forest Spr Exp cut Feb, eliminate July
65 - Southern Indiana I-65 Express
66 - Mt Washington-shepherdsville, eliminate July
67 - Oldham I-71 Express cut Feb, cut again July
68 - Prospect Express eliminate July
69 - New Albany Express eliminate Feb
70 - Clarksville - New Albany Express eliminate Feb
71 - Jeffersonville cut Feb
72 - Clarksville - New Albany cut Feb, cut again July
73 - Charlestown Road Express cut Feb, eliminate July
74 - Jeffersonville / Riverfront
75 - Bluegrass Circulator eliminate July
77 - Main St. Trolley cut July
78 - Downtown/bluegrass Express cut Feb
80 - Hurstbourne Parkway eliminate July
84 - South Louisville
93 - Ups Shuttle - U of L
94 - Cardinal Shuttle Mon - Thurs
95 - Cardinal Shuttle Friday
96 - West Louisville Circulator eliminate Feb
99 - Ups Shuttle West Louisville

More on what you can do below the fold...

Leadership Void Paralyses Louisville

All these new developments are from the last 7 days:

• Nashville's mayor spearheads $6.5 billion plan for expanded mass transit - Tennessean, WPLN
• Indianapolis' transportation plan could link region with light and commuter rail - Transport Politic, Indystar.com
• St Louis' referendum on transit spending is set for April, new system plan unveiled - Transport Politic
• Cincinnati's mayor vows to forge ahead on downtown streetcar despite challenges - Cincinnati.com

Lastly, its not exactly news, but Dayton continues its unbroken nation-leading streak: 120 years of continuous electric transit operation - Wikipedia

Meanwhile, Louisville has no serious plans for modernizing mass transit, and indeed is cutting back at a breathtaking rate.

The press release, reproduced in full:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear today announced that the Federal Railroad Administration has approved a $250,000 grant to study the feasibility of high-speed passenger service on a rail corridor that includes Louisville.

Gov. Beshear joined with Govs. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee and Sonny Perdue of Georgia in supporting a study of the corridor that runs from Chicago to Atlanta, through Louisville and Nashville, Tenn.

“Our goal, ultimately, is to see the national high-speed rail system revised and enhanced to include this corridor,” Gov. Beshear said. “We believe this would correct an omission in the nationwide network – especially in terms of a continuous passenger rail corridor from Chicago to Florida.”

The Alliance for Biking & Walking's Benchmarking Project is an ongoing effort to collect and analyze data on bicycling and walking in all 50 states and at least the 50 largest cities. They have just released their 2010 report. How does our region stack up?

= top third of states/cities (good)
= middle third of states/cities
= worst third of states/cities (bad)

	Mode Share	Safety	Funding	Staffing	Bike/Ped policies	Advocacy Capacity
Louisville
Indianapolis
Nashville				no data
Kentucky						no data
Indiana
Ohio

My take on this below the fold...

Update: Mission Accomplished! No one killed or injured at this sidewalk closure on our watch.

If you give people nothing, they will go into the street.

Here's a sketch solution that gives the citizens of Louisville the same protection we give our road workers. This doesn't have to be the solution, but it seems workable based on my four visits to the site:

Updated 1/15/2010!: read below the fold.

The city has issued a permit shutting down walking on one side of Bardstown Road for almost a month. Crossing to the other side of the road is highly impractical - Bardstown is a busy 4 lane arterial. They can require the construction of a plywood tunnel, but they have not. They can annex the adjacent flex lane for people on foot, but they have not. There's a whole library of tools they could employ, but they have not.

They're hoping you take no action and keep quiet.

Call 311 today and tell them you want them to find a way to open this sidewalk on this formerly accessible corridor. Then forward this message to your friends.

Bardstown Road near Edgeland Ave, 1-11-2009

This is not an isolated incident, nor is it an accident that Louisville is always ranked very poorly in walking safety. The city is constantly permitting crass sidewalk blockages - a similar closure recently put 2nd street out of action for months, and Broadway is closed for weeks every year for the Derby.  The results speak for themselves: in 2009 we were ranked the 7th most dangerous city by Dangerous By Design, a study undertaken by STPP and T4America.

At some level the city knows these closures result in people taking risks. But even more insidious is the destruction of walking as a viable means of transportation. When you stand in front of this closed sidewalk, no number of walkability plans will convince you that walking is valued in Louisville. Perhaps that's why "Maintain pedestrian-ways during construction and special events" was listed as a major short-term objective (4.3) of the Louisville Community Walkability Plan of 2008. Clearly we haven't gotten that done, and this goal is absent from the 2009 Community Walkability Report Card.

Lets Fight Back. Call 311 about Bardstown Road. Forward this to your friends.