Clay Chastain Slams Mayor Amid Ongoing Transit Petition Push

The latest from the only guy to win a citywide light rail election . . .

(Major) Chastain Press release: While our City is ravaged by homicides & decline, Mayor Lucas continues on...focused on social justice issues & without answers to our real problems. Meanwhile, Activist Clay Chastain proposes a new Modern Bi-State Regional Transit System to uplift our Slumping City, Strengthen the KC Region & Preserve its Future. And, once Lucas makes his get away to DC (& Chastain is elected KC Mayor or Jackson County Executive) Chastain will move to place his vision before voters.

KC's Mayor & KC's decline are hurting the Region. But the Region's problems don't stop there. The cost (& resources devoted) toward maintaining our inefficient, eco-dirty & car-dominated transportation system are staggering. Resident's soaring cost to own & operate the car is budget-busting. The compounding ills (to the living environment) of the car's overuse...air pollution, traffic congestion, noise pollution & sprawl are unconscionable. To turn away this destructive car-tide requires... clean, sustainable, affordable & convenient Mobility Options.

27-years ago we made history when Regional voters approved a one-eight cent bistate tax to meet a Regional need...save Union Station. The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) collected the tax proceeds & provided professional guidance & oversight. Today, developing new Regional Transportation Alternatives has to be our new Bi-State cause. MARC can assist. It is a (long-established) regional planning organization that can coordinate regional transit planning, secure federal infrastructure funding and tie a comprehensive Regional Transit System together.

Bi-State II proposes (for 25-years) a 1/4-cent sales tax (in Jackson, Clay, Platte, Johnson & Wyandotte Counties) to construct, operate & maintain the foundation of a new Bi-State Regional Transit System (under the auspices of MARC) as follows:

(1) Regional (Centrally-located) Multimodal Transportation Center @ Union Station (Headquartered @ the North Wing).

(2) Regional 52-Mile Monorail System (500 + passenger rapid, elevated, electric train) including...(a) The Main Spine operating from Olathe to Downtown to KCI (uses corridors I-35 in Ks. & Grand Blvd.,169 Hwy. & Interurban Right-of-Way in Mo) & (b) Monorail Spur operating from Union Station to the Eastside to the Grandview Triangle (uses Truman Rd. & new *Bruce Watkins Greenway*).

(3) Regional Electric Bus System (routes determined by MARC's on-going transit study) to include...(a) Rapid Buses operating in designated lanes with signal priority (b) Union Station Express Buses connecting to major employment centers & destinations (c) Mini-Buses shuttling passengers to & from transit stations & secondary destinations.  

(4) Regional 100-Mile Greenway Trail System with dedicated (park-style) corridors for cycling & pedestrian use (linking neighborhoods, secondary destinations, transit stations & the Region).

We need a new leader with a new vision to stabilize the City, advance the Region & insure our future.
Leader Clay Chastain & his Bi-State Regional Transit Initiative, meets that need.

KC Transit Activist, Clay Chastain

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