MAYOR ELIZABETH PATTERSON standing outside a “grain” elevator in the Mills Town Museum.
AS MAYOR I REPRESENT BENICIA ON THE BOARD OF SOLTRANS (SOLANO COUNTY TRANSIT), which is the consolidated transit agency for Benicia and Vallejo. On behalf of SolTrans, I attended the RailVolution Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., last week. The other Benicia SolTrans board member, Mark Hughes, and SolTrans staff also attended. The conference was attended by staff and officials from many cities, counties and transit agencies from around the country, from New York to California, from Dallas to Hawaii, including Secretary of Transportation Anthony Fox and members of Congress.
The take-home message was the dramatic change in recent years from building and widening roads to realigning and focusing on light rail or streetcar systems and high-speed rail. These systems are being built fast and gaining projected ridership in the first month rather than the five-year projection.
That is the “revolution.” It is amazing and inspiring and one is envious of other states and jurisdictions with more resources than California that are not only building these rail lines quickly and adding to them, but also building in innovations such as:
• Portland — a bicycle/pedestrian/rail bridge and state-of-the-art colored bike lanes for transition across intersections, as well as signage that is clearly readable from the seat of a bike.
• Twin Cities — light rail construction disruption addressed by 150 “art/cultural” projects to help businesses stay open while access was cut off by construction. These projects were conceived by local artists and in collaboration with business owners, and in spite of the construction businesses reported increased revenue.
THE STONE GATE BRIDGE, a rail-to-trail project in the St. Paul area.
• Another Twin Cities story: After World War II planners and engineers literally bulldozed entire neighborhoods for freeways, often splitting the workers from their jobs, homes from local stores and schools from students, who had to find ways to get around or over a freeway to their former neighborhood school. San Francisco and Oakland led the way in taking freeways down or addressing these displaced people and businesses. Minneapolis raised the bar for community outreach by engaging the community and designing access to the light rail that could have been a significant barrier to seniors, the disabled and children, along with bicyclists and pedestrians of all kinds. As a result, they increased the number of crossings from a quarter of a mile in some cases and made them attractive and safe.
These examples are inspiring and many of the conference sessions provided details about how to engage the public early in the process, and how, instead of the usual staff-driven process, to tap into creative resources in the community. We heard how to form partnerships with businesses to link transit to their business and how to close the gap from home and work and shopping with Bus Rapid Transit, safe bicycle lanes, and on and off short rides.
For each session over the three days, I took note of what would work for Benicia and Solano County. We are a semi-rural and suburban county, and our cities for the most part do not have enough concentration of development for light rail or streetcars. We can’t justify a ferry to Contra Costa County without transit from the ferry. The Capital Corridor could work with a station closer to residents and places of work, but it would be costly — and remember, the “first and last mile” is the gap that must be figured out.
ST. PAUL WITH THE Mississippi River, rail, road and bicycle routes all in one shot.
Can we engage people early and often for transit ideas, projects and support? Can art increase ridership on our regional and local bus routes? Would bicycle-friendly stations and destination bike “cages,” where you can park your bike in a visible and secure place, work? Would Bus Rapid Transit on major routes — where there is a bus every 15 minutes — double or triple riders? Can partnerships with major employers and commercial and industrial businesses to establish financing programs for bus or vanpools be doubled or tripled?
My favorite quote of the conference: “We can’t keep widening our roads, we need to broaden our thinking.”
Elizabeth Patterson is the mayor of Benicia.
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The problem Mayotr Patterson is you are in a dream world for Benicia. The city has in intra city transportation. Even if you did no one will use it. Every take a look at the park and that bus stop with all those unused pa rking spaces. In Benicia the residents pay no attention to transportation that does not inviolve a car. Sorry mayor you are baeking up the wrong tree. You and your group will never get the local residents to stop using their cars. Now if you lived in S F lke I did in the 60’s public transportation was needed and is still is needed but not in Benicia. Dream, dream, dream. Mayor Patterson you atr wasting the rersidents time and taking up valuable news space for something that would be good for Benicia. Like Crude Bt Rail.
Thank you Mayor Patterson for always looking out for Benicia’s best interests!
It’s not really America w/o choices.
But choices must be needed and not demanded. Try MCE
But, when choices are demanded, there must be a supply. Simple law of supply and demand. Look at Tesla.
Tesla will be ChinA CAR supplier and will tAKE their car production out of California and take it to Nevada. You heard it here first. A pure subsidised company. Tesal or elcetric cars are not a good example. What do they do supply 1% of cars in America. That is not demand thsat is government subsidies for the Enviro Greenies to meet their Sicialist goals. Come on you know better.
Explain our socialist goals. Shut up if you can’t.
Just whose social goal are you talking about. Explain or move on. I will not tell you to shut up. Just give us an explaination
“That is not demand thsat is government subsidies for the Enviro Greenies to meet their Sicialist goals.”
Enviro Greenie here. What is your (mis)understanding of my socialist goals?
I was commenting back to Thomas not you. No one has to meet yours or my goals. For sure your Socialist goals. Mine are achievable by free interprise. You would not understand that..
The 1% also have the right to demand and/or choose. Share if you agree .
There was a point in time when only 1% of televisions sold were flat screen. I’m willing to bet that number has changed.
The big difference Thomas is when you change the regulations and that is the only choice you have. Good example is the type of car you will be able to buy in the near future. You will have no choice so demand means nothing. Thomas I know you are very much aware of the items that were never in demand but regs made you have to have them. Try light bulbs, Demand and choice are very different in the market place. The manufACVTURE can create demand and the government will limit choice by all the regulations. So as you see they are much different. When I was in the apparel industry I could create a fashion demand and the public then made their choice. The regulations had nothing to do with it.. Your example of flat screen TV is not good because the manufacture was not forced to create the demand the customer then jumped all over flat screen TV. That created demand with many choices that were not forced on the customer…
Not a big difference at all, if fact better than your fashion example. The demand model in this cace can be applied to any consumer product that exhibits improvements in technology and efficiency. History has many examples of this and you know that. Regulations aside, the demand for electric cars has, is and will continue to be there. You really only need to step out of Benicia to see the evidence of this. It is all around you, BTW Zero will be the next big electric vehicle manufacturer on the radar.
I have been a fan of cars all my life and I appreciate fast sports cars and American muscle cars. That said, the reality of people being forced out of their fuel burning cars is a long long long way off, if at all. Meaning, no threat at all. As usual, we will just have to agree to disagree, for there is credence in what I stated and there is no reason to vainly attempt to convince otherwise.
Thomas not all trying to convince. The fact is electric cars are only selling a very few areas or states. California the biggest area and state. Foreign consumers will in the long run dominate the electric car business. Simple because of driving habtts. Americans like confort, price and tha ability to make their own choices. That may not be so in Benicia or California. I have traveled by auto all over the U S and the one thing I have noticed is folks like their independence and that is the one thing that will remain. Not at all trying to vainly attempt to convince. I just use what I see and the facts support that.
I have traveled extensively throughout this country, and throughout the world. I have enough frequent flyer miles to fly to the moon. My comments are .based on observations, conversations, and keeping in tune with innovation and technology. It is what it is. If this is purely about. math (1%), I don’t buy it. Because, it seems that f0lk pick and choose when they are in support of or against things that may make up only 1% of anything. I have a great example of this, however, I am certain you know of what I speak..
Thomas I do understad what you are saying. But at the same time others have done the same thing including me. Does that ours more than others or yours or mine. You will stand by your reasining and I will stand by mine. Is anyones rerasoing better than yours or mine?
Mayor Patterson –
I firmly believe that you have failed to properly prioritize Benicia’s needs.
I will vote no for Measure C, the increase in sales tax. My reason? We are wasting money on bike bridges, bike lanes and bus stops.
If I am in the majority and the sales tax increase does not pass, what will you do? Will you buy the new police communication system and the fire department’s new grass rig? Or will you fund more public transit projects at the cost of public safety?
Where are your priorities?
It will pass, comfortably.
I am one of the lucky few who live and work in Benicia. My wife is an educator in Fairfield. I have to drive to work so that I can transport my kids to various afterschool activates. There is no transit opportunities for them in the city. There is no bus that comes by at a convenient time to get my girls to school(s) and none to get them home after taking account for after school activities. That’s my reality.
I would like to see more done towards helping the poor souls in Antioch and Pittsburg who have to deal with the Highway 4 commute. How about high speed ferry service from Antioch, Pittsburg, Benicia (half the stops) and Martinez (the other half) and then on to Oakland and SF. That is a true regional need that should be addressed before transit issues within Benicia.
The problem with Mayor Patterson is she has not broadened her thinking. Just stuck in a rut that is going no where. I do believe Measure C will pass. The only problen I have is not the need which has been laid out nicely by the City Manager . It is the CSC and the mayor and their personal agenda needs down the road. This group is gearing up for the 2016 city election to stack the council/mayor with their folks. That is the major issue not if MeasureC is good for the city. It is, but will this political Left leaning Socialist Progessives try to turn it into. Their personal political agenda. I do believe much smarter heads will prevail in the long run and this group has run its course.
More nonsense. Thank you mayor and CSC for all you do. Remember the haters are few and powerless.
Why are budget solutions always focused on raising revenues instead of cutting waste? We can finance the mayors utopian ideas by cutting waste and controlling spending. Why does every civic idea always involve taking more of my money?
Matter stated: Why does every civic idea always involve taking more of my money?
Therein lies the problem, the concept of ownership based on one’s own productivity is an antiquated concept which needs to be corrected for the common good.
That is being worked on though.