AROUND THE REGION

Big transit news continues to roll out of Chesterfield County! The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that County staff have asked the state’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation to conduct a public transit feasibility study on the Jefferson Davis Highway corridor. Last year, the same state agency helped put together the Greater RVA Transit Vision Plan which recommends a frequent bus route down this very corridor. This new study should include much more detail—stuff like stop location, frequency, service span, and construction/operation costs. We could get a look at the study (fingers crossed) by the end of the year.

Citizens of Henrico! GRTC has announced the public meeting dates for the update to their Transit Development Plan—the County version of the Richmond Transit Network Plan. You’ve got three opportunities to weigh in on the coming changes to transit in Henrico County: Thursday, October 5th; Monday, October 16th; and Thursday, November 2nd. All of these meetings have the same content, so no need to attend all three.

ELSEWHERE

This excellent piece at Governing.com about bus network redesigns is totally worth your time. If you’re new to Richmond’s bus network redesign (the above mentioned Richmond Transit Network Plan), this is a great place to start.

Amazon is looking to build a new headquarters and has put out an RFP for hopeful cities (PDF). One of their core site requirements is “direct access to rail, train, subway/metro, bus routes.” The Richmond region should take note! We need to continue to improve our transit network so the region remains a competitive and attractive place for both employers and employees.

The Nashville area is already a couple steps ahead of Richmond in the work to dramatically improve their regional transit system. Moving Foward, a transit initiative out of the Nashville Area Chamber, seems like a good blueprint our region could follow.

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