Freeport Mayor's View: Pretzel City Area Transit expanding its reach

Freeport Mayor's View: Pretzel City Area Transit expanding its reach: "Recently, Pretzel City has taken on a new dimension – providing transportation to and from work on a contract basis. For three months now, United Way has had a service contract with the city and senior center to provide transportation to and from Berner Food & Beverage through a partnership known as the E.A.R.N Initiative, or Employment Access Ridership Network. This partnership rose out of Berner’s need for a reliable transportation alternative for employees in order to help reduce absenteeism and lost productivity at the Alfokey plant. This issue was of special importance given Berner’s $70 million expansion, which would add up to another 200 workers. We tend to think that everyone has an automobile in Freeport, but the truth is otherwise. A growing number of residents either walk, bicycle or use public transportation to get where needed. E.A.R.N. provides a reliable means to get to work and back."

The importance of public transportation

Indiana Daily Student: "Even so, buses signify a move toward reducing the effects of individual vehicles zooming around and creating traffic jams. For both environmental and cultural considerations, the U.S. as a whole needs to shift towards improving its public transportation infrastructure.

Sprawling public transportation systems are not always practical for small, dispersed cities, but even some larger metropolises have minimal infrastructure.

Indianapolis is one of a few major cities that lack a central system of public transport.

It might not hurt to put a bug in your representative’s ear, so to speak, about investing in public transit."

No "silver bullet" to fix #publictransit? Only if you continue subsidizing autos

KSMU Radio: "The Task Force created two goal categories, Legislative Priorities and Transportation Champion, noting there’s no “silver bullet” to fix all the transportation problems in the region."

Like Wisconsin, oil trolls have conquered Minnesota

Is this any way to build a transportation system? | NewsCut | Minnesota Public Radio News: "The Legislature, still dominated in the House by non-metro lawmakers, hates light rail, so it stymied attempts to fund Southwest light rail. Negotiations between Republicans and the governor collapsed, requiring the end-around in which counties fund the projects."

CTA president wants more money for all public transportation

qconline.com: "Mr. Carter said parts of Chicago's transit system date back to the 1800s when Grover Cleveland was president. It's the nation's second largest system, providing more than a half billion rides annually in Chicago and 35 suburbs."

"only so many dollars for transportation" - true, so why waste so much on cars?

CJOnline.com: "“There are only so many dollars that can be spent on transportation within this region between now and 2040 and we need to make sure that we’re selecting the right projects so that we can meet the needs of the region,” he said."

This is what is wrong with the framing of transportation funding. Cars are assumed to be paid for. Public transit is an "expense." Actually the opposite is true. Cars are bleeding government budgets dry with all their costs. Public transit actually reduces car miles and thus car costs -- it actually pays for itself.

#Freetransit for Rapid City students "low-hanging fruit"

blackhillsfox : "Allender has proposed amending the RapidRide Transit rates to be free for students in Rapid City.
He says the city has a low graduation rate and low attendance rate and believes this proposal would either provide students better access to school or eliminate one more excuse for why students aren't making it to their seats.

Allender says, "This public transportation change is one thing that I consider to be low hanging fruit, an easy, relatively inexpensive change to an existing system, which will give better access to people who need it.""

Poor workers pay to subsidize sprawl, but get no benefit

Chicago Reporter: "Roseland resident Eric Drane is familiar with that long haul. Drane, 39, commutes 40 miles to a Romeoville electronics distribution warehouse where he drives a forklift. Unlike Davis, who depends on public transportation, Drane, a married father of four, can at least drive to work. But he says he’d rather take public transit – if it was available.

“It’s murder on your car going from here, putting 30 to 40 miles every day on an older vehicle,” said Drane, who drives a 1998 Buick that has 200,000 miles on it.  “I’m like one car breakdown from not having a job myself.”"

Save the planet: Take public transit now and then

Chicago Tribune: "The case for better public transit goes beyond fighting climate change. It helps the unemployed find jobs; it saves commuters valuable time; it makes cities cleaner, quieter and less congested. But its value as an effective and available way to fight climate change gets too little attention. Pending zero-emission cars and espresso-vending power plants, getting more Americans on to public transportation makes sense."

Getting On Board: My Conversion to Supporting Mass Transit

Inside INdiana Business: "Those observations took me back to my days in Madison. Without metro transit getting me to and from school, what were my options? And that was simply to attend classes. What about those who need transportation for their livelihoods to get to and from their jobs – jobs that pay for the basic necessities? Better transportation options allow them to shop at retailers or eat at restaurants that are desired versus convenient. It provides the means to make appointments and meetings, visit libraries and parks, and participate in civic activities. Mass transit makes it possible for not a majority but many to do the simple, everyday things that make Central Indiana a better place for them to live and work.

I may not use public transportation, but others who live, work and play in this community will. My coworker who doesn’t like to drive; the friend for whom “being green” means being happy; the barista at the too-far-to-drive coffee place who now has a reliable way to get to work. Mass transit will allow all of them to live, work and play better. Doesn’t anything that makes those in our community live fuller lives also make this same community a better place for all of us to live?"