TAKE ACTION

GRTC needs extras for their new marketing campaign to promote public transportation in Henrico County. They’re looking for folks on a bunch of different days, so if you’d like to be a bus model, just send an email to . Also, I hear there’s free food!

Here are the details:

What: Extras needed for film and still photography to promote Henrico service changes.
Potential film dates: Wednesday September 5th, Thursday September 6th, Friday September 7th, and Monday September 10th. We are shooting for two days, however, we have baked in rain dates in the event the weather is not cooperative.
Potential still photography dates: Thursday, September 13th, Friday September 14th, Monday September 17th, and Tuesday September 18th. We are shooting for two days, however, we have baked in rain dates in the event the weather is not cooperative.
Contact information:
Tentative Schedule: 7:30 AM–5:00 PM
Who: 7 years old and up, all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

AROUND THE REGION

Expanded bus service in Henrico begins on September 16th, which is right around the corner! The County has put together this neat page with an explanation of the changes you should expect. The bus to Short Pump kind of steals the show, but expanded night and weekend hours is a big deal—and don’t sleep on the fact that the #19 (aka the Short Pump bus) is now a $1.50 bus instead of a $2.00 bus. This means less complicated and cheaper transfers between it and the rest of the system.

Also on September 16th, a whole slew of tweaks and updates to the rest of GRTC’s system goes live. Most exciting: The Pulse will begin service at 5:00AM and will have its frequency increased from every 15-minutes to every 10-minutes until 7:00 PM (thanks VCU!). Also exciting, in addition to all of the Henrico stuff mentioned above, the #18 will now connect the Willow Lawn Pulse station to both Libbie Mill and the Staples Mill train station.

Back in June, when the Pulse opened, I spent the day riding the bus around with Blaine Lay of the Two People Podcast. He recorded our adventure, and you can listen to it here if you’ve ever wondered what a Day in the Life of Ross is like.

ELSEWHERE

Joelle Ballam at TransitCenter rode one of New York City’s new, pilot-program electric buses, and has some thoughts about transit agencies moving all or part of their fleet to electric. Noting the obvious health and sustainability advantages of electric buses, Ballam cautions: “One potential pitfall of the declarations for all-electric fleets is that agencies may be inviting technical performance problems to go along with their other systemic issues.” That seems like wisdom.

Every year, Streets Blog hosts the Sorriest Bus Stop Tournament. Riders from around the country submit photos of the worst bus stops in their towns, folks vote, and then an eventual...champion?...is crowned. We’re in the Elite Eight at the moment, and, dang, those are some bad bus stops. Of course Richmond has its fair share of terribly unsafe and inhumane bus stops, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like that “bus stop” in Cincinnati. If you frequent a local stop and think it’d be improved by a bench, trash can, or shelter, drop an email. GRTC is actively installing new bus stop amenities and would like to hear from y’all about where they’re needed most.

—Ross Catrow