August updates

Please plan to pop in to our Transit Talk and Treats open house meet and greet on Thursday, August 20 between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. at People's Food Co-op, 315 Fifth Avenue South. It's a chance to share ideas about public transportation, meet other riders and advocates, and show support. We'll have refreshments, music, and DOOR PRIZES. If you'd like to donate a door prize, please email us. Free and open to everyone. Please share the flyer on social media!\

LATA Leaders will not meet in August. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. Please email if you would like to join us.

Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance will host a meeting of all members on Thursday, August 6 at 6:30 p.m. online. The agenda includes discussion of WTRA feedback on RTA legislation, connections with other transit-friendly state organizations, and reports from around the state. Please email for the link to join.

The MTU Board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 18 at 4 p.m. in person and online. The agenda is not yet available but will be at https://tinyurl.com/LaxMTUBoard when finalized. The public is welcome at these meetings.

 On Monday, August 24, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin will host a program, "Let's Talk Parking," in Stevens Point and online from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. featuring Daniel Herriges, Policy Director at the Parking Reform Network.While parking isn't transit, it could help fund better transit and its abundance may discourage people from using transit. You can learn more at https://1kfriends.org/how-much-is-parking-really-costing-our-communities/

CAN YOU HELP? LATA will table at postsecondary back-to-school events this fall (Viterbo on 9/3 between 12:45 and 2:15 p.m., WTC on 9/8 from noon to 1:30 p.m., UWL on 9/9 from 10:30 a.m. to noon OR noon to 1:30 p.m.). It's a great chance to highlight the availability of car-free transportation options and connect with students. If you can help out by taking a shift or two at our table, please sign up at https://tinyurl.com/latatablefall26

Week Without Driving is coming soon! We are hoping to host a WWD Stories event this year including written and recorded personal experiences of non-drivers and those who will try to be non-drivers during the week. Look for details on or before September 1! Also, if you can donate a WWD Bingo prize like a gift card or useful item please let us know before August 31. Please consider being a co-sponsor of our local WWD event, October 1-8, by signing up at https://tinyurl.com/laxwwdcosponsor. If you are planning a WWD event, please get info to us no later than August 31 if possible! Email with questions.

The next Week Without Driving (WWD) webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 26 at 1 p.m. online. These webinars help people connect their lives, agencies, communities, and organizations to Week Without Driving to elevate and amplify both. This link takes you to a registration page and includes links to past webinars: https://weekwithoutdriving.org/organize/ 

As you know, the La Crosse County Board decided to end funding for the current SMRT program after this year. They are still required to hold a public meeting but we don't know when that will be. Some board members have indicated they would like to find something to serve La Crosse county residents, but of course if that ends at the county line, it doesn't really help workers, patients,students and others get here and back from out-of-county locations. If you have opportunities to speak with county board supervisors—in your neighborhood, at events, at public meetings—please bring this up and encourage them to keep working on it.

In July, the Coalition for More Responsible Transportation hosted an online forum on the possibility of Regional Transit Authority (RTA) enabling legislation coming back to the legislature next year. A regional transit authority would ensure that system administration is shared among those who benefit and that there is a way to fund the system. The CMRT group is working to gather suggestions from advocates, operators, planners, electeds, and transit users that will help a new RTA bill be the best possible that everyone can support. If you haven't yet completed the survey (which also provides links to educational materials), please do so at https://forms.gle/pNWKNMWdPbL44bA28. We expect there will be a statewide RTA advocacy campaign later this year. We will keep you posted.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has sounded the alarm on the latest plans for funding transportation. Proposed cuts to rail and transit are so bad that APTA and Transportation 4 America are urging legislators to extend the current extension of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in order to fund these essential services at current levels. A recent New York Times article (paywall, but article maybe be archived at https://archive.is) reports that “Congress Budgeted Billions for Big Transit Projects. Trump Isn’t Spending It.” The Union of Concerned Scientists has created “An Illustrated Guide to Surface Transportation Reauthorization” which you can access here: https://ucs-documents.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/clean-vehicles/funding-future-reauthorization-zine-2026.pdf Consider emailing our Congress and Senators supporting adequate funding for transit.