Month: August 2012

Public Meeting on the RFA: Tuesday, September 4th

This coming Tuesday the Transit Riders Union is hosting a public meeting and workshop on the elimination of the Ride Free Area. We’ll have a few people speaking briefly about the history of the RFA, how and why the decision was made to eliminate it, and what the consequences will be. After that there will be time for questions, comments, and discussion about the next steps we can take.

Join us, and bring a friend!  6:00 – 7:30 pm at the Capitol Hill Public Library meeting room, 425 Harvard Avenue E. (served by Metro routes 8, 60, 49, 10, 11). We’ll have some light refreshments.

Here’s the Facebook event page – and don’t forget to sign our email petition to the County Council!

(This event is not sponsored by the Seattle Public Library.)

Join us Saturday at the NAACP Health & Education Fair and Fun Run

This coming Saturday, August 25, the Transit Riders Union will have a booth at the first annual NAACP Health and Education Fun Run at Judkins Park (served by Metro routes 4, 14, and 48). We’ll be there from 10 am to 3 pm. The 5K run itself begins at 1 pm, and registration costs $30 – it’s a fundraiser for three local schools. So come along and visit our booth, and support the event by running or walking 5K! Here’s the full invitation, and here’s the official website.

Save the Ride Free Area!

Sign the petition

At our Members Meeting last Monday, the Transit Riders Union decided to change course in our campaign around the elimination of the Ride Free Area. Rather than focus our efforts on demanding a better free downtown circulator, we believe the Ride Free Area should be preserved. Here’s what changed our minds:

1. A really good free circulator – a full size bus, arriving frequently, 12 hours per day, seven days per week – would cost almost as much as Metro is expecting to gain by eliminating the Ride Free Area in the first place. The RFA increases mobility for everyone downtown: it’s effective and actually it’s a really good deal.

2. The problems that will result from eliminating the RFA go far beyond the effects on low and no income riders. The increased boarding times downtown are expected to cause a congestion nightmare on 3rd Ave and in the tunnel, resulting in bus delays and longer commute times for everyone. When you add up all our lost time, it’s just not worth it.

So we are doing a petition to tell our County Council Members and County Executive Dow Constantine to reconsider their decision. You can join us on Thursdays throughout August and September, when we’ll be gathering signatures on 3rd Ave (contact us or check our calendar for details). Please send the electronic version of our petition to the County Council and Executive now! You can change the suggested text however you like:

[emailpetition id=”1″]