First off, thank you to everyone that came out to our event this past Thursday to talk bus networks, land use, progress on the Pulse, and about our region's public transportation system. We had a ton of fun working with the folks from TransitCenter and Partnership for Smarter Growth to put together the event, and we hope to do more like it in the future.
If you couldn't make it out, we're working on getting video from Thursday night up on our website. Stay tuned!
TAKE ACTION
On Monday at the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center (1440 N. Laburnum Avenue) from 5:30–7:00 PM, Henrico will hold the second of three public meetings to "reconsider the goals and priorities for the future of transit service in our community." This is, in part, to adjust bus service in Henrico to work seamlessly with the Pulse and changes to Richmond's portion of the region's transit network, but it's also a chance to dream big and think about building the best possible transit system in the County. If you can't make Monday's meeting, there's another one on November 2nd, and you can always fill out their online survey.
AROUND THE REGION
Chesterfield County Supervisors will hold a bunch of meetings over the next couple of weeks to discuss the FY19 budget. These meetings are an excellent opportunity to show up and ask County officials about funding public transit. Remember: Through the County's own Blueprint Chesterfield process, residents expressed a need and desire to fund public transportation—you can read a refresher on that here.
Newport News and Hampton are working on the plans for a regional Bus Rapid Transit line. They're still early on in the process and will hire a contractor to conduct an enviornmental analysis for some of the proposed routes early next year. This article does a good job at outlining the process of building high-quality transit from the ground up. If everything goes smoothly, Hampton Roads Transit officials say construction could start by 2024—big transportation projects can take forever!
ELSEWHERE
The U.S. Department of Transportation released the 2016 vehicle fatality stats, and Streetsblog has a summary. 37,461 people died in vehicle crashes last year, which includes a 9% increase in pedestrian deaths over the previous year. Every transit rider is a pedestrian at some point, and we need to work hard at improving pedestrian safety as we expand transit service across the region.
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