This week in transit: RPS high school students ride for free

TAKE ACTION

The unlimited bus pass program for RPS high school students begins on October 1st! If you’re a parent or guardian of an RPS high school student, and want them to have unlimited bus access to all our City has to offer (at no cost to you!), you’ll need to fill out this permission slip (PDF) and return it to your school’s liaison. If you have any questions about how the program works, you should read this handy FAQ, and if you’ve still got questions, shoot an email to Pass Program Administrator Kendra Norrell ().

AROUND THE REGION

One week from today GRTC will launch its next round of bus service updates which include a bus to Short Pump and expanded hours on its major lines. This is huge and exciting! You can find a list of those changes (plus all of the other changes going live on September 16th) over on GRTC’s website.

As always, if you have any questions about how you, your business, your congregation, or your bus-curious friends and family can take advantage of the new lines, please reach out and let us know! We’re happy to help.

ELSEWHERE

Today, here are a bunch of links about the connections between housing and transit:

• CityLab looks at a new study that finds that commute distance impacts the likelihood of a person getting a callback for a job interview. As affordable housing moves further away from city centers, and further away from transit, commute times increase and opportunities decrease.
• As Charlotte works on a ballot measure to dump $50 million into their housing trust fund, they’ll focus on “making housing investments that consider employment and transportation amenities.”
• The California state legislature passed a bill (which is on its way to the governor’s desk) that would “allow the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to establish zoning standards for its station areas so that it can easily build more housing there.” BART has set a goal of building 20,000 units, with 30% of them affordable, by 2040.
• A transit advocacy group in San Diego has released a report detailing how many affordable homes could be build on all the parking lots owned by that city’s transit agency. Spoiler: It’s a lot.

—Ross Catrow

This week in transit: See you in Henrico on September 25th

TAKE ACTION

Join us on September 25th at the Henrico Board of Supervisors in a display of support for public transportation. We’re looking for at least 40 folks to come out, wear green, and look supportive. We’ll have a couple of people signed up for public comment, and when they ask you to stand up, you stand up. That’s it! So easy. This particular meeting comes about a week after Henrico begins service on the largest expansion of public transit in the County in the last 25 years—so we’re there mostly to thank the Board for their work and encourage further expansion.

While this effort is put together by our region’s faith-based leaders, it is certainly not a strictly faith-based gathering.

AROUND THE REGION

Justin Mattingly at the Richmond Times-Dispatch spoke with Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras as we get ready to head into the new school year. Kamras talks about the challenges facing the district, equity, and his plans to address racial segregation in schools. As he considers theme-based magnet schools and district rezoning, he recognizes that “transportation becomes a huge equity issue when you try to pursue something like that, so that’s going to have to be a huge investment as we think about that going forward.” This, of course, remains true after our region’s youth move on from school and into the workforce. Richmonders should have access to the region’s jobs, regardless of whether or not they can own and drive a car.

Richmond Magazine just published their 2018 Best & Worst list—a reader survey spread across a million and one different categories. This year they asked their readers to finish this sentence: “The GRTC Pulse will...” The number one answer: ”The GRTC Pulse will be great.” Love it!

ELSEWHERE

City Lab has an extensive history of transit in the U.S. titled “How America Killed Transit.” It’s depressing, but worth your time. Here’s the gist: “What happened? Over the past hundred years the clearest cause is this: Transit providers in the U.S. have continually cut basic local service in a vain effort to improve their finances. But they only succeeded in driving riders and revenue away. When the transit service that cities provide is not attractive, the demand from passengers that might ‘justify’ its improvement will never materialize.”

As you know, I’m keeping an eye on cities implementing electric bus pilot programs. Rochester just launched one after winning a federal grant that allowed them to buy one bus and a charging system. Total cost of the program: $2.3 million! These things, while definitely the future, are expensive.

The 2018 Sorriest Bus Stops tournament continues, and this week it’s down to the Final Four of bad bus stops. The stop in Cincinnati is terrible, but, wow, the one in Vancouver is not a place I would ever feel safe getting on and off a bus.

—Ross Catrow

This week in transit: More transit arrives on September 16th

TAKE ACTION

GRTC needs extras for their new marketing campaign to promote public transportation in Henrico County. They’re looking for folks on a bunch of different days, so if you’d like to be a bus model, just send an email to . Also, I hear there’s free food!

Here are the details:

• What: Extras needed for film and still photography to promote Henrico service changes.
• Potential film dates: Wednesday September 5th, Thursday September 6th, Friday September 7th, and Monday September 10th. We are shooting for two days, however, we have baked in rain dates in the event the weather is not cooperative.
• Potential still photography dates: Thursday, September 13th, Friday September 14th, Monday September 17th, and Tuesday September 18th. We are shooting for two days, however, we have baked in rain dates in the event the weather is not cooperative.
• Contact information:
• Tentative Schedule: 7:30 AM–5:00 PM
• Who: 7 years old and up, all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

AROUND THE REGION

Expanded bus service in Henrico begins on September 16th, which is right around the corner! The County has put together this neat page with an explanation of the changes you should expect. The bus to Short Pump kind of steals the show, but expanded night and weekend hours is a big deal—and don’t sleep on the fact that the #19 (aka the Short Pump bus) is now a $1.50 bus instead of a $2.00 bus. This means less complicated and cheaper transfers between it and the rest of the system.

Also on September 16th, a whole slew of tweaks and updates to the rest of GRTC’s system goes live. Most exciting: The Pulse will begin service at 5:00AM and will have its frequency increased from every 15-minutes to every 10-minutes until 7:00 PM (thanks VCU!). Also exciting, in addition to all of the Henrico stuff mentioned above, the #18 will now connect the Willow Lawn Pulse station to both Libbie Mill and the Staples Mill train station.

Back in June, when the Pulse opened, I spent the day riding the bus around with Blaine Lay of the Two People Podcast. He recorded our adventure, and you can listen to it here if you’ve ever wondered what a Day in the Life of Ross is like.

ELSEWHERE

Joelle Ballam at TransitCenter rode one of New York City’s new, pilot-program electric buses, and has some thoughts about transit agencies moving all or part of their fleet to electric. Noting the obvious health and sustainability advantages of electric buses, Ballam cautions: “One potential pitfall of the declarations for all-electric fleets is that agencies may be inviting technical performance problems to go along with their other systemic issues.” That seems like wisdom.

Every year, Streets Blog hosts the Sorriest Bus Stop Tournament. Riders from around the country submit photos of the worst bus stops in their towns, folks vote, and then an eventual...champion?...is crowned. We’re in the Elite Eight at the moment, and, dang, those are some bad bus stops. Of course Richmond has its fair share of terribly unsafe and inhumane bus stops, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like that “bus stop” in Cincinnati. If you frequent a local stop and think it’d be improved by a bench, trash can, or shelter, drop an email. GRTC is actively installing new bus stop amenities and would like to hear from y’all about where they’re needed most.

—Ross Catrow

Isaiah Project Speaks

The Isaiah Project organizes encouraging, broad-based showings of support for expanded public transportation during public comment period at Board of Supervisors meetings in Henrico and in Chesterfield. We go out four times a year, twice to Henrico and twice to Chesterfield. These outings are called "Isaiah Project Speaks." While communities of faith in each locality lead the way, we invite broad regional solidarity and participation.

At each meeting, we will have a few speakers during the Public Comment Period. All you have to do is show up, look encouraging, and rise together when one of our speakers invites supporters to stand. As you’re able, please wear something green (RVA Rapid Transit also has green "Ready to Ride!" t-shirts you can purchase at cost for $6 - simply contact info@rvarapidtransit). We will also have an opportunity to pray ahead of the meeting. 

So that we can get a sense of numbers, please rsvp here for Isaiah Project Speaks in Henrico on Sept 25 and here for Isaiah Project Speaks in Chesterfield on Oct 24. We are hoping to have at least 40 people of faith out at each of these meetings this fall. Your participation makes the difference!

Isaiah Project Speaks in Henrico

Henrico Board of Supervisors Meetings, 7 p.m. Tues, Sept 25

4301 East Parham Road, 23228 (Henrico Government Center Administration Building)

Isaiah Project Speaks in Chesterfield

Chesterfield Board of Supervisors Meetings, 6 p.m. Wed, Oct 24

10001 Iron Bridge Road, 23832 (Chesterfield County Public Meeting Room)

For more details or to sign up to join in a Board of Supervisor meeting, please contact isaiahproject@richmondhill.org or see rvarapidtransit.org/isaiah.