alternative transportation - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T13:54:04Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/alternative+transportationBoca Raton: City favors on-demand rides over trolleys for downtown transithttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-city-favors-on-demand-rides-over-trolleys-for-downtown2017-05-31T18:04:17.000Z2017-05-31T18:04:17.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong><br /><br /> City Council members are leaning toward an on-demand ride service as an alternative transportation option that would lessen downtown traffic congestion by getting people out of their cars.<br /> At a meeting May 8, they backed away from creating fixed-route trolleys, instead preferring something like the Downtowner, which ceased operating in Boca Raton at the end of December. Under that system, people wanting a free ride would summon an electric vehicle via a mobile app.<br /> Council members, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency board, made no final decisions on what type of service will be offered. But they are moving forward with a request for proposals from private companies.<br /> City officials also plan to contact downtown business owners soon about what types of service they think would work best, hoping the businesses will financially support a transit program.<br /> Mayor Susan Haynie and several other council members said they want a service up and running as soon as possible, and some expressed frustration that the city’s request-for-proposals process is so lengthy. It likely will be a year before an alternative transportation option is operating.<br /> “I think this is very important, essential,” council member Robert Weinroth said. “But I am concerned if we don’t get the input from the downtown residents and businesses, we may be building something we think is great but they may not think is meeting their needs.”<br /> When they first started discussing transportation options in December, council members indicated their preferred option was a trolley system that would circulate through downtown and make pickups every 10 minutes.<br /> But cost estimates prepared by city staff have dissuaded them, at least for now.<br /> Downtown Manager Ruby Childers estimated in February that a trolley system would cost $3.2 million for the trolleys, signage and trolley stops. Annual operations would cost as much as $1.8 million. <br /> Council members didn’t want to spend that much and grew increasingly concerned that fixed-route trolleys would not attract enough riders.<br /> “I feel the trolley itself … is not the answer for us,” Haynie said at the May 8 meeting.<br />Council member Andrea O’Rourke said: “I think we should not think about trolleys now. It is not the answer to have big, empty trolleys. Electric cars seem to be the way we are going.”<br /> The envisioned route would have included City Hall, the downtown library, Mizner Park, Royal Palm Place, Camino Real and back to City Hall. <br /> O’Rourke asked that the route be expanded to the beach, so residents there could easily get downtown and tourists could get to the beach.<br /> But Haynie and Weinroth said it would be better to start with a limited downtown route and expand to the beach at a later date.<br /> While plans are moving ahead slowly, one alternative for people wanting to ditch their cars has started operating.<br /> Delray Beach Bike Club received Boca Raton approval to launch a pedicab service the first week of May, starting with six vehicles that can reach speeds of 20 miles per hour. More can be added if demand is strong, said President Patrick Halliday. <br /> Riders can summon a pedicab with a mobile app. The rides are free, underwritten by sponsor ads, but drivers accept tips. As of the beginning of the month, developer Investments Limited was advertising on the pedicabs, and Halliday was working to get more sponsors. <br /> He also was in the process of talking to officials of the Hyatt Place hotel at 100 E. Palmetto Park Road about making his pedicabs available near the hotel’s entrance.<br /> Halliday said he would start operating in Boynton Beach beginning this fall. He ran into a roadblock in Delray Beach in mid-April, when Police Chief Jeff Goldman questioned the safety of the pedicabs proposed to operate on East Atlantic Avenue.<br /> That concern is unfounded, Halliday said, and he is pursuing “other options” to offer service in Delray Beach.<br /> Two- or three-passenger pedicabs are a user-friendly mode of transport, he said. Drivers can suggest things to do, sights to see and restaurants to try.<br /> “I call them ambassadors for the city,” he said.</p></div>Editor's Note: Safe walking seems little more than a pipe dreamhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-safe-walking-seems-little-more-than-a-pipe-dream2017-05-03T17:27:20.000Z2017-05-03T17:27:20.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p> As I sit through city commission meetings, I keep hearing development proposals pitched citing a trend of buildings for millennials that won’t require the usual city-required parking allocations. <br /> City planners seem to love this concept. The younger generation doesn’t drive, they say. They’ll take Uber, Zipcars, bicycles, mass transit and other alternatives to get around. I hope they do. And I hope they don’t plan on walking. <br /> It’s not safe.<br /> Florida leads the nation with seven of the most dangerous metropolitan communities to walk. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area comes in at No. 11 in a report released in January. <br /> It’s not a surprise. The basic transportation grid in Florida has always been to move cars, not people. It’s only in the past 10 years I’ve heard planners and developers talking about alternative transportation. And, of course, their focus is on the most populated areas of our cities.<br /> Those of us who live along the coast, however, know that even along the relatively uncrowded barrier island, it can be dangerous to walk or bike. I live in Ocean Ridge near A1A and hear emergency sirens heading to crashes on many weekend days — most often car vs. bicycle. <br /> This past month there was a posting on our website asking, “Why the rush?” from a Highland Beach resident. I am sympathetic. I find myself staring down distracted drivers almost every time I try to cross the road inside the designated pedestrian crossings.<br /> On one memorable evening this past month, I was returning from the beach with my husband and nephew when we all gauged the distance of an approaching car and figured it would slow as it saw us in the crosswalk — marked as it is with reflective signs saying it is a state law to stop for pedestrians.<br /> Granted, it was getting dark, but we were wearing bright-colored clothing and there were three of us. <br /> The approaching car not only didn’t slow, it came very near to hitting us. <br /> We leapt out of the way, only to have the passenger open the car door as the car finally slowed and shout at us to be careful because “we didn’t see you.” I believe the driver truly didn’t see us and even he was a little shook up. I also believe the driver was either driving too fast or not paying attention. No surprise, Florida is No. 2 in the country for distracted driving, according to a recent national survey.<br /> It’s not going to get better anytime soon. <br /> Not only is Florida’s population growing, but Palm Beach County’s tourism numbers are booming. I witness sunburned tourists riding rental bikes along A1A all the time. And in the coastal areas without sidewalks, I see families pushing baby carriages along the road’s edge. Both seem like logical, even lovely things to do, but I wonder if they are aware of the dangers.</p>
<p> Each year, the city of Delray Beach recognizes a Ride of Silence to honor those injured or killed in automobile-bicycle collisions. This year, that event will be May 17, with the ride beginning at Old School Square. I hope in the future, there is not also a need for a Walk of Silence. <br /> Until city leaders and transportation planners can work out ways to change how we commute and recreate, the onus for pedestrian and bicycle safety is on all of us. <br /> Be careful out there.<br /><br /><em>— Mary Kate Leming,</em> <br /><em>Editor</em></p></div>