AROUND THE REGION

This past Tuesday, a GRTC Pulse driver hit and killed, Alice E. Woodson, 32, near the intersection of Broad and Lombardy Streets. According to WTVR, “early reports indicate that Woodson was in the bus lane and that the bus had the right of way when the collision occurred.” Regardless of who was at fault, this is an incredibly awful situation for everyone involved—the victim and their family, the bus operator, bus riders, and bystanders. Every bus rider begins and ends their trip as a pedestrian, and GRTC, the City, and the State should do everything in their respective powers to keep folks safe as they move around the region, whether that’s on foot, by bike, or taking the bus.

Related to pedestrian safety in the City of Richmond, the Mayor will introduce new legislation this coming Monday to “penalize motor vehicle operators who drive distracted while using a handheld communication device.”

Wyatt Gordon at Greater Greater Washington has an interview with GRTC’s new CEO, Julie Timm. She answers a few questions on ridership, stop amenities, regional funding, and fare evasion.

This past week, RVA Rapid Transit co-hosted a Richmond 5th District City Council candidate forum. We asked each of the candidates a bunch of policy-heavy questions on a variety of topics—including transportation. If you’re a 5th District resident, or just someone interested in how the next City Councilmember feels about transportation policy, take a look at the candidates’ full responses over on the Mayorathon website.

ELSEWHERE

This week, New York City transformed 14th Street into a busway by banning cars between Third and Ninth Avenues. This means an entire street of dedicated bus lanes—not just for bus rapid transit, but for regular ol’ local service buses. It’s been a massive success. Of course this was a tremendous political lift for advocates and transit supporters and not something you could just do overnight (although, Everett, Massachusetts did exactly that).

Our friends at TransitCenter have a new report out about fare policy—thrilling stuff! GRTC has implemented a chunk of the recommendations, but there are still some good opportunities to improve the fare policy in the Richmond region (fare capping!).

—Ross Catrow