TAKE ACTION

Henricoans! The time has come! Henrico County will host three meetings to ask the public for feedback and guidance as they consider improvements to their portion of the region's transportation network. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for the County to improve and expand the public transportation they provide and a great way for citizens to get involved. Keep an eye out for the County's recommendations at some point before these meetings take place.

Meeting dates and locations:

October 5th, Libbie Mill Library (2100 Libbie Lake East Street)
October 16th, Eastern Henrico Recreation Center (1440 N. Laburnum Avenue)
November 2nd, Tuckahoe Area Library (1901 Starling Drive)

All of these meetings run from 5:30–7:00 PM and the content is identical—so just pick the one that works best for your calendar.

Important note! If you need transportation to these meetings, please send us an email.

AROUND THE REGION

On October 12th, RVA Rapid Transit (that's us!) and Partnership for Smarter Growth will host an event with the excellent transit experts from TransitCenter. We'll discuss where Richmond fits in with national trends regarding bus networks, BRTs, transit-oriented land use, streetscaping, and how cities and transit agencies work together. If you're transit fan or just transit-curious, come on out and learn from some serious experts!

On October 17th—along with Richmond Hill and Hope in the Cities—we're hosting a faith-based screening of Free to Ride, a documentary which examines the intersection of public transportation and civil rights. Check out the trailer here. If you're a faith leader or part of a congregation that wants to get involved in the work to expand the region's public transit, please send us an email and let us know.

So many events! So many ways to get involved!

ELSEWHERE

Work on the Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit continues in Fairfax County. This particular plan includes a ton of transit-oriented development planning in addition to the plain, old transit planning. You can envision this sort of thing—rapid transit plus significant development centers—down any of our region's major corridors (Broad Street, Midlothian, Hull Street, or Route 1).

All the way over on the other side of the county, Eugene, Oregon will open the next extension of their BRT. Reading through this editorial, it's hard not to get excited for one day extending the Pulse down Broad Street out to Short Pump. All those people, all those jobs!

Here's a fascinating article about new legislation pending in San Francisco that would ban private transit vehicles from directly competing with public transit. Private companies, like Chariot, could still provide service in the city—as long as it doesn't duplicate existing public transit service.

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