Spring 2009 Newsletter

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sherrill Necessary on March 23, 2009 at 11:10am

Here's the newsletter preparation timeline. (The dates jitter a bit from my email message, but April 20 is now a REAL drop dead date!)

So, backing into the situation, we have:

Our next general meeting is May 21
The meeting notice or newsletter must go to print NLT April 30
Cindy is already gone by then so we need to submit it NLT April 20
Our steering committee meeting is scheduled for April 6, but we might delay it to April 13
The result is that we will have one week to prepare the newsletter!

I can do the layout in a week, but we need to have content. So, I suggest we start to discuss content, beginning now, on line. I'll post a preliminary layout so we have insight into the number and size of the articles we will need.

Permalink Reply by Liz on April 4, 2009 at 9:21pm

Here's an opinion piece. I'm all ears. I'm also writing an article about WG. I ran out of gas at the end and I have to, well, go catch the bus. But here it is.

LTD for All

There has been a great deal of talk lately about encouraging activity downtown by changing parking policy. But a far more obvious solution has been overlooked: dramatically improving LTD service to make it a more attractive option for people traveling downtown.

High-quality public transit is essential to a vital, pedestrian-friendly downtown, simply because there are only so many places to park a car in a high-density area. But even with recent ridership increases, LTD falls short. My own back-of-the-envelope calculations puts regular LTD ridership at approximately 6% of the population in its service area. And LTD's Group Pass program is grossly underutilized among participating employers, with the exception of UO and LCC students, who pay for it out of their mandatory student fees.

This is a rather sad state of affairs, especially when you consider our current traffic congestion and pollution problems, to say nothing of more far-reaching problems like high fuel prices and global warming. Part of the problem is the car-centric attitude of many Eugeneans that labels carfree transit as "alternative." (More evidence of this attitude is the inexplicable popularity of the spectacularly shortsighted West Eugene Parkway at the polls.)

But a good deal of the blame lies with LTD. Rather than making good use of Eugene's progressive, well-educated, environmentally conscious demographic to advance public transit, LTD continually undermines its own mission by treating public transit as a sort of social service, a second-choice option for those too young, too old, too poor, or too disabled to drive.

This needs to change. Public transit should be regarded as an integral part of the infrastructure of a growing city like Eugene, and hence should be better protected from the vicissitudes of payroll taxes. This is particularly true during troubled economic times, when public transit is most needed and most heavily used.

Following the principle that people are more likely to use what they can see they are paying for, I propose that we establish an explicit county-wide "transit tax" to maintain and expand public transit service. Riding LTD would be either completely fare-free or annual passes could be purchased at nominal cost. Current operating costs for LTD average to about $180 per service-area taxpayer, so the average transit tax could be set at perhaps $300, which could be divided between employers and employees. Since most people spend several thousand dollars annually on their cars, this is an extremely reasonable figure.

To deserve an increased budget, LTD needs to show that it can deliver and make public transit the regular mode of transportation for thousands more Eugeneans. We need much more frequent service--witness the immense popularity of the high-frequency EmX and Breeze lines--and better scheduling and connections. We need service tools that appeal to busy people, such as web- and phone-based "transit tracker" service that provides real-time schedules and expected waiting times. We need more user-friendly information and better public relations to break through the car-default barrier and encourage the 94% of Eugeneans who don't habitually use LTD to see it as a viable option.

LTD is takes great pride in being a leader in public transit among small cities. Unfortunately, this bar is set too low, given...

Permalink Reply by Sherrill Necessary on April 4, 2009 at 11:32pm

This is a good piece and certainly fits with parking, one of our three focuses. I think the length is good without continuing the last paragraph (unless you just turn it into a conclusion paragraph). I updated our draft newsletter with this piece and mine on the home tour so everyone can see where we are.

Attachments:

• Spring09 DNA newsletter.pdf, 414 KB

Permalink Reply by William Kennedy on April 6, 2009 at 4:56pm

This is great. Can this work as our letter to the city? If I put together a summary of subcommittee meetings, plus maybe something from Bar 201 and/or Lord Leebrick, will we be set?

Permalink Reply by Sherrill Necessary on April 6, 2009 at 5:05pm

The LTD piece works well as the letter to the city. Liz is also doing one on the WG status, so with that and your suggestions, I'd say we've got a newsletter. Thanks so much to all contributers.

Permalink Reply by Liz on April 7, 2009 at 10:51am

Thanks for the feedback!

-I will edit the LTD piece slightly and write the WG piece and send it to Sherrill within a week.
-I will check back with Bar 201 today or tomorrow and advise them to either post here or send something to Sherrill
-Abby (Taylor?) said she would write a little something on Leebrick

Permalink Reply by Sherrill Necessary on April 7, 2009 at 11:00am

Thanks so much for the timeliness on this newsletter. Would it be possible to include a graphic (logo or photo) to dress up these articles? With WG's permission, I could use artwork from their proposal.

Permalink Reply by Liz on April 7, 2009 at 12:39pm

I'll ask Wally Graf for something. Which reminds me--I'm also a little concerned about the LTD photo, which is great, but are you sure we have permission to use it? Who took it?

Permalink Reply by Sherrill Necessary on April 7, 2009 at 5:00pm

I took it on a walk around town last fall.

Permalink Reply by Liz on April 10, 2009 at 8:47pm

Aha, my bad. It looks like a photo that I've seen on LTD materials!