This week in transit: The New vs. The Old

TAKE ACTION

Last month the Rev. Ben Campbell gave the keynote address to the 2018 Virginia Transit Association Annual Conference. This week, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch or read that keynote. He focuses on how transit agencies guard our democracies by guaranteeing the freedom of each individual, building the foundations of the urban community, and developing the framework of the modern city. Definitely worth your time!

AROUND THE REGION

GRTC has launched a new route planning tool that will let you compare and contrast today’s system with the new system that launches on June 24th. For a few examples of how the new system can make for shorter, more frequent, and more efficient trips, head on over to the @rvarapidtransit Twitter feed. Oh, also! You should follow us on Twitter, too!

Want a quick explainer about how the Pulse will work come June 24th? Check out this short, high-energy video from NBC12’s Drew Wilder. And, of course, if you have any other questions, please send them to and we’ll try our best to get them answered.

ELSEWHERE

What happens when the folks in charge of transit systems decide to use that transit system? Here’s a video about one Detroit politician who took the bus to a suburban job center 25 miles outside of the city. As you can imagine it took a loooooong, annoying amount of time to get there—but his trip is very similar to something people living off of Jeff Davis Highway in Chesterfield County do all the time. Next up, TransitCenter looks at what can happen if transit agencies put riders on their boards or if their board members regularly use the transit system they’re in charge of overseeing.

StreetsBlog has a great article about how some cities are working with their fire departments to accommodate those extra-wide fire trucks and more complete streets that include pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements.

As Charlotte moves forward with building light rail, a single sentence in the state’s budget may kill the Orange Line project—and future light rail projects in North Carolina. Not great!

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If you'd like to support RVA Rapid Transit's work to bring a truly regional transit system to Richmond, consider making a tax-deductible donation.

—Ross Catrow

This week in transit: 28 days to go

TAKE ACTION

Two transit-oriented reminders for you today:

1. On May 30th, the Partnership for Smarter Growth will host a forum on the Pulse, transit-oriented development on Broad Street, and the exciting changes to the existing bus network. The evening will begin with a walking tour of one of the new Pulse stations followed by a panel featuring Carrie Rose Pace from GRTC and Mark Olinger, the City’s Director of Planning and Development Review. You can (and should) RSVP for the free event here.
2. GRTC still needs volunteers to help remove the temporary bus stop sign covers in preparation for the network switchover. Do your part and sign up for a shift. They’ve got 1,600 bus stops and 1,100 of those will need covers removed, so they definitely need your help!

Oh, also, you should watch this Back to the Future inspired commercial for the Pulse.

AROUND THE REGION

A couple of months ago, Chesterfield County, in partnership with Goodwill and Uber, launched an on-demand transportation pilot program targeted towards Chesterfield residents receiving treatment for opioid addiction. Vanessa Remmers at the RTD has an update on that program. In April the program served 11 people and provided 120 rides at the cost of $2,244. That’s $18.70 per ride, which is more than what it costs GRTC per trip for its demand response service ($17.89) and four times more than what it costs GRTC for each fixed-route bus trip ($4.34). You can find those numbers in this agency profile from the National Transit Database (PDF). This pilot program undoubtably serves a need for a small number of Chesterfield residents, but the County could serve far more people with far better service by offering fixed-route buses along its major corridors.

As we get closer and closer to the Pulse opening, we’re seeing more and more transit-oriented development along the Pulse corridor. Richmond BizSense says a mixed use building at 10 W. Broad Street, which is adjacent to the Arts District stop, has sold for $2 million. Of the move, the developer says, “With the bus rapid transit line, and more businesses moving back along West Broad Street, we see a lot of promise in the area for more growth.”

Have you forgotten all of the fun new transit things we get when the Pulse and new network open on June 24th? It’s a long list, so that’s understandable. Luckily, Sarah King at Richmond Magazine will remind you!

ELSEWHERE

The Times-Picayune, has a series “examining what happened to the economic promise in New Orleans in the years after Hurricane Katrina,” and one part of that series looks at their (lack of) regional transportation network. Read this and you’ll see a lot of the same issues facing Richmond as we work towards building our regional transit network.

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If you'd like to support RVA Rapid Transit's work to bring a truly regional transit system to Richmond, consider making a tax-deductible donation.

—Ross Catrow