[Transit] Route 47

[Doug Trumm]

It's a good letter. We'd also be open to publishing a version in The
Urbanist if you want to submit it to get more traction.

Thanks for writing this Wes!

*Douglas Trumm*, *Publisher*
Pronouns*: he, him*
The Urbanist <http://theurbanist.org/> | 320.237.4771




On Fri, Dec 22, 2023 at 12:53 AM Wes Mills <wesmills at wesmills.com> wrote:

> Hadn't thought of that, works for me! A nice post-holidays reminder to run
> our buses :)
>
> On Thu, Dec 21, 2023, at 15:26, Katie Wilson wrote:
>
> We could also do both, send it now and then re-send in the new year.
>
> On Dec 21, 2023, at 2:30 PM, Wes Mills <wesmills at wesmills.com> wrote:
>
> My thought is first week of the new year, perhaps the 3rd, right as people
> are getting back in the swing of things.  Otherwise, if it gets read at
> all, I feel like it will fall into the “oh, yes, I should care about
> this”-and-then-forgotten crevice. :)
>
> There’s an argument for “send it now” because the survey results just
> dropped but I don’t think a couple of weeks will make that big a change?
>
> On Thu, Dec 21, 2023, at 14:05, Katie Wilson wrote:
>
> Wes and others, do you think we should send this ASAP or wait till first
> thing in the new year? If the former, I can format and send it tomorrow
> morning.
>
>
> On Dec 21, 2023, at 11:33 AM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
> wrote:
>
> I think it’s a great letter, and I like Jo’s suggestion!
>
>
> On Dec 20, 2023, at 11:22 PM, Wes Mills <wesmills at wesmills.com> wrote:
>
> Here’s my attempt:
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nRm2-iai7m72sxfW_xpmmvhDgG_w8VYuc-dWGTLH54Q/edit?usp=sharing
>
> I left some comments of my own in the document for things I was unsure
> about or want to make sure folks have a look at to check me on. :) I kept
> it to a single page, though I could always go on for far too long.
>
> On Wed, Dec 20, 2023, at 14:55, Katie Wilson wrote:
>
> Thanks, Wes! I think it’s worth weighing in.
>
>
> On Dec 20, 2023, at 2:12 PM, Wes Mills <wesmills at wesmills.com> wrote:
>
> I think Jim also agreed a few days ago; I got stuck with a cold so didn't
> get to finishing this yet.
>
> I'm going to finish a draft letter tonight; this route is small but seems
> important, especially as part of overall advocating for transit to be
> accessible to as many people as we can.
>
> Wes
>
> On Wed, Dec 20, 2023, at 13:51, Katie Wilson wrote:
>
> Anyone else think TRU should write a letter??
>
>
> On Dec 15, 2023, at 7:48 PM, Wes Mills <wesmills at wesmills.com> wrote:
>
> I have a letter I wrote for myself to councilmembers Dembowski
> and Zahilay, but haven’t yet sent.  I think it would be a good idea, if TRU
> is game for it.  I know another community group—but I never found out which
> one—put up flyers along the closed bus stops of the 47 (I don’t know for
> sure if Metro did or didn’t) and that’s how a friend of mine who just moved
> from there found out their bus wasn’t coming back.
>
> This is the report I linked to, for those who don’t want to browse
> Twitter:
> https://kingcountymetro.blog/2023/12/14/madison-street-area-bus-service-change-project-phase-2-progress-report/
>
> What I would use to make a letter (and I’ll kick out a draft this weekend
> if at least one other person thinks we should give this a go):
>
> The three big reasons in support of the 47 I know of:
>
>    - It’s the only all-day, all-week Seattle bus route that hasn’t been
>    restored from pandemic suspensions, and it should be running while we
>    debate whether or not to keep it.
>    - The 47 is, quite literally, on the side of a hill and getting to or
>    from destinations along it involves walking either a moderately steep or
>    very steep hill.
>    - There are no more than a handful of detached houses on that route;
>    the entire route is the kind of mixed density we say we want across the
>    whole city (including two multi-building, multi-story condo complexes).  If
>    we don’t serve this by transit—*electrified* transit, I might add,
>    since the 47 is a trolley route—what are we doing?
>
> In the end, I don’t think it’s fair for Metro to pit a survey about the 47
> against “or, do you want more frequency on these other routes that don’t go
> to the same place as the 47” or to leave it to community feedback on a
> route that the community hasn’t been able to ride in four years.  Even the
> restoration plan would only be 11 hours a day, but my philosophy is get a
> route on the map and we can push to expand frequency and span later.
>
> Wes
>
> On Fri, Dec 15, 2023, at 19:09, Katie Wilson wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I haven’t been paying close attention so only learned about this survey
> from Wes’s tweet: https://twitter.com/oowm/status/1735778121079759214
>
> I know we have a new member who depended on the 47 and now has to drive to
> work. Maybe we should write a letter or something?
>
> 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.*
> _______________________________________________
> Transit mailing list
> Transit at transitriders.org
> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Transit mailing list
> Transit at transitriders.org
> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Transit mailing list
> Transit at transitriders.org
> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Transit mailing list
> Transit at transitriders.org
> http://lists.transitriders.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transit
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.transitriders.org/pipermail/transit/attachments/20240102/a8fef385/attachment-0001.html>