PLEASE SIGN OUR VIRTUAL THANK YOU CARD to our area public transportation entities is still live; we'd like more signers! www.kudoboard.com/boards/GqNjtDaZ
The February 5 national TED live stream was great and included lots of great information and news. You can watch it at the Labor Network for Sustainability YouTube channel: https://www.labor4sustainability.org/transit-equity-2024/livestream/
The LNS also offers regular programs on different transit-related topics. Just recently a local transit advocated participated in their Disability in Transit webinar. The link for that is not yet available.
America Walks has put together a very important letter to elected leaders in Washington, DC, asking them to redirect transportation funding from highway expansions to maintaining existing roads and highways, improving public transit, and invest in communities that have been harmed by highway construction and expansion. It is signed by 195 organizations (8 from Wisconsin). PLEASE SIGN THE ACTION ALERT and encourage others to act. For more details, view the action toolkit.
Three bills you can help promote:
- Rep. Hank Johnson's Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act
would provide for dedicated ongoing funding for transit operations.
Please contact your federal elected officials and ask them to co-sponsor
and support this bill.
Sen. Markey's Green Streets bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish the Transit to Trails Grant Program to award grants to certain entities (e.g., states, local governments, and metropolitan planning organizations) for projects that increase transportation access and mobility to public lands, waters, parkland, monuments, or recreational opportunities for critically underserved communities.
Senator Booker's Transit to Trails Act directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish the Transit to Trails Grant Program to award grants to certain entities (e.g., states, local governments, and metropolitan planning organizations) for projects that increase transportation access and mobility to public lands, waters, parkland, monuments, or recreational opportunities for critically underserved communities.
1000 Friends of Wisconsin hosted a webinar last week about TheFuture of Passenger Rail in Wisconsin. Passenger rail is an important link to connect the local to the world. Plans for new rail and accompanying feeder bus service can make a huge difference in how we get around. (Still no public transit from Eau Claire to La Crosse, though!)
Our one-hour LATA leaders meeting is this coming Wednesday, February 14, at 5:30 p.m. online. We will talk about TED and take notes for next year's event plus start planning for our spring SMRT 2 Viroqua ride and talk about our Ride with a Guide program. If you are interested in attending, please email for the link. If you'd like to officially join LATA, please fill out this form (free this year).
The Wisconsin Sierra Club's monthly Transportation Equity and Access Team will meet next Wednesday, February 14 at 10 a.m. If you are a Sierra Club member (or want to join), it's a great way to work with others from around the state on fair and equitable transportation budgets, processes, and systems. Learn more here: https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Wisconsin?actionId=AR0319098
The MTU Board will meet on February 20 from 4 to 5 p.m. online and in person at City Hall. The meeting is open to members of the public. Meeting details are not yet available but can be found at https://cityoflacrosse.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
On February 21 at 7:30 p.m., join a free one-hour “Transit Activism Training: How to make your transit fantasies reality” with Carter Lavin, a climate and transit advocate from California and Hayden Clarkin (@the_transit_guy). Learn more and register here.
The Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance annual meeting will be on March 9 from 10 a.m. to noon. It's open to all. The first hour is a public program with guest Dave Steele, Executive Director of MobiliSE, a Milwaukee area non-profit that operates FlexRide, a microtransit system that gets people from Milwaukee to area jobs. FlexRide is an outgrowth of a civil rights suit against WisDOT’s highway expansion program of about a decade ago and uses a pot of money that is separate from that of the regular bus system but the funding sources are ending soon. The talk is called MobiliSE: Addressing Immediate Needs, Focused on Long Term Solutions. From 11 to noon, the annual business meeting will take place. You can register here for the program and/or the meeting: tinyurl.com/WTRA0324
The Wisconsin Association of Rail Passengers' spring meeting will be on April 6 in Wisconsin Dells. Details aren't yet available but you can get updates at their website and we will update at ours when things are firmed up. For the past few years, they have offered an online option.
Finally, we are looking for people and organizations interested in planning for a Week Without Driving in late September/early October. Please email us if you are interested!
