[TRU Research] New ORCA for All survey? etc.

Thu Jan 30 17:50:37 PST 2020

I can't make it tonight, but save some work for me and I can tackle it in
the days ahead. I'm going to try to be at the meeting this Saturday, also.

Stephen

On Thu, Jan 30, 2020, 17:04 Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org> wrote:

> Yes, Victrola on 15th. See you soon!
>
> On Jan 30, 2020, at 5:03 PM, Harry Maher <harryb.maher at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Were we doing Victrola? Let me know if otherwise, or if we made other
> plans, but I'll plan on seeing you there soon!
>
> On Wed, Jan 22, 2020 at 9:41 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hey all,
>>
>> I drafted up a survey.
>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/13OOhJ17MQEIXrSFT6eykcdtKhlE6oT-C2A3AW6jolbE/edit?usp=sharing> If
>> you have a chance to take a look before we meet next Thursday (or if you’re
>> unable to come to that meeting), please feel free to make comments &
>> suggestions in the doc.
>>
>> Katie
>>
>> On Jan 19, 2020, at 9:44 AM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> TRU is co-leading two workshops, one on fare enforcement & orca for all
>> <https://www.facebook.com/events/622099341858814/> (but mostly fare
>> enforcement) and other other as part of the homelessness conversations
>> project, with a focus on native american homelessness. Both are
>> 9:30am-10:50am at Garfield High School. We’ll find out our room assignments
>> tomorrow morning.
>>
>> On Jan 18, 2020, at 11:37 AM, Jim Walseth <jim.walseth at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Thursday the 30th is on my calendar.
>> What's up with the workshop before MLK march on Monday? I'm not able to
>> find any info beyond that they are happening, and there will be snacks :)
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 5:29 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Ok, let’s lock this in for *Thursday the 30th at 6pm*. I think we’ll be
>>> a fairly small group (4-6), so anywhere with good table space and
>>> relatively quiet should work. Victrola on 15th is one option, though
>>> sometimes they’re pretty packed. Any location ideas or preferences?
>>>
>>> Katie
>>>
>>> On Jan 16, 2020, at 4:16 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> Just a reminder to fill out this poll
>>> <https://doodle.com/poll/cdvi9gp8shz4nprp> when you have a sec— before
>>> the end of the day tomorrow— so we can schedule a meeting.
>>>
>>> Re Jim’s question, if anyone wants to try this, that’s cool. However, I
>>> think cold-calling employers to ask for this information may be a
>>> time-consuming and thankless task, possibly with little success. But I
>>> think there are other ways. I met with someone from the Downtown Seattle
>>> Association earlier this week, and he said they will try to help us get
>>> more information about what transit benefits their members (businesses
>>> mainly in the downtown area) offer. We’ll see where that goes.
>>>
>>> Also, we’ve gotten a couple of form submissions in the past week from
>>> people telling us what transit benefits their employers do or do not
>>> offer.  The most recent one is kind of interesting, so I’m pasting it below.
>>>
>>> - Katie
>>>
>>> *Employer:* IBI Group
>>>
>>> *Transportation Benefits:* Offers pre-tax option: employees can
>>> purchase transit pass products with a payroll deduction
>>>
>>> *Anything else you want to tell us?:* Subsidized ORCA cards have been a
>>> source of contention in the office and has been discussed as long as I have
>>> been at the firm. There has been a variety of excuses for delaying and
>>> suboptimal proposals given (for example, giving a stored value credit, but
>>> many of us worked out it would still be cheaper to buy out of pocket the
>>> monthly pass). It's somewhat ironic that IBI Group was the firm was the one
>>> that ST and KCM hired to implement the ORCA card system and yet doesn't
>>> offer subsidized passes to their employees.
>>>
>>> On Jan 15, 2020, at 12:49 PM, Jim Walseth <jim.walseth at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Katie *et al*,
>>> On the topic of " a survey specifically for businesses ", I think we
>>> would have more complete data on existing transit subsidies if we go to the
>>> employers directly. Like, just call them and ask. The data would go a long
>>> way to answering " how many employees our legislation would impact ".
>>> I wonder what it would cost to hire someone to do that.
>>> Jim
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 14, 2020 at 12:12 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hey folks,
>>>>
>>>> Happy new year! 2020 is the year we extend employer-subsidized transit
>>>> passes to thousands more Seattle workers. Our goal is to pass legislation
>>>> in the first half of the year.
>>>>
>>>> TRU’s organizing team will be meeting later this month to develop our
>>>> organizing plan. But we also need a research & data plan. I’m wondering if
>>>> we can schedule a meeting soon to discuss what role this group might be
>>>> play in the campaign. Here’s a doodle poll
>>>> <https://doodle.com/poll/cdvi9gp8shz4nprp> for evenings the week
>>>> starting Jan. 27. If you’re interested in this discussion, please fill out
>>>> the poll by the end of this week. (I chose 5:30-7pm as the meeting time,
>>>> but we could shift this earlier or later depending on people’s schedules—
>>>> if you prefer a different start time, maybe make a note of that in the
>>>> poll.)
>>>>
>>>> My main idea so far is that we could design an online survey to collect
>>>> input on the details of the legislation. Something like:
>>>>
>>>> Here’s our basic proposal: employers with over 500 employees worldwide
>>>> have to offer a 50% transit subsidy. What do you think of it? (Hate it to
>>>> love it, scale 1-10 or whatever)
>>>> Here’s ten ways the proposal could get more complicated, what do you
>>>> think of each one?
>>>> - include an upper tier for employers with 1000+ or 5000+ employees in
>>>> Seattle, require 75% or 90% or 100% transit subsidy
>>>> - exempt non-profits
>>>> - include v. exclude part-time, temporary/seasonal, and contract
>>>> employees
>>>> - etc.
>>>> Any other thoughts or ideas? (open-ended)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> And maybe we also do a survey specifically for businesses… not sure if
>>>> that’s a good idea, but worth considering.
>>>>
>>>> Maybe there are other projects we could work on too that would be
>>>> helpful to the campaign at this point. For example, it would be great to
>>>> get a better sense of how many employees our legislation would impact. It’s
>>>> possible we could do some back-of-the-napkin calculations and be able to
>>>> say “this would result in at least X workers being offered better transit
>>>> benefits” or something like that.
>>>>
>>>> Katie
>>>>
>>>> Katie Wilson
>>>> General Secretary
>>>> Transit Riders Union
>>>> https://transitriders.org
>>>> 206-781-7204
>>>>
>>>> *The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and
>>>> poor **people, including students, seniors, and people with
>>>> disabilities, taking control over our own lives, and building up the power
>>>> we **need to change society for the good of humanity and of the
>>>> planet. We will **fight to preserve, expand, and improve the public
>>>> transportation system in **Seattle and beyond, so that every human
>>>> being has access to safe, **affordable, and reliable public transit.*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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