Friday, February 8, 2008
Keep the momentum
Our goal with this forum is to encourage those interested in the mobility issues facing Central Indiana well informed and engaged in the planning and development process of our transit system. While we encourage debate and comment, we also intend to use this forum for the express purposes of providing information about transit and CIRTA. We look forward to hearing from you and hope that you remain engaged in helping Central Indiana get connected to the places you want to go.
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3 comments:
How can CIRTA keep interested parties informed when the approaching peak in global oil production and its anticipated dramatic impact on virtually every aspect of regional life in central Indiana, transportation included, is being kept a virtual secret from the public? Peak Oil signals the beginning of the end of the 100 year period known as the industrial age and all that this implies in terms of our regional economy, access to food, public health, communications, retail, manufacturing, education, population relocation, etc.
As identified in the U.S. Department of Energy commissioned report PEAKING OF WORLD OIL PRODUCTION:IMPACTS, MITIGATION, & RISK MANAGEMENT (found at www.hilltoplancers.org/stories/hirsch0502.pdf), if officials wait for the peak before beginning a massive mitigation effort, 20 years beyond the report predicts there will be a 66% shortfall in transportation fuel due to ramp up times and the virtual impossibility to replace the volume of energy previously obtained from oil. Such a decline in transportation energy will require not only major changes in citizen transportation choices but also significant changes in our lifestyles and possible survival. Yet these dramatic stressful changes do not seem to have been factored into the transportation planning mix. The approaching crisis is aptly described by the title of James Howard Kunstler's seminal work, "The Long Emergency" which is summarized in the following condensed summary found at: www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7203633/the_long_emergency - 48k
All who are interested in transportation planning and implementation in central Indiana should read this article and then get busy petitioning our local and state government officials.
David Pilbrow
Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation
317-882-5301
One of the purposes of this very forum is to keep interested parties informed about the dramatic impacts of mobility options in our region. Peak oil and energy in general are tremendous reasons for groups like ours to coordinate passionate folks such as yourself and our policy leaders with a sense of urgency in the development of regional mobility solutions. Stay engaged and support the effort.
I am all for the Northeast Corridor rail plan - with the proviso that it include (I think it will) a few stops in Marion County on its way to downtown - hopefully one near 75th or 71st Street.
I used to live in New York City, and then in the suburbs in New Jersey, and used mass transit every day. It was a wonderful way to get to work - no worrying about the driving, the traffic . . . I could read or rest and get to work much faster than I could have had I driven my car. My car insurance payments were lower, and my car lasted much longer. All around, it was a winning situation.
Indianapolis does not have good mass transit, and I am glad that it is going to improve. In New York, I rode both the bus and the subway, and the subway was much more efficient. I realize this is a rail line, but I found rail lines to be less hindered by traffic and weather conditions than buses.
I am glad you are considering other rail lines. I hope that at some point some agency will also consider bicycle lanes and/or walk/bike paths. The Monon is very successful - but you either have to drive to get to it or take a very risky bicycle ride on streets with no shoulders, let alone bicycle lanes (or sidewalks).
Transit should be more than cars.
Thank you!
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