TAKE ACTION

Do you live, work, or hang out in the City of Richmond? Do you think it's important to increase the reach, efficiency, and accessibility of our public transit system? Do you just love buses and want to help advocate for a better transit network within the city for all of Richmond's residents? Then you should join our Richmond Transit Team! Just respond to this email, and I'll get you connected!

AROUND THE REGION

Last week, the RTD ran this excellent editorial written by Omari Al-Qadaffi, Amy Wentz, Adrienne Cole Johnson, and Tobias Estes titled "Transportation access is essential for social justice." Yes! If, after reading this article, you'd like to learn more, you can head over to the United Steel Workers of America Local 400 (184 E. Belt Boulevard, Suite 400) on Sunday, November 12 at 2:30 PM for a film screening and a community conversation about transportation access.

Check out this map recently published by GRTC which shows all of the new routes and bus stop locations in our soon-to-be-revamped transit network. We're still months away from the new network's launch, but it's never to soon to figure out if the redesign will impact your route and stop.

This week, Mayor Stoney announced a Request for Proposals for the redevelopment of a multi-block area downtown surrounding the Coliseum—the North of Broad/Downtown Neighborhood Redevelopment Project. In addition to a new 17,500-seat arena and a hotel for the Convention Center, the RFP requires that proposals include plans for a new GRTC Transfer Station. The RFP's language is super pro-transit, which I'll quote a bit here: "The City recognizes the integral role of transit in development and economic growth. The Pulse BRT (bus rapid transit) is one example of the City’s acknowledgement of the role transit plays in modern cities. The City expects the Project to incorporate the best practices of New Urbanism and transit connectivity into the development plan. In doing so, it should consider two GRTC assets in the vicinity of the Project Area: the bus transfer station and the GRTC Pulse BRT line. Proposals shall address and incorporate both assets." You can download the RFP here (PDF).

ELSEWHERE

This past week, the citizens of Denver approved a $937 million funding referendum—$431 million of which will go to improving walking, biking, and transit. Hooray for dedicated transit funding!

TransitCenter looks at LA's recent foray into "micro transit," and they are...not huge fans. Subsidizing on-demand transit in dense areas that are already served by high-quality public transit may not make a lot of sense, but in less dense areas—far from major corridors—it could be a useful tool for some transit agencies. It'll be interesting to see how cities and towns around the country experiment with this technology.

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.

—Ross Catrow