NO NO NO on KK: Anti-Transit, Anti-Environment, Anti-Government

Berkeley sometimes puts one-of-a-kind measures on the ballot. Some are innovative and great. Some are truly terrible ideas. This is one of the terrible ones.

If passed, Measure KK would require a citywide vote for any proposal for transit-only or HOV lanes. It is anti-transit, anti-environment, and anti-government.

Anti-Transit: KK's primary goal is to stop the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project proposed to connect Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro. Opponents have not been able to win what they want in the dozens (hundreds?) of public meetings so far, so they're trying this ballot measure.

BRT is a great idea for Berkeley and the East Bay. I want to ride a bus that doesn't have to slog through traffic from downtown Berkeley to downtown Oakland. Students will flock to quicker service that helps them get to UC and Berkeley City College. It will give more people a better alternative to driving. That's why my organization has been supporting some version of this idea for nearly all of the 10 years I've been working as a transit advocate.

Anti-Environment: Half of the greenhouse gas emissions in the Bay Area come from transportation. We need to improve local mass transit. It is stupid that a bus carrying 40, or even 10 or 15, people has to sit in traffic hemmed in by cars with one or two people each. And let's confront reality: some of the changes that make it easier to get around on transit will also make it harder for people to get around in a car. If we want to combat global warming, business as usual is not going to work.

Anti-Democratic: Measure KK would add an expensive and unnecessary hurdle to an already complex process that has LOTS of public involvement. Berkeley and the whole BRT process has already had dozens - maybe hundreds - of public meetings, and there will be many more. That involvement has already changed the project a lot, and it will change more before it is (hopefully) approved.

Because it would add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of developing a proposal like this, Measure KK would reduce the amount of time and attention a city, or a transit district, could put to this type of process. So we'd lose negotiation and compromise and get a single up-down vote. If you want to cripple our government, this seems like a good idea. If you want government to work, it is a terrible idea.

Please join me in voting NO on KK. If you want more info:

• Read FAQs about KK and learn more about why to vote No.
  
• See people/groups you trust on the list of endorsements for No on KK: every single City Councilmember, Sierra Club, League of Women Voters, a huge number of groups.