Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Transit Equity Days updates

Cold weather and illness are taking some toll on our best-laid plans! We have had to adjust some scheduling to accommodate.

Monday's press event has been rescheduled. Please join us at the Transit Center on WEDNESDAY morning at 10 a.m. for a Transit Equity Day press conference.

Tuesday morning's bus ride with State Senator Brad Pfaff has been postponed due to illness. We are working to reschedule this ride sometime later this week or later this spring.

As of now, all other TED events are running on schedule, including tonight's 7 p.m. online program with Susan Gaeddert, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and tomorrow's 2 p.m. online Sustainability Chat about local public transit.

We hope, no matter where you are, you will support public transit and consider how we can make our systems better and more accessible for everyone.


Monday, January 30, 2023

Support for transit workers is part of Transit Equity Days

The Labor Network for Sustainability started Transit Equity Day in 2018. Original organizers included transit riders and members of the transit workers union. Transit equity includes sufficient public support and funding for a public transit system that works well for everyone, from riders to workers.

The Transit Equity Day Principles are clear. Transit Equity Days in La Crosse are meant to highlight these issues and find how we can work together to improve them. La Crosse Area Transit Advocates agrees with these principles.

TRANSIT EQUITY DAY PRINCIPLES

Public Transit provides basic mobility for many in our communities. It is also essential urban infrastructure–just like roads, bridges, tunnels and utilities–that is crucial to the economic, social and environmental well-being of all our regions. Everyone has a right to a public mass transit system that includes:

1. Safe, reliable, environmentally-sustainable and affordable transit that is accessible
to all, regardless of income, national origin, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, or ability. 

2. An affordable public transit system that reliably connects people in all communities
to the places we need to travel: home, work, school, places of worship, shopping, health, and recreation, in as efficient, and timely a manner as possible. We must ensure that all communities have access to transit, and not leave any community behind. Regional transportation plans must include public transit in rural, less densely populated communities as well, accounting for the special challenges they may present.

3. Living wages, benefits, safe working conditions, and union rights for transit workers, including those who manufacture transit equipment, and access to family-sustaining transit jobs and training opportunities for people from underserved communities.

4. A just transition for workers and communities who are dependent on our current
automobile and highway-centered transportation system, to ensure that no one is left behind as we transition to a more public, accessible, and cleaner transit-based system. 

5. Rapid transition of our transit and school bus systems to electric, non-polluting buses powered by electricity from renewables.

6. Safe, healthy and livable neighborhoods that are connected by public transportation
and by bicycle pathways and sidewalks, and that are planned to expand safe access to transit and reduce single occupancy vehicle miles traveled.

7. Dedicated and sustainable public funding for public transit.

Please join us in supporting transit workers, agencies, and riders during Transit Equity Days by participating in the discussions about what a truly equitable transportation system means and requires.

Monday, January 23, 2023

Coming Soon! Transit Equity Days!

 UPDATE: The press event originally scheduled for Monday has been RESCHEDULED! It will now be held on WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1 AT 10 A.M. AT THE GRAND RIVER STATION TRANSIT CENTER. Please attend if you can!

Please join us in recognizing the importance of public transportation as a civil right during Transit Equity Days in La Crosse. We will look at aspects of transit equity, talk to elected leaders about local transit, share stories, appreciate transit workers, and join with other transit advocates around the country during the Labor Network for Sustainability's live stream on Transit Equity Day, Rosa Parks' birthday, Saturday, February 4.

How can transit advocates use this event to educate and agitate for better transit in our area?

1. Share the flyer above online by emailing your contacts and reposting to your social media. If you want to print and post one, use this .pdf version

2. Sign the Thank You card right now to show local transit workers we recognize and appreciate the essential service they provide. 

3. If you can, attend the press event to kick-off the week on Monday, January 30 at 1 p.m. at the Jay Street Transit Center PRESS EVENT RESCHEDULED TO WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1 AT 10:00 A.M.

4. Please check the event page at tinyurl.com/LaXTED2023 to see if your elected city council representative or county board member will be holding an Office Hour on the Bus and plan to ride with them. If your representative is not on the list yet, please ask them to participate. If you are unable to ride when they are riding, please consider calling or emailing them to talk about transit.

5. If you haven't yet, use this online form to share your transit story. We'll share these stories with decision makers next week and throughout the year.

 6. If you are on Twitter, follow us @LaXWIForTransit and retweet our posts with #LaCrosseTED when you see them. 

These two online events are of particular interest to transit advocates! Please attend if you can:

On Tuesday, January 31 at 7 p.m. Susan Gaeddert of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin will talk about "Transit Equity and Climate Action" in a program hosted by the Coulee Region Sierra Club. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/CRSC-013123

On Wednesday, February 1 at 2 p.m., the Sustainability Institute's monthly Sustainability Chat will cover local and regional public transit with MTU Director, Adam Lorentz and La Crosse Area Planning Committee Executive Director Peter Fletcher who will talk about the SMRT program. Register here: https://www.sustaininstitute.com/event-details/sustainability-chats-local-public-transportation 

Remember to check out the event page for updates and more details!