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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
Further, if people don'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'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
We must acknowledge that social distancing, over the long term, just doesn't work on transit. We can'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't work. We'll lose riders for good and dig ourselves into an even deeper hole than we're in right now. 6/8
@MTCBATA's Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force is a good start. But it'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
Lastly, we desperately need $$ to shore up our transit system and carry it through the next 18 months so that it doesn'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&
