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.