[real-eyes] April 8th Get out the VOTE!
- From: <jenpat@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <HeartlandGDU@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 07:41:52 -0600
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I encourage all of you to support Question #1 on the April 8th Kansas City
Ballot!
Fact Sheet: 3/8-cent sales tax for transit
Critical Reasons to Keep
Kansas City's Basic Bus Service Rolling!
Modern, dependable bus service is an important part of a comprehensive
transportation plan, and helps guarantee economic opportunity and growth,
cultural vitality, and varied choices of places to live, work, shop, learn,
worship and play.
In Kansas City, we spell that essential public service "ATA"
(Kansas City Area Transportation Authority).
Question 1 on the April 8 ballot would authorize the continuation for 15
years of a 3/8-cent sales tax. First approved by voters in 2003, the sales
tax has enabled the ATA to:
* Stabilize operations
* Add service (our buses rolled 9 million miles in 2003; 11 million
miles in 2006)
* Increase ridership (13.2 million passengers got on in 2003; 15.1
million in 2007)
* Increased self-sufficiency ($6.4 million fare revenue in 2003; $8.4
million in 2006)
* Keep up with soaring fuel prices and maintenance demands
* Ensure fiscal stability and begin rebuilding reserves
KCATA quick stats:
* More than 15 million trips per year
* 65 strategic routes
* 800 employees focused on customer service
* 300 work vehicles
Some of the newer services implemented by ATA include:
* MAX Bus Rapid Transit, which has become a national industry model
* Operation Welcome Aboard, which has replaced more than 6,000 Metro
street signs with more informative equivalents
* An Early Learning Center at 39th & Troost
* Enhancements to the ATA website, with trip-planning capabilities
The Metro's special-event service includes the Air Show, the American Royal
Barbecue Contest, Riverfest, Big 12 games, the Chiefs, the Royals and more.
Riders board ATA buses more than 15 million times per year on 65 routes,
using 300 vehicles to cover nearly 11 million miles per year. These are all
increases compared to 2003 levels, when the 3/8-cent sales tax was first
approved.
Buses get people to work:
Seventy-three percent of Metro riders use the bus to go to work or school,
according to a 2007 on-board survey done by the ATA. Forty-six percent of
riders have no other form of transportation, making continued bus service
critical for Kansas City's economy.
Satisfied riders:
According to a 2007 on-board survey, 93 percent of MAX riders and 90 percent
of Metro riders would recommend the bus service.
Efficient buses earn their keep:
ATA's transit services are extremely cost-effective compared with other
cities' systems.
Consider these comparisons with national averages:
2005
2006 2007
KC's Metro cost per mile: $5.56 $5.76
$5.83
National average cost per mile: $7.54 $7.78
$8.04
The 3/8-cent sales tax is crucial to the ATA's $76 million total budget,
providing about 30 percent of the total.
MAX-ing KC's transit service:
Since the institution of the MAX rapid bus route in the Main Street Corridor
to Downtown, ridership on that route has nearly doubled. The MAX rapid buses
have become a national model, and the ATA is planning new MAX lines on
Troost and the North Oak Corridor.
Cities such as Des Moines and Jacksonville, Fla., have studied Kansas City's
use of the MAX rapid buses through downtown. Los Angeles recently opted to
used rapid buses rather than light rail on one of its transit corridors and
is seeing good results. Cleveland and Louisville, Ky., are other cities
exploring bus rapid transit.
Question #1 on the April 8, 2008, ballot
(Current tax expires in April 2009)
SHALL THE FOLLOWING BE APPROVED?
Shall the City of Kansas City continue a city sales tax for the purposes of
developing, operating, maintaining, equipping and improving a bus transit
system by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority for Kansas City,
Missouri, as authorized by Section 94.605 of the Revised Statutes of
Missouri at a rate of 3/8% for a period of 15 years?
For campaign information, please visit www.keepkcbuses.com
<http://www.keepkcbuses.com/>
For more information about our bus system, please visit www.kcata.org
<http://www.kcata.org/>
To request campaign materials or guest speaker on this issue, call
816-276-5688
Paid for by Committee for Comprehensive Transit, Michelle Rebman Treasurer
4049 Central. Kansas City, MO. 64111. 816-276-5688
Thanks
Patrick Palmer
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