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Brent
03-30-2007, 11:56 AM
CARY TO START TRANSPORTATION SURVEY THIS WEEKEND

CARY, NC – Beginning Saturday, March 31, consultants working for the Town of Cary will start contacting more than 400 Cary residents asking them to state their opinions on a variety of transportation issues in the town; the effort is part of the Town of Cary’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan update and was requested by the Town Council at its March planning retreat. Topics will include streets, transit, sidewalks, and pedestrian issues, both today and in the future. The scientific poll will be conducted via telephone through April 15, with citizens being asked to spend about 18 minutes answering about 30 questions. The survey’s margin of error will be /- 5 percent. All responses to the survey will be anonymous, and demographic information will only be used in the aggregate.

“We hope that those who are called will take the time to give us the feedback we need by participating fully in the survey,” said Town of Cary Principal Planner Juliet Andes.

The Comprehensive Transportation Plan was originally adopted by Town Council in April 2001. The multi-modal plan consists of four elements: roadway, bicycle, pedestrian and transit. The purpose of the Comprehensive Transportation Plan is to update the official Thoroughfare Plan that is used by local, regional, state and federal decision-makers. The plan provides for land reservation for future transportation corridors and helps guide decisions on setbacks and transportation improvements as development occurs today and into the future.

For nearly a decade, the Town of Cary has been leading most North Carolina local governments in conducting valid, scientific research to assist in the decision-making process. The Town’s Biennial Citizen Satisfaction Telephone Survey dates back to 1998. Other research topics have included growth management, amphitheater programming, and transit ridership.

“Just like Gallop, Nielsen, and other national and international pollsters, our consultation is utilizing long-standing, scientifically tested sampling techniques and statistical analyses that allow the survey results to be generalized over the entire population even though not everyone in Cary is being called,” said Town of Cary Public Information Officer Susan Moran.

Cary has contracted with BKL Research of Salem, VA to conduct the Comprehensive Transportation Survey at a cost of $20,000. The survey report is expected in early May.

Results from Cary’s previous research efforts are available online in the Research section at http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pio/surveysresearch/surveysoverview.htm.

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PRIMARY CONTACTS: Juliet Andes, Principal Planner, (919) 462-2008
Tim Bailey, Engineering Director, (919) 469-4091
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, (919) 460-4951
April Little, Deputy Public Information Officer,(919) 481-5091


Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! PICK ME!! :-D

d4vendel
03-30-2007, 12:11 PM
I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find that there are several of "our" phone numbers that somehow fail to get included in the population - much less the random sample. :wink:

MattD
03-30-2007, 12:32 PM
[quote=Town of Cary]
CARY TO START TRANSPORTATION SURVEY THIS WEEKEND

CARY, NC – Beginning Saturday, March 31, consultants working for the Town of Cary will start contacting more than 400 Cary residents asking them to state their opinions on a variety of transportation issues in the town; the effort is part of the Town of Cary’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan update and was requested by the Town Council at its March planning retreat. Topics will include streets, transit, sidewalks, and pedestrian issues, both today and in the future.

Let's guess what the survey will "discover"... Brent, you first.

Wuptdo
03-30-2007, 03:48 PM
Brent wrote:

Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! PICK ME!!
:lol: :lol: :lol: Yeah Brent, I think you are probably on more than one "do not call" list. However, an every so logical LTE to the Cary News may be in order. May I suggest "Pick 3" roads and/or intersections.

d4vendel wrote:

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find that there are several of "our" phone numbers that somehow fail to get included in the population - much less the random sample.
David, as usually directly to the point. (OUCH!) And Agreed.

MattD wrote:

Let's guess what the survey will "discover"... Brent, you first.
Matt, you know when you have lived in a community too long when......(insert "whatever" here). :lol: :lol:

What is wrong with the road plan from a few years ago?

Wuptdo B-)

3LeggedDog
03-30-2007, 10:09 PM
The survey’s margin of error will be /- 5 percent.

The survey's margin of error is -7 as in the council has 7 members that could care less about the results.

Brent
03-31-2007, 08:44 AM
CARY TO START TRANSPORTATION SURVEY THIS WEEKEND

CARY, NC – Beginning Saturday, March 31, consultants working for the Town of Cary will start contacting more than 400 Cary residents asking them to state their opinions on a variety of transportation issues in the town; the effort is part of the Town of Cary’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan update and was requested by the Town Council at its March planning retreat. Topics will include streets, transit, sidewalks, and pedestrian issues, both today and in the future.

Let's guess what the survey will "discover"... Brent, you first.

Here are a few things, given that we can predict what questions will bre asked and how they will be framed:

- the town does a stellar job with sidewalks and bicycle lanes
- Cary citizens drool and fall all over themselves with the idea of walkable communities, mixed-use activity centers and multi-modal transportation
- A good chunk of Cary citizens support the train (assuming that other people, not them, will ride it, thus clearing up the roads for them to drive on...this latter part will be left out, of course)
- A good chunk of Cary citizens support a toll on the Western Wake Expressway (assuming that other people, not them, will pay the toll and drive on it, thus clearing up Davis Drive & Hwy 55 for them to drive on...this latter part will be left out, of course, along with the fact that a toll road for I-540 will make Davis & Hwy 55 much worse).

I'll stop there so that others can add.

To help out, everyone should know that, based on discussion at the retreat, this "survey" has one clear goal, and that is to provide a basis for Council to change the rules about how they measure traffic. This is because it has become evident that we will have multiple failing intersections all over town, and that could look bad on our "best cities" scorecard, so you can be sure that your town council is going to DO SOMETHING about this! No, they aren't fixing the problems; they want to change the way we measure so that the results look better.

But then, the Cary Town Council is fond of putting lipstick on pigs.

Brent
03-31-2007, 08:49 AM
I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find that there are several of "our" phone numbers that somehow fail to get included in the population - much less the random sample. :wink:

Gosh, ya think? :wink: I have full faith that town staff, and by extension, their consultants, "focus every day on enriching the lives of our citizens by creating an exceptional environment and providing exemplary services that enable our community to thrive and prosper."

Brent
03-31-2007, 08:52 AM
What is wrong with the road plan from a few years ago?

Indeed. The overall plan is sound, but of course we know it hasn't been properly funded and we're way behind.

The real goal of this exercise isn't so much to update the plan per se (as in truly making things better), but rather to find a new shade of lipstick to put on the pig of traffic congestion, which is getting worse and could embarrass people who continue to approve high density developments as traffic continues to get worse.

ESPECIALLY people who promised, 4 years ago, to "Unclog Cary's crowded streets".

DarylB
04-02-2007, 06:17 PM
What is wrong with the road plan from a few years ago?

Indeed. The overall plan is sound, but of course we know it hasn't been properly funded and we're way behind.

The real goal of this exercise isn't so much to update the plan per se (as in truly making things better), but rather to find a new shade of lipstick to put on the pig of traffic congestion, which is getting worse and could embarrass people who continue to approve high density developments as traffic continues to get worse.

ESPECIALLY people who promised, 4 years ago, to "Unclog Cary's crowded streets".

http://home.mindspring.com/~bakerdl/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/pig-lipstick.jpg

Shocking, simply shocking..... :?