YOU TUBE “If You Drive, Vote YES on I-1125”

“If You Drive, Vote Yes on 1125.”

(Tom Lane, updated December 8, 2011)  Unfortunately, the Statewide Initiative I-1125 for all of Washington State was defeated in November, 2011.  Click here for my other post, to find out why I-1125 lost:

https://smartgrowthusa.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/seattle-bellevue-light-rail-initiative-112/

See all my posts on Kemper Freeman, Light Rail, and Initiative 1125.  Click the following link for a list of all of my posts. (Posts and Photos Copyright 2010-2011, Tom Lane, except the Video screenshots from Firefox, with appropriate credit provided.)

https://smartgrowthusa.wordpress.com/category/light-rail/

SEATTLE  – VOTE YES on 1125, from Kemper Freeman and Tim Eyman

* Protect Your Gas Taxes and Tolls – * Stop Illegal East Link I-90 Light Rail – *Stop Expensive Peak Time Tolls During Your Precious Commute Hours – *Stop the Destruction of Historic Bellevue with an Ugly Transit Oriented i.e. another Smart Growth Development   – * If Your Drive, Vote Yes on 1125 *

“If You Drive, VOTE YES on I-1125,“

is from the Official Yes on 1125 web site, http://yeson1125.org

* Oct. 10, 2011 – *  THE NEWEST 1125 VIDEO  * – Seattle Times Editorial Board Meeting, with 1125 Proponents Kemper Freeman and Tim Eyman, and 1125 Opponents Doug MacDonald and John Stanton

* Oct. 8, 2011 – * SECOND NEWEST VIDEO * – Kemper Freeman debates Doug MacDonald on I-1125,  TV-W, with Host Austin Jenkins – CLICK IMAGE TO PLAY VIDEO –

IMPORTANT – FAST FORWARD – to 28min:50seconds, to START I-1125 Debate –

* TVW’s Video Voter’s Guide with Tim Eyman (for I-1125) and Doug MacDonald (against I-1125) –

CLICK IMAGE above for Video Voters Guide to 1125. This is a Firefox collage of images from http://yeson1125.org as they appeared in October, 2011.

* CLICK IMAGE below, for the Official YES ON 1125 Web Page –

This is the OFFICIAL YES on I-1125 page. Please forward this to your friends and colleagues, to increase its Rankings on Google.  Remember, we’ll will on Election Day with High Google Rankings.   Print the sticker from the page, color it yellow with a Crayola marker, and paste it inside your back car window.

Click the YES ON 1125 Image for the official YES ON 1125 .org WEB PAGE - This is a Firefox snapshot of an image on the page as it appeared in Oct. 2011.

ABOVE: Kemper Freeman installed Electric Car Charging Stations at his Bellevue Square Mall in 2011.

Kemper Freeman Going Green in Bellevue with Electric Car Stations

Kemper Freeman, owner of the Bellevue Colleciton (including the mall Bellevue Square, shown above), is the first private individual to install electric car charging stations in all of Washington and Oregon.

Although Kemper is against light rail and is funding Initiative I-1125, he favors bus rapid transit, bike lanes, and electric cars. I agree with all of his positions for reasons discussed in many pages and posts on this web page.

The charging stations are located in the free parking facilities in the NE parking garage tower at Bellevue Square.  The videos of the stations below are part of a recently released series of trendy videos, interviewing business owners in The Bellevue Collection.

Kemper Freeman explains why he installed the charging stations, on “http://bellevue.com:”

“Bellevue Square has been a trend-setting shopping destination for generations in our community,” said Freeman Kemper of the Kemper Development Company. “It’s only fitting that we would be the location of the first ChargePoint stations for shopping centers in the region to offer this to our customers. You can be charging while shopping or dining. What could be easier for our customers?”

Kemper Freeman Opposes Light Rail and Supports I-1125

Charge Point station at Bellevue Square, installed 2011.

Kemper Freeman, as do all competent transportation engineers, that the suburbs will always be with us.  As we face peak oil, other forms of fuel will power long commutes from the growing suburbs to.

Light rail is a very costly and inefficient solution for commuters in the suburbs.  More efficient and less costly technologies include electric and hybrid cars, bike lanes, bike trails, and bus rapid transit.

Despite the perception that Kemper Freeman is somehow anti-environment due to his opposition to light rail, it’s worth noting that he is the first private individual to install electric car charging stations for his customers.  In addition, he is a strong supporter of free bus rapid transit (BRT), the fastest form of public transportation.  In this article, Kemper endorses free bus rapid transit for everyone! – http://navigatekingcounty.com/blog/light-rail-off-track/76/

Goals of Initiative 1125 (I-1125)

Kemper Freeman supports Initiative I-1125, sponsored by Tim Eyman and associates.  Among other goals, I-1125 would reaffirm the public’s faith in the 1944 Voter Approved 18th Amendment to the Washington State Constitution, that prohibits the use of the state gas tax for non-highway purposes, including light rail.

Sound Transit, the state agency that adjudicates light rail, has ignored the 18th amendment, and plans to violate the State Constitution, and plans to illegally use the gas tax to modify Interstate 90 between Seattle and Bellevue for light rail.

Kemper opposes light rail on Interstate 90, favoring more freeway lanes and a bus rapid transit system, that would cover the three county are.  Light rail is expensive, and will never take more than 2% of all vehicle trips in the Seattle area, even by 2040 when the proposed network is completed.  Therefore, more freeway lanes are required to decrease congestion and air pollution.

State Democrat Party, Who Claims to Represent the Poor, Opposes I-1125

Recently, the State Republican party endorsed I-1125,while the State Democrat party did not.  In this September 9, 2011 letter (revised on October 2, 2011), I explain to Sound Transit and the Puget Sound Regional Council why East Link light rail on I-90 is unconstitutional.  Unfortunately, nobody from Sound Transit or the PSRC acknowledged receiving my correspondence, indicating their ability to recognize alternatives to light rail such as bus rapid transit.

In addition, I-1125 would stop peak time tolling (congestion pricing), that takes place during commute hours.  This is unfair to the poor, who will have to take clogged surface streets in order to avoid the toll.  Therefore, the Democrats are hypocrites for claiming that they represent the poor, yet then opposing 1125 that would prohibit unfair peak time tolls.  Bruce Nurse of Kemper Development Company, explains why peak time tolls are unfair in the video below.  Also see this recent .PDF analysis of peak time tolls in Los Angeles, and how they clog surface streets, by USC Professor Dr. Peter Gordon:

http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~pgordon/pdf/TRB_SCPM_PEAK-LOAD_PRICING_FINAL_REPORT_JAN_13_2011.pdf

Michael Ennis – Washington State Policy Center – Citizens’ Guide to I-1125

Be sure to check out Michael Ennis, of the Washington Policy Center, and his insightful Citizens’ Guide to Initiative 1125.  I also include links to some of his You-Tube (and other) videos below.

In addition, be sure to check out John Niles, of CETA (Coalition for Effective Transportation Alternatives), who wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood advocating bus rapid transit, due to engineering problems with light rail over the I-90 floating bridge (the “East Link” route).

And, Tim Eyman just wrote an article entitled “Yes on Initiative 1125, Again,” appearing September 30, 2011 in The Wenatchee World: http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2011/sep/30/yes-on-initiative-1125-again/

Traffic in the Seattle Area has Reached the Point of Intolerance

The region’s traffic problems are intolerable.  The only viable solutions, according to the region’s best traffic engineers, are more freeway lanes, bus rapid transit system, and safer bicycling infrastructure.  Dr. William Eager developed a freeway plan for the region, to decrease congestion by 36%, as I discuss in this post.

In addition, I discuss Dr. Jim MacIsaac’s bus rapid transit plan, that even extends well outside the Urban Growth Boundary, in this additional post.  Also refer to John Niles’ aforementioned web site,  CETA, Citizens for Effective Transportation Alternatives, advocating regional bus rapid transit.

Clearly, more freeway lanes means less traffic and less air pollution.  So do electric cars.  Therefore, Kemper Freeman and Bellevue Square are now going green with the first privately owned electric car charging stations.

Kemper, along with I-1125 sponsor Tim Eyman, are also green for favoring more freeway lanes.  Dr. Matt Barth of UC-Riverside has proven that cars stuck at gridlock velocity (between 0mph and 30mph) emit up to 20 times more CO2 than when traveling at freeway speeds of 60mph.  Click here for my post on Dr. Barth’s CO2 research, and other fuel economy issues.

Go Green and Support Kemper Freeman and Vote YES on I-1125

Bellevue Collection charging stations.

I was born and raised in the Seattle area.  Recently, there is nothing that upsets me more in Seattle than traffic congestion and air pollution.   The quality of life is not what it was 20 or even 10 years ago.  Of course, high density smart growth towers increase the number of cars per square mile, making congestion and air pollution even worse.

I support I-1125, to force Sound Transit to stop ignoring the 1944 approved 18th Amendment, declaring that the gas tax should never pay for non highway purposes.  The gas tax should pay for more freeway lanes, as the 18th Amendment requires.  Although Tim Eyman and Kemper Freeman have traditionally supported Republican causes, the scientific evidence clearly shows that CO2 and other emissions are much less, when cars travel at freeway speeds instead of gridlock velocity.

Let’s go green, support Bellevue Square, and vote YES on I-1125.  I invite those of you who favor TOD’s (mass transit oriented developments), within the Seattle City limits, and even in Bellevue, to review the scientific evidence on CO2 levels, bus rapid transit, and freeway lanes at my various posts, and also consider the Constitutionality of light rail under the 18th Amendment to the state Constitution.

The March, 2011 Press Release on the Charging Stations is available by way of this link:

http://www.bellevuecollection.com/KemperDevelopmentMedia.php

No National Demand for Light Rail – Bus Rapid Transit is Best

In September, 2011, the U.S. Census released the 2009 American Community Survey on transportation shares in the U.S.  From 1960 to 2009, the total share of all forms of transit relative to automobile trips has decreased.  This demonstrates that people prefer the personal automobile.

In addition, it indicates that current modes of transit (light rail and conventional buses) are inefficient and/or expensive, failing to get workers to work on time at a cheaper price than the private auto.

Therefore, new approaches are needed, such as bus rapid transit. In the Seattle area, this can easily occur throughout the entire region on pre-existing HOV lanes. Unfortunately, Sound Transit and the Puget Sound Regional Council have chosen to spend billions of dollars on Sound Transit, that’s not even meeting ridership goals.

Kemper Freeman in the Oct. 7, 2011 TV-W video above, explains that adding light rail to I-90 would actually decrease capacity by about 15%.  In contrast, bus rapid transit (BRT) on I-90 (in HOV lanes), according to Freeman, would increase capacity, and cost much less, and take several years rather than decades to build.

If Sound Transit and the Puget Sound Regional Council were Progressive (i.e. in the non-partisan sense of favoring progress and reform), they would recognize that BRT is the best option, for increasing the number of potential trips on I-90.

Of course, bus rapid transit is much cheaper, given that buses travel on pre-existing HOV lanes, without the requirement to build tracks and acquire land in expensive downtown areas with eminent domain. My next task will be to find markets, perhaps in other countries, where BRT carries a statistically significant percentage of all trips, such as Brazil.

US Census 2009 ACS Transportation Survey. From: http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-15.pdf Accessed: October 2, 2011

Sept. 7, 2011, TV-W – Opponents Jim McIntire and Doug MacDonald, vs.

Proponents Tim Eyman and Bruce Nurse of Kemper Development Co. on Initiative I-1125

This one hour presentation hosted by the Editorial Staff of “The Olympian” newspaper on TV-W is most informative.  Opponents Jim McIntire and Doug MacDonald appear first, followed by proponents Tim Eyman of I-1125, and Bruce Nurse of Kemper Development Co.

Among many other factual insights, Bruce Nurse noted that East Link Light Rail on I-90 would only take 4/10ths of 1% of all vehicle trips, that currently move from Seattle to Bellevue.  Bruce explains that bus rapid transit would be much more effective.

And, Tim Eyman voiced his opposition to congestion pricing, since this would cause the poor to pay disproportionately more money for commuting than the rich, during commute hours.

You Tube Videos on Kemper Freeman Charging Stations and Bellevue Square

Here are Kemper Freeman’s stations featured on his own Kemper Development web site:

Here are Bellevue Mayor Don Davidson, and US Congressman Jay Inslee, cutting the ribbon on the charging station in March, 2011:

Kemper Freeman’s charging stations featured on KONG-TV News.  An $8 dollar charge powers the car featured here – a Tesla Roadster – for 250 miles.  Compare that to a $50 tank of gas for 250 miles.

And, one more video featuring Bellevue City Counselor Claudia Balducci on the Nissan Leaf Electric Car:

Additional videos are most interesting on the business and retail atmosphere at The Bellevue Collection.  This web site lists all the videos:

http://www.bellevuecollection.com/TheVideoGallery.php?idx=2

These new videos profile business owners in the Bellevue Collection.  Many Bellevue Collection business owners are members of “The Creative Class,” described by Richard Florida, such as artists Eric Hall and Amy Spassov and their “Hallway Gallery:”

Here’s the Grand Opening of Bellevue Square’s The Microsoft Store, in November, 2010:

Although this is at Scottsdale Fashion Square (Arizona), this grand opening of the Microsoft Windows Store is also interesting, from October 2009:

Here is Kemper Freeman and associates discussing strategies for success at Bellevue Square:

Here is Kemper Freeman discussing Civil Engineer Dr. William Eager’s freeway lane plan “End Gridlock Now,” which would decrease regional congestion by 36%:

Kemper Freeman and King County Executive Dow Constantine Debate over Light Rail:

John Niles and Bus Rapid Transit

Here is John Niles, Bus Rapid Transit Advocate, with Stan Emert of Public Exposure:

Here is John Niles debating others with C.R. Douglas on “The Seattle Channel.”

Other Videos:  Michael Ennis on Light Rail Low Ridership Numbers, and his Advocacy of Vanpools in HOV Lanes

Michael Ennis of the Washington Policy Center on Light Rail Low Ridership Numbers.:

More from Michael Ennis –

Here is Michael Ennis of the Washington Policy Center on Vanpools:

Finally, be sure to check out Michael Ennis’ new Citizens’ Guide to Initiative 1125:  https://smartgrowthusa.wordpress.com/citizens-guide-to-initiative-1125-michael-ennis-washington-policy-center/

For newbies, you are probably asking what’s the story with Bellevue

Located east of Seattle between Lake Washington and Lake Sammammish, Bellevue is the region’s #1 suburb, in terms of its economy, educational attainment, artistic and cultural venues, recreational opportunities, open space, parks, you name it.  Many of us strongly believe that light rail through the wetland areas, and residential areas south of Bellevue including Enatai, and through downtown, would destroy the City, both economically and environmentally.

It has been my pleasure to research growth management and transportation in the Seattle metro for this web site, and Bellevue is my favorite area.  Initiative 1125 will decide if Bellevue’s heritage is destroyed.  Photos of Bellevue appear in multiple pages and posts, and below.  Scroll down the home page to find all the links on I-1125, light rail, Bellevue, and bus rapid transit: https://smartgrowthusa.wordpress.com

Below, a few photos of the Bellevue Collection properties and Bellevue.  There are dozens more at other posts.  You can access Kemper Development Company’s web site at this link:

http://www.bellevuecollection.com/KemperDevelopmentCompany.php

Lincoln Square with the IMAX Theatres, and Kemper's Westin Hotel. Photo looking ESE from the top of Kemper's NE Parking Tower. Note Mt. Rainier to the far right. The brown air pollution (on this day in Oct. 2010) was horrible. If Seattle and Bellevue would build more freeways, there would be much less air pollution since vehicles would no longer produce excessive emissions at gridlock speeds.

Bellevue Square - Street View w/ Skybridge to Lincoln Square.

Bellevue Downtown Park.

Bellevue also provides exceptional low density "green" residential, such as quarter acre lots with native trees in the Somerset neighborhood (shown here). Here, we see a new Mid-Century modern home along with Bellevue to the right of the I-90 bridge, and Mercer Island to the left ... with the Seattle skyline in the distance (looking NW in mid-June, 2011).

From "The Golf Club at Newcastle," a similar view as the Somerset photo, from a location two miles to the south.

These "No Trains" signs in the Enatai neighborhood of Bellevue, from "http://BetterBellevue.Org" appear everywhere, especially in the Enatai and related neighborhoods near I-90, where 37 homes will be demolished, if Sound Transit violates the Constitution and builds light rail. Therefore, Vote Yes on I - 1125.

The Enatai neighborhood will hear horrible loud screeching noises, from the trains, if light rail is built. To stop this and help your neighbors in Enatai, VOTE YES on I-1125

Beaux Arts Village; propety owners' names obscured for privacy. Architects, realtors, etc. - we all know where these secret and special neighborhood are, but we also try our best to protect privacy, when posting photos on the net.

From Enatai or nearby, looking WNW at Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island, with the Seattle skyline in the distance, along with the Olympic Mountains. Absolutely gorgeous neighborhood.

Sound Transit construction has already begun on Mercer Island (see the blue and white sign). However, it's clearly illegal to use gas taxes for non-highway purporses, under the State Constitution's 18th Amendement. STOP Illegal, Unconstitutional, and Noisy Light Rail, by Voting YES on I-1125.

Bellefield Office Park - near 112th NE - a Classic Bellevue Mid Century Modern office park, blending in with Native Vegetation. It's build over the Mercer Slough, a giant freshwater wetland that will be harmed if Light Rail is built on I-90. The water in the parking lot is from high volumes of runoff into Lake Washington following heavy snowfall from the La Nina winter of 2010-2011. Photo taken July 4, 2011.

Looking East, I-90 between Seattle and Mercer Island. Bellevue skyline in the distance.