- Mark your calendar for the WTRA Annual spring meeting (on Zoom), Saturday, March 11 from 10:30 to noon (public program) and noon to 12:30 (WTRA business meeting). Our public program, Public Transit Tools and Tactics, will feature 1. WisDOT’s Ethan Severson on a new tool to for estimating the percentage of non-drivers in a particular location or demographic; and 2. Someone with No Bus Cuts Denton on their experience with “predatory micro-transit” and how they are fighting back. Wisconsin communities face similar issues. Open to everyone, program attendees must register at: https://tinyurl.com/WTRA-031123. Please help spread the word. Download the flyer from https://witransitriders.org/Annual-Meeting.
- Several Wisconsin communities held Transit Equity Day events and programs including Appleton, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Viroqua, and Wausau. Did yours? Please let us know! WTRA issued a Transit Equity Day Proclamation, as did other organizations, along with mayors and Governor Evers. If you missed the Feb. 4 livestream hosted by the Labor Network for Sustainability, you can watch the excellent two-hour program at the LNS YouTube page: https://tinyurl.com/LNSTED23
- WTRA’s official goals for 2023 include adding more members! So, if you are not already a member, please consider joining officially. You don’t have to have a transit organization your community. You can join as an individual. The more we can band together across the state, sharing issues and strategies, the better we can advocate. We also have tools and suggestions if you would like to start a transit group in your community. Please ask! https://witransitriders.org/become-a-member/
- On February 14 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Transportation Riders United and the Re-Amp Network will present an online program, Transportation Planning for People and the Climate online. Learn more and register at https://www.planningmi.org/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=379&Itemid=115&year=2023&month=02&day=14&title=transportation-planning-for-people-and-the-climate&uid=345be6e75c02a6bb6a606bbfdf9dc414
What others are doing – food for thought. Streetsblog reports on Mayor John Bauters of Emeryville, California. While riding the bus, Mayor Bauters noticed how many stops have no seats or benches. “In just seven months, he and his staff installed a quick-build bench called a simmeseat (https://simmeseat.com/products/) at every stop in town that didn’t already have one.” Read more about Mayor Bauters’ bus benches at https://usa.streetsblog.org/2022/12/21/what-it-takes-to-put-a-seat-at-every-bus-stop-in-town/.
Do you have a report about transit in your community? Have you read about a great transit idea? Do you have a suggestion for a program or event? Please email cvanmaren@witransitriders.org!
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