[BATS] Letter to council about transit stuff in budget?

[Katie Wilson]

I think this is great, Wes. And, this media request just came in from KUOW. Anyone want to do it? TRU has taken positions in favor of the CCC in the past so I would feel comfortable with someone basically expressing what’s in the draft letter on behalf of TRU.

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Hi Katie,

I'm working on a story today about Councilmember Saka's proposal to defund the South Lake Union street car.

Sorry to ask the same day as your JumpStart presser but any chance someone could chat about the street car?

This would be pre-taped, not live. I can meet anywhere in-person or on zoom.

My questions:

- what do you think about South Lake Union losing the street car?
- where should the money go instead?

Thanks so much,

Casey

> On Nov 12, 2024, at 11:10 AM, Wes Mills <wesmills at wesmills.com> wrote:
> 
> I gave it a shot, here’s a draft (before noon!  I must be incensed, lol): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dozBRRaULyh73lacuDyskh-oppT4oX1H8hkrURUM_ss/edit?usp=sharing
> 
> It’s open for comments on the doc; let me know if anyone wants direct edit permissions.
> 
> On Tue, Nov 12, 2024, at 07:50, Katie Wilson wrote:
>> We have a General Council meeting tonight at 6pm, so if you happened to be able to draft something by then, we could consider and make a time-sensitive decision. (We can also do that by email later this week if necessary.) That way it could come officially from TRU.
>> 
>>> On Nov 12, 2024, at 7:08 AM, Jo Claxton <msjoclaxton at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Thanks Wes. I agree, a letter would be great, and what you have looks really good.
>>> Here is something if you want to include for the bus lanes portion, feel free to change to fit in with what you have...
>>> 
>>> "To meet our city's 2030 climate goals we need to add bus lanes as much as possible for multiple routes, and as soon as possible without delay. Unnecessary reports will cause delays.
>>> 
>>> When car drivers see buses stuck in the same traffic they are, why would they consider taking public transit? Buses that are regular and on time, will convert car drivers into transit riders."
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Nov 11, 2024, 10:29 PM Wes Mills <wesmills at wesmills.com <mailto:wesmills at wesmills.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> A bunch of new budget provisos just dropped today, largely reported on by Ryan Packer.  The big ones:
>>> 
>>> - Councilmember Saka proposes to “thoughtfully retire” the South Lake Union Streetcar: https://bsky.app/profile/typewriteralley.bsky.social/post/3lapi7aojyk2c
>>> 
>>> - Also Councilmember Saka, proposing that the 1st Ave Streetcar (Center/Culture City Connector), be officially canceled: https://bsky.app/profile/typewriteralley.bsky.social/post/3laplvfgr4c2b
>>> 
>>> - Councilmember Nelson proposing to require SDOT to generate a report on “specific criteria” used when considering adding bus-only lanes (and SDOT’s “mobility priorities for bus-only lanes given current commuting patterns in a post-pandemic environment”): https://bsky.app/profile/typewriteralley.bsky.social/post/3lapm2tdke22b
>>> 
>>> I think this is worth a letter from TRU, or TRU BATS if we need to have a member vote to send a letter as the entire org.  (We won’t make it to the next member meeting before the budget is finalized; they’re on the same day.)
>>> 
>>> I can write the draft and send it out for comments tomorrow or Wednesday?
>>> 
>>> Rough proposal for what I think we should say: The South Lake Union Streetcar and Culture City Connector are a pair and both should be retained, and the CCC should be built.  1st Ave has gone without transit service for long enough, and while we know Metro may be considering a bus again for 1st, that’s only because the CCC has been stalled for so long.  The First Hill Streetcar was billed as eventually being connected to SLU and the mobility improvements would be immense because reserved corridors for transit are the best way to deliver transit.  Alternatively, if both of these streetcars must be removed, the Council should add that the First Hill Streetcar be planned for extension to, at a minimum, the ferry terminal.
>>> 
>>> And speaking of reserved corridors for transit, bus-only lanes improve throughput, reliability, and consistent behavior.  Instead of pushing SDOT to use valuable staff time on a report, we’d like to see the council ask SDOT to expand the use of bus-only lanes, particularly in dense neighborhoods like Ballard, Fremont, Capitol Hill, the Central District, and more.
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