This week in transit: Every bus rider begins and ends their trip as a pedestrian

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

This week in transit: 5th District candidate forum this week—October 10th!

TAKE ACTION

This Thursday, October 10th, please join us—plus a bunch of other nonprofits and organizations—at the Randolph Community Center from 6:30–8:30 PM for A Focus on the 5th, a 5th District City Council Candidate forum. We’ve asked all of the candidates a bunch of policy-oriented questions across a variety of great topics and are looking forward to hearing their vision for the future of the 5th District and the City of Richmond. Please RSVP ahead of time to help us get a handle on the headcount.

Richmond 300 is the City’s master planning process, and a huge part of that process is planning how we will get around town 30 years from now—with a focus on people, not vehicles. In fact, here’s Richmond 300’s stated transportation vision, which you’ll probably love: “Richmond prioritizes the movement of people over the movement of vehicles through a safe, reliable, equitable, and sustainable transportation network. Walking, biking, and transit options are the most convenient and used forms of transportation in Richmond; thereby improving the natural environment and our health. Richmond's multi-modal transportation system is easy for all people to use and seamlessly connects Richmond neighborhoods and attractions to each other, the region, and the nation.” Take a look at the future connections map (PDF), which will give you an idea of how we can reach that vision. Also, you can and should attend one of the upcoming Richmond 300 forums to hear all about the plan—especially the parts that relate to the City’s transportation network.

AROUND THE REGION

NBC 12, via Capital News Service’s Mario Sequeria Quesada, has a great interview with new GRTC CEO Julie Timm. Timm talks through “five key components that she thinks will help the region build its public transportation and offset vehicle congestion: partnerships, developing a true regional transportation system, investment from local governments, improving service reliability and transit-centered development.“ Sounds great, and it’ll be exciting to see where Timm decides direct her energy first.

The Washington Post has a column up about Richmond’s transit successes and how other cities—even Washington D.C.!—can learn from what we’ve been working on over the last couple of years. It’s not rocket science: Make the bus more frequent, more efficient, more reliable, and more folks will ride. We’ve done a lot recently to improve the first two things on that list, now we’ve got to focus on improving reliability across the system—and it’s great that reliability is one of things GRTC’s new CEO will focus on!

In every part of the City you can find bus stops that are simply a sign post stuck into the ground—no shelter, no trash cans, and nowhere to sit and wait for the bus. This project from Art on Wheel looks to change that by working with Richmonders to make guerrilla bus stop benches that double as public art. After an unveiling on October 16th, Art on Wheels will locate the new seating in the East End or on the South Side.

This Reddit thread of people recounting their positive experiences with the Pulse and other bus routes is heart warming, and reading it is a great way to spend five minutes of your day.

—Ross Catrow

This week in transit: New day dawning—transit needs you

First, a word from RVA Rapid Transit’s outgoing Board President, Nelson Reveley:

Greetings RVA Rapid Transit friends,

I am interrupting your regularly scheduled email for two reasons:

First, as many of you know, the incomparable Ross Catrow moved into his role as Executive Director of RVA Rapid Transit almost a year ago at this point, and, ever since, he has been diligently and dynamically spearheading advocacy initiatives for public transit throughout the Richmond region.

Now, it is with great honor that I announce the new RVA Rapid Transit Board leadership team that will be coming alongside Ross: Kendra Norrell as President, Brantley Tyndall as Vice President, Sheryl Johnson as Treasurer, and Joh Gehlbach as Secretary. The rest of the Board and I are immensely grateful and deeply excited for what lies ahead with this powerfully skilled team driving forward the push for frequent, far-reaching public transit.

Second, as you also know, over the past few years we have witnessed previously unimaginable growth in transit in the Richmond region. With Chesterfield adding a bus line along Route 1 to John Tyler Community College in 2020 and the City and Henrico each considering their next steps toward the Regional Transit Vision Plan, we are poised to continue making great strides. To keep that momentum rolling, though, we need your continued support. Please feel overwhelmingly excited to make your tax-deductible donation to RVA Rapid Transit right this red hot second. Donations can be made faster than a flying Pulse through our website.

Suggestions for a donation amount, whether one-time or sustaining, include:

* $41 for the 41 bus lines in GRTC's network

* $22 for the 22 miles of bus rapid transit that, if built, would provide a public transit backbone from the airport to Short Pump

* $7.60 for the 7.6 miles of the Pulse currently

As always, thank you for your dedication! Your support makes the difference.

— Nelson Reveley, RVA Rapid Transit Board Member

AROUND THE REGION

Now, two time-sensitive transit things for you to be aware of:

On October 10th, from 6:00–8:30 PM at the Randolph Community Center, RVA Rapid Transit will join a bunch of other area nonprofits and organizations in hosting Mayorathon: A Focus on the 5th—a candidate forum for the 5th District City Council special election. We’ve put together questionnaires featuring a handful of topics and will be asking the participating candidates the types of policy-oriented questions you’ve come to expect from the Mayorathon team. Please register over on the Eventbrite, which will help us get a handle on the headcount. Also, keep an eye out for the questionnaire responses as we get closer to the event.

Do you want to be on TV (and, presumably, YouTube and streaming services)? GRTC needs volunteers to appear in commercials promoting the new bus service coming to the Route 1 corridor in Chesterfield County. They’re filming on October 14th–23rd from 7:00 AM–5:00 PM, so it’s a long day, but you get fed and immortalized in video. If you’re interested, you can contact Ashley Mason over at GRTC (ashley.mason@ridegrtc.com.

—Ross Catrow