We've all seen how new pavement ends on one side of the county line and
potholes begin on the other. We've also seen how train stations, bus
links, and airports fail to connect. To minimize problems just like
this between jurisdictions, in 1991 Congress enacted the Intermodal
Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which mandated that all
metropolitan areas receiving federal transportation monies form a
planning organization to coordinate their programs. Our Genesee
Transportation Council is that organization. Every few years, the GTC
convenes meetings to solicit input for their 20-year Long Range
Transportation Plan. The second round of meetings for this cycle
happens now:

http://www.gtcmpo.org/LRTP/LRTP.htm

ISTEA also mandated one cent of each dollar spent on transportation, a
huge portion of federal discretionary spending, go to non-motor vehicle
programs like the very paths we skate, the Erie Canalway Trail, the
Genesee Valley Greenway, the River Trails, and bike lanes, both marked
and unmarked, as found on the reconstructed University Ave. ISTEA
helped create and maintain these paths we prefer so much for skating.

From 1999-2000 I served on their bicycle/pedestrian advisory committee.
The engineers and planners there sincerely want your good and specific
ideas about our transportation needs. This second round focuses
specifically on transportation alternatives, including skating, should
we so deem. Although we see each mostly other on weekly recreational
skates, some of us also skate in place of driving. We could skate more,
if paths and destinations made it more convenient and accessible.

Hecklers sometimes yell, “Get on the sidewalk,” ignorant that NYS
traffic law allow skaters and bicyclist the same rights to the streets.
But some cities like Syracuse, where we plan to skate this Sunday,
declare skates a toy, and ban them from city streets. An ignorant
Rochester police officer had even once told us to get off the street.
Solving these problems requires shifting perceptions that skating is
merely play or an outlaw sport. Awareness we are a genuine
transportation alternative reinforces that legitimacy.

You can get involved by attending the Genesee Transportation Council
meeting in Gleason Auditorium, Rochester Public Library, 115 South Ave,
tomorrow 7pm. Use this list to get feedback and refine your ideas. Then
submit them online. Results come one step at a time. Every voice
matters.

John