TAKE ACTION

Last month the Rev. Ben Campbell gave the keynote address to the 2018 Virginia Transit Association Annual Conference. This week, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch or read that keynote. He focuses on how transit agencies guard our democracies by guaranteeing the freedom of each individual, building the foundations of the urban community, and developing the framework of the modern city. Definitely worth your time!

AROUND THE REGION

GRTC has launched a new route planning tool that will let you compare and contrast today’s system with the new system that launches on June 24th. For a few examples of how the new system can make for shorter, more frequent, and more efficient trips, head on over to the @rvarapidtransit Twitter feed. Oh, also! You should follow us on Twitter, too!

Want a quick explainer about how the Pulse will work come June 24th? Check out this short, high-energy video from NBC12’s Drew Wilder. And, of course, if you have any other questions, please send them to and we’ll try our best to get them answered.

ELSEWHERE

What happens when the folks in charge of transit systems decide to use that transit system? Here’s a video about one Detroit politician who took the bus to a suburban job center 25 miles outside of the city. As you can imagine it took a loooooong, annoying amount of time to get there—but his trip is very similar to something people living off of Jeff Davis Highway in Chesterfield County do all the time. Next up, TransitCenter looks at what can happen if transit agencies put riders on their boards or if their board members regularly use the transit system they’re in charge of overseeing.

StreetsBlog has a great article about how some cities are working with their fire departments to accommodate those extra-wide fire trucks and more complete streets that include pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements.

As Charlotte moves forward with building light rail, a single sentence in the state’s budget may kill the Orange Line project—and future light rail projects in North Carolina. Not great!

If you'd like to support RVA Rapid Transit's work to bring a truly regional transit system to Richmond, consider making a tax-deductible donation.

—Ross Catrow