Kansas City Transit Activist Chastain: 'I Would Have Been Better Mayor'

Promo and contemplation from a friend of the blog . . . 

Clay Chastain Challenges Mayor Lucas Over KCI Monorail  

I would have been a better Mayor, but we have what we have. 

Mayor Lucas seeks to keep a "Certified" Airport Monorail Petition off the ballot in Favor of His Plan...a Streetcar to KCI! You can't fix ignorance - you go around it. Today begins a 5-part series (M-F) on a Monorail - based Initiative designed by an Engineer - not a Lawyer. Part I covers the 'Centerpiece' of a Green Transportation Initiative....A thrilling, rapid & modern Monorail linking together the City's greatest assets, destinations & employment centers. My Vision is to provide the People a livable, affordable & sustainable City vs. Lucas' Vision - a Puff of Smoke. Yes the Airport Monorail to the City Center will cost big money - most great things do. However, the Monorail costs less per mile than the streetcar & can do what buses (alone) can't do...Improve the City's image, Spawn huge economic dividends, Grow the City, Boost transit ridership & Secure $1.0 billion in federal funding.

Part 1...The Citywide Airport Monorail:

Kansas City's Monorail will glide over & across the City (from the Airport to the Zoo) making A Grand Presentation of "the City Beautiful".

Kansas City's Monorail starts @ KCI on a Monorail Platform (@ Main floor level) attached to the side of KCI's new parking structure that is adjacent to the single terminal. Convenient? No hassle, no boring slow buses, no long walks, no expensive parking & no driving a long distance back and forth to KCI. Visitors & Residents alike will be transported around the City on a quiet, smooth-riding & advanced Monorail to places they want to go... the Northland, Downtown, the Plaza, the Eastside, KC Zoo, the City's Downtown Streetcar @ Union Station & (perhaps) a Downtown baseball game. 

The Monorail will connect to more Green Mobility Options @ a New Regional Multimodal Transportation Center @ Union Station....Streetcars, City E-Buses. Metro Express Buses, Greenways & even Amtrak. A limited number of elevated Monorail stations (served by the Initiative's mini-electric shuttle bus network) will speed up travel times & will keep costs down as will building the Monorail's (prefabricated) structural components right here in KC. A Monorail - unlike a streetcar - can handle the 7% grades in the Northland. 

The Monorail will drive much needed healthy density in the Sprawling Northland & much needed in-fill development in the depopulated (100,000 Residents) Southland. 

The Monorail is a "Many splendored thing". All aboard. 

Tomorrow (Tuesday), Part 2: Creating the Greatest Transportation Center in America @ the Greatest Train Station in America. 

KC Activist & Design Engineer, Clay Chastain 
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