9/10/24: Volunteer to make transit better + upcoming events
We wanted to let you know about two events in the coming week, and opportunities to volunteer:
You can shape the direction of the Bay Area’s regional public transit plan – including investments in transit serving your area – at a virtual workshop on Monday, 9/16.
And this evening, you can learn about affordable e-bike programs in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
Plus you can help! There are three volunteer opportunities for Transit Month and the upcoming November General Election.
September 11th, 5-7pm – Affordable E-Bike Programs in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties (Palo Alto)
E-bikes are a fantastic way to get around, a much more affordable alternative to the high-cost of car ownership, and a sustainable and climate-friendly mobility option. However, they can still prove too costly for many folks.
Join us at Lytton Plaza to learn about e-bikes including several programs in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties that can help you cover the cost of an e-bike!
Volunteer Opportunities throughout September
We have three upcoming opportunities.
Transit Rider Story Project:
Do you have social media, graphics, and/or video skills and want to share the stories of transit riders? Then we need your help! Our community partners across the Bay Area are hosting workshop events to educate residents about MTC’s Transit 2050+ planning effort and get local feedback. At these events, we will be collecting stories from transit riders about their current needs and how a vastly improved transit system would impact their life. But we need folks with video skills to help record and edit clips, and social media folks to help spread these videos.
Candidate Questionnaire
Help us reach out to candidates running for local, regional, and state offices in the upcoming November election! Our goal is to get as many candidates as possible to fill out a transit + street safety questionnaire. Before the election, we will disseminate their responses to voters, so they have a better understanding of candidates' priorities.
Caltrain Scavenger Hunt
Caltrain will be launching its fully electric train schedule the weekend of September 21st and 22nd. There will be a whole host of events that weekend, and we are organizing a Scavenger Hunt for people where they can win prizes by visiting the most "points of interest" along the corridor. We need locals to help us identify their favorite spots along the corridor as examples, such as art, statues, murals, restaurants, bars, museums, cultural institutions, and more!
September 16th, 12-1pm – Shape the direction of Bay Area public transit, Connected Network Plan Workshop (Virtual Webinar)
Join this webinar to provide your feedback on the Bay Area’s vision and plan for the future of public transportation.
This plan is important because investments need to be identified in the plan in order to be eligible for federal, state and regional sources. The plan identifies improvements to service frequency, new rail and bus connections, and region-wide policy changes – but feedback is necessary to ensure the planned improvements serve you and your community.
In this workshop, we’ll be providing an overview of this plan (known as Transit 2050+ or the Connected Network Plan), asking how the plan can better suit your needs and those of your community, and helping you fill out the official survey so that your needs are communicated to decision makers.
New on our blog:
Split Perspectives on Regional Transportation Funding Select Committee
The Regional Transportation Funding Select Committee was divided between starkly different directions at its most recent meeting on August 26th – a 9-county option, 4-county option, and multiple measures for different agencies and counties. The Committee continues to have questions on costs, benefits, and revenue sources. Much work remains to be done before the MTC’s deadline for September 23.
A vision for Northern California Regional Rail
There are many rail expansion projects happening in Northern California – from Caltrain electrification, BART to Silicon Valley, potential SMART expansions, and expanded San Joaquin and ACE service with the Valley Rail Project. While these various plans for rail expansions are overall good, Northern California lacks a vision for what our rail network can be. Our region needs to prioritize a suite of upgrades along the existing and planned routes that will deliver an electrified, frequent, fast, and well-connected mega-regional rail network.