MODERN TIMES
Art Hobson
ahobson@uark.edu
NWA Times 27 Sep 2008
The regional
mobility authority and the new transportation age
Northwest
Arkansas transportation planning is mired in an old-fashioned automobile
mentality, a mentality that is now self-destructing in the midst of oil
insecurity, high gasoline prices, global warming, and the popularity today of
being "green."
Other
nations that understand energy better than we do have wisely placed stiff taxes
on gasoline to reflect its true cost to society, resulting in per-gallon prices
of nearly $12 in Germany, $10 in France, and $9 in Britain, with proceeds
invested in more productive transportation modes. Such policies are moving most industrialized nations beyond
the automobile age and into a new era of wiser, safer, faster, cheaper
"alternative" transportation.
But
not in these-here parts, where the private Northwest Arkansas Council and the
public Regional Mobility Authority promote an "all cars all the time"
approach. The automobile crowd's
latest piece de resistance is a
suggested "western beltway" that would bypass the I-540 bypass from
Greenland up to the hoped-for Bella Vista bypass, looping far to the west of
Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers.
A formal poll conducted in 2005 by the University of Arkansas Survey
Research Center showed that the public favored mass transit over new highways,
with 64 percent supporting a regional passenger rail system. An informal poll conducted by
transportation officials that same year yielded the same result. Yet the newly-established RMA
immediately opted for a western beltway feasibility study as its very first
project. It's clear that the
pro-business Northwest Arkansas Council, which has been lobbying for years for
the western beltway, had everything to do with this surprising choice.
The
other projects that the RMA takes seriously are I-540 widening (are you ready
for eight lanes?), the Bella Vista bypass, and a northern bypass around
Springdale: all cars all the time. Every one of these will be a sprawl
magnet as indeed I-540 already is (sprawl is the reason, and the only reason,
I-540 is congested). If we want
Fayetteville to become a "green valley," as Mayor Coody has
suggested, we must move Northwest Arkansas beyond this automobile mentality.
The
split between progressive and regressive transportation policies was visible in
the RMA's vote on August 7 to fund the western beltway feasibility study. Representatives from Fayetteville and
Greenland opposed the proposal, arguing that "the people of Fayetteville
aren't supporting this," that approving the study discourages the
centralized densities needed for mass transit, and that we should rethink the
beltway project in light of higher fuel prices. These excellent arguments went down in flames amidst the 25
pro-beltway votes of the cities north of Fayetteville.
The
RMA needs to climb aboard the 21st century. Their first project should have been a comprehensive study
of transit, trails, bicycling, and sidewalks as well as highways. Failing that, the first feasibility
study should have looked only at rail and buses. As most readers probably know, I've supported rail for
years. I still do. But there's also much to be said for
buses. Northwest Arkansas deserves
regular bus service. A network of
buses connecting with the rail line is probably needed for light rail to
succeed. Express buses might be
the best way to move people north and south, at least until light rail becomes
available. Express buses could be
based on a new pair of reserved lanes in the I-540 median, moving people
rapidly between cities and depositing them in transit stops along I-540. From those stops, secondary buses would
move people to their destination.
The
RMA needs to devote significant cash to regional mass transit. Ozark Regional Transit is starved for
cash, and cities are having a hard time paying for it. This is just the kind of problem the
RMA is supposed to solve. An
annual appropriation of around $10 million per year could establish a real bus
network. This is a small price to
pay. $10 million is four-tenths of
one percent of the $2.5 billion that residents of our two-county region spend
on their cars every year. This
money could justifiably be raised from sales taxes, because it would benefit
all the people rather than just those who are rich enough, healthy enough, and
in the right age bracket to drive a car.
Think
of what a real regional bus system could do for Fayetteville. Car-free living
would become practical, saving each car-free individual over $8000 per
year. The city would be relieved
of constantly-increasing funding requests for buses. A bus terminal with decked parking for cars could plausibly
be built on the present Walton Arts Center parking lot, paid for by joint
contributions from transit funds, the city, and the WAC; it would be a way to
finance Fayetteville's needed parking structure at that location.
One
good place for the RMA to start joining the 21st century is the chapter on "Greening
Urban Transportation" in the 2007 edition of World Watch Institute's
annual "State of the World" report. A few of its conclusions: Sprawling car-oriented cities like Atlanta, which consumes 750
gallons of gasoline per person every year, will fare poorly compared with
high-density alternative transportation cities such as Munich, which consumes
125 gallons per person per year.
Road-building usually increases traffic. There is no difference in congestion levels between cities
that invest heavily in roads and those that do not. Transit-based cities spend 5-8 percent of their GDP on
transportation, while car-dependent cities spend 12-15 percent.
Cars,
or people-oriented transportation:
which track will Northwest Arkansas take?