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I keep hearing the question posed - "Will people come back to public transit?" - as though we have no control over whether or not this happens.
This is not an impossible problem. 1/8
This is not an impossible problem. 1/8
Recent studies show that if people do not feel safe on transit, the results will be catastrophic for our environment, quality of life, & economy. "If 3 in 4 riders changed their commutes to cars, commute times in the Bay Area would increase by 42 min" 2/8 https://www.sfgate.com/driving/article/post-shutdown-commute-may-be-hell-15250950.php">https://www.sfgate.com/driving/a...
Further, if people don& #39;t come back to transit - and soon - permanent service cuts are all but assured. This will hurt low income and transit-dependent people the most - and it will reinforce the idea that transit just exists for people who don& #39;t have no other choices. 3/8
As @jeffreytumlin shared in a @BayAreaCouncil webinar ystrdy, many Asian cities have succeeded in bringing back 80% of transit riders through a massive public safety measures, including rigorous face covering enforcement, public temperature checking. 4/8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSYxlo1PzUo">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
We must acknowledge that social distancing, over the long term, just doesn& #39;t work on transit. We can& #39;t run 1/4-full vehicles indefinitely for yrs. BUT, Taipei + other cities show we CAN deploy other means of making transit safe for ppl who will inevitably be in close qrtrs. 5/8
Dealing with this current situation using tools and processes we have used in past - isolated, slow transit agency and regional decision-making structures - won& #39;t work. We& #39;ll lose riders for good and dig ourselves into an even deeper hole than we& #39;re in right now. 6/8
@MTCBATA& #39;s Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force is a good start. But it& #39;s got to be more than just a "conversation". We need commitment to a clear outcome - a fully safe, integrated transit system - to focus leaders on a clear rebuilding strategy. 7/8 https://www.seamlessbayarea.org/blog/2020/4/24/mtc-champions-integrated-transit-recovery-strategy">https://www.seamlessbayarea.org/blog/2020...
Lastly, we desperately need $$ to shore up our transit system and carry it through the next 18 months so that it doesn& #39;t permanently atrophy due to this sudden shock of ridership and sales tax loss. Ask congress TODAY to approve transit recovery funds. 8/8 https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urge-congress-to-fund-transit-in-cares-2?source=direct_link&">https://actionnetwork.org/letters/u...
