The City of Kansas City, Missouri has released a draft of the update to the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan (CPRP) to the public!
Click here to check out the draft.
The plan is meant to guide the city towards a path of greater sustainability and resilience in the face of a rapidly-changing climate. There is a clear link with those efforts and efforts to improve walking, accessibility, biking, and transit: As the plan notes, transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the city.
The mobility section of the plan lays out how the city can begin to tackle this problem, with specific strategies under one of five broad themes:
- Reducing vehicle miles traveled through coordinated and planned development
- Shifting trips to biking and walking by creating a network of safe and accessible routes
- Shifting trips to transit by building convenient transit systems and mobility hubs
- Reducing vehicle emissions from idling by reducing congestion and improving parking management
- Reducing vehicle emissions though low- and no-emissions vehicles
While it is good to see multimodal transportation elevated as a key resource in KCMO’s climate resiliency toolbox, we would like the plan offer more in the areas of funding recommendations and benchmarks. Below are a few suggestions:
Sidewalks
- Re-prioritize another $150 million of GO Bond street/bridge money to double the sidewalk funding.
- Front-load the GO Bond to spend all of the sidewalk funding by 2030.
Bike Infrastructure
- Amplify the city manager’s goal of 30 miles of protected bike lanes in two years and set a goal of 50 miles every year after.
- Build out the entire bike plan in 10-15 years instead of 20-30 years.
Transit
- Double the number of routes, buses, and frequencies by 2030.
- Set a goal for 75% of KCMO residents being within a 20-minute ride of 75% of the jobs in city limits by 2030. Make it 95% for LifeX residents within a 20-minute ride of 95% of the jobs.
Other
- Set a goal for the average walk, bike, and/or bus trip to be comparable in time to the average car trip.
- KCMO should try to find a measurement of non-work trips and roll it into goals and measurements.
How can you get involved? (Updated April 13, 2022)
The public comment period for the plan has closed, but you can click here to learn more about the next steps in the process of moving the plan forward and ultimately bringing it before City Council.
While the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan is only one part of KCMO’s broader sustainability efforts, it will go a long way towards setting the tone and guiding the policy considerations on a host of issues. It’s important for the plan to ensure multimodal transportation is supported in a manner that is well-funded and well-tracked. Having both will enable organizations like BikeWalkKC to hold our leaders accountable to the goals of a better transportation system and a more resilient Kansas City.