TAKE ACTION
Giving Tuesday is just a couple of days from now, but you don't have to wait until Tuesday to support RVA Rapid Transit. Would you consider donating a couple of bucks to help us continue to advocate, educate, and organize for a frequent and far-reaching public transportation system? You can give $5, $15, $50 (or any amount, really) right on our website. Every bit helps!
AROUND THE REGION
Big news from GRTC: Coming soon we'll get weekday service from 6:00 AM – 7:00 PM to the airport every 30 minutes! You can see the route adjustment on GRTC's interactive map or check out the new, final route maps when they drop sometime in the near future.
Speaking of finalized documents, here are the final route numbers, names, frequencies, and spans (PDF) for the new system. Keep in mind that some of these routes run as a combined, single route and then later branch into multiple routes. For example: the 1A, 1B, and 1C all run down Chamberlayne providing 15-minute service. When they get across the river, they head off in different directions (Midlothian, Warwick, and Elkhardt) and consequently are less frequent. All of these new routes launch whenever the Pulse launches, and there's still no word on that date.
Vanessa Remmers at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a story about The Giving Heart Thanksgiving Feast that took place this past week. Shoutout to GRTC for providing folks with free rides to this event on a chilly Thanksgiving. Double shoutout to volunteer bus ambassador Kelly Brown, who hadn't ridden a city bus until she decided to give some of her time to a good cause on Thursday.
ELSEWHERE
Streetsblog looks at a new report that says improving transit can reduce racial disparities in employment. For example, in Detroit, "Black workers commute via transit at 13 times the rate of workers," and "Black transit commuters are twice as likely to spend more than an hour getting to work than white riders." You can download and read the full report (PDF).
Albuquerque will open their brand new BRT early next year, and, as you can imagine, they're excited about wrapping up the construction. In fact, their mayor was on hand to remove the first construction cone from the project.
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.
Photo by: Vince B
—Ross Catrow