BIKE: The downtown Trolley vs. "Other" Election

[Patrick Goetz]

On Saturday morning I scolded the Jennifer Kim campaign staff for not 
bothering to fill out the BicycleAustin survey, explaining that this 
could have cost them 500 votes in a close election.  This had the effect 
of making me look like a complete moron later in the evening when Kim 
won the election by a huge margin.

I like Margot Clarke a lot, and -- although I think Jennifer Kim would 
and will make a better city councilwoman  -- I would have been happy to 
see Clarke win.  Greg Knaupe was the tool of RECA and the Chamber and 
Mandy Dealy just scares me, but the choice between Clarke and Kim was 
truly a toss-up.

Anyone who has been following this race knows that there is absolutely 
no difference between Clarke and Kim on almost every issue. The only 
differences between them were that Clarke showed more sympathy for 
traditional neighborhood groups (i.e. anti-density NIMBYists) and Clarke 
was a vocal supporter of a downtown trolley system while Kim had the 
support of the Austin Monorail Project.

I think the neighborhood NIMBY issue is still too abstract for most 
voters; generally only developers have to deal with this.  And while 
some vocal right wing extremists jumped on the Kim campaign late in the 
game, I think the anti-toll road issue must have split the right wing 
vote between the two relatively evenly, perhaps even giving the edge to 
Clarke.

One can only conclude that this election came down to a trolley vs. 
"Other" referendum, and the voters have spoken pretty clearly:  business 
as usual is not going to cut the mustard.

Try as I might, I don't see what a downtown trolley could do that the 
Dillo can't.  Moreover, trolley tracks can't be moved when there is 
construction or an accident.  Trolley tracks can't be moved when there 
is a public event in the street or a demonstration, parade, or event. 
Further, a hybrid or electric Dillo would be just as clean and 
considerably quieter than a trolley.  Note that I'm not anti-trolley; I 
think a trolley from Zilker Park to Palmer Auditorium would be a 
splendid idea.

However, the ONLY thing that is going to activate Austin's downtown and 
turn the road building machine around is a fast, safe, scalable, and 
high volume transit system which can get people from all over Austin to 
downtown and across town quickly and conveniently.  The recent AMD move 
is a poster child for such a system, since, if we had it, the only 
logical place for AMD to move to would be downtown.  Only such a system 
can dramatically increase density and diversity of use along a long 
corridor through Austin's urban core, reducing the demand for urban 
sprawl and consequently the need for new (toll) roads.

We are a society in crisis and people's guts are telling them that the 
time for quaint anachronisms has come and gone.  Only bold moves can 
change the status quo, and anyone who continues to suggest time and 
energy wasting transportation proposals that don't really do much to fix 
our problems is going to get smacked upside the head by an electorate 
growing ever more frustrated with the lack of leadership and vision in 
our government.

I thought Clarke was going to win.  Apparently her support for a trolley 
and Kim's Austin Monorail Project endorsement was the wedge issue 
voter's needed in order to figure out who would be better in a 
leadership position.