MN - #Autosprawl trolls want racist cuts to #publictransit

MSR News : "If one didn’t know any better it would appear the legislators were motivated by some kind of bias against city dwellers or at least certain segments of city dwellers.

Presently, both the House and Senate transportation committees are proposing deep cuts. The Metropolitan Council has said that it needs 74 million over the two-year budgetary period to keep pace and operate on its current level.

Yet the Republican led legislature’s proposal fails to acknowledge the request and instead has decided to cut the existing Metro Transit budget by about 24 million over the next two years. This would leave the Met Council $122 million short of what it needs to operate over the period."

Support your local #publictransit advocates in Indiana

Transportation Priorities at a Crossroads - Inside INdiana Business: "IndyGo's Marion County Transit Plan invests in a bigger fleet and longer hours (including weekend and later service), cutting travel times with wider coverage and new rapid transit lines. It triples the number of potential riders and doubles jobs within walking distance of high-frequency routes.

Indy's business community has made mass transit part of our economic agenda for nearly a decade; local employers want a system that reliably serves today's workers and appeals to new talent.

Access to employees is the common denominator that motivates growing businesses to invest and expand. The Millennial workforce is moving to major metropolitan areas, preferring walkable neighborhoods with convenient transit access - 20-30-year-olds use public transit twice as often as their older peers."

Southern Indiana, hard for poor to get to work

Tri-State News : ""We're just glad to be able to do our part to assist those people because there are so many people in this area that are qualified to work and the jobs are available," said Pastor Rabon Turner of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. "If the only issue you are having is not being able to work, that's why we are here.""

#freetransit becoming popular as a way to reduce drunk driving

Need a sober ride home on New Year's Eve? Public transportation is free - StarTribune.com: "But revelers who hit it too hard don’t have to risk getting a ticket and the hefty fines that come with a DWI. On Thursday, representatives from the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments, the Hennepin County and Ramsey County sheriff’s offices and the Minnesota State Patrol teamed up to encourage celebrants to use free public transportation for a safe ride home."

Indianapolis victory for mass transit

indystar : "Proponents of a public transit ballot referendum to increase bus service in Indianapolis declared victory Tuesday night, hailing the income tax hike approved by voters as a long-term solution for the city's transportation woes and a benefit to workers and employers, alike.

"Today our city has taken a monumental step toward improving talent retention, enhancing economic development and growing our tax base," said Mark Fisher, vice president of government relations and policy development of the Indy Chamber."

#letusbreathe activist: Make #publictransit #farefree for Chicago Public School students

Chicago Reader: "Still, Ware argues that this issue could be avoided if the CTA just gave free fare to CPS students. The cost of transit can be significant for these students, Ware says. Even the reduced CPS fare can total a few hundred dollars a school year, and it's not uncommon for students to ask him to tap his Ventra card to get them into the system, he says."

Poor and sick suffer most in US #autosprawl meltdown

Delays in Payments From the State of Illinois Cause Transit Shutdowns: "Illinois Public Transportation Association Executive Director Laura Calderon said, “The public transportation systems across the state provide critical services to some of the state’s most vulnerable populations. Downstate particularly, the bulk of the riders are elderly, persons with disabilities and the low income population, who are relying on public transportation to get them to work, medical appointments and other critical services. The impact service reductions and shutdowns will have on the economy in Illinois is significant. A large part of the state’s workforce relies on transit to get to and from their jobs. Illinois cannot afford for transit systems to be shut down.”"

More pain for the poor and sick as #autosprawl dream crumbles

State funding backlog hits public transportation systems: ""Public transportation is the biggest component to keeping our community well-rounded and mobile, and if steps are not taken, it could be detrimental to folks that rely on it, and that is a very scary thing," she said.

Whether they use the service to take them to dialysis treatment three times a week or commute to work or school, cutting services or shutting down would have an immensely adverse impact to passengers, she said."

StarTran offering free bus rides through November

dailynebraskan.com: "Because the bus services are already free for UNL students with bus passes, the free rides don’t affect students as much as non-students. Prauner said he hopes the free rides can help encourage more non-students to ride buses.

Students who were aware of the free bus rides noticed an increase in passengers."

Sprawled-out America finding transportation to be a problem

omaha.com: "“There is general support for public transportation,” she said. “People want it to be accessible, they want it to meet the needs of employers, they want connectivity to major activity areas, they want it affordable and they want it convenient.”

Donahue made her observations while presenting a progress report on a $125,000 study that is being financed by the Nebraska Department of Roads, Sarpy County and all five of the county’s cities.

The study is being conducted by Olsson Associates in partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency."