faulker083

We should place a top priority on enhancing City development that encourages more public transit and active transportation (walking and bicycling) to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation in the US accounts for 27% of greenhouse gas emissions according to the EPA . Rochester, in their Climate Action Plan , finds that figure to be 24% for our community. That’s a big chunk of our carbon footprint. If Rochester’s new comprehensive plan, Rochester 2034 , can design for transit corridors that are attractive, where development builds on the communities already thriving in our neighborhoods, that makes it more likely that the public will achieve a lower carbon footprint. A robust public transit system is key to making our future livable by encouraging human growth—not parking lot sprawl. Transit supportive development encourages a mix of complementary activities and destinations (e.g., housing, work, shopping, services, and entertainment) along major streets and centers. Transit...

When asked most folks in the Rochester region would not give up their personal vehicles regardless: “Nothing will replace my car as my main mode of transportation.”(Page 11, Long Range Transportation Plan 2040 (LRTP)). And while public input is important for Genesee Transportation Council ’s (GTC)’s plan, the LRTP is funded by the federal government. This is not to suggest that what the public wants right now from its transportation system is much different from the goals of the LRTP, only that the federal government rules: “Absent a change in priorities at the Federal and State levels, fiscal constraint dictates that we maintain the existing condition and performance of our most crucial assets as best we can, manage the decline of less critical assets and structures without compromising safety, and implement limited expansions whenever feasible.” (Page 5, LRTP) ‘Existing condition’ above is meant to mean our present transportation system—thousands of miles of asphalt/concrete roads a...