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″]