TAKE ACTION
Looking for a way to give back on Thanksgiving? How about volunteering to spend some time on the bus! This Thanksgiving, GRTC will offer free rides to and from the annual Giving Heart Community Thanksgiving Feast, and they're looking for folks to welcome, direct, and help riders boarding the bus on the way to the Feast. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, just reply to this email and I'll get you pointed in the right direction!
An early reminder: Giving Tuesday is right around the corner. If the stress of Black Friday Sales fills you with anxiety, consider chipping in a couple bucks towards the RVA Rapid Transit cause? Or maybe even signing up for a monthly donation of $10, $25, or $50 bucks. Every bit helps!
AROUND THE REGION
Jackie Kruszewski, writing for Richmond Magazine, has a good overview of the transportation picture in Chesterfield County. Folks who live in the County would like access to shopping, education and job training at John Tyler, and the opportunity to buy healthy food at a grocery store. These are not outrageous requests! In the next few months we should know more about the County's public transportation plans for Route 1. Stay tuned.
ELSEWHERE
Wake County, North Carolina had their State of the County address, in which building a regional transportation system was named a central goal along with a world-class educational system and great quality of life. The Board of Commissioners chairman put it well: "All of these are so important because, in today's economy, talented professionals can and will go anywhere that these three are abundant and strong." Take note, Richmond region!
This review of the last two years of transit investment in Seattle is simultaneously obvious and mind-blowing. When faced with a budget shortfall due to the Great Recession, Seattle voters passed a funding referendum to prevent deep cuts to their transit system. When the measure eventually passed, the recession had ended, and what was once a Save Transit effort then became an Expand Transit effort. The result speaks for itself: "In fact, bus-based transit has seen some of the largest gains on the RapidRide C, D, and E Lines. The RapidRide C Line, for instance, has experienced a 40% growth in ridership since 2015. This growth was partially induced by 71,000 additional service hours (21% of the new service hours funded by the STBD in 2015-2016) that were showered onto the RapidRide lines during the first year of STBD investments." If you increase transit service and make it more useful, more people will ride!
Here's a quick, three-minute video about how to improve school transportation—you know, the yellow buses that crisscross all of America every weekday morning and afternoon. By better integrating with public transportation, schools can save money and provide students with better access to their towns, cities, and regions.
If you'd like to support RVA Rapid Transit's work to bring a truly regional transit system to Richmond, consider picking up an awesome transit map T-shirt or making a tax-deductible donation.
—Ross Catrow