[Jayhawk-chapter] LJWorld: City Seeking Input on New Study of Bike, Transit and Other Multi-Modal Transportation Options

[Susan Tabor]

Thought this would be of interst.-Susan

 

LJWorld.com | City seeking input on new study of bike, transit, and other
multimodal transportation options

 

LJWorld.com

 

City seeking input on new study of bike, transit, and other multimodal
transportation options 

 

May 27, 2013 

 

If going to a public meeting to talk about plans for biking, carpooling and
public transit systems in Douglas County doesn't sound like as much fun as

it used to, local officials have a new gadget for you. 

 

As part of its multimodal planning study, Lawrence and Douglas County
officials have launched a new 

interactive mapping system

that allows members of the public to make suggestions to the county's
transportation system simply by clicking on a map. 

 

"We have heard a lot of positive feedback about it," said Jessica Mortinger,
a city-county transportation planner who is working on the study. 

 

The map allows people to do a flyover of the entire county, and then
pinpoint a location on which they want to leave a comment. For example, if a
bicyclist

wants to highlight concerns about a particular intersection, she can mark it
on the map, write a specific comment and then submit it for everyone else

to see. Other viewers can then click on the entry, add additional comments
or simply hit a "like" button to indicate support for the sentiment. 

 

"We have heard from people that it is great to see what everybody else is
saying," Mortinger said. "We think it adds to the transparency of the
process."

 

 

The city and its consultant have created three interactive maps for the
project: One is for comments on the community's bicycling infrastructure,
one is

for park and ride commuter issues, and the third is for the city's public
transit system. 

 

The maps can be accessed at lawrenceks.org/mpo/studyinput. The system
requires you to create an account and register your e-mail address. The city
also

will host a traditional public meeting to gather input on the plan from 4:30
p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on June 5 at the Union Pacific Depot, 402 N. Second
Street.

 

 

The interactive maps are part of the information gathering process for the
city and county's first-ever multimodal transportation study. The study is
designed

to take a specific look at the systems that need to be in place for people
to travel in ways other than an individual vehicle. 

 

The study will focus on three areas:

 

. Creation of a new countywide bicycle plan. Currently the city of Lawrence
has a bicycle plan, but a countywide plan isn't in place. 

 

"We know that people don't just stop at the city limits when they are
looking for bikeway connections," Mortinger said. 

 

The study is expected to help identify potential capital improvement
projects that could be funded in the future to help improve the local
transportation

system for bicyclists, Mortinger said. 

 

. Examination of potential sites for park and ride lots. A handful of park
and ride commuter lots have sprung up in the city and the county over the
last

few years. But Mortinger said most of those lots are lacking any formal
structure to ensure they'll exist in the future. The study seeks to do
planning

for a more formal system because the idea of ride-sharing is expected to be
more widespread in the future, Mortinger said. 

 

. Review of the city's transit system, with a particular emphasis on whether
the system can be improved for pedestrians who are walking to and from bus

stops. 

 

"We want to do what we can to improve people's ability to get to bus stops,"
Mortinger said. 

 

The study is expected to be completed by late 2013. Mortinger said the
department decided to undertake the broad planning effort because the
community

likely will rely more heavily on alternative modes of transportation in the
future. 

 

"We feel like having more transportation choices really is critical to
ensuring a good quality of life," Mortinger said. "Active transportation can
be

the answer to a lot of issues, whether it easier access to services or
improving health or a host of other issues." 

 

As for the interactive mapping system the city is using for this study, it
may end up being the answer to another often-asked city question: How to
increase

public input on a host of city plans and issues?

 

Megan Gilliland, communications manager for the city, said the city is
likely to look at whether there are ways to used online-based commenting
sytems

for other technology. 

 

"I think as technology evolves, we need to look at ways to make it easier
for people to talk to us," Gilliland said. "One of the things I like about
it

is you don't have to show up at a public meeting to comment and participate.
You can log in from home. We think it is going to be a convenient way to
communicate

with City Hall." 

 

Originally published at:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/may/27/city-seeking-input-new-study-bike-t
ransit-and-othe/

 

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