This week in transit: More than proximity

AROUND THE REGION

If you live next to a bus stop, do you necessarily have access to useful public transportation? No! While proximity to a bus stop is an important factor in access, it’s certainly not the only thing that matters. Go read some more over on the RVA Rapid Transit blog about the other factors we should consider when we think about, talk about, and plan how to equitably expand our regional public transportation system..

Year-over-year bus ridership numbers for last month are out, and, whoa: Since last February, ridership has increased 23.8%! That’s incredible.

The Mayor’s proposed budget contains $965,300 for GRTC to provide new and more frequent service, but what are the details? Who gets what new service? Well, wonder no longer, because, earlier this week, the Mayor tweeted out his plans for that new funding: A new route serving the new, under-construction grocery store at 25th & Nine Mile; extending the span of the #86 and #87 on the Southside to 11:30 PM; and adding Sunday service on the #2B.

ELSEWHERE

It’s been a while since I’ve linked to a deeply nerdy transportation article, but consider reading this piece about the details of electric bus batteries. It sounds like battery and charging technology still has some kinks to work out before we start seeing widespread, successful adoption in America.

In battling climate change, electrification is important! But so is providing better transit service to shift trips away from single-occupancy vehicles. TransitCenter has a great piece about how public transportation can and should be a big part of the Green New Deal.

A couple weeks ago, a referendum to fund and expand public transportation in Atlanta suburb Gwinnett failed. Now, just a handful of days later, Republican lawmakers have “crafted a last-minute amendment to an unrelated transportation bill on the penultimate day of the legislative session” to delay future MARTA referendums for seven years. Yikes.

—Ross Catrow

Year-over-year bus ridership continues to increase in the Richmond region

According to the Trend Analysis (PDF) and Monthly Motor Bus Ridership data (PDF) presented at GRTC’s March 19th board meeting, year-over-year ridership in February is up an astonishing 23.8%. Elsewhere, across the nation, bus ridership continues to decline—but not in Richmond.

After years of disinvestment, the region is unlocking tons of latent public transportation demand simply by expanding and extending service—and we’re not finished. We’ve still got a lot of work to do to build a frequent, far-reaching, and equitable regional transit system.

It’s about more than proximity

Mallory Noe-Payne at WVTF has a new story up about our regional public transportation system and asks Who is Public Transportation For?. If you asked me, I’d argue it’s for folks trying to get to work—especially those who can’t afford a car or can no longer drive.

If you then asked me how I’d measure whether or not a person had access to useful public transportation, I’d talk to you about a lot of things—frequency, span, land use, and proximity to a bus stop. All of those things matter, and, often, we only talk about the very last one.

Consider, do you have access to useful public transportation if:

• Your bus only comes once an hour so you must leave your house two hours ahead of your shift or risk being late?
• You work nights but your bus stops running at 7:00 PM?
• Your bus route stops at the county line, two miles from your job, forcing you to walk the rest of the way?
• Your neighborhood lacks the sidewalks necessary to safely walk to the bus stop with your family?
• The short walk to your bus stop involves crossing a major highway without a safe pedestrian crossing?
• The nearest bus stops is a mile from your house?

I’d say if any of those are true, no, you do not have access to useful public transportation.

Richmond has a long history of strategically disinvesting in communities of color and lower-income communities—specifically when it comes to transportation. The entire region must do better (by funding transit at a humane level) and work to provide access to useful public transportation to all Richmonders. We absolutely should do this equitably—with a focus on restoring the connections in to and out of communities of color and lower-income communities. But as we think about, talk about, and plan how to equitably expand our regional public transportation system we need to consider more than folks’ proximity to a bus stop.

This week in transit: Contact your local legislators

TAKE ACTION

If you’re a Richmond City or Henrico County resident, please take two minutes of your day and email your representative in support of the funding for public transportation included in each locality’s budget. To recap:

• In Richmond, the Mayor has proposed $965,000 in new funding for GRTC for “increased service and route frequency to those communities that need it the most.”
• In Henrico, the County Manager has proposed $465,000 to preserve and continue the new service that they launched this past September.

Both of these are worthy investments by our region and should be encouraged! You can find contact information for the Richmond City Council here and contact information for the Henrico Board of Supervisors here. If you’re stuck on what your email should say, keep it simple! Something along the lines of: “I’m a constituent, and I’m happy to see more funding for GRTC in this year’s budget. Please support this much needed investment in our regional public transportation system.”

AROUND THE REGION

At a recent meeting, the GRTC Board of Directors voted to restore some of the frequent, 15-minute service to Fulton’s #4A and #4B bus routes. This peak-only restoration of service will allow folks to get in and out of Fulton—on the way to and from work—much more efficiently and will cut the average wait for folks transferring from the Pulse in half. As our region scrapes together the pieces of the skeletal beginnings of a regional public transportation system, it’s important to remember that even with the influx of funding mentioned above, the Richmond region still spends less on transit per capita than almost any of its peer cities.

ELSEWHERE

This past week, Gwinnett County voters went to the polls and, unfortunately, rejected a 1% sales tax increase to expand public transportation into their region. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s editorial board says that “the changing politics and demographics of Gwinnett seem to guarantee that MARTA will eventually arrive.” Also in the AJC, a demographic breakdown of the vote and five takeaways from their quick analysis of the turnout.

—Ross Catrow