Sun, Nov 22 2009
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Kansas residents outline transportation priorities Many community officials, including those from Pittsburg, also want more funding to develop their airports. Requests ranged from $1 million on the low end to $3 million on the high end to complete modernization, preservation and economic development projects. But Ed Young, KDOT’s aviation director, said Federal Aviation Association funding is harder to come by. “They are suggesting that 60 Kansas airports receive less money, and 14 rural airports are cut off altogether,” he said. Public transit Rick Knight, advocacy coordinator with the Southeast Kansas Independent Living, based in Pittsburg, urged the state to make regional public transit a priority. Currently, KDOT subsidizes costs associated with purchasing vehicles and provides $4,000 in operating funds per year to groups that provide transportation for the elderly and disabled. Lisa Koch, public transportation manager for KDOT, led a breakout session in which the challenges were discussed. “There are a number of issues ... intercity transportation from smaller communities to larger ones, to work sites, for medical reasons. “There are third-shift employees who don’t have a guaranteed ride home because of a lack in coordinated transit, there are larger businesses like Amazon and Cessna looking to employ more people, but some have to come from an hour to an hour and a half away in Oklahoma and Missouri, and with gas costs, can’t afford to drive.” Railroads Opinions on whether the state should fund railway improvements — and if so, how — were varied, with railway advocates requesting state support that they say would alleviate the overburdened highway system. Among other requests, Ed McKechnie, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Watco Companies, a short-line railroad based in Pittsburg, urged the state to consider re-establishing a railway advisory group. “We don’t have a single portal for folks to raise issues on a statewide basis. It’s frustrating when you feel like you’re out there all by yourself. We need a place to go to raise hands and ask questions and advocate for priorities.” Car loadings have more than doubled since 2001 and rural communities in Southeast Kansas depend on rail more than many residents realize, McKechnie explained. 
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