It’s encouraging to see that, even in car-centric suburbs, more and more people are starting to open their eyes to the possibilities of more and better transportation options.
Take Plano, Texas, for example, right outside of Dallas, where a new study finds that 41 percent of the population is interested in options other than traveling alone.
According to the Plano Star Courier:
Over the next 12-18 months, about 15,000 new employees are coming to Plano, thanks to several corporate headquarters calling west Plano home. But as Liberty Mutual, Toyota USA, FedEx and JP Morgan Chase come online, traffic congestion in the area will continue to be a problem.
During Monday night’s City Council meeting, Peter Braster, director of special projects, presented an updated mobility study, suggesting the city establish a transportation management association (TMA). “We’re drawing up the papers for the nonprofit corporation,” Braster said.
Congestion in the area is sluggish, especially at peak commuter hours, and will continue to be congested this summer. A proposed TMA could make a large difference on spreading the message, but Braster said residents must be open to changing their commuting habits.
According to the November 2016 mobility study, 41 percent of residents are curious about other travel options aside from solo travel, so the more residents explore Uber, Lyft, and carpool options, hopefully, a noticeable difference can been seen.
Down in Dallas, leaders are well aware that improvements are needed, even in a state where the car is still king. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings is really excited to improve transportation.
He said the city council would also be “very unwise” if they failed to include money for bicycle lanes and connections to bicycle trails. Rawlings believes Dallas “could be a great biking community” and already is in some places, such as White Rock Lake and the Katy Trail.
He sees bicycles as one part of “a new philosophy that is emerging today” on transportation planning in cities.
City Councilor Mary Deros said in an interview that many of the city’s residents still have cars but use the city’s public transportation, car-sharing and bicycle network.
“The easier you make it for them to travel, the less they’ll have that dependency on cars,” she said.
Bicycle planning has been a challenge for Dallas since the city’s bike czar left in 2015. City leaders are still searching for a qualified replacement. But Dallas council members have taken a renewed interest in Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which some feel has failed to make transportation easy within city limits. The council will vote next week on replacing almost all of its DART board appointees.