TAKE ACTION
Quick reminder: A bunch of folks will be at Henrico’s Board of Supervisors meeting this Tuesday, September 25th, at 7:00 PM in the Henrico Government Center Administrative Building. If you want to show your support for expanded public transportation in Henrico County, all you’ve got to do is show up and wear green!
If you plan on attending, please RSVP here.
AROUND THE REGION
Hold on to your email apps, because there’s a ton of bus-related news to read this week!
The Richmond Times-Dispatch looked at the launch of new bus service in Henrico and talked to some of the county supervisors about what’s next. Everyone sounds generally supportive, which is great and encouraging. Across the county org chart, Richmond BizSense spoke with County Manager John Vithoulkas and he had a ton of incredibly positive things to say about access to jobs, transit-oriented development, and planning for the future in Henrico County. The change in attitude about public transportation in Henrico County is simply astounding.
Early last week, GRTC dropped some new ridership numbers for the Pulse and the local routes. Pulse ridership is about 6,000 per day, crushing the goal of 3,500, while local service has seen an increase from 141,000 to between 152,000–162,000 weekly riders.
Mayor Stoney announced that he’ll submit an ordinance this week to make bus rides free in the City on Election Day. Increasing access to public transportation and voting? Sounds like a win-win.
This week, the Greater Washington Partnership released a report on how the Capital Region (Richmond, D.C., and Baltimore) can rethink the bus (PDF) as a way to improve mobility across the entire super region. Here’s a rundown of the report’s recommendations for Richmond and how they relate to some of the initiatives and plans we’ve already got going on.
Finally, because there’s always work to be done, NBC12 looks at just how dangerous it is to cross the street at the Shockoe Bottom Pulse Station. This is obviously a concern for Henrico as well, but public transportation is only accessible if folks have a safe way to get to and from it.
—Ross Catrow