Tell your "Transit is Essential" story!

from Green for All

Hello all,

I hope you are well. My name is Nicole Wong and I am a Campaign Manager with Green For All, a program of the national social justice nonprofit Dream Corps.

We recently released a report, entitled Securing Safe Transit: Before & After COVID-19, which offers insights from transit justice groups, labor unions, and transit agencies across the country about the needs and challenges riders and workers continue to face. It includes specific policy recommendations that transit agencies can adopt to ensure the health and safety of their riders and workers while maintaining reliable, affordable, and equitable services now and into the future. In order to continue building public awareness and pressure for their adoption, I want to share two ways to get involved this week. We would greatly appreciate your support in helping to spread the word. 

#TransitIsEssential Social Media Storytelling Campaign

Starting today, we are launching our social media and storytelling campaign to uplift the voices of transit riders and workers, draw attention to the critical issue of transportation, and place pressure on Senators to pass adequate funding to get transit agencies through fiscal year 2021.

1. We will be posting audio recordings of directly impacted transit riders and workers throughout the week. Please give these heartfelt stories a listen and share widely: http://thedreamcorps.org/transit-is-essential.

2. We are also asking partners and transit riders and workers to post a picture of themselves on social media holding a sign that says "#transitisessential because_____" with their answer.

Can you please help uplift this message by posting on your social media channels and sharing this photo campaign with your networks? You can find our social media toolkit with instructions, graphics, and draft posts here.

 

 

Transit Equity Town Hall

This Thursday, we will be hosting a Transit Equity Town Hall in which transit equity leaders across the country will discuss why transit is essential to building racial and economic equity and how transit agencies can continue to center equity in their transportation decisions in response to COVID-19. We hope you will be able to join us!

Can you please share this event with your communities? You can use our amplification toolkit here that includes a draft email, draft social posts, relevant hashtags, and more.

What: Transit Equity Town Hall: Mobility, Race, and the Economy

When: Thursday, July 16th at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET

RSVP: Please RSVP using this link here

Event Description:

People of color and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by poverty, pollution, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These interrelated crises are all rapidly accelerating and the policies implemented today will have ripple effects for years to come. This Town Hall will explore the crucial link between racial equity, economic equity, and transit equity. Panelists will also discuss how transit agencies and policymakers can incorporate equity into decisions about service delivery, fare programs, community engagement, and funding to improve access and affordability for transit dependent riders now and after COVID-19.

Governor's Climate Task Force public hearings

The Governor's Task Force on Climate Change public hearings start this week!

Late last year, Governor Evers issued an Executive Order to commit the state to going to 100% clean energy and created a Task Force on Climate Change to create the plan to get there.

Now the Task Force is hosting five hearings to get input on the plan. You can read more about the subcommittees and their work here: https://climatechange.wi.gov/Pages/Home.aspx

You nay note TRANSPORTATION is not mentioned in the subcommittee titles. But it's a very important issue in the work to avert a climate crisis. That's why transit advocates' voices a

Sign up to attend a hearing to call for a bold, ambitious plan to stop climate change. Hearings will be on: June 23, June 27, July 7, July 9, and July 15. 

Looking for tips to testify and want help crafting your testimony? The John Muir Chapter Sierra Club is hosting a prep webinar. Register for the Thursday, June 25 at 7:00 p.m. session at this link.

Beyond Coulee Vision 2040 - your input invited

There will be a public input session in August. In the meantime, check through these draft chapters and submit comments if you wish. More details at  http://www.lapc.org/

Beyond Coulee Vision 2040 (BCV2040)

Please note that internal document links will not work if they reference a different chapter. All links will work when the full draft document is completed and posted.

Cover Page

Draft Chapter 1: Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update, Updated June 12, 2020

Draft Chapter 2: Plan Process and Development, Udpated June 18, 2020

Draft Chapter 3: Population and Economic Trends, Updated June 18, 2020

Draft Chapter 4: Transportation Systems & Services, Updated June 18, 2020

Draft Chapter 6: Planning, Project, and Policy Strategies

Draft Chapter 7: Environmental & Cultural Impacts

Draft Chapter 8: Financial Plan

Draft Chapter 9: Next Steps and Future Considerations

Draft Appendix A CRTS Strategies, New June 18, 2020

Draft Appendix B Summary of Member Reporting, New June 18, 2020

Draft Appendix C Local Comprehensive Plan Reviews, New June 18, 2020

Draft Appendix D Environmental Justice Analysis, New June 18, 2020

Natural and Cultural Resource Inventory A Supplement to BCV2040

New group: Wisconsin Non-Driver Advisory Council

The WI Non-Driver Advisory Council will hold its first meeting this week, Wednesday and Thursday, June 17 & 18 from 9:00 to 12:30. The public is invited to attend via YouTube.

Day One: https://youtu.be/-1KDpLBEbo0

Day Two: https://youtu.be/THTUlX8mqjw

The purpose of this council is to increase coordination to the varying programs that serve those who cannot or choose not to drive to enhance our experiences of getting to where we need to go on our schedules. The council’s membership includes state agencies, municipalities, nonprofits and coalitions/alliances who play an active role in transportation issues throughout the state. 

The council is co-chaired by Aileen Schweitzer, Administrator of WisDOT’s Office of Budget and Strategic Initiatives, Tami Jackson with the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities and transportaiton lead for the Survival Coalition of WI Disability Groups and me. Members of this coalition, including 1K Friends of Wisconsin and WI Transit Riders Alliance have been invited to serve as members.

Day One focuses on the experiences of those who cannons or choose not to drive , so that we keep the needs of people at the center of our work. After opening comments from WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson and the three committee chairs, there will be a panel, focused on this topic with perspectives from around the state. Survey results about the needs of non-drivers will also be shared.

Day Two hones in on the different agency programs. The work of that day will be to generate recommendations that keep the non-driver at the center.

Each day will begin with a panel and then will move into small group work and return with recommendations from the group work. The YouTube broadcast will include the panels and the large group recommendation shares. The small group work will not be broadcast.

Please consider joining us.

Denise

Denise Jess

CEO/Executive Director

Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired

754 Williamson Street

Madison, WI 53703

608-237-8103 - Direct

CMRT - Online learning and discussion

The Coalition for More Responsible Transportation is a Wisconsin group made up of many Wisconsin transit, bike/ped, disability rights, and environment groups and individuals. LATA is a member of the Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance which is a member of CMRT

CMRT is hosting a aeries of webinars this summer around transportation issues. Check out the schedule and plan to attend. And consider joining La Crosse Area Transit Advocate to support a bigger statewide voice.

How Wisconsin Communities are Meeting the "Last Mile Challenge"

Thursday, June 18 at 6:30 PM
Join us as we explore how transit systems in several Wisconsin communities are addressing the "Last Mile Challenge," or the challenge of completing the last segment of a transit trip in order to reach one's final destination. Speakers include transportation expert/former Madison alder and planner Robbie Webber, La Crosse transit advocate Cathy Van Maren, Fox Cities transit advocate Connie Kanitz, and Chippewa Valley Transit Alliance leaders Mark Quam and Phil Swanhorst (who also took the lead in organizing this webinar -- thank you Mark and Phil!). Advance registration required here.

Transportation and Racial Justice

Thursday, July 9 at 6:30 PM
This webinar will focus on the intersection of transportation and racial (in)justice in Wisconsin. We will have more information on speakers and the topics they'll cover soon. Meanwhile, you're welcome to register here. 

Please note: If you're unable to use the Google Forms linked above to register or would prefer to call in your RSVP, please contact the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired at (608) 255-1166 from 8 AM to 3 PM on weekdays and we will register you for either webinar by phone.

Finally, if you weren't able to attend our first two webinars, you can view the recordings at the links below:

• Sharing the Road: The Benefits of More Walking & Biking in Our Communities (May 7, 2020; featuring Caressa Givens/WI Bike Fed and Gregg May/1000 Friends)
• Building Boondoggles: How Highway Expansions Undermine Public Transit, Walking and Biking (May 28, 2020; featuring Beth Osborne/Transportation for America, Milwaukee attorney Dennis Grzezinski, and Jeremy Gragert/Eau Claire City Council)

COVID-19 and public transportation

Recent CDC guidance that encouraged people to NOT use public transportation has received strong and immediate pushback from transit, social justice, and environmental groups. This note recently came our way, 

Good news. I reached out to a long-time friend and colleague at the CDC who is an expert in active transportation and health and he did some heavy lifting this weekend, buoyed by NACTO and APTA's statements on Friday. We are encouraged to provide feedback via this e-mail: eocevent209@cdc.gov.

The guidance has been updated to say...

For employees who commute to work using public transportation or ride sharing, consider offering the following support:

• If feasible, offer employees incentives to use forms of transportation that minimize close contact with others (e.g., biking, walking, driving or riding by car either alone or with household members).
• Ask employees to follow the CDC guidance on how to protect yourself when using transportation.
• Allow employees to shift their hours so they can commute during less busy times.
• Ask employees to clean their hands as soon as possible after their trip.

To be sure, COVID-19 has made the use of public transportation difficult. We know that the virus spreads by air, so wearing a mask to protect others from your possible infection (many people are infected but have no symptoms) and sitting as far as possible from others helps. Also, now that the weather has warmed, opening windows where we are sitting will help disperse virus particles in the air. 

But we cannot give up on public transportation! Not only is it efficient, less polluting, and more economical, it is also a major tool in the fight to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Consider joining La Crosse Area Transit Advocates! You will also become a member of the Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance and be connected to Wisconsin's Coalition for More Responsible Transportation.