From City press release:
Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force to hold meeting (NOTE New location and date)
All residents are invited and encouraged to attend
WHAT The Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force will hold a meeting. (NOTE: The location and date schedule of this meeting are different from previously held meetings.) The purpose of the Task Force is to make recommendations to Richmond City Council with regard to enhancing mass transit in the Metro-Richmond area and the efficiency and effectiveness of the GRTC Transit System. The meeting is free and open to the public and all residents are invited and encouraged to attend.
WHEN Wednesday, November 14, 2012
4:00-6:00 p.m.
WHERE Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau Offices
401 North 3rd Street, 2nd floor – Richmond, Virginia 23219
Located inside the Greater Richmond Convention Center at the Corner of 3rd & Marshall Streets on the 2nd floor.
Parking is available in the Greater Richmond Convention Center parking garage located at 3rd & Marshall Streets. Once you have parked, exit the garage and cross Marshall Street. Enter the Exhibit Hall building at the corner of 3rd & Marshall Streets. Take elevator to the 2nd floor. The RMCVB’s offices are to the right.
WHO Members of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force
CONTACT For more information, please contact Marianne Pitts, at 804.646.5935;
or marianne.pitts@richmondgov.com.
Background ____________________________________________________________________________
Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force
Richmond City Council established the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force on September 27, 2010 by Richmond City Council Ordinance No. 2010-173-166.The objective of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force is to provide a report to Council within in a year of its first meeting which recommends the following:
1. Any legislation, plans, policies, and programs that promote efficient mass transit in the city;
2. Economic development, economic growth, employment and tourism strategies that include public transportation; and,
3. Public relations and education programs to increase public use of mass transit.
4. The Task Force shall also work with interested private organizations to improve the service and efficiency of the GRTC.– E N D –
Paul Hammond, would you consider reporting on one of these? I am never able on a Wednesday night, but I am curious what goes on at them.
Also, does anyone else shake their head at the fact that the press releas for a GRTC meeting gives parking information but zero transit directions? There are no words.
Great editorial in VCU’s Commonwealth Times:
http://www.commonwealthtimes.org/2012/11/08/vcus_new_buses_overly_costly_or_valuable_service/
excerpt:
But despite all these innovations and upgrades, there’s no guarantee that GRTC will or even can improve or expand its routes for the rest of the city to compete with Groome’s buses.
Furthermore, the introduction of VCU buses serve to further remove and isolate students from both the real world and the city. It creates a distinction, either that students are better than other at-large transit users, or that it is a continuation of the K-12 school bus system of shuttling children and young adults between two relative points.
As a VCU student, I’m concerned about the cost: how is this all being paid for? New buses with amenities, soon to come upgrades and private drivers? That has to cost quite a bit. Is it coming from previous tuition increases and will future increases be directed towards maintaining this transportation system?
I can’t help but wonder if this whole thing is indicative of a larger trend; the privatization of public services. Let us not forget that VCU is a public institution, despite quite a few of their practices. It’s not the buses themselves that bother me, but rather, the dynamics of policy and underlying power.
For a university that touts itself for being actively engaged with the city, it’s odd that they would hire a private company to shuttle students about, separating students from the typical city dweller and elevating students by placing them on buses that are more comfortable than the city buses.