Candidate for US Congress MI-12 supports #freepublictransit

@VoteForSolomon

One third of society does not drive

Cars are expensive. Wheelchair accessible vehicles cost upwards of $50,000, so many wheelchair-users can’t afford their own vehicle. Add to that people who can’t drive because of vision impairments or physical injuries, because they are too young, or because they’ve aged out of driving (an ever-increasing population). So how can public transportation provide no benefit when one third of society doesn’t drive?

https://www.detroittransit.org/tru-leader-responds-to-north-oakland-transit-opposition/ 

Fare-free buses a success at Traverse City Cherry festival

BATA says their buses provided more than 29,000 rides at the event.
That’s a 60-percent jump compared to last year.
BATA says all those rides helped cut down on car trips by almost 19,000.

https://www.9and10news.com/2019/07/09/bata-buses-provide-29000-rides-during-national-cherry-festival/ 

Grand Rapids providing fare-free public transit along Medical Mile

grbj.com A three-way pact providing fare-free public transit along Medical Mile now has city approval.The Grand Rapids City Commission recently approved a three-year pilot partnership between the city, Spectrum Health and the Interurban Transit Partnership (The Rapid) aiming to provide fare-free busing with improved service times along Route 19. The new plan will take effect Aug. 27.

Free transport arranged for public to attend Battle Creek Transit meetings

battlecreekenquirer : "Battle Creek Transit has arranged a series of public meetings to present possible future service scenarios.

The meetings will be held at the Department of Public Works, at 150 S. Kendall St.

There will be two meetings, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 12, and 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, March 13. The time for the Tuesday meeting has been changed from some previous promotions and flyers because of an overlapping meeting.

There will be a shuttle from the downtown bus transfer center to Public Works and back. The shuttle will leave the transfer center at 5:20 p.m. on Monday and at 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday. The shuttle will return meeting attendees to the transfer center, and they will be provided with a trip ticket for the ride home."

Want jobs? Get #transit.

Detroit must expand public transportation, Dan Gilbert tells Washington audience: "“A lot of people were blaming it on talent and transportation. I definitely believe the transportation thing,” said Gilbert, who worked on Detroit’s Amazon bid. “But talent, there’s all sorts of talent. We’re Detroit ... people come... This generation in particular, when I talk to them, they want to impact the outcome of the world. We’re a big sort of magnet.”"

Macomb, Oakland, Washtenow, Wayne counties: Contact your county executive. Hopefully there will be another opportunity to put mass transit funding on the ballot.

Action Network is facilitating contacting L. Brooks Patterson and Mark Hackel, the executives of Oakland and Macomb counties, respectively, concerning their non-support of the ballot proposal back in 2016 for funding the RTA. A handy email form is supplied here. Here's the message I sent to Mark Hackel:

I'm quite disappointed that you lobbied against the RTA ballot proposal in the 2016 election.  You have done our county inestimable harm by doing so.  This is one of the most car-dependent counties in America and it may surprise you that that is a bug rather than a feature, unless your goals actually include social filtering.  If you think that means higher property values, you are a fool.  If you took the side you did as a way to pandering to the up-county McMansions 'n' SUVs set, you're really a fool, because the northern Macomb County vote will go Republican no matter what you do.  Your career is best served by following your conscience (which I hope is the conscience of the Democrat you run as), not pandering to the media stereotypes concerning Macomb County public opinion.  Please do better if similar measures appear in the future.  It is an investment we can't afford not to make.  It is not in our best interest to be the county standing in the way of progress on mass transit.

Grand Rapids, Mi, proves you can beat the oil-trolls and have #publictransit locally

masstransitmag : "The Rapid averages nearly 1 million rides every month and provides approximately 12 million rides annually."

Michigan - Join your local #publictransit advocates

Motor City Freedom Riders: "We’re demonstrating because we’re tired of waiting for real regional transit. For too long, the political and corporate leadership of metro Detroit has been kicking the can down the road, and that has to change. We’re calling on Mayor Duggan and other regional leaders, including Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, and Washtenaw County leaders, to support putting a revised regional transit ballot measure before the public in November 2018, so we can start building the truly regional transit system we need."

BWAT Commuters Pass One Million Mark Using Regional Bus Routes & Extended Hours

masstransitmag : "“Once they get used to it, commuters tell us they enjoy starting their morning by reading the news, thumbing through Facebook and planning their day,” said Jim Wilson, BWAT general manager. “Riding the bus to work can also offer a significant cost savings.”
....
A person who takes public transit instead of making a daily commute by car will experience an annual savings of $9,712, according to the American Public Transportation Association. These savings are based on the cost of commuting by public transportation compared to the cost of owning and driving a vehicle (based on the December 21, 2016, national average gas price of $2.25 per gallon and the national monthly parking rate of $166.26)."

Car culture means people in Benton Harbor can't get to work

The Herald Palladium: "“Unfortunately, there are way too many low income people in Berrien County who don’t have reliable cars or available transportation,” he said. “Many times, well paying jobs are located far away from their neighborhoods and homes. Without a means to access that reliable transportation, they’re having a very difficult time escaping the circumstances that they have.”"

Gaylord, MI, Car owners want more buses

petoskeynews.com: "Most survey respondents expressed an interest in other forms of transportation outside of only driving a personal vehicle.

Even though 96 percent of those who responded said they have a vehicle that works, 68 percent also said public transportation is an important topic in Otsego County."

Free public transportation available New Year's Eve

petoskeynews.com : "CHARLEVOIX — Charlevoix County Transit announced that they will be offering free county-wide transit service from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. The service will be provided on a first come-first serve basis and it’s suggested that reservations be made in advance, although same evening calls will be accepted based on vehicle availability."

TRU survey concerning the recent failed ballot proposal for regional mass transit

Just filled out a survey conducted by TRU as a sort of post-election post-mortem.
On page 2 of 5:

What ideas or recommendations do you have for how to make a future regional transit ballot measure more likely to succeed?

My response:

Don't make it a charity appeal for the "deserving carless." ( see http://n8chz.blogspot.com/2007/09/time-for-mitten-to-bite-hand-its-time.html ) Detractors will say, fine, let the charitable sector provide shuttle vans or whatever. Make it about dragging southeast Michigan kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Make it clear that at least some forms of economic development won't come if we don't build it.

On page 4 of 5:

Please explain other recommendations you have about how TRU and the regional transit community should proceed, including why you feel your recommendations would be successful.

My response:

What there's a screaming need for is a denser transit grid. Every section line road ("mile road" in local parlance) should be a bus route. Maybe down to every other mile in the -far- outer suburbs. This is far more important than introducing new forms of transportation.

Wayne Co. employees to get free public transit passes

detroitnews : "Wayne County plans to provide its employees who use public transportation to commute to work with free transit passes.

The move is designed to encourage ridership of public transportation, said County Executive Warren Evans."

Saginaw bus system offers all riders fare-free service on Election Day

MLive.com: "SAGINAW, MI — Saginaw's public transit system is offering local riders free rides this Election Day.

But the free rides are not just for voters headed to and from the polls. Anyone riding buses on Tuesday, Nov. 8, or using on-demand transit services after the buses stop running will not be asked to pay the normal fares."

Four Metro Detroit hospital systems push for public transit millage

MLive.com: "Detroit-area health professionals gathered at Eastern Market on Monday to advocate in favor of a regional transit millage to go before voters in November.

Four major southeast Michigan hospital systems announced support for the costly plan, hoping improved transit can cut down on missed appointments. 

In 2015, 3,000 patients canceled appointments and cited a lack of transportation as the primary reason, according to Bob Riney, executive vice president and COO of Henry Ford Health System."

Pipelines will stop when demand for oil stops. Not before.

Sault Ste. Marie, MI: "“We didn’t want it to be a political issue, but you’ve got to get people’s attention at the same time,” added Easterday.

“It’s important for people to realize there’s no recovery from this pipeline.”

Some of the scheduled speakers include United States First Congressional candidate Lon Johnson, Michigan Senator Rick Jones, Sault Ste. Marie City Commissioner Jay Gage and Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Chair Aaron Payment. There’s also other local speakers that will be sprinkled in throughout the performances."

Michigan - Vote ‘yes’ on public transit

Press and Guide: "The ballot proposal will bring bus rapid transit, a rail line between Ann Arbor and Detroit, an airport shuttle service, a regional fare card system and other transit service upgrades to a non-existent system today.

The tab is as big as the need: $4.6 billion of your, mine and our tax dollars. It adds up to a 20-year, 1.2-mill property tax increase, if voters approve it – as we should!

Clearly, this is an investment worth making. The tax would cost the average homeowner about $95 per year. These plans cover a lot of ground for about $100."

Leaders reach agreement to get Metro Detroit transit plan on...

clickondetroit : "DETROIT - Leaders in southeastern Michigan reached an agreement Tuesday which will place the Regional Transit Authority's public transportation plan on the November ballot. "