GUEST OPINION: Transit plan will boost Greater D.M.
Greater Des Moines has made many great strides in the past decade toward becoming a world-class city, with millions invested in culture and the arts, more trails and walkways, and a flourishing restaurant scene. These are the things that define a city and, in turn, attract businesses, jobs and highly skilled employees. However, one ingredient that is a key to all vibrant cities has been in short supply: public transit.
The DART Forward 2035 Transit Services Plan is our vision to begin filling that void, starting in 2012 with a complete redesign and expansion of the bus routes throughout the metro area. The updated system will provide public transportation to thousands more residents by offering bus service in more places, more often and more quickly. Improvements include more service in both directions between downtown Des Moines and the suburbs, additional Park and Ride lots, more transfer points, crosstown services and better connections to employment centers.
Building a better transit system will require a regional investment, specifically an increase in property taxes. The transit expansion plan calls for an incremental increase over five years that would eventually add about $60 annually to the property taxes on a $200,000 house. We firmly believe the plan’s many regional benefits will provide a return on the shared investment for area businesses, communities and residents.
•We can connect more people to jobs via transit, the importance of which is already recognized by the many employers throughout the region that offer bus passes to their employees. According to a recent Brookings Institution study, Des Moines-West Des Moines households without vehicles – three quarters of them considered low-income – have transit access to only 44 percent of the region’s jobs.
•We can increase the capacity of our transportation infrastructure as the region’s population grows, and do so with a low-cost alternative to building more roads and widening highways.
• We can expand the public transportation system to ensure that the overall cost of living and working remains competitive nationally. According to the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index, much of the metro area is affordable when housing is the only factor, but a much smaller portion is considered affordable when transportation is factored in.
• We can retain the energy, ideas and talent of today’s young professionals by offering the type of urban lifestyle that they expect in a city.
To our minds, the many benefits of a superior public transit system make the investment an absolutely necessary cost of doing business for a world-class city like ours.
Steve Van Oort is the mayor of Ankeny. Steve Brody is a Clive City Council member. Both sit on the DART Forward 2035 steering committee.