How We Get There Matters

Move over Salt Lake and Denver. Taking a page out of the transit success stories in other larger intermountain west cities, Boise is trying to but the anit-tax, anti-transit sentiment of the state.

In an anti-tax climate, Boise Chamber of Commerce CEO Nancy Vannorsdel is pushing to empower voters to impose a half-cent sales tax for public transit in Ada and Canyon counties.

Vannorsdel, a former banker, acknowledges the chamber usually fights taxes. “I know, it’s an oxymoron,” she said. “We may very well be a recipient of that award. But the marketplace is changing. Workforce will be the No. 1 issue in the next 10 years. Getting people to and from work, and having them live where they want to live, is pretty important. Transportation has become a big issue for business.”

Vannorsdel and her board are allied with the Coalition for Regional Public Transportation, co-chaired by Home Federal Bancorp CEO Dan Stevens, former Idaho Transportation Board Chairman Chuck Winder and Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas.

They want to allow Valley Regional Transit, which has no taxing authority, to ask voters in November 2008 to back a half-cent sales tax. That would raise an estimated $964 million over 20 years to buy right-of-way from Boise to Caldwell, vastly improve bus service and start light-rail.

Their draft bill says a simple majority of voters in a transit district could approve a sales tax of up to a half-penny. It also would authorize bonds approved by a two-thirds vote.

The prospects for the bill, however, look dim. Proponents are watching the ongoing developments in Utah as Gov. John Huntsman said last week he’s considering a special session for lawmakers to consider the Salt Lake Chamber’s call for allowing voters to boost the existing transit sales tax. Voter approval in November could raise $17.7 billion over 10 years and accelerate the 2030 transit plan to completion by 2015. That would more than double light-rail mileage, build 45 miles of commuter rail from north to south, and add 175 miles of bus rapid transit, much of it on dedicated lanes.

That heartens Vannorsdel. “What’s so exciting about the Salt Lake model is it’s not an East Coast proposal. It’s right next door.”

Precisely. Salt Lake is our cultural sibling. Ridership on three new light-rail lines has doubled projections, and many Idahoans know the system. If Utahns have the intestinal fortitude to invest, get out of their cars and head off commuting nightmares, why can’t we?

Read the full article in the Idaho Statesman . . .

Less than 10 years ago the Aspen Skiing Company introduced the first wind-powered lift in the American ski industry. In April, Skico switched to 100 percent renewable energy, followed this summer by Vail Resorts and the town of Vail.

Skico and Vail Resorts are leaders in the ski industry and, perhaps more important, for businesses of all kinds. Vail’s purchase made it the second largest corporate user of renewable energy in the nation.

The outdoor recreation industry is leading this green trend in part because of Patagonia, an apparel company that in 1998 became the first in California to buy all its energy for 13 buildings (including the headquarters) from newly constructed renewable energy plants.

More and more consumers make decisions about where to spend their money based on the company’s perceived environmental conscience. More companies are coming around to the viewpoint that green is gold.

Read the full article in the Aspen Times Weekly . . .

California has the 6th largest economy in the world. The gross state product is nearly $1.5 trillion, which is only slightly behind France and Britian. So it is really no surprise that it has begun acting more like another nation state rather that just a western state.

Just the other day, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an agreement with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to work together to curb greenhouse gas emissions, promote clean-burning fuels and collaborate on research to fight global warming.

“California will not wait for our federal government to take strong action on global warming,” said Schwarzenegger in a statement. “International partnerships are needed in the fight against global warming, and California has a responsibility and a profound role to play to protect not only our environment, but to be a world leader on this issue as well.”

At the meeting, Blair called global warming “long term, the single biggest issue we face.”

Read the full article in the L.A. Times . . .

Although rail made the development of the Western US a possibility, it doesn’t get much respect in many transportation circles outside the major metro areas like Portland, Denver, San Franciso and Salt Lake. Opinions, however, are begining to change.

As Daniel Kemmis, a senior fellow for the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, notes, “Certain economic trends like population increase, business growth and urban development are now occuring in places like Missoula, cars are no longer the best or wisest means of transportation.”

“We’re finally beginning to evolve out of the automobile trend that’s been going on for over 100 years… we have a lot of thinking to do, and we have to be as smart and as wise as we can be,” he said.
Read the full article …

Notes on a New Century is a blog tracking transportation, planning and mobility issues and innovations that relate to challenges and opportunities facing the communities of the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys.  To learn more visit The New Century Transportation Foundation website.