TAKE ACTION

Now that elections are in the past, it’s a great time to let your newly-elected officials know (or remind the folks that got reelected) that public transportation is a priority for our region. Take a couple minutes today and send your councilmember or Board of Supervisors representative an email telling them that buses rock!

If you need help getting your email started, here are a few things to ask for—one for each jurisdiction:

Richmond: Email your City Councilmember and let them know you’d like the span of frequent, daytime bus service extended until at least 10:00 PM (it ends at 7:00 PM today).
Henrico: Ask your Board of Supervisor representative what their plans are for building better pedestrian infrastructure along Broad Street to improve access to the Pulse and #19 bus.
Chesterfield: Let the new (and returning) Board of Supervisor representatives know that you support the soon-to-launch #111 bus along Route 1 and are excited to see where the County chooses to run bus service next.

You can find contact information for Richmond City Council here, the Henrico Board of Supervisors here, and the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors here.

ELSEWHERE

Tulsa’s new Bus Rapid Transit, Aero BRT, opens today—congratulations Tulsa! Obviously, I’m biased, but I do think Richmond’s BRT is a bit better. We’ve got 10-minute service for most of the day, and our “weekday” service includes Saturdays. Aero BRT only sees 15-minute headways during peak times on weekdays and has no real frequent service on Saturday or Sunday.

The Pedestrian Observations blog has a great post up about fare evasion. Here’s the biggest takeaway: To limit fare evasion, make it easy to follow the law. In some cities (maybe Richmond!) that means giving deeper discounts to folks with lower-incomes and to folks who choose to buy monthly passes. In Richmond, speeding up fare validation at the ticket vending machines would certainly help, too.

Are scooters a legitimate mode of transportation? A new study in Santa Monica says yes. Folks used scooters to commute to work (29% of respondents), access recreation (26%), dine out (14%), get home (11%), and to go shopping (8%). “Nearly half of those trips replaced a short drive that users would have made with a car or taxi.”

—Ross Catrow